Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 December 2015

The Perfect Match? How is technology affecting our relationships?

You are going to

  • watch a short film
  • use adjectives to describe personality
  • discuss relationships 
  • discuss technology 
  • watch and discuss a short film


Note these are discussion activities for a speaking class based around a short 8 minute silent film called "97%"
(The film provoked considerable discussion when I used it in my FCE / CAE / CPE classes...)







Before you watch
A) Discuss personality
  • Why do friends get on well with each other?
  • How would you describe yourself to other people?
  • Physically - choose any 3 words - eg tall, brunette, fair, dark-skinned, brown-eyed etc
  • Personality - choose 5 words from the list below



  • Who else in class has chosen the same words as you?





B) Discuss relationships
  • How many of the personality adjectives above would you look for in a partner?
  • Are you in a relationship? Do you have a partner/ boyfriend / girlfriend or are you married?
  • What is a "perfect match" in a relationship? Is your partner a perfect match for you? Do "perfect matches" exist? Is personality important when choosing a partner?
  • What do you look for in a partner?
  • Would you accept a 50% match?




C) Discuss technology
  • Do you have a smartphone?
  • What do you use it for?
  • Do you use social media (facebook, instragram, twitter)?
  • What apps do you use?
  • Are you addicted to it?






D) Watch
Watch the film below
What do you think the 97% in the title refers to?



97% (Short film) from Ben Brand on Vimeo.






E) After you watch - Discuss the film
  • What do you think is the "message" of the film?
  • Do you agree with it? Why / why not?
  • What is the most important scene in the film? Why?
  • What do you think is the man's attitude towards a) his phone? b) romantic relationships? c) other people? d) life?
  • Do you think technology is changing the way we relate to each other? Can you give any examples from your own experience?
  • Do you think using a phone app or a dating site is a good way to find a partner?
  • Do you think technology will play an increasing role in our relationships and behaviour?






F) Write 
Choose 1

A) Write a review of the film discussing the film's ideas.

Plan
Introduction

  • What is the name of the film? 
  • What kind of film is it?
  • What is the message of the film?
  • Give a short (1 or 2 sentences) summary of the story. Do not give spoilers.

Main text

  • Discuss the message of the film?
  • Which scene best illustrates its message?
  • Discuss the importance, prevalence and role of technology in our lives, our possible addiction to it and the effect it may be having on us and our relationships with each other.

Conclusion

  • What is your opinion of the film's ideas and message?




B) "Our relationship with technology is having a damaging effect on the way we relate to each other." To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Plan
Introduction (3 sentences)

  • Introduce the subject - modern technology 
  • Introduce the idea to be discussed - our relationship with it.
  • Introduce the question - What exactly are the effects it may be having on us?


Main text

  • Discuss at least 3 examples of technology affecting our relationships or behavior. Give pros and cons. Support your ideas with specific examples.


Conclusion.
What is your opinion? Do you agree with the statement? Can you summarize your ideas in one sentence?







More

  • What is beauty? Adjectives, Beauty, Crossword, Describing a person, Elementary, Fashion, Food, Health, IELTS, Intermediate, Life in the UK
  • Miss Devine Describing a person, Intermediate, Listening, Miss Devine, Past Habits,Upper Intermediate, Would  
  • Are you always on your phone? Advanced, CAE, FCE, IELTS, Intermediate, Listening, Technology, Upper Intermediate, Writing, Writing an argument, Writing introductions for argument essays
  • Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology

    Sunday, 23 November 2014

    Writing An Article - "The Amazon Echo"

    You are going to 
    • watch an advertisement
    • answer some questions
    • discuss technology
    • write an article / review



    Discuss
    • What computer technology do you have / use?
    • What activities do we use ICT (information and communication technology) for?
    • What is your favourite device / app / website / online activity?



    Watch
    Watch the commercial for the Amazon Echo below
    Answer
    • What does it do?
    • What questions do people ask?
    • Would you like one?



    Answers
    How many of the questions can you answer?
    Highlight below
    What is it?
    Is it for me?
    How's it going?
    Is it on?
    Can it hear me right now?
    What does it do?
    What time is it?
    Is that where we are going to put it?
    How tall is Mount Everest?
    How can it know so much?
    How many teaspoons are in a table spoon?
    What day is it?
    What does a dog say after a long day at work?
    How do you spell "cantaloupe"?





