СРЕДСТВА МАССОВОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ
методическая разработка по английскому языку (11 класс) по теме

 Смирнова В.А.

Гимназия 631 Санкт-Петербург

УРОК-МАСТЕРСКАЯ  ПО ТЕМЕ:

“СРЕДСТВА МАССОВОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ”

“MASS MEDIA IN MODERN SOCIETY”

Урок проводится в 11-х классах  

школы с углубленным изучением

английского языка

Форма урока:  урок-мастерская с участием групп двух учителей и с использованием раздаточного материала, наглядных пособий, а также отрывков из рекламных видеороликов  и аудиоматериалов.

В процессе урока учащиеся выполняют ряд заданий, работают в группах над мини-проектами,  представляют результаты в виде устных сообщений и выносят их на  обсуждение.  

Цель урока:  совершенствование навыков монологической речи, отработка навыков проведения дебатов и  дискуссий на английском языке;    повышение языковой компетентности; развитие критического мышления через осознание механизмов лежащих в основе работы средств массовой информации и их влияния на общество, умение распознавать и анализировать методы манипулирования сознанием осуществляемые  современными средствами массовой информации с целью выработать защитные механизмы и умение противостоять влиянию СМИ и критически относиться к выбору содержания просматриваемых материалов в будущем.  

Задачи урока:  1) активизация лексики и грамматических структур по теме:  «Средства массовой информации», «Телевидение», «Кино», «Культура», «Реклама», «Покупки»  и др.; знакомство учащихся с современными формами и проблематикой функционирования СМИ в современном обществе.  

2) совершенствование навыков аудирования, чтения и говорения;

3) отработка техники совместной групповой работы над проектами, а также техники обсуждения и выступления с устными презентациями;

4) ознакомление учащихся с навыками ораторского мастерства  при отработке  речей и выступлений  

5) отработка навыков самостоятельной работы над материалом  для проектов и презентаций.

Ход урока:  

The need to study the mass media has become even more pressing in recent years as they continue to increasingly influence what we know and think about the world beyond our own immediate experience.  It is vitally important for the health of the society that schools help students build the capacity to think critically about the media, to understand that media refract rather than reflect reality, and to maintain critical distance from the media in order to resist manipulation.

The specific goals of media literacy education should include:

⦁ helping students understand that media are carefully crafted constructions of reality, not reality itself;

⦁ helping them develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to understand the ways in which media construct reality;

⦁ developing students’ awareness of the cultural, social, economic and political implications of media constructions, and how media reinforce and legitimize cultural, social, economic and political trends;

⦁ developing  in students the ability to decode and deconstruct media in order to identify the cultural practices, ideas, ideological values and messages they contain;

⦁ helping students recognize that those who construct media have many motivations and are subject to a variety of controls (economic, political, organizational, technical, social and cultural), many of which support dominant ideologies and the existing social system.

A number of key ideas within media literacy education are addressed in some of the following activities.

ACTIVITY 1:  NARROWCAST OR BROADCAST

Students are asked to brainstorm as many ways as they can think of that people communicate today. The teacher then explains that some forms of communication take place between a small number of people( the message is cast narrowly) while some involve communicating with large numbers(the message is cast broadly).

The activity is designed to give students an initial understanding of the nature and varieties of mass media. To deepen this knowledge, the teacher can read out each example of narrowcast communication and ask, “What would have to be done to turn this into a broadcast message?”

ACTIVITY 2:  RANKING MASS MEDIA

Students are asked to fill in the columns of the worksheet and rank the media according to the given criteria – 1 signifies most important, 2 the next most important, and so on.

This activity introduces the idea that mass media have various purposes. It is likely to raise questions about the relative effectiveness of media in achieving those purposes. It can also highlight individual media preferences. Questions concerning overconsumption and  underconsumption of others may also arise.

ACTIVITY 3: MASS MEDIA TIME

Students each receive a card describing a key event in the history of the development of communications and mass media. They are asked to share and discuss the contents of their cards and to agree upon a chronological line up from the earliest to most recent event. Then the teacher reads out the date list. The class is encouraged to comment on the date order and answer the question, “When do most media breakthroughs seem to have occurred ?” Then students write in  where each of the developments in communications and mass media would occur on the 60-minute clock face working out as precisely as possible on which minute each event would take place if one minute stood for 50 years.

MEDIA TURNING POINTS CARDS

KEY DATES FOR MEDIA TURNING POINTS CARDS

During class discussion, the following questions can be addressed:

• Which, more distant, events would not fit on the clock face?
• Where are most of the events clustered?
• What does that say about the pace of change in human society?
• What are some of the consequences for people and for society of so many media breakthroughs following so closely?
• What  developments in mass media are likely in the near  and more distant future?

MEDIA TURNING POINTS CLOCKFACE

ACTIVITY 4: DECONSTRUCTING  TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

The teacher initiates a general discussion about TV commercials. Students are asked to give their views on commercials, to identify commercials the like and dislike, and to explain their preferences. The discussion should also explore the reasons TV commercials are broadcast, and the effects they have on purchasing decisions. Then the class practices deconstructing a commercial. The teacher plays one of the prerecorded commercials two or three times, and distributes the handout. Then the class deconstructs the commercial by sharing responses to the questions in the handout. The video can be reshown when disagreements arise.

GUIDE TO WATCHING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

1. GENERAL

• How long is the commercial?
• What product is being advertised?
• How many people are featured?
• What do they look like? How do they behave?
• Does the commercial tell a story?
• What location is used? Why do you think the location was chosen?

2. TARGET AUDIENCE

• Is the commercial targeted at local, regional, or national audience?
• What is the probable age, sex, and level of wealth of the target audience?
• What “hooks” “ are used to attract the target audience?
• What attractive things is the product associated with in the commercial ? Why?

3. VISUAL COMPONENT

• How many shots are there in the commercial ?
• Are short and long shots mixed? If so, why?
• What type of shot(e.g., close-ups, long shots, low camera angles, high camera angles) are used? To what effect?
• Are people and locations filmed in sharp or soft focus? Why?
• How many “jolts” (moments of excitement, generated by laughter, unexpected acts, sudden movements, all of which sustain audience attention)  are there in the commercial ? Why are they used?

4. AUDIO COMPONENT

• What kind of music or sound effects are used with different shots to give the product the desired image?
• What do the voices of the actors in the commercial sound like?
• Are voice-overs(if used) male or female? Young or old?
• Why has a person of that gender and age been chosen for the voice-over?

After working through the handout, each group of students prepares an oral presentation of its findings. Each group presentation is followed by whole-class discussion.

Commercials are among the most carefully crafted material on TV. Designed to persuade, to manipulate our sense of what is important, to play on our needs, fears, and desires, they are rich in imagery, allusion, and suggestiveness. As such, detailed examination of them is ideal for developing students’ sensitivity to visual media and the attendant skills of observation and deconstruction.

CONCLUSION:

All these activities are designed to extend students’ understanding of media manipulation, to help students develop the skills and perception to see through the devices and techniques used by the media, to decode media messages. The activities also reinforce the point that media are a source of power. They show  students how to harness the media – that is to employ its power to put their own messages across, and equip them with the skills and confidence to use media opportunities to contribute to social and political change.

ЛИТЕРАТУРА:

1. Алексашина И.Ю., Зорина Т.Е., Спасская Е.Б. Глобальное образование в России: Теория и практика в условиях модернизации образования,  - СПБ, 2007
2. Global Issues – сборник работ по глобальным проблемам современного общества, PEI, Canada, 2007