C1 Unit 3: Mediate a Difficult Discussion

C1 · LEARN THROUGH PRACTICE

Complex ideas.
Purposeful English.

Try a real task. Practice with support. Use what you learn in a new situation.

LE-C1-MEDI-01 · C1 · Reading, listening, writing and spoken interaction · Free

This is an original learning unit using fictional people and data. Work in short sessions; allow roughly 45–75 minutes and adjust your pace. The level is a curriculum design target, not a validated placement result.

Your goal

Make competing concerns intelligible without erasing disagreement or assuming consent.

Need support? Use Earlier-level support. You can review one skill while continuing here.

1. Pre-check: keep a first attempt

Read the source at the start of Step 2, then try the task below before opening answers, language help or a model. Keep your first response and note the date and help used.

Write a facilitator’s summary and a spoken opening for the next meeting. Represent both concerns and propose a next step that does not assume consent.

2. Presentation: read and notice

An archive coordinator proposes recording public learning discussions for people who cannot attend. A participant representative worries recordings may discourage questions or expose personal stories. The venue has a camera but no consent process, and participants have not been consulted. One speaker calls opponents anti-access; another calls supporters careless. These labels collapse distinct concerns into judgments about people. A facilitator must separate technical availability from permission, identify shared aims without claiming shared preferences, and formulate options such as recording only a prepared introduction. None of these options has been agreed, and the absent participants’ interests cannot be settled by the meeting alone.

Language in use — open after your first attempt

Restate concerns in terms speakers could recognize.
Separate shared aims from unresolved conditions.
Propose a consultation process without speaking for absent people.

3. Practice: understand the meaning

Which concerns can coexist?

Access for absent people and control over personal contributions.

What does a camera not establish?

Consent or an agreed recording process.

What should a summary avoid?

Treating labels as fair descriptions or options as agreements.

Listen for meaning

Listen before opening the transcript. For practice, listen once for the main point and again for details. Record replays or slower playback with your result.

Listen in American English

Audio uses an American English voice available on your device. Pause and Stop appear when a session starts.

What does equipment not provide?
What next step is proposed?

Transcript — open after listening

The archive team wants access for absent people; participants want control over personal contributions. Both concerns matter. A camera makes recording possible, not authorized. Consultation must precede any decision to publish a discussion.

Listening answers and reasons

Consent or authorization. Participant consultation.

If you read the transcript before answering, record that as supported practice rather than an independent listening check.

4. Production: create your own response

Write a facilitator’s summary and a spoken opening for the next meeting. Represent both concerns and propose a next step that does not assume consent.

Try before opening the example. If you work alone, speak aloud or record on your device. With a partner, ask one real follow-up question and respond without reading a script.

A compact model — compare meaning, not exact wording

Both sides value participation but identify different barriers. The archive coordinator wants absent people to benefit; the representative wants contributors to retain control over personal remarks. Anti-access and careless are not adequate summaries. Before recording, we need participant consultation and a clear process. Recording only the introduction is one option to explore, not a decision already authorized.

This example shows the main communication moves. Your wording and conclusion may differ when supported by the facts. For a project with several outputs, use it as a starting structure and complete every output requested.

Four-part self-check

Use 0–3 for each area. Not tried yet is separate from 0. Judge this task, not your whole English level. Do not convert these scores into an exam score or certificate.

Task completion

0 — The required communication is not yet achieved.
1 — Some relevant work is done, but key requirements are missing or inaccurate.
2 — The response achieves this goal: Make competing concerns intelligible without erasing disagreement or assuming consent.
3 — It achieves the goal clearly and handles relevant detail or follow-up without inventing facts.

Clear meaning and organization

0 — The main message cannot yet be understood.
1 — The reader or listener needs substantial help to connect the ideas.
2 — The response is understandable and organized for the task.
3 — Structure and emphasis make the reasoning or action easy to follow.

Fit for the situation and interaction

0 — The response does not address the audience or situation.
1 — Some choices fit, but tone, attribution or response causes confusion.
2 — The response suits the audience and handles the other view or question fairly.
3 — It adapts effectively, clarifies limits and helps communication move forward.

Language range and control

0 — There is not enough relevant language to communicate the meaning.
1 — Limited words or errors obscure important information.
2 — Suitable precise source relationships, qualification, register and controlled cohesion communicate the main meaning; errors do not usually block it.
3 — Those resources are chosen effectively and controlled well for this task.

5. Post-check: use a fresh situation

A group debates publishing peer feedback. Some value learning examples; others fear drafts will be judged outside context. Contributors have not been consulted. Summarize and propose a process.

Use the same amount of help as before. Complete the task before opening the checking guide. Score the new response against the same goal and rubric.

Checking guide — more than one response can work

Represent both concerns. Distinguish optional examples, anonymous extracts and open publication as options requiring discussion, not consent obtained.

Review and return

Keep: date, task, help used, listening answers, four rubric judgments, a phrase supporting each judgment, and one next step. A longer response is not automatically a better one. After about a week, try another situation with changed details without copying the model.

Next: Unit 4: Read Stance and Implied Meaning

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Guided speaking: answer one question at a time

Answer about the situation or your own response in this unit. Each question stops for your answer. Take as long as you need, then choose Continue. Pause also works while you are thinking; Resume replays that question. This page does not record or upload your voice.

Guided spoken practice