    Discuss
    1. What is it? How would you describe it one word?
    2. What does it do? Give a summary of what it does in one sentence.
    3. Is it important? Will it be popular? Why?
    4. Is it useful? What are the advantages of having this product? Give 5 examples of the most important / useful things it does.
    5. Does it have any drawbacks / disadvantages / negative aspects? Can you think of any problems it might have?
    6. What do you think of it? Would you buy one? Do you think the Amazon Echo will be useful / popular? Could you use it to learn English?
    Answers
    Highlight below
    1. A device called the Amazon Echo
    2. It answers questions and performs a number of tasks
    3. Student opinions
    4. Student ideas - eg It answers questions, tells jokes, plays music, is an alarm clock and takes shopping orders ...
    5. Arguments between family members? Privacy concerns? Is it listening to you? What does it know about you? Can it be hacked into?
    6. Student opinions




    Write
    Write an article about the Amazon Echo (150 - 180 words)
    Plan your writing
    1. How many paragraphs will you use?
    2. You can use your answers to the questions above to help you. How would you organize your answers into paragraphs?
    Highlight below for answers
    4 Paragraphs
    Paragraph 1 = questions 1,2,and 3
    Paragraph 2 = question 4
    Paragraph 3 = question 5
    Paragraph 4 = question 6




    Read
    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/with-amazons-echo-you-are-never-alone/

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2014/11/11/amazon-echo-what-you-need-to-consider-before-buying/



     
    More
    • Are you always on your phone? Advanced, CAE, FCE, IELTS, Intermediate, Listening, Technology, Upper Intermediate, Writing, Writing an argument, Writing introductions for argument essays
    • Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology

    Monday, 26 May 2014

    Are the machines taking over?

    You are going to 
    • discuss our relationship with technology
    • listen to a BBC radio clip about automation and do a comprehension activity
    • look at the future continuous



    1) Discuss
    • How many machines, devices and gadgets do you use every day?
    • What is artificial intelligence?
    • What is automation?
    • How many automated processes or tasks can you think of?
    • When can you hear an automated voice?
    • Do you prefer to pay at a self-service check-outs or a normal one when you go shopping?
    • Do you think automation is a good thing?
    • Do you think machines will replace human workers?
    • Are machines getting smarter?
    • What relationship will humans have with machines and technology in the future?
    • Will we be living and working with robots in the future?




    2) Listen.
    Listen to this clip from BBC Radio 4's "Today" on "The rise of automated machines." 
    A) Take notes.What do you learn about the following?
    • The number of self-service check-outs in Britain
    • The earliest automated machine
    • The importance of automation to business
    • Intelligent machines




    B) Listen again and do the quiz.

    Printable worksheet here




    3) Discuss
    How will we be living in the future?
    Practise the Future Continuous
    Look at the presentation and discuss the pictures.







    4) Discuss
    • How do you see the future? Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
    • Do you think the widespread use of technology has risks for humanity?
    • Should we be careful about how technology is affecting our lives?
    • Do you agree that in the future "The machines replacing humans might end up being better at being human that we are"?
    • Do you think machines will replace humanity or radically transform us? 




     5) Write
    Choose one

    • We live in an age of technological revolution. How is technology affecting our lives today and should we be fearful of the effects it will have on life in the future?
    • We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in businesses, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of their benefits? Use specific details and examples in your answer (IELTS).
     



    More
    • Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology




    Monday, 4 November 2013

    Who was the world's first online shopper?

    You are going to 
    • discuss shopping online
    • practise listening
    • look at and practise technology vocabulary

    Note - activities in this post are level differentiated and can be used with students from pre-intermediate to upper intermediate levels.The final gap-fill and crossword are aimed at upper intermediate students.
    You will hear the following vocabulary.



    Discuss 
    You are going to watch a video about the first person to shop online.

    • Do you ever shop online?
    • What do you buy online?
    • What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping online?
    • Who do you think was the first person to buy something online?
    • Do you think it was a man or a woman?
    • How old do you think he / she was?
    • What do you think he / she bought?
    • When do you think it happened? Where?






    Watch
    Watch the video and find out if you are right.







    Discuss
    • Does anything in the story surprise you?
    • Why do you think Mrs Snowball is called a "silver surfer"?





    Practise 
    1) Watch again and do the matching exercise.



     

    2) Quiz - Answer the questions.





    3) Do the vocabulary matching exercise.





