Working With Authentic Videos 6a6a1o

IES en Lenguas Vivas JRF Teacher Training Course

Materials Design Guided by Ma. Laura García

Working with authentic videos – Film English: Coca Cola Ad (@http://film-english.com/2013/10/07/coca-cola-ad/) The topics that this plan includes are eating habits, free time activities, social relationships and, overall, lifestyles. The materials and resources used are a Cola Cola Ad in which both our grandparents’ and our lifestyles are compared and contrasted, and a press release put through by Coca Cola explaining the reasons and purpose of such ad. The vocabulary items that are included are those of food and lifestyle, and topics such as comparatives and tenses are also worked on. As far as skills are concerned, all four language skills are worked on all throughout: students watch and listen to an ad, read a press release, write their own conclusions on the matter as well as a letter to Coca Cola, and are asked to debate and share ideas at all times (speaking). Furthermore, students work on other skills as selecting materials and arguments, comparing and contrasting different sources and inputs, analysing the contents of an ad (purpose, values transmitted, target audience, effectiveness of the ad, etc.), working in pairs and in groups as well as individually, sharing ideas in an orderly manner, and drawing out conclusions. They also have to make inferences and resort to previous discussions: for instance, in “Step 6” students are asked to apply what has been discussed about the values Coca-Cola generally wants to transmit (“Step 3”), and think of the ones that are specifically tackled in this ad. Most importantly, the main skill that is developed in this lesson is critical thinking: students are asked to analyse the ad and to comment on the veracity of the message they are putting through: is it really that way? Should a drink like Coca Cola be part of a healthy diet? Students are asked to think critically and go beyond the surface of the ad: they have to analyse what they are being told and decide whether they agree or not in spite of liking or not the ad or the beverage. The level that is specified in the lesson plan is Intermediate (B1) and UpperIntermediate (B2). It is suitable for such levels, and I believe it could also be worked on at a Pre-Intermediate level with a little less insight and depth. Furthermore, I consider this topic to be very suitable for my teaching context (although I am not currently teaching any Pre/Upper/Intermediate students) because of two reasons: on the one hand, food and lifestyles are usually, in one way or another, part of any syllabus, and trying to foment healthy habits is a sound way of introducing such topics (especially in contexts and age groups in which physical appearance is somewhat an issue); on the other hand, the eating and working habits shown in the “Today” frame are much the lifestyle my students and I have and see our parents

Assignment #7

LEONARD, Paula Ma. (ID# 32151356)

IES en Lenguas Vivas JRF Teacher Training Course

Materials Design Guided by Ma. Laura García

have, too, and thus, it would be a nice way to raise awareness and have the students reflect on the lifestyle they would like to have. What’s more, I believe this lesson would get any student pretty much engaged and motivated: because it has authentic material that they might have seen on TV and that is “light” and easy to watch and read, because it is appealing, because it has a lot of pair and group work that make it dynamic, because there are different resources and formats employed, because students are asked to do several small tasks that guide them to the final task, because students’ personal views and opinions are elicited all the time so they become involved, and because it is a message coming from Coca Cola which is both a company they might look up to and associate with “nice” feelings, and also is very much part of their lives. What should be taken into before using this material is: a) the teacher should get very well acquainted with Coca Cola’s image, values and vision, which are issues tackled throughout the lesson, and should also make sure that what is said in the ad about past lifestyles is accurate, b) some students might have already seen the ad, for which we should first say that, if they have, they still should pay close attention to every detail because there are tasks to carry out afterwards; and c) some students might not know much about their grandparents’ lifestyles. In order to work on this point, I would change the first step in the lesson plan and, some time earlier in the week, I would send the students home with all three questions and have them interview their grandparents or parents (as there might be some students whose grandparents are no longer alive or present), and look for reliable information to work with later on. Likewise, I would modify the last point and have them write an email rather than a letter to Coca Cola (even when a letter would be suitable in this case, but an email would be much more alluring for teenage students, which is the target student I have in mind). Nonetheless, I think this lesson plan is very interesting and quite complete, and I would certainly use it in my class.

Assignment #7

LEONARD, Paula Ma. (ID# 32151356)