Space and exchanges notion

Voici une fiche notionnelle pour vous aider à préparer votre oral du bac en anglais sur une notion centrale : Space and exchanges. En français, cela se traduit bien sûr par Espace et Échanges.

Table des matières

Space and exchanges – Definition

The notion of spaces and exchanges aims at questioning the geographical and symbolic areas shared by societies and the interaction between these societies. It raises several questions: what do societies exchange? how is the partition of space made between societies? are the exchanges economic, material or symbolic?

What you need to know about space and exchanges

This notion allows you to talk about a lot of different topics. Immigration, colonisation and globalization are the main three topics that you will be able to deal with. This notion wants you to question human relationships and the way societies function on their own or with their neighbours.

Relevant examples for space and exchanges

Ellis Island

General informations

Ellis Island is in New York, close to the Statue of Liberty. Built in 1892, it originally aimed at controlling the number of immigrants moving to the US. Because the United States had been presented as the land of the free, many Europeans continued to emigrate there long after the first European settlers. Jews came to escape religious persecution, Irish people fled hunger, and people from Eastern Europe tried to escape political persecution.

A compulsory border

Ellis Island was built as a kind of compulsory border for new immigrants arriving by boat. In this island, immigrants had to register and were examined by doctors. After this medical examination, they were told if they were allowed to enter the United States. Immigrants – especially men – needed to be in a good physical condition to enter the country as they needed to get work. The government did not want to accept immigrants that would not be able to find a job and that would consequently live in poverty. When it originally opened, Ellis Island was also a way to ensure that immigrants were in good health and would not contaminate Americans with foreign diseases.

Laws to limit immigration

However, as time passed and immigrants kept coming, the American government passed stricter laws to limit immigration. The main piece of legislation was the 1924 Quota act which limited people from certain origins to enter the country, which drastically curbed the immigration rate. Because those kinds of laws reduced immigration and as there was no use to screen (= trier, contrôler) immigrants as much, Ellis Island closed in 1954 and became the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration which is today open to visitors.

Positive and negative aspects of the globalization

Globalization is essentially about spaces and exchanges. It is the opening of national economies and societies towards each other.

Positive aspects

At first glance, the interconnectedness (= le fait d’être interconnecté) of different countries seems very positive and seems to promote peace throughout the world. Indeed, it has several positive impacts such as the faster flow of information that ties people together and prevents any society from being excluded. Globalization also increased the quality of goods and services someone can have access to and people can now buy from any part of the world. Finally, it has brought different cultures to the front stage : for instance, fish and chips were replaced as the ultimate British dish in the 1970s by the chicken tikka massala thanks to the number of Indian immigrants living in Britain. There is no denying that globalization seem to bring people together and to make them exchange various elements from their own culture.

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Negative aspects

However, it is far from being that simple. Globalization has brought new issues that no one had foreseen (= que personne n’avait prédit). Indeed, because the market is interconnected, Western companies tend to produce their goods in countries with weaker environmental laws and contribute to polluting the planet excessively. Globalization adds to global warming because of those kinds of behaviour, but also because it triggered a massive economic growth that resulted in more harm on the planet than ever before. Besides, the fact that people can buy from whatever country they want created a lot of competition between countries to be more attractive economically. This has resulted in the development of child labor, and the exploitation of the labour force to produce more goods more quickly. In the past few years, numerous retailer brands such as H&M and Zara have been accused of employing children and treating their employees in an inhumane way.

Useful vocabulary – Space and Exchanges

globalization : la mondialisation
interconnectedness : le fait d’être interconnecté
to share : partager
values : les valeurs
labour : le travail
to be accused of + ing : être accusé de
inhumane : inhumain
global warming : le réchauffement climatique
to trigger : déclencher, mener à
to keep doing something : continuer de
to ensure : s’assurer de / que
a border : une frontière
settlers : les colons
to cross : traverser
to move : déménager

As long as you justify your presentation, any example can fit into space and exchanges. Do not learn by heart what you have learned at school ! Try and question how the examples you worked on are actually linked to spaces and exchanges. Your oral will be great!

N’hésitez pas à consulter notre fiche sur la prononciation en anglais qui est très importante lors de l’oral !

Si tu lis ces lignes, c’est que le stress monte pour l’oral du bac d’anglais. C’est bien normal, on est tous passé par là ! Heureusement pour t’aider on a combiné dans cet article des conseils magiques, phrases types, et vocabulaire incontournable pour la notion “Spaces and Exchanges” du Bac d’anglais. Il te suffira ensuite d’appliquer notre recette pour te garantir le 18 (si tu fais un effort sur l’accent 😝) !

La méthode des Sherpas pour préparer sa fiche “Spaces and Exchanges” pour l’oral du bac 🎯

Peaufiner son introduction pour la notion “Espaces et échanges” ✒️

Exemple d’introduction pour “Spaces and Exchanges” :

⚠️ Cet exemple est présenté à titre d’inspiration, car il a été écrit pour un plan spécifique qui n’est pas forcément en accord avec ton cours.

Spaces and Exchanges – Définition

Définition : “Since Antiquity, societies live in specific areas and interact with others by means of exchanges; either trade or migration. Nowadays, these two notions are evolving with the development of technologies that create interactive spaces and immaterial flows.”