    4) Read the summary and do the gap fill exercise



    5) Gap fill of complete transcript here


    6) Crossword of vocabulary used here




    Download printable worksheets
    1) Sentence matching exercise here
    2) Listening Quiz here
    3) Vocab matching exercise here
    4) Gap-fill here
    5) Complete transcript gap-fill here
    6) Print Crossword (and answers) here





    Write
    Choose one
    • Write a report about online shopping. Explain how to do it, why people do it and what to be careful of.
    • What are the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping?
    • "Technology has transformed the way we shop and changed the face of our high streets."  To what extent do you agree?





    More



    Friday, 16 August 2013

    Cyber Bullying. How safe are you online?

    You are going to 
    • discuss being safe online and on social network sites
    • listen to a discussion about cyber bullying
    • do a gap fill exercise
    • write a leaflet giving advice to people who use social network sites






    1) Discuss
    There has been a lot of talk recently about the risks of bullying and abuse on social networking sites. The NSPCC says nearly a fifth of children who use them have suffered a negative experience in the last year.
    • Do you enjoy being online?
    • Do you feel safe online?
    • What bad things can happen on the internet?
    • Has anything bad happened to you or anyone you know on the net?
    • What can you do if anything bad happens to you online?
    • What are trolls and what is trolling?
    • What is cyber-bullying? Do you understand the words in the image below?
     







    2) Listen
    This listening clip is from BBC TV.  Dr Radha Modgil from BBC Radio 1’s The Surgery and the blogger Hannah Witton discuss how safe young people feel on the internet.

    A) Listen. Don't worry if you don't understand everything. 
    Answer these questions.
    • What problems do they talk about?
    • What advice do they give?





    B) Now listen again and fill in the gaps in the exercise below.

    Printable worksheet here






    3) Discuss
    • Do you agree with the advice Hannah and Rhada give?
    • Is communication the best solution? Should parents and teenagers discuss these issues more?
    • Do you agree that it the responsibility of parents to find out about the dangers of being online?
    • Do you discuss the dangers of the internet with your friends / parents / children?
    • What can we do about people who post anonymously?






    4) Write
    Using the ideas in the listening and any of your own ideas, write a leaflet giving advice to people who use soial network sites.
    • Think of a title
    • Use headings
    • Think about the kind of language you could use (modal verbs for advice, conditionals, imperatives, suggestions...)
    • Write an introduction - say who the leaflet is for and why it is necessary
    • Describe some of the problems people can have on social network sites
    • Give some advice / solutions






    More
    Hannah posted about the program on her blog. You can watch it here.
    What does she say most people are like online?








    Similar posts

    Does more technology mean more communication? Communication, Crossword, IELTS, Intermediate, Technology, Upper Intermediate , Writing an argument 
      
    Exposed (CEOP Video - Staying Safe Online) Discussion Activities, Elementary, Exposed - Staying Safe Online, Intermediate, Listening, Present Simple, Writing. Technology

    Sexting: is technology endangering teenagers? Advanced, Discussion Activities, Health and Safety, IELTS, Listening, Sexting, Smartphones, Technology, Upper Intermediate

    Should parents follow their children on facebook? Communication, Connectives, Intermediate, Internet, Linking words, Listening, Social networks, Technology, Upper Intermediate, Writing an argument





    Sunday, 2 June 2013

    CN U TXT? (Texting, language and mobile phones)

    You are going to
    • watch a short video about the history of the mobile phone
    • do a comprehension quiz
    • look at texting in English
    • look at an infographic on the history of the mobile phone
    • discuss and write about language and the possible effects of technology on language







        1) Discuss
        What do you know about the history of the mobile phone?
        • When was the first mobile phone?
        • What did it look like?









        2) Watch the clip
        A) What do you find out about the history of the mobile phone?





        B) Do the quiz
        Answer the questions.
        Watch the film again if you need to.






        3) Practise
        Can you text in English?
        What text abbreviations do you know?
        Can you match the ones below with their correct spelling?








        4) Translate
        Look at the 10 sentences below. They are from the video. What do they mean?
        Can you translate them into "correct" English?





        5) Discuss
        • Do people use abbreviations to send texts in your language?
        • Why do you think people do it??
        • Do you agree it is "degrading spelling" (having a bad effect on people's ability to spell correctly)?
        • Do you think it is important to spell correctly?
        • In your language who decides what is "correct" spelling or grammar?
        • Do you think that text abbreviations will become normal spelling one day?
        • Do you think it is good for a language to change or should it always stay the same?
        • How does language change and why?
        • Are there words which have become fashionable / unfashionable in your language?
        • What exactly is language?
        • Who or what makes a language what it is?
        • Who decides how we communicate?
        • How do we decide what is language and what is not?
        • In the end who has the final say in what is right or wrong when we communicate?





