Read the following quotation:
“With respect to teaching foreign languages, the PCNs go beyond teaching grammar rules as they aim to address student interests regarding the expansion of their communicative abilities and cultural awareness […]”
(PERNA et al, 2015, p. 3).
Now, read the following activities:
Activity A
Use video-sharing websites in your classroom. Show your students the advertisement for a brand of tissue paper on YouTube where a new teacher starts her first day of work at a new school and a little boy offers her some tissues. Ask them if they liked the advertisement and if they noticed the use of the future tense and the imperative mood. Hand out a worksheet on verb tenses.
Activity B
Divide the class into small groups and distribute one English magazine for each group. Let students examine advertisements in the magazines. Ask students to find a couple of advertisements which contain stereotyping ideas of gender, ethnic group, social status, and so on. Promote a discussion over the issues that they bring up. You may draw attention to the language used in the advertisements.
In the light of the quotation above, compare Activities A and B. Indicate which of them would be considered more aligned with current parameters for teaching EFL in public schools in Brazil. Justify your answer.
Use a minimum of 150 and a maximum of 250 words. Copies of parts of the text will not be considered.
Sources:
1. Quotation: Perna, C.B.L., Molsing, K.V., Ramos, Y.S. Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language: The Brazilian Context. BELT January-June 2015, v. 6, n. 1, p. 1-11. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284206151_Teaching_and_Le arning_English_as_an_Additional_Language_The_Brazilian_Context [accessed May 08 2019].
2. Activity A: (adapted from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/learnenglish- youtube/
3. Advertisement: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVkVRbc0wE0
4. Activity B: (adapted from http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Kajiura- Stereotyping.html)