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Teaching EFL/ESL using ads

Here's an idea that I used today in the Proficiency class as a warm up exercise for a listening activity based around advertising. For this you'll need some magazines or newspapers, ideally one for each student.

Lesson plan

1 Give out the magazines and explain to students that there are going to look at the ads in order to find out who reads the publication. The idea is that advertisers choose ones that most reflect the interests and views of their target audience.

2 Now ask them to guess the typical reader's based on the ads the magazine etc. has.

age
gender
education
income
occupation interests/hobbies

3 Students then discuss their answers with their partner, using various ads to prove their point.

4 Elicit answers from the class.

5 Play the section from the cassette.

Although the TeachIt site is aimed at British students, it is a wonderful place to find interesting exercises that you can do with with FCE (b2 level) and post FCE (c1 and c2 level) students. With a little linguistic tweaking and/or warm up exercise that head off possible language difficulties, many of the activities make for a wonderful alternative to the dire course books that are usually used at higher levels.

See here for a list of lesson plans (all of which can be printed out!!!) based on advertising. It's the lazy teacher's dream come true. Actually, not really, as the lazy teacher would simply wade through the course book assigned and not bother looking for something else. However, you know what I mean.

And the hits keep on coming !

Create your own tv or radio ads


1 Tell the students about your favourite tv ad e.g. I love the latest
ad from Nova which shows a Greek cop chasing a a chicken thief
through a village. He finally catches up with the guy, and then
starts reading him his Miranda rights (in English).

The slogan is that the some people are glued to Nova.

2 Ask students to describe their favourite tv ad to each other.

3 The students then discuss the following questions;

What makes an ad successful ?
Apart from selling something, what else do ads want to achieve ?

4 Elicit answers. Write them on the board.

5 Show students three or four ads in English on video
(alternatively pin up ads on the board).

6 Are they successful according to the criteria we set
out in (5)? How could they be improved ?

5 Tell students that they're going to create their own radio
or tv ads. Divide students into groups of three or four.They
then decide what product or service they want to advertise.

6 Explain to students that they are going to write a script
for a 30 second radio/tv spot.Emphasise the fact that it has
to be 30 second exactly.Students then write and rehearse
their ads.

7 Record students using a cassette recorder (for you old
skoolers!!), mobile phone, mp3 player, digital camera (for
the low tech Hitchcock wannabe's)or a video camera (for
that full - blown Dolby home cinema experience).Pop corn is optional.

8 Play them to the other students who suggest ways in
which the ads can be improved.

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