Who knew that listings in a TV guide can provide a wealth of material for the ESL classroom?? TV guide is an authentic source that present places ,common grammar structures and high frequency vocabulary in an entertaining context. Here are just a few ideas for putting this material to use to facilitate your instruction and update your practices .
Adjective clauses.
Plot summaries of films and TV show premises often contain adjective clauses as well as reduced adjective clauses and appositives. You can present one listing at a time and challenge students to identify the adjective clause(s) used.
Example
Movies on TV
Dances with Wolves
Seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Director, went to Kevin Costner’s epic Western about a cavalry officer who joins the Sioux. (1990)
Comparatives, superlatives, and equatives.
Films are usually listed with critics’ ratings. Presenting two or three movie listings would allow students to answer questions such as: Which has the higher/ highest rating? Which movie is rated as high as ____? Looking at film dates, students can answer: Which films are the most recent? Which film is the oldest? To test their comprehension of the plot summary, you can ask: Which movie is least/ most appropriate for children? Which movie seems the most interesting to you?
Idiomatic, general, and academic vocabulary.
A single TV listing can be turned into a vocabulary exercise with the help of a dictionary. Simply copy the listing and prepare questions that require students to find synonymous words/ phrases for the definitions you provide. [Find the word or phrase that means ___.]
Example
Show of the Week : Brick City
This five-night documentary series follows young Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker from public meetings to schools to midnight basketball games as he struggles with the city’s high rates of gang-related crime and violence. It also introduces us to Newark’s police director and community leaders, including a former gang member who has turned her life around – but who in Episode 1 must turn herself in to authorities on a 4-year-old parole violation.
Find two phrasal verbs. Which one means to change in an important way, especially for the better? [turn around]
Find the word that refers to the police. [authorities]
Find the word that means fight (against). [struggle (with)]
Conversation starters
Also, footage from actual shows can stimulate great discussion. Some TV episodes are available online . One source is Shahid
Full episodes from Youtube are downloadable .From sitcoms to dramas, the choices abound.
Example
I've tried this a couple of times in my classes and the results were quite more than satisfactory and consistent .Prepare a few stimulating questions based on one clip of a popular series or show, and you’ll have 15-20 minutes of discussion. Couple it with a focus on language used (grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation), and you’ll have a complete lesson. Your students will get excited,feel more comfortable to participate and voice their opinions.
