Learning English through Popular Culture

Practical Demonstration 2 Angles and Mangles (Advertising)
Timing / Interaction / Procedure / Materials
5 mins / Teacher leading from the front / 1 Introduction
Tell sts. they are going to watch something and they should think about what it is. Play Levi’s video. Ask ‘was that a film? A TV show?’ (= no). Elicit advert/commercial. Show word stress and drill. / Levi jeans video from internet
10 mins / Small groups/pairs / 2 Initial text analysis
(Handout 1: Q 1a) Hand out laminated copies of old ads for students to look at and they discuss in groups what each is selling and how direct the messages are, then fill in table. F/b with the whole class, referring to and explaining advertising techniques cards on board: Metaphors / Celebrity endorsement / sex appeal / aspirations / comparisons / directly speaking to the audience / imperatives. / Laminated adverts from the 1940’s/1950’s
Handout 1 p.3
5 mins / Teacher leading from the front / 3 Awareness raising 1 (obvious ad)
(Handout 1: Q 2) Show students very obvious and un-subtle made-up ad and ask them to discuss. Provide sentences starters on board for them to use whilst discussing (e.g. It’s too…; it doesn’t use…). Elicit why this would probably be unsuccessful in today’s society. “What does this tell us about consumers/the general public nowadays?”. Try to elicit that we are more sophisticated and demand more of adverts so advertisers have to work harder to get our attention. / Mock-up advert which is very obvious, eg, ‘buy this product – it’s good’.
5 mins / Teacher leads from front / 4 Dove/Evolution Internet Film (1st viewing)
(Handout 1: Q 3) Introduce internet as a powerful source of information and explain we are going to watch a short video from the internet. DO NOT TELL STUDENTS IT IS AN ADVERT. Ask students to write down words and phrases in the boxes as they watch. Grp f/b: call out words they thought of. / Make sure Dove advert Evolution is ready to run/stream from the internet with sound.
10 mins / Teacher at front; individuals; pairs / 5 Vocabulary work
(Handout 1: Q 4-6) Go through the questions together eliciting what they think the motives are behind this campaign (critical thinking).
Q 7: Show the 1950’s ad & Dove video juxtaposed. Ask Students to select 5 adjectives for each image from the word bank. Use dictionaries if necessary. Pairs f/b. / Handout 1
10 mins / Small grps. / 6 Noticing Activity (1)
Draw attention to the website address and ask students to discuss questions about what associations they make with the word campaign (see dictionary if necessary to establish the different meanings) and the word dove (animal, bird, purity, peace). Then ask students about Dove the company and its products. Ask them to find the Dove product logo on the webpage. / Dove advert Evolution / website www.campaignforrealbeauty.com
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co.uk/#/features/videos/
Ppt. slides 11-16
10-15 mins / Individual; small grps. / 7 Reading and understanding different responses
(Handout 1: Q 10 & 11) Tell Students that the Dove ad caused a lot of discussion & publicity. They read the comments from message boards on handout 1b, then decide if each one is for or against the campaign, and select one they most agree or disagree with. F/b in small grps. This stage is important in providing students with a chance to think critically. / Message board handout 1b
10-15 mins / Pairs / 8 Dove/Evolution Internet Film Ad (2nd viewing)
Show the video again. Afterwards, ask them to look back at their words from q.7 and then in pairs discuss what they now think, knowing that it is an advert. Have their ideas changed? / Handout 1
10 mins / Pairs / 9 Forming one’s own opinion
(Handout 1: Q 11) Ask Students to work in pairs to make their own list of points in favour of and against the campaign.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:
1.  Using the list of points for and against, set up a class discussion/debate.
2.  Using the ‘additional resources’ questions on handout 2, focus more on the language used on the website and the themes raised.