        6) Write
        "Technology is having a negative effect on young people's written language skills".
        To what extent do you agree with this statement?







        7) Read
        Look at the infographic below
        • How many mobile phones are there in the world?
        • Which country has the highest number of phone subscribers?
        • Who holds the record for the fastest typing on a phone?
        • What did she type?
        • How fast can you type it?





        Printable worksheets are here


        More
        How to text in English




        Try these posts
        Are you always on your phone? Advanced, CAE, FCE, IELTS, Intermediate, Listening, Technology, Upper Intermediate, Writing, Writing an argument, Writing introductions for argument essays

        Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology

        More technology means more communication? Communication, Crossword, IELTS, Intermediate, Technology, Upper Intermediate , Writing an argument 






        Sunday, 17 March 2013

        What is the most important innovation of the last 100 years?

        You are going to
        • discuss innovation and invention
        • listen to descriptions of 3 inventions
        • do some comprehension exercises based on the clips
        • do a presentation on your choice for the most important innovation of the last 100 years / take part in a balloon debate






        1) Discuss
        What do you think are the most important innovations or inventions of the last 100 years?
        Make a list and choose 3.
        • Why are they important?
        • Who invented them?
        • What would life be like without them?







        2) Listen
        You are going to listen to three people talk about the innovation they think is the the most important of the last 100 years.
        The choices are taken from http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/






        Tim Berners-Lee
        1) Brian Eno talks about the World Wide Web

        Brian Eno is a musician.
        Why does he think the world wide web is important?

        Click play below to listen





        Now do the gap-fill exercise

        Read more http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/PastInnovations/WorldWideWeb.aspx











        Alexander Flemming
        2) Sir Paul Nurse talks about Penicillin

        Sir Paul Nurse is President of the Royal Society (the UK’s national academy of science) and also a Nobel Laureate.

        Why does he think penicillin is important?

        Click play below to listen






        Now do the sentence matching exercises below.

        Read more http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/PastInnovations/Penicillin.aspx




         






        LEO

        3) Georgina Ferry talks about LEO 
        (the first business computer)

        Georgina Ferry is a science writer.
        Why does she think LEO is important?

        Click play below to listen




        Now answer the questions below.

        Read more http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/PastInnovations/LEOI.aspx





        Printable worksheets here





        3) Read
        Read and vote for the top British Innovation here
        Top British Innovations A - Z

         







        4) Speak
        Activity - Balloon debate. The most important innovation of the last 100 years.
        Choose an invention that you think is the most important and present your argument to the class.
        The class votes for the best one.
        • Introduce yourself
        • Introduce the innovation / invention
        • Give some background detail - Why was the invention needed?
        • Who invented it? How? When? Where?
        • What  effect has it had on modern life?
        • What would life be today without it?
        • Why should your classmates vote for it? 
        You can find some help on presentations here Presentations: How to Present Yourself








        Now try these posts
        Accidental Inventions and Hidden Heroes  FCE, Intermediate, Inventions, Inventors, Listening, Past Continuous, Past Simple, Science, Tenses Review, Upper Intermediate 


        Looking to the Future - Activities and Achievements, Discussion Activities, Future, Future Continuous, Future Perfect, Intermediate, Predictions, Targets, Technology, Upper Intermediate








        Wednesday, 23 January 2013

        Are you always on your phone?

        You are going to
        • listen to someone talking about the advantages and disadvantages of technology and do a gap-fill 
        • practise essay planning
        • write an argument essay 


        Note this post can be used in combination with  Could you live without it?







        1) Discuss
        • Are you always on your phone?
        • How often do you use your phone?
        • What do you use it for?
        • What are the good things and bad things about smartphones?
        • Can you think of any situations when it would be inappropriate to use a phone?
        • Are we addicted to technology now?






        2) Match
        You are going to listen to someone talking about the advantages and disadvantages of technology.
        Before you listen. Look at the exercise below. If you were writing an essay on this subject what would make the best order of sentences?








        3) Listen
        Alison Treharne is talking about technology on BBC Radio Devon.
        According to her;
        • What are the good things?
        • What are the bad things?
        • Does she follow the structure above for talking about the topic?











        4) Listen
        Listen again and fill in the gaps.


