When a historic town must survive on the expectations of millions of visitors, it can slowly become a performance of itself. And the people who cross borders to live there are sorted by language into “expats” or “immigrants” — two words for the same act, carrying very different weight. This lesson joins the economics of mass tourism to the quiet power of the labels we attach to people who move. It is a topic with obvious appeal to language teachers, who work in the machinery of labelling every day.
ANNOTATION KEY
✎ MY NOTE — personal reminders and in-the-moment cues. These are written as anticipations to plan around (“it’s anticipated that…,” “students will likely…”) rather than records of past classes; adjust them to the group in the room.
👁 MODELING NOTE — a facilitation move a presenter can demonstrate for observing colleagues. Written as something to try, since it's anticipated this material may be new to whoever delivers it.
LESSON OVERVIEW
| PHASE | ACTIVITY | TIME | TTT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Warm-up | Survey as stimulus — silent scan + personal reaction | 5 min | 2 min |
| 2 — Vocabulary | Tourism & heritage + Migration & labels (Sets 1 & 2) | 8 min | 4 min |
| 2b — Video | Authentic stimulus — noticing task (read-aloud fallback) | 7 min | 2 min |
| 3 — Interaction 1 | Pair discussion — personal experience + Interaction Toolkit | 9 min | 1 min |
| 4 — Language Clinic 1 | Open floor — repair and upgrade from pair work | 5 min | 3 min |
| 5 — Interaction 2 | Jigsaw — preservation versus performance | 12 min | 2 min |
| 6 — Interaction 3 | Likert debate — whole-class statements | 6 min | 2 min |
| 7 — Language Clinic 2 | Meta-linguistic reflection on language used | 4 min | 2 min |
| 8 — Output + Wrap-up | Mini position statement (spoken or written) + one-word close | 9 min | 2 min |
| TOTAL · Trim Phase 6 to 2 statements for the 55-min version | 65 min | ~20 min | |
PHASE 1 — WARM-UP
5-8 MIN · TTT: ~3 MIN
Procedure
- Show a presentation/slides prefacing the Tourism & Identity Survey. No student comment needed. Some key words may be introduced.
- Display the Tourism & Identity Survey. 2 minutes silent reading — notice which statement names something you’ve felt as a traveller, a host, or a migrant.
- Ask: “Which question here describes a place you know, or a label you’ve worn?” 2–3 brief responses, no evaluation.
- Frame: today we look at two ways places and people get reshaped by movement — by tourists, and by the words we use for those who arrive.
✎ MY NOTEIt is anticipated that the expat/immigrant distinction will land hard with participants who have lived abroad. Students will likely recall being labelled one or the other; that lived experience is the richest possible evidence for the discussion.
👁 MODELING NOTEA presenter can model naming their own use of these words honestly. It’s anticipated the group will treat “expat” as neutral; pointing to one’s own habit of using it invites the same honesty from others.
PHASE 2 — VOCABULARY
8 MIN · TTT: ~4 MIN
Set 1 — Tourism & heritage
| heritage site (n.) | a place valued and protected for its cultural or natural significance |
| mass tourism (n.) | travel by very large numbers of people to the same destinations for leisure, entertainment or cultural exposure |
| to commodify (v.) | to turn something into a product to be bought and sold |
| carrying capacity (n.) | the number of visitors a place can absorb without damage |
| a caricature (n.) | an exaggerated, simplified version that distorts the original |
| authentic (adj.) | genuinely what it claims to be, not staged for visitors |
| extractive tourism (n.) | profit-driven travel that exploits and depletes local resources, cultures, and communities |
| environmental stewardship (adj.) | ethical responsibility to care for, protect, and preserve the Earth's natural resources |
Set 2 — Migration & labels
| expatriate / expat (n.) | a person living abroad — a label that often signals privilege |
| immigrant (n.) | a person who moves to settle in a new country — often the less-privileged label |
| connotation (n.) | the feeling or judgement a word carries beyond its plain meaning |
| integration (n.) | the process of becoming part of a host society |
| perception (n.) | the way something or someone is seen and judged by others |
| privilege (n.) | an advantage held by some and not others, often unearned |
✎ MY NOTEStudents will likely define connotation as “the real meaning.” It’s anticipated that testing pairs — expat/immigrant, tourist/traveller — makes the idea click faster than a dictionary line.
PHASE 2b — VIDEO STIMULUS
7 MIN · TTT: ~2 MIN
Stimulus
Show a 2–3 minute clip on an over-touristed town adapting to survive, or a short piece on the expat-versus-immigrant distinction. Search terms: “overtourism Venice locals” or “expat vs immigrant difference”.
Noticing task
- What did the place or person gain from tourism / migration? What did they have to give up?
- Which word did the clip use — expat or immigrant — and what did that word quietly assume?
