The Burger Murders

The main goals of this ESL lesson are:

• – Deepen the understanding of business ethics
• – Debate different viewpoints on ethics in business and how ethical dilemmas can affect business decisions
• – Discuss workplace values

This advanced speaking practice lesson dives into various examples of how ethics can influence business decisions.

Warm-up

In the beginning of the lesson students warm up by discussing different ideas related to ethics in business.

Video

In the following exercises students watch a video “Ethical dilemma: The Burger Murders.” and using a list of provided phrases discuss the main takeaways from the video.

Speaking exercises

In the speaking practice section of the lesson students read a few statements and decide if they agree with them while sharing their rationale. Next, they are asked to pick a three of those statements and argue the opposite view. In the following exercise students discuss opposing views on business decision making. Next, they pick a few questions from a list of questions and share their thoughts. The fifth exercise focuses on matching words to a specific category related to ethics in business. After that the students are asked to read a number of business scenarios and explain how they would react in such a situation. In the last two exercises the class focuses on discussing different business scenarios in the context of business ethics.

Discussion

In this part of the lesson the students are asked to choose a quote that resonates with them and talk about its meaning.