Unit 3
Building up vocabulary - PART II
Work on the audio and video material.
Identifying and applying expressions used in a discussion.
Practising speaking skills.
Unit 3
In this unit you can continue developing your speaking proficiency. There is interesting audio and video material related to the issue of media you will be working on. This is an opportunity to:
- expand further your vocabulary,
- practice your listening skills in combination with writing,
- work on new audio and video material,
- complete smaller speaking tasks.
Learning outcomes of this unit
You will be able to:
- form your own arguments
- express your opinion by showing agreement / disagreement.
I Work on the audio material.
When taking part in a conversation / discussion it is very important to know how to listen carefully to the other speaker or speakers. Listening to others is a staring point for preparing your reply, your counterarguments.
Improving listening skills is a part of preparing for very good speaking skills. This is why the first part of this unit is devoted to a larger listening exercise.
The audio material you are going to hear consists of 6 exercises based on the spoken text A good story for the news. Exercises 1. – 5. contain vocabulary work: adjective – noun combinations. The exercise 6 deals with the understanding of a spoken text.
1. Do the
During the listening use the following handout.
2. Practice your speaking.
§ How would you sum up the topic of the text you have heard?
§ How do journalist chose their stories?
§ What makes a story interesting?
§ Which media are mentioned in the text?
§ Which media do you prefer to find out about the latest news? Why?
§ Name some advantages of the media you prefer.
§ What kind of news attract your attention?
II Work on the video material
The video Media Influence on Children brings an interesting discussion on different media and their impact on our lives. It specifically concentrates on children and young people, so we hope you will like the way this important issue is presented.
1. Watch the video and make notes about the following statements:
- There are many things that influence our every-day actions and thoughts.
These are…
- The media influence the way…
- Forms of media mentioned in the video are…
- The influence of watching television in the
USA… - The target audience mostly influenced by media is…
- The part of our body which receives the media input…
2. Watch the video again and describe the scene which you liked / disliked most. Explain why.
3. Talk about yourself based on the following questions:
- Which things influence your everyday actions and thoughts?
- How is your behaviour influenced by the media? Explain.
- What do you think about the impact of television on children in
Croatia? - Have you ever thought about the brain mechanisms explained in the video?
- What are in your opinion the good and the bad sides of the media?
4. Imagine you have to prepare a discussion with a partner related to the following statements:
a) Television programs have many negative sides.
Think about arguments for and against this statement.
b) Written and visual media have different influence on people.
Think of three arguments to support this idea.
c) New media change the way people communicate nowadays.
Express your agreement / disagreement with this statement.
5. Analyze your completion of the tasks 3 and 4.
Which statements did you find most interesting?
Which problems did you have, when forming your arguments?
How helpful were the expressions and words you learned in the unit 2 in completing the tasks in this unit?
Summing up
In this unit you have:
- completed three different speaking tasks
- had a chance to talk about yourself (monologue speech)
- taken part in a discussion (dialogue)
- practiced expressing your own opinion
- practiced agreeing and disagreeing
Having completed exercises of the unit 2 and 3, you should be ready to work on an individual task related to speaking skills. In the unit 4 you will get detailed instructions for choosing your topic and preparing a speech.
Introduction Learning outcomes Study materials
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 . Unit 4 Unit 5 Project tasks Test