Chapter 3: Permission, Prohibitions, and Obligations
Introduction
Watch this chapter’s video. It takes place at a police station. Notice how Roshan and Constable Mills adjust how they speak to people they have just met when they talk about rules and obligations.
Focus Questions 
In this chapter, Roshan and Claire each talk with people they are just getting to know. Roshan also has a conversation with his mother. In every dialogue, the characters exchange ideas about what they think is the right way to do things. Family customs and social conventions guide them. In addition, Roshan and Claire deal with more formal rules written for large groups or for all of society.
1. Recycling is common in many communities. People put empty bottles and cans in recycling bins. Recycling is an obligation and, in some places, a rule.
| Imagine that the people below put an empty bottle in a garbage bin instead of a recycling bin. Would you say anything to change their behaviour? | If so, write the words you would say to get the people to put the bottle in the recycling bin. If you wouldn’t say anything, leave the space blank. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | A long-time friend visiting your home | |
| 2. | A new friend visiting your home | |
| 3. | A stranger on the street | |
| 4. | Your parent visiting your home | |
| 5. | Your teenage child in your home | |
| 6. | A friend’s new significant other who is in your home for the first time | |
| 7. | Your in-laws visiting your home | |
Use a checkmark 
to show who you learn the following rules from. You can check more than one box.
| Who do you learn these “rules” from? | Your family | Your culture | Our society | The government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | You should or shouldn’t borrow money from friends. | ||||
| 2. | You can’t park here unless you have a handicap parking permit. | ||||
| 3. | You mustn’t leave food or garbage out at your campsite. | ||||
| 4. | You should or shouldn’t make eye contact with people when speaking with them. | ||||
| 5. | You shouldn’t give advice to people you don’t know. | ||||
| 6. | You must ask before you use someone else’s cellphone. | ||||
| 7. | You cannot say “no” directly | ||||
| 8. | You have to lock your vehicle’s doors. | ||||
2. Decide whether relationships change how you communicate about rules and obligations.
Read the descriptions on the left and the right.
Count how many points are most true for you.
Place a 
on the dot closest to the way you communicate rules and obligations. 
| Fair rules are the same for everyone and every situation. I follow the same rules with everyone. Rules are not personal. The more important the rule is, the more direct I will be. To avoid conflict, I’m comfortable telling people if they aren’t following the rules. |
To be fair, rules and obligations change depending on the person, the context, and the relationship. I adjust the rules depending on the person. Rules are personal. The more distant, important, or delicate a relationship is, the softer or more indirect I will be. To avoid conflict, I might not say anything if someone breaks a rule. |
Objectives
In this chapter, we will
- recognize how obligations affect formality and directness
- compare how speakers communicate personal or impersonal obligations in talking and writing
- identify rules (formal obligations) and social conventions that are personal or impersonal
- look for patterns in communication when speakers or writers try to obligate others to follow rules
- adjust how we speak and write to announce, discuss, or enforce rules.
You will build your language skills in
- vocabulary through synonyms, word families or cognates, and paraphrasing
- accuracy through grammar practice with imperative and modal verbs, and pronunciation of contracted and non-contracted words
- fluency through writing and speaking tasks related to permission, prohibition, and obligation
- interpreting the meaning of context clues, symbols, and formatting in official documents