- Have you seen a place near you change to meet visitors’ expectations? What changed?
Read-aloud fallback (no connectivity)
Read aloud: “Two people move abroad for work. One is called an expat and welcomed; the other is called an immigrant and watched. Same suitcase, same reason — different word, different life. Meanwhile the town they arrive in slowly rebuilds itself to look like the postcard tourists already bought.” Proceed to the questions.
👁 MODELING NOTEIt’s anticipated the clip will use a loaded word without flagging it. A presenter can model the linguist’s move — pausing on a single word and asking, “why that word and not its neighbour?”
PHASE 3 — INTERACTION 1 (PAIRS)
9 MIN · TTT: ~1 MIN
Pair discussion — personal experience
- When you go abroad, are you a tourist or a traveller? What is the difference, really — and who decides?
- Have you ever been called an expat or an immigrant? Did the word fit how you saw yourself?
- Is there a place you love that tourism has changed? Was the change worth it?
- Can a town stay true to itself while living off visitors? What would that take?
INTERACTION TOOLKIT
Encourage these moves so the talk stays precise about language:
- Examining a word: “The word ‘expat’ quietly assumes that…”
- Comparing labels: “We’d never call them that — we’d say…”
- Conceding a tension: “I see the economic case, but the cost is that…”
- Locating yourself: “Speaking as someone who has lived abroad…”
PHASE 4 — LANGUAGE CLINIC 1
5 MIN · TTT: ~3 MIN
Surface the pairs’ language. Likely targets: the language of contrast and connotation (whereas, carries the sense of, implies), reported perception (seen as, treated as), and concession (granted that, even so). Reformulate two or three real utterances.
✎ MY NOTEIt’s anticipated participants will say “people see them like…” rather than “treat them as.” Students will likely pick up seen as / treated as quickly because the topic makes the structure feel necessary.
PHASE 5 — INTERACTION 2 (JIGSAW)
12 MIN · TTT: ~2 MIN
Living town, or open-air museum?
Group A argues that adapting a heritage place for mass tourism is a legitimate survival strategy; Group B argues it hollows out the very thing tourists came to see. Prepare 5 minutes, then pair across groups.
GROUP A — Survival strategy
- Tourist income funds the preservation that would otherwise fail
- Cultures have always adapted; freezing them is its own distortion
- Jobs let young people stay rather than migrate away
- Visitors leave with real respect for an unfamiliar heritage
GROUP B — Hollowing out
- Daily life is replaced by a daily performance for outsiders
- Locals get priced out of their own historic centres
- Authenticity becomes a brand managed for export
- The place ends up a caricature of what it once was
Jigsaw task
In cross-group pairs, argue your side, then together finish: “A heritage town keeps its soul as long as …” Report the condition, not the debate.
👁 MODELING NOTEIt’s anticipated participants will speak from the visitor’s side by default. A presenter can model deliberately shifting the chair — “now answer as the person who lives there” — to surface the perspective tourism usually mutes.
PHASE 6 — INTERACTION 3 (LIKERT DEBATE)
6 MIN · TTT: ~2 MIN
Read each statement aloud. Participants move or signal along a strongly-agree ↔ strongly-disagree line, then defend the position with one reason. Push for the language of qualified agreement and respectful challenge.
- Calling some migrants “expats” and others “immigrants” is simply honest description, not bias.
- A town has the right to limit tourist numbers even if it costs local jobs.
- There is no “authentic” culture left to protect; everything is already performance.
- The words a society uses for newcomers shape their legal and social treatment more than any law.
- Within a generation, the world’s most famous heritage sites will be visited mainly as replicas or online.
PHASE 7 — LANGUAGE CLINIC 2
4 MIN · TTT: ~2 MIN
Ask each pair for one phrase to keep. It’s anticipated useful chunks will surface — a loaded term, to be priced out, at the mercy of, a double standard — ready for the output.
✎ MY NOTEStudents will likely seize on double standard once it appears. Naming it explicitly gives the output statements a sharp analytical hook.
PHASE 8 — OUTPUT + WRAP-UP
9 MIN · TTT: ~2 MIN
Mini position statement — choose a format
Take a position on one of two questions: Can a heritage place survive tourism without selling its soul? or Should we drop the expat/immigrant distinction altogether? Choose your format.
SPOKEN (60 sec)A position with one real place or one real label as your evidence.
WRITTEN (4–5 lines)A short letter to a newspaper that misused one of these words.
LANGUAGE TASKPropose one word-choice rule you’d teach your students about labelling people.
One-word close
Each person offers one word they will think twice before using after this lesson. It’s anticipated expat, authentic, exotic will recur — no commentary.
👁 MODELING NOTEA presenter can model offering their own flagged word last, demonstrating that even language professionals carry habits worth re-examining.