Урок английского языка "Is Television a Blessing or a Curse and a Time Waster?"

Good morning, dear students.

Have you ever wondered why television is so popular nowadays?

I hope at least some of you have.

Maybe because it is a wonderful way to relax and to switch off from every day problems? Or maybe because it is a great invention? Or may be both?

It goes without saying that television is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. But as any great invention it can be misused. So, what is television? Is it a blessing or a curse and a time waster? Today we’ll try to answer this question.

If we ask a child, a teenager, or an adult if he can do without TV he will honestly be surprised at the question. Everyone seems to have a favourite daily programme.

I. Warm-up (slide 2)

1. What are your favourite programmes? Why?
2. What qualities do you look for in a television programme?
3. What are the programmes that appeal to specific age groups?
4. What are advantages and disadvantages of TV?

That was good.

II. Say what you think about these statements. Give your opinion. (Slide 3)

1. Television may be the cause of many disputes and conflicts in the family.
2. Television is a terrible waste of time.
3. Some people say that television kills conversation.
4. Television makes people argue and discuss things, think and talk more.
5. We can’t do without TV nowadays.

Thank you for your ideas. It was a real pleasure to listen to you.

III. Listening

Now let’s listen to the other people’s opinions.

Open Practice Exams Papers for the Russian National Exam,Test 8 (O. Afanasyeva, V. Evans, V. Kopylova. Practice Exams Papers for the Russian National Exam.)

Let’s do task1. You will listen to the text once . Match the statements to the speakers.

Put the number of your correct answers in your paper. We’ll need them a bit later.

As you see, no two minds think alike. People have different preferences. But nevertheless the next recording will evoke the same feelings and emotions.

Ex.12 p.51 (Е.Н. Соловова, И.Е. Солокова State Exam Maximiser. Подготовка к экзаменам. 2007)

Let’s listen to the BBC news and decide whether these sentences are true or false. You will have 15seconds to read the task.

Let’s check your answers.

Put the number of the correct answers in your papers.

Sum up your results of Listening1 and Listening 2.

If you have12 or 13 points your mark is excellent,

If 9-11 correct answers you have a good mark, 7-8 you deserve a satisfactory mark. 6 and less correct answers is not good at all. You should practise more then.

So you have listened to the BBC news.

What is TV in that case?

Possible answer: The TV screen is usually full of stressful news and information and may cause different nervous illnesses. In that case TV is a curse.

IV. Use of English

Nowadays there is a lot of politics on TV. Political talk shows usually have serious discussions on home and foreign affairs and teach people to understand how the world develops. They are especially popular during the pre-election period.

We are going to read a text about it.

But first change the form of the words in capitals without paying attention to the text.

Change the form of the words:

1. Discuss
2. Politics
3. Journal
4. Ridicule
5. Believe
6. Power
7. Convince ­
8. Communicate
9. Inform
10. Humour

Possible answers :

1. Discuss – discussive, discuss, discussion, discusser
2. Politics ­– politician, political, politically
3. Journal – journalism, journalist, journalistic
4. Ridicule – ridiculous, ridiculously, ridiculousness
5. Believe – belief, disbelief, unbelievable
6. Power – powerful, powered, powerless
7. Convince ­– convincing, unconvincing, convincingly
8. Communicate – communicator, communication, communicative
9. Inform - informed, uninformed, information, misinform
10. Humour – humorous, humorously, humorless

So, let’s do Ex.I, p.51 (Grammar and Vocabulary) Slide 4

Do you share the opinion of the author about politicians?

V. School Video (Приложение 1)

I hope that School TV is also familiar to everyone. Now let’s watch a film made by our students Kate Sinitsina and July Misyurova, my special thanks to you, girls, and answer the question:

Is Television a Blessing or a Curse and a Time Waster for education?

Possible answers: It’s useless to deny that education benefits greatly from television. It stirs the attention of a student and brings fun and excitement into school routine.

Education is more efficient and enjoyable thanks to TV.

So, TV is a blessing at school.

VI. Home Video

And what about home TV? It’s also wide-spread in our every day life.

Let’s watch the extracts from the films which are rendered by Kirill Khrushchyov and Ivan Babkin.

I hope you will appreciate their first attempts in their hobby: making films for Home television.

Is Home Television a Blessing or a Curse and a Time Waster?

Possible answer: In my opinion Home TV is a blessing.

It helps us to realize our dreams, for example to be a star, to make films about our life, our funny pets.

VII. Speaking C3 (slide 5)

Open Test 20, Task C3 (O. Afanasyeva, V. Evans, V. Kopylova. Practice Exams Papers for the Russian National Exam.) slide

Possible answers:

I would like to give a 2-minute talk on TV. It is really impossible to imagine our life without TV. My favourite TV programmes are…

(talk shows, soap operas, concerts)

They are really exciting. They help me to relax after a hard-working day. They make my life happier and more exciting.

(news, documentaries)

They inform me about what is happening in the world. They broaden my mind, expand knowledge of the world. So I am becoming a well-rounded person.

Certainly my taste has changed over years as I have changed too. In my childhood I used to watch fairytales. Now I prefer to spend my time on news and on pop music shows.

I have little free time so it is practically impossible to watch TV on week-days. I usually watch TV for 2-3 hours during the weekend. I need to relax after a hard working week.

I think that Russian TV contains a lot of violent scenes which have a negative influence both on adults and children. There are a lot of commercials like beer drinking, smoking which make our population become addicted to bad habits. However, there is a great variety of programmes on TV: news, sport programmes, talk shows and quiz shows, documentaries and action films, wild life programmes and music shows which educate us.

VIII. Speaking C4

You and your friend are discussing which TV programme to choose to watch:

• Miss World;
• Children’s music festival;
• Comedy;
• A political talk show.

Remember to:  

• discuss all the options;
• be polite;
• give good reasons;
• come up with ideas;
• find out your friend’s attitudes and take them into account;
• invite your friend to come up with suggestions;
• come to an agreement.

IX. Conclusion

Today we have spoken a lot about the place of TV in our life.

So, what is television to you: a blessing or a curse and a time waster?

And now look at the screen. (Slide 6)

Let’s read what G. Marx said about Television.

Do you share his opinion?

Thank you for cooperation.

Список сайтов и дополнительной литературы

1. Е.Н. Соловова, И.Е. Солокова State Exam Maximiser. Подготовка к экзаменам. 2007
2. Malcolm Mann. Exam Skills for Russia. Grammar and Vocabulary. 2006
3. O. Afanasyeva, V. Evans, V. Kopylova. Practice Exams Papers for the Russian National Exam.
4. В.М. Павлоцкий. Учебное пособие для 10-11 классов гимназий и школ с углублённым изучением английского языка. Read. Learn. Discuss. New Version.
5. http://yandex.ru/yandsearch?text=g.+marx&lr=1121
6. ABBY Lingvo 12

Презентация