In this conversation lesson, students learn vocabulary about consumer protection laws and discuss the topic in small groups. Teach the vocabulary and then have students do the conversation questions in groups.
Vocabulary
Recommended terms to teach:
consumer protection laws
legislation
regulatory agencies
product safety
safety standards, inspections, audits, product testing, product certification, labeling laws, product warnings, hazardous products, recall, banned products
anti-trust laws/competition law (British)
monopolies, monopolization, cartel, price gouging, price fixing
laws against misrepresentation
whistle-blower laws
privacy laws
banking laws
debt collection laws, lending laws
Conversation Questions
1. What regulatory agencies are there in your country? What are their objectives?
2. What types of products are banned in your country? Why are they banned? Are any unusual products banned? Why? Which product bans do you agree with? Which product bans do you disagree with? Tell your group about it.
3. Think of the company you currently work for. What type of consumer protection laws does your company have to be aware of? How do these laws affect your company? Explain to your group.
4. Does your country have anti-trust laws? Can you think of any well-known examples of companies violating anti-trust laws? In general, how do you feel about anti-trust laws? Do you think they are in the people’s best interest? Discuss with your group.
5. What type of products do you know that have product warnings? What do they product warnings say? Do you think these product warnings are necessary? What type of products do you think should have warnings? Do you think some product warnings are unnecessary? Which ones? Discuss with your group.
6. Does your country have whistle-blower laws?
7. Can you think of any companies that had to issue a recall for a product? What happened? What are some things a company should do if they have to recall a product? What are some things that companies should avoid doing if they have to recall a product?
8. Does your country have any lending laws in place (such as maximum levels of interest on credit cards and loans)? Tell your group about them.
Also see these business English conversation lessons.