Исследовательская работа"How can an English learner benefit from watching late – night talk shows in English"

Департамент Смоленской области по образованию и науке

СМОЛЕНСКОЕ ОБЛАСТНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ ОБЩЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ

УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ С ИНТЕРНАТОМ «ЛИЦЕЙ ИМЕНИ КИРИЛЛА И МЕФОДИЯ»

214015 г. Смоленск, ул. Парковая, д. 20, тел. 38-17-06, 38-23-93, 38-12-36, 38-11-84, 38-07-75

How can an English learner benefit from watching late – night talk shows in English

(исследовательская работа)

Выполнила: Мелешкина Виктория Денисовна,
обучающаяся 10 класса

Руководитель проекта: Курзаева Ирина Петровна,
учитель английского языка

г. Смоленск

2019

Contents

Rationale…………………………………………………………3 -  4

The main part……………………………………………………5 - 7

Conclusion………………………………………………………8

The list of used information and literary sources: ………………9

Rationale

Nowadays people spend too much time searching the Internet. Teenagers waste time on social media. Everyone like watching TV series and movies. People who learn English want to be successful and fluent in the English language, but sometimes they do not know how to improve their skills, so they’re confused or bored, because learning a language using only a student’s book is uninteresting an a bit old – fashioned.

I’m going to talk about how can English learners benefit from watching late – night talk shows in English. You will see what a wonderful opportunity it is, how useful and interesting these shows are for English learners of all ages.

The problem:  English learners want to learn English in a more useful way. However, they don’t pay enough attention to late – night talk shows, because these shows are not commonly known as a good opportunity to learn and practice English.

Relevance. The necessity to watch late – night talk shows in order to practice English and to be familiar with the things that happen in the English - speaking countries.

So, the main aim of this project is to motivate English learners to watch late – night talk shows in English.

The object to investigate:  American TV programmes.

The subject to investigate: Late – night talk shows.

The objectives of the paper:

• to create the space for students’ research abilities and creativity;
• to widen students’ outlook;
• to state a few facts of American late – night talk shows;
• to explain why English learners should watch them;
• to name the most popular late shows in America;
• to share my experience in late – night talk shows;
• to make the project on this topic;
• to share the result of our work with the students at our school;
• to discuss the results;
• to make a conclusion.

The methods of the research:

• analysis of used information and literary sources;
• summary of the results.

Practical relevance of my project is that this material can be used at the English lessons, conferences, TED talks.

The main part

             The steps of research:

1. Searching for American late – night talk shows.
2. Finding out the history of these shows.
3. Explaining the necessity of watching late – night talk shows.
4. Sharing my experience in practicing skills in the English language.
5. Analysis of information and literary sources.

A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show popular in the United States, where the format originated. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. Typically the show's host conducts interviews from behind a desk, while the guest is seated on a couch. Many late - night talk shows feature a house band which generally performs cover songs for the studio audience during commercial breaks.

Some radio comedy programs appeared in the 1940s and were broadcasted once a week. Some years later first American variety shows appeared on TV. The first version of The Tonight Show, was the Tonight Starring Steve Allen, debuted in 1954 on NBC. It was a success and since then such Tonight Shows became extremely popular in America. Nowadays there are about 10 popular late – night talk shows, which are broadcasted from Monday till Friday.

Now you know a bit of the Tonight Shows’ history, so maybe you already know why you should at least try to watch them in English. If you’re still not motivated enough by the cultural and historical aspects , here’s some more reasons. Firstly, these TV shows are entertaining and funny. It’s not difficult to watch them. If you’re an intermediate learner, late – night shows are perfectly suitable for you. Secondly, as you know, episodes aren’t connected with each other and you can just click on any video you like and enjoy watching. The next reasons, in my opinion, are the most important. In the very beginning of the show, a host tells the latest news (more often they’re not about politics, just interesting news). So, if you a foreigner and you watch a show, you will know what is happening in the country and what concerns its citizens. Moreover, these shows are about the guests. Many famous actors, singers, producers, filmmakers and etc. are invited. I guess, everyone wants to listen to some interesting stories that are told by your favorite celebrity. In addition, a host and a guest(s) usually play some funny games such as : musical genre challenges, dance battles, charades, box of lies etс. I suppose that everyone knows James Corden’s episodes of Carpool Karaoke. Carpool Karaoke is a recurring segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden in which James Corden, the host of the show, invites famous musical guests to sing along to their songs with him whilst he is driving on a planned route usually in Los Angeles, usually under the pretense of needing to get to work. He says : ‘I’m going to be late for work, do you mind if we listen to some music?’. Different shows, various entertainment segments, each show is unique and is worth watching. At the end of the show, usually a popular singer or a band performs at the Late Show. To conclude, I’ll say that watching these late – night talk shows isn’t just funny and not only a wonderful pastime activity, but is extremely educational and useful for English learners. You practice listening skills, enrich your vocabulary and improve communication skills.

So, now I would like to share my experience with you. I watch late shows quite often, and my favorite ones are: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden and Jimmy Kimmel Live. The reasons why I like these shows are obvious: the guests, the music, the entertaining programs and the uniqueness of each of them. Here’s some good advice to help you watch late – night shows more effectively. First of all, it’ll be always exciting to watch a show if you like the content of it. You should find your talk show and your host. You click on various videos that grabbed your attention, and sooner or later you will definitely find a show which perfectly suits you. Secondly, you should look through the presented playlists and choose a rubric you are interested in. Some time later, you will get used to the show and will look forward to new episodes. When you start watching a show, you probably will not understand everything a host and guests say, it’s okay. This is why you should begin with the rubrics like ‘playing with guests’, where the main part is the process of playing but not talking. Then, as the time goes, it will be easy for you to understand almost everything native speakers say. If you watch such shows, not only talk shows, but anything in English, you will be able to distinguish different accents, learn ‘slang ’ words and phrases and will know how to use them. The most important part is that you will understand native speakers mentally. I mean their cultural features and even sense of humor. Don’t forget that every skill needs some practice. If you practice regularly, you will improve and master your English.

Conclusion

Here’s a Chinese proverb that says “To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world”. I cannot agree more with that. Learning a new language enriches your personality and inner world. To learn it successfully we should surround ourselves with everything connected with the language. To become more fluent, we need to spare enough time for practicing it. Of course, it’s important to enjoy the process of learning. And keep in mind that : “How many languages you know - that many times you are a person”.

The list of used information and literary sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-night_talk_show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Jimmy_Fallon

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-Th83bH_thdKZDJCrn88g

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ0uqCI0Vqr2Rrt1HseGirg