        Printable worksheet here






        5) Write 
        Use some of your own ideas and Alison's ideas to answer the question below.
        Remember;
        1. Introduce the topic to be discussed.
        2. Explain the topic to be discussed
        3. Restate the question in you own words (what are you going to tell us about?)
        4. Give some advantages and disadvantages
        5. Support your ideas with some specific examples of advantages and disadvantages
        6. Give you conclusion (you can restate the question and give an an opinion)


        "Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology. In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships that people make? Has this been a positive or negative development?"
        (IELTS - 250 words) 







        Read
        Mobile phones are ruining relationships
        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9714616/Mobile-phone-addiction-ruining-relationships.html





        More
        Now try these posts
        • Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology


        Thursday, 27 September 2012

        Sexting: is technology endangering teenagers?

        You are going to
        • listen to a radio debate on teenagers and technology
        • discuss the dangers and benefits of new technologies
        • do a sentence matching exercise
        • prepare and write an IELTS style question on the subject





        1) Discuss
        • Should teenagers  be prevented from using new technologies or should they be trusted to develop their self-awareness of the dangers of modern gadgets?
        • How can teenagers be protected or protect themselves?




        2) Listen

        "Bringing Up Britain"
        Mariella Fostrup is joined by a panel of child protection experts and commentators to debate
        the dangers and benefits of raising ‘digital kids’. Sexting, using a smartphone to send indecent images to others, is a particular worry to parents of teenagers. Mariella asks whether teenagers should be prevented from using these technologies or whether they should be trusted to develop their self-awareness of the dangers of modern gadgets.

        In the first episode of the new series of Bringing Up Britain, Mariella is joined by Professor Tanya Byron, Professor Lydia Plowman, Julie Johnson, Helen King (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) and Professor Sonia Livingstone.


        Listen to the clip
        • What ideas are suggested to protect teenagers from danger?




        Also on audioboo http://audioboo.fm/boos/969034-sexting-is-technology-endangering-teenagers





        3) Match the sentences
        Look at the exercise below
        Match the beginnings and ends of the sentences. Listen again if you need to.



        Printable worksheet here




        4) Discuss
        • Which of the above ideas do you agree / disagree with?




        5) Write
        Choose 1
        1) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "New advances in technology are doing more harm than good to teenagers". Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. (IELTS - 250 words)


        2) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "The internet is a danger to teenagers and acces to it should be strictly controlled". Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. (IELTS - 250 words)






        6) More
        Staying Safe Online - Exposed video
        http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/staying-safe-online-exposed-ceop-video.html

        Should parents follow their children on facebook?
        http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/should-parents-follow-their-children-on.html

        Does more technology mean more ommunication?
        http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/does-more-technology-mean-more.html



        Sunday, 13 May 2012

        What do you know about YouTube?

        You are going to
        • watch a video and read text in the video
        • look at an infographic about YouTube
        • do some quiz comprehension activities
        • practise reading quickly / scanning for information
        • practise the past




        Discuss
        • What do you know about YouTube?
        • Do you use it?
        • What do you watch on it? 
        • What is your favourite clip?
        • Have you ever uploaded a clip to YouTube? 
        • Have you ever been "Rickrolled"? What does it mean?


        Vocabulary check
        Drag and drop to match the words on the left with the definitions on the right




        Watch
        Watch the video and answer the questions.
        • Who founded YouTube?
        • What gave them the idea to start the site?
        • When was the first YouTube video uploaded?
        • How many people use the site?




        Quiz
        How much can you remember from the video?
        Do this quiz.




        Read
        Read the text below about the history of YouTube from 2005 to 2010. Don't worry if you don't understand everything. Find the answers as quickly as you can.
        You can answer the questions in the interactive exercise below

        Find out
        1. When did YouTube officially launch?
        2. How much did Google buy YouTube for?
        3. Which Queen has her own channel?
        4. Which famous rock band performed live on Youtube?
        5. How long does the average person spend on YouTube?
        6. How many views a day did YouTube have in 2010?
        7. What percentage of internet traffic does YouTube have?
        8. How long was the first video?
        9. What age group uses YouTube the most?
        10. How many languages does Google's Automatic Speech Recognition Technology translate?


        The History of Youtube
        Infographic: The History of Youtube by Infographiclabs


        Now answer the questions

        Printable version here

        Write / Research
        What's your favourite webpage on the internet?
        Write a short paragraph about it.
        Intro
        • What is it? 
        • What can you do on it? 
        • Are there other websites like it?

        Find out
        • Who founded it?
        • Why?
        • How old is it? When was it launched?
        • Is it popular? How much traffic does it have?
        Conclusion
        Give you opinion of it. Say what's special about it



        More
        What are the most watched clips on YouTube?
        Can you guess any?