Spaces and Exchanges – Problématique

Problématique : “We will wonder to what extent…”
Annonce de plan : “This issue will be tackled by analysing…”

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Quelques conseils pour ton développement 🔧

À nouveau, nos plus beaux conseils pour ton développement en expression orale se trouvent dans l’article Places and Forms of Power, on te conseille vraiment de le lire !

👉 Pour bien te préparer à l’oral du bac d’anglais, fiche tous tes documents au cours de l’année puis trouve-leur des points communs/liens. Tu arriveras ainsi à former des arguments cohérents et à trouver ton plan facilement.

Tu peux prendre le temps de tester plusieurs plans au brouillon pendant les vacances par exemple.

⚠️ Précision importante : applique-toi à rester le plus neutre possible pour que ton jugement personnel n’affecte pas ta note finale.

La conclusion de la notion “Spaces and Exchanges” 👀

Voici quelques petites expressions utiles pour conclure :

All things considered : tout bien considéré
In conclusion : en conclusion
To conclude : pour conclure
To sum up/all in all : pour résumer

📌 … I tend to believe that : j’ai tendance à penser que
📌 … spaces and exchanges can be regarded as…
📌 … in my opinion : selon moi

Pour ton ouverture :

A link can be established with…
We can link this topic with…

⚠️ Ne te force pas à faire une ouverture si tu n’as pas d’idée pertinente ou que tu manques de temps. Évidemment, si tu as bien préparé tes documents à l’avance, il est aussi judicieux de prévoir des ouvertures types ! À la clef de précieux points gagnés !

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PRENDRE UN COURS GRATUIT

Exemples de thèmes à aborder pour “Spaces and Exchanges” à l’expression orale d’anglais 😎

Tu as sûrement abordé en cours un ou plusieurs des thèmes suivants :

Trade
Migration
Globalization

Voici quelques exemples tirés de manuels de Terminale pour te guider :

Trade

US-Chinese trade evolution
UK-EU trade since 2016
EU-US trade since 2010

Migration 🕊

The study of Ellis Island from 1900 to 1950
African-Americans in the US nowadays
The US-Mexican border, illegal immigration, and Trump
Chinese students moving to the US
The effect of Brexit on British immigration

Globalization 🌍

The power of Google and Google using personal data
The relevance of social networks on globalization

💡 Si ces thèmes ne sont pas abordés par ton cours, tu pourras toujours les utiliser en ouverture ! Attention à bien maîtriser le contexte de ton ouverture pour ne pas te faire piéger pendant les questions…

Vocabulary : Trade 🤑

a competitor : un concurrent, un rival
fierce / unfair competition : concurrence acharnée /déloyale
a skill, an ability : une compétence
tough : coriace
sophisticated
to outwit : se montrer plus malin que
an ethical issue : un problème éthique
to have a guilty conscience : avoir mauvaise conscience
to manipulate : manipuler
to eliminate : éliminer, écarter
to avoid : éviter
to prohibit, to ban : bannir, interdire
to appeal against a decision : faire appel
peaceful : pacifique
provocative : provocateur
to target : viser
to be successful : être prospère, fructueux
a borderless world : un monde sans frontières
the global economy : l’économie mondiale
overseas trade : le commerce extérieur
free trade : le libre échange
deregulation : la déréglementation
to deregulate the airline industry : déréglementer le transport aérien
the balance of trade : la balance commerciale
the free flow of goods : la libre circulation des marchandises
to develop : se développer
to industrialize : s’industrialiser
an emerging country/economy : un pays/une économie émergent(e)
an exporter/an importer : un exportateur/un importateur
the exchange rate : le taux de change
to set up a factory : implanter une usine
a supplier : un fournisseur
to settle abroad : s’implanter à l’étranger
working conditions : les conditions de travail
production / wage costs : les coûts de production / salariaux

a character, a symbol : un signe, un symbole
a district : un quartier
an outfit : une tenue
to assimilate into : s’assimiler à (une société)
to blend in : s’intégrer
to stand out : se démarquer
citizenship : citoyenneté
a gathering, a meeting : un rassemblement, une réunion
naturalization ceremony : cérémonie de naturalisation
oath of allegiance : serment d’allégeance
to take an oath : prêter serment
foreign-born : étranger
to apply for citizenship : demander la nationalité
to entice somebody to do sth : entraîner qqn à faire qqch
to pledge allegiance to a nation : prêter serment envers la nation (US)
disdain, contempt : dédain
disdainful, contemptuous : dédaigneux, méprisant
sense of belonging : sens d’appartenance
infuriated, angry : être furieux
to laugh at somebody, to make fun of somebody : se moquer de qqn
to turn one’s nose up at something : faire fi de qqch
estrangement, separation : l’éloignement, la distanciation
heritage, legacy : l’héritage, le patrimoine
to escape from a country, to flee a country (in search of sth) : fuir un pays
customs : douanes
to be ashamed of : être honteux
to disavow something : renier qqch
to encapsulate : intégrer
to introspect : introspecter
hardships : épreuves
the open sea : le grand large
to be courageous/brave : être courageux
to be determined : être déterminé
a work permit : un permis de travail
a temporary worker : un intérimaire
to appoint sb to a post : nommer qqn à un poste

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