Transcript Teachingw
Wazzuppp!: Using Television
Commercials to Teach Writing
William Martínez, Jr.
California Polytechnic State University
Theoretical background in
writing
The Domains of Writing
– 4 categories:
• A. Sensory/ Descriptive
• B. Imaginative/ Narrative
• C. Practical/Informative
• D. Analytic/ Expository
A. Sensory/ Descriptive
Based on on concrete details
Gathering information through 5 senses
Provide vivid descriptions
Have the reader be an observer
“Show not tell”
Focus on the details
Create appeal for the reader to read on
B. Imaginative/ Narrative
The purpose is to tell a story
Organization of ideas into beginning,
middle and end (plot, suspense and climax)
Add details to actions
Point of view
Bringing the writing process to life by
selecting unique details to tell
C. Practical/Informative
Focus on facts not speculation
Writing that provides little interpretation
Observations that add details to facts
Sequence that helps readers “see” the action
Ordering of importance in details
Editing skills
D. Analytic/ Expository
Writing that explains in detail
Writing that persuades with facts
Writing that influences with development of
ideas
Anaysis, organization and development
Building and explaining relationships that
were not obvious
D. Analytic/ Expository
(continued)
The use of logic
Differentiation of fallacies
A combination of skills learned in other
domains to produce a logical, persuasive,
argument.
Theoretical background in the
methodology
Based on the Neurological Bimodal
Learning Model (Multisensorial teaching
model)
– Neurological Bimodality Definition:“The
notion that both hemispheres of the brain are
involved in a complementary fashion in global
language processing.”
» Marcel Danesi “Neurological Bimodality,” 18
What is Multi-Sensorial Teaching?
It attempts to stimulate both sides of the
brain at the same time
Left hemisphere:
–
–
–
–
Phonological, Morphological, etc. (grammar)
Link syntactic and semantic elements (style, tone, etc.)
Implication of sentence (What does it mean?)
Controls motor functions of speech
What is Multi-Sensorial Teaching?
(continued)
Right Hemisphere:
– Determines the sense of the sentence (question, statement,
command, etc.)
– Handles figurative meaning (metaphor, simile, etc)
– Understands humor and double meaning
– Processes most of the everyday occurrences
How does it work?
It presents students with more than one
stimuli at any one time
It uses technology (in all its forms) as a way
to lower the affective filters
It provides both text and context at the same
time
It increases the motivation of the students
It helps giving students more context
Danesi and Writing
According to Danesi:
– It is mostly a first year-type methodology
– It emphasizes oral communication
– By using metaphor it could be used for writing,
but Danesi does not indicate how.
My adaptations
Stimulate students by using things that they
know and understand-- TV Commercials
Stimulate students by using props--Objects/
products used in TV Commercials
Give them specific target writing
assignments--Writing about or with TV
Commercials
My adaptations
(continued)
Motivate through technology
– High and low technology items
Incorporate cultural components in writing--
How do TV Commercials affect specific
target groups?
Integrate several technologies in a particular
assignment.
Using TV commercials--The writing
process
Some Examples
Descriptive:
Ask them to describe what is going on.
Focus on different senses
Describe colors and/or music
Describe the nature of the product
Produce a paragraph and have thesis
statement at end.
Discuss in class
Narrative:
Tell the story of the commercial
What came first and what came next. Why
this order?
Have them explain what feelings these
characters are demonstrating and why (Use
of narrator)
Have them create their own storyboards
Informative:
Have them explain the process of making a
commercial.
What would they change and why?
How does meaning change with sound? Etc.
(who, what, where, when, and how?)
Report on the use of commercials in a
particular event, a particular timeslot, etc.
Analytic:
Focus on the meaning--Reading “between
the lines”
Look at the cultural aspects
Focus on specific characters in a
commercial
Produce their own commercial, explaining
how it attempts to influence viewers.
Advantages
Students are more involved in writing
Students feel that writing makes sense
Students see marked improvement in all
critical thinking skills
Students use L2 in real life situations
Students realize that L2 is a living, evolving
language
Students use techniques for all writing, not just
L2 language situations
Disadvantages
It takes a great deal of energy
Must give very detailed instructions on
assignments
Must be willing to drop everything at a
moment’s notice--Not for the faint of heart!
Need a lot of imagination
It is difficult to get use to
Evaluation of materials produced must be
rigorous
Bibliography
Battenburg, John and William Martinez. Communicative Activities for the Second
Language Classroom. Debuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publications, 1999.
Britton, James. The Development of Writing Abilities. London: MacMillan
Education, LTD. Schools Council Publications, 1975.
Danesi, Marcel. “Neurological Bimodality and Theorys of Language Teaching.” in
Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Vol. 10. 1988. Pp 13-31.
--------. “Practical Application of Current Brain Research to Teaching of Italian.”
in Italica, Vol. 64. 1987. Pp. 377-392.
Lewis, Michael. The Lexical Approach: The State of ELT and a Way Forward.
Hove, England: Langauge Teaching Publications, 1993.
McHugh, Nancy. Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing as Process. Sacramento,
CA: CA department of Education, 1987.
Smith, William F. Modern Media in Foreign language Education: Theory and
Implementation. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company, 1987.