        Watch the clip below
        • How many clips have you already seen?
        • What activities are the people doing?





        Monday, 2 April 2012

        Should parents follow their children on facebook?

        You are going to
        • discuss social networks
        • listen to some teenagers discussing social networks
        • listen to some teenagers and parents talking about their online relationships and order their comments
        • look at some language used for writing - connectives
        • write a discursive essay on the topic




        1) Discuss
        • Do you use any social networks?
        • Why do people use them?
        • What do you do on them?
        • What effect do you think they have on people?
        • Do they change how you think about other people?
        • Do they make people happy?





        2) Listen
        An American study suggests that social media can affect your thinking about other people. VOA Learning English talked to some young people to find out what they thought

        Questions
        Researchers at Utah Valley University wanted to explore if the amount of time spent on Facebook affected how users saw others.
        • What questions did they ask college students?
        • What did they find?
        • Do you think it's true?
        • What does Tod Kashdan say is important to do?


        Answers - Highlight here = They asked college students if other people have better and happier lives. And, how long they had used the website and how many hours a week they spend following Facebook friends. The study found students who were more involved with Facebook were more likely to think other people's lives were happier.
        Tod Kashdan says it is important to live your own life.






        3) Discuss
        Should parents to follow their children's activities on social network sites? Why / Why not?
        Are you "friends" with your parents / children?







        4) Listen
        Students from around the UK told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about how involved their parents get in their social media lives.
        They discussed whether parents should be "friends" on sites like Facebook, and how much privacy they were allowed.

        Answer
        • How many of the comments are by parents / teenagers?
        • Do they think being "friends" is a good idea?


        Click play to listen

        School Report is an annual BBC project which helps young people make their own news reports for a real audience. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/17388168






        5) Put the comments in order
        Read the comments below. Listen again and put them in the order you hear by choosing a number form the drop-down menu.




        6) Informal expressions
        These common informal expressions have been edited out
        ... and stuff... 
         ...it's like...  it's kind of like sort of...
        I'm like...

        What do they mean?
        Highlight = for answers 
        ... and stuff...   = etc 
         ...it's like...  it's kind of like sort of... = describing something 
        I'm like... = can be used like reported speech eg I'm like "Leave me alone!" or describe feelings eg I'm like so angry / happy...






        7) Discuss
        "If you post something that your mum won't be happy with then it's really not suitable"
        • What kind of things do you think are suitable to post on a social network?
        • What are the dangers of posting unsuitable material?





        8) Writing / Connectives
        If we are speaking we use quite informal language. However if we are writing we should use more formal expressions. Look at these connectives / linking words.

        ESSAY WRITING LANGUAGE
        Don’t forget to have an introduction
        Introduce the topic and question

        ORGANISING POINTS
        Firstly
        Furthermore
        In addition
        ANALYSIS
        So
        Therefore
        That is why
        As a consequence
        As a result of this / that
        CONTRAST
        However
        Nevertheless
        On the other hand
        GENERALIZING
        In general
        Generally
        On the whole
        GIVING EXAMPLES
        For example
        For instance
        OPINION
        It’s my opinion that…
        It seems to me that...
        I agree that...
        I am convinced that...
        It seems obvious to me that...
        CONCLUSION
        Finally
        To sum up
        When all is said and done
        After careful thought we can see that...
        It can be seen that...
        In conclusion



        Fill in the gaps with the connectives shown

        Printable versions here





        9) Read and discuss
        Look at the information below.

        • How many parents send a friend request to their kids?
        • What do they look at on facebook?
        • What else do they look at?
        • Do you find any of the statistics surprising?

        Vocabulary
        Keep tabs = follow
        Snooping = spying
        nosy =  curiosity about other people's affairs.


        Parents on Facebook

        Courtesy of: Online Schools






        10) Write
        "Children and teenagers are vulnerable on social networks and many are on facebook without their parents' permission" 
        To what extent do you agree with this statement? Do you think it is justified for parents to follow their children's activities or is it an invasion of privacy?
        Give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience.





        More
        More Connectives http://www.english-at-home.com/grammar/linking-words/

        More reading
        http://www.safetyweb.com/social-networking-safety-tips

        Quiz. Are you addicted to facebook?
        http://theoatmeal.com/quiz/facebook_addict/go

        More on writing arguments and linking words
        http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/could-you-live-without-it.html





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