IB DP Language B: Sharing the Planet -- Theme Revision Notes

Sharing the planet is one of the five compulsory themes set out in the full syllabus guide, and – like all five – it is examined through unseen material on Paper 2, so it cannot be safely under-revised relative to the others. These notes go deeper into this theme’s recommended topics and how to prepare for it in the target language, alongside the subject overview and assessment revision notes already on the site.

What this theme actually asks

Sharing the planet explores the challenges and opportunities faced by individuals and communities in the modern world, and asks what environmental and social challenges the world faces, how they might be overcome, and what challenges and benefits globalization brings. Unlike a theme built around personal or cultural experience, this theme leans toward issues and debate, which changes the kind of language you need: opinion, cause-and-effect, and comparison structures matter more here than for a theme like Identities.

Recommended topics and target-language vocabulary to build

• The environment – practise vocabulary for climate, natural resources, conservation and environmental impact, plus opinion language for discussing environmental policy.
• Human rights – practise vocabulary for rights, freedoms, justice and equality, plus the more formal register this topic often calls for.
• Peace and conflict – practise vocabulary for cooperation, negotiation, tension and resolution.
• Equality – practise vocabulary for comparison and contrast (more/less, similarity/difference), since equality-focused texts frequently compare groups, regions or outcomes.
• Globalization – practise vocabulary for cause and effect (because of, as a result, this leads to), since globalization texts often trace chains of consequence across borders.
• Ethics – practise vocabulary for expressing and justifying an opinion or moral position.
• Urban and rural environments – practise vocabulary for comparing settings and describing change over time.

Why comprehension practice matters as much as speaking practice for this theme

Paper 2’s combined 50% weighting for listening and reading comprehension is worth as much as the writing task and internal oral combined, as the full syllabus guide notes – yet revision time tends to default toward speaking and writing output. Sharing the planet is a theme where unseen texts (news reports, opinion pieces, documentary-style audio) are especially likely to appear, since the theme is inherently issue-driven and current-affairs adjacent. Build comprehension practice specifically around authentic or course-level materials discussing environmental, social or global issues in the target language, not just vocabulary lists.

Preparing Paper 1’s writing task for this theme

If a Paper 1 writing prompt draws on Sharing the planet, expect the syllabus’s specified text types (such as a blog post, an article, a formal letter or a report) to require the more formal, argument-structured register this theme often calls for – practising an opinion-based article or a formal letter arguing for a specific environmental or social position, in the target language’s real conventions, is more targeted preparation than only reviewing topic vocabulary in isolation.

Preparing the individual oral around this theme

At SL, the individual oral’s visual stimulus could be an image relevant to any of the five themes, including Sharing the planet – practise describing and discussing an environmental, human-rights or globalization-related image spontaneously in the target language. At HL, if either of your two studied literary works engages with issues from this theme, that connection is worth identifying and preparing explicitly ahead of the assessment.

How to approach it

Because all five themes are compulsory and examined through unseen material, build genuine breadth across Sharing the planet’s seven recommended topics rather than concentrating only on the one or two your class discussed most. Because this theme leans toward opinion, cause-and-effect and comparison language more than some of the other four themes, make sure your target-language toolkit for expressing and justifying a position, and for tracing cause and consequence, is genuinely fluent, not just recognised passively when reading.

Building a topic-specific glossary, not a generic word list

A more effective way to revise this theme’s vocabulary than a flat alphabetical list is to build a small glossary per recommended topic, since exam materials rarely mix vocabulary from unrelated topics within a single unseen extract. For example, an extract on urban and rural environments is far more likely to need vocabulary for change over time and comparison than vocabulary for peace and conflict negotiation. Organising revision this way also mirrors how the theme itself is structured – seven distinct topics under one umbrella – rather than treating “Sharing the planet vocabulary” as one undifferentiated pool.

Worked example: preparing an opinion paragraph

A Paper 1 prompt on this theme might ask you to argue a position on, say, whether individuals or governments bear more responsibility for environmental change. A well-prepared response follows a repeatable structure regardless of the target language:

State the position:     A clear opening statement of the view taken.
Justify with a reason:  A specific, developed reason supporting that
                         position, not a vague generalisation.
Acknowledge the other
side:                   A brief, genuine acknowledgement of the
                         counter-argument, which strengthens rather
                         than weakens the response.
Conclude:                A closing sentence that restates the
                         position in light of the counter-argument
                         just addressed.

Practising this exact four-step shape in the target language, with Sharing the planet content, transfers directly to Paper 1 prompts on any of this theme’s seven topics, since the underlying argumentative structure does not change even though the vocabulary does.

Self-test

1. Name the seven recommended topics within the Sharing the planet theme.
2. Why does this theme lean more heavily on opinion and cause-and-effect language than a theme like Identities might?
3. Why is comprehension practice (listening and reading) worth as much dedicated revision time as speaking and writing practice for this theme specifically?
4. Give one example of a text type Paper 1 might ask you to produce if a prompt draws on this theme.

Answers: 1. The environment, human rights, peace and conflict, equality, globalization, ethics, and urban and rural environments. 2. Because the theme is built around issues, challenges and debate (environmental policy, globalization’s effects, human rights), which are naturally discussed using opinion, comparison and cause-and-effect language more than personal or descriptive language. 3. Because Paper 2’s combined listening and reading weighting (50%) equals the writing task and internal oral combined, and this issue-driven theme is especially likely to appear in unseen news, opinion or documentary-style comprehension material. 4. Any valid example specified by the syllabus, such as a blog post, an article, a formal letter, or a report, arguing or informing on an environmental, social or global issue.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief – Language B, first assessment 2020, (c) 2018 – the same source already cited by the full syllabus guide, which first identified Sharing the planet’s recommended topics.