How are you

feeling?
 WHAT ARE CONTEMPORARY
TEENAGERS LIKE?
(Bauman, 2003; Sibilia, 2008; Morduchowicz, 2008)

!  They have turned more PRIVATE

but they have gone more PUBLIC

! They belong to the VISUAL AGE

!  They ask for constant and

motivating STIMULI
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD – OR SAID –
SOME OF THESE PHRASES?
 “My students are totally demotivated.
Every time I get into the classroom, they
tell me “Profe, hoy no hagamos nada.”
Marta L. (Buenos Aires)
 “They don’t even know Spanish.
I can’t teach them English. We are just
wasting our time.”
Norma E. (Salta)
“I have to deal with school violence and
drugs. I feel I never teach English. I only
teach manners.”
Silvia I. (City of Buenos Aires)
“They do not respect me. They tell me
that the English I teach them is different
from that in songs and tv series.”
Estela Z. (La Pampa)
“Is there anything we can do?”
Esther O. (San Luis)
WHY ARE TEACHERS DEMOTIVATED?
Dussel et al, 2007
8 out of 10 teachers believe schools
were better in the past

Loneliness
Work overload / Low salaries
Frustration
 A FRUSTRATING PROFESSION

•  We have to establish a relationship with

people we know that we will probably stop
seeing at the end of the school year.

•  We “plant seeds” but we never see the

tree. Compare it to other professions: an
artist who never sees his / her paintings or
an architect who never sees his / her
buildings erected.
 “My students are totally demotivated.
Every time I get into the classroom, they
tell me “Profe, hoy no hagamos nada.”
Marta L. (Buenos Aires)

Students’ Motivation

Teachers’ Motivation

There exist “reciprocal effects [between]

teacher behavior and student engagement.” (E.
Skinner & J. Belmont, 1993)
 “They don’t even know Spanish.
I can’t teach them English. We are just
wasting our time.”
Norma E. (Salta)

What they learn in English might be useful

for their knowledge of Spanish

Education is never “wasted time.”

“Time is money”: A mercantilist view

of teaching (Giroux, 1988)
“I have to deal with school violence and
drugs. I feel I never teach English. I only
teach manners.”
Silvia I. (City of Buenos Aires)

Teachers’ Motivation
Motivation has to do with “[teachers’]
involvement or non-involvement in academic
and non-academic activities, which operate in
schools.” (Ofoegbu, 2004)
“They do not respect me. They tell me
that the English I teach them is different
from that in songs and tv series.”
Estela Z. (La Pampa)

(Piscitelli, 2009)

Teachers perceive technology as an unfair competitor

What has TV got to do with it?
WHY CAN TV SERIES BE MOTIVATING?

"  Contemporary TV series speak

their same language

"  If well chosen, TV series deal with

issues which are RELEVANT to
adolescents
 "  TV series contain instances of
AUTHENTIC use of language

"  TV series can help teenagers become

CRITICAL of certain stereotypical images
and, as a consequence, RESIST new
power devices
 IMAGES
Arfuch (2006)

EXTERNAL IMAGES
= VISUAL REPRESENTATION

INTERNAL IMAGES
= THE WORLD OF IDEAS
CHOOSING TV SERIES FOR THE
LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
Is the language level appropriate?
Is the language suitable for your
learners’ age?
Are the themes dealt with suitable
for a classroom context?
Has the series / episode got any
educational value?
Will the content / language allow
you to create challenging tasks?
Are the characters exploitable enough?
Is the series popular among
teenagers?
Does the series provide material
for critical analysis?
 WHAT IF THE LEVEL MY STUDENTS HAVE
PREVENTS ME FROM USING AUTHENTIC TV
SERIES?
Use prediction as a springboard for
comprehension

Content-focused prediction

Language-focused prediction
HOW TO CHAT UP A GIRL
 Write a tick next to each item:
Reading books Can (ability)
Having sex Prefer + TO
Wearing rings Passive Voice
Women’s ears Past Perfect
Women’s legs Be from + country

Understanding English
Pre-teach / Recycle relevant
lexico-grammatical units.
 TENSES
SIT AND STAND

PAST PRESENT
SIMPLE PERFECT

PRESENT
WILL CONTINUOUS
Exploit the paratext before focusing on
the text itself

The image

The sound
 PUT THE ACTIONS IN ORDER
Someone embraces someone else

Someone bows down to someone else

Someone shakes hands with someone else

Someone bursts out laughing

Someone gets off a horse

Someone pats someone else on the head

Someone rides a horse

Someone glances at someone else

Help students gain confidence by
scaffolding the viewing session

Focusing on smaller, meaningful

chunks first

Using the script as a starting

point
Each student gets a line and learns it by
heart. When they
Someone hear their
embraces line,else
someone the must
raise their hand.

Play it again and each student must

remember when their line appears. They
must say it together with the actors.

Kinetic Typography
Use prediction as a springboard for
comprehension
Pre-teach / Recycle relevant lexico-
grammatical units.
Exploit the paratext before focusing on
the text itself
Help students gain confidence by
scaffolding the viewing session
Science fiction series.
Set in the 80s.

When a young boy

disappears, his mother,
a police chief, and his
friends must confront
terrifying forces in order
to get him back from a
parallel universe, the
Upside-down.
 PRE-VIEWING TASKS

“Previously on Stranger Things”:

How much do I know? How much do
my classmates know?
Divide students into two big groups: the
‘I’ve-seen-it’ group and the ‘I-haven’t-
seen-it’ group.
Have students get into smaller groups.
Groups must contain both members from the
‘I’ve-seen-it’ and the ‘I-haven’t-seen-it’ groups.
 PRE-VIEWING TASKS

Possible pre-tasks:
Create a Facebook / Instagram
account for a given character.

Prepare a “How much do you know?”

Quiz for the rest of the class.

Play “Who am I?”

 PRE-VIEWING TASK

“Pictures with distractors”: Use the

paratext (pictures, titles, etc.) for
prediction. Later, assess how useful
these images have been.
 WHILE-VIEWING

Pay attention to details as you watch

the first segment.
 WHILE-VIEWING

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE

BULLET SHED

RECEIVER
CLOTHES LIGHT BULB
LINE
BLINDS

PEG
DOOR LATCH
 WHILE-VIEWING

TRUE OR FALSE?

•  The man who is trying to escape at the beginning

is wearing a tie.
•  He is wearing glasses.
•  He has a moustache.
•  Five children are playing a game in the living room.
•  Two of them are wearing a cap.
•  They started playing the game 10 hours ago.
•  One boy offers his sister some pizza.
 POST-VIEWING

SECRET MESSAGES

Give them messages to decode first.

 POST-VIEWING

SECRET MESSAGES

Give them messages to decode first.

Ask them to create their own messages.

www.cockeyed.com

You can also have a “Spelling Bee” competition.

 POST-VIEWING

INTERVIEW YOUR PARENTS AND

WRITE A REPORT

What kind of clothes did you wear?

What kind of music did you listen to?
What did you use to do after school /in your free time?
What kind of problems did adolescents have?
What programmes did you watch?
How did you meet other people?
What was your relationship with your parents like?
 POST-VIEWING

CREATE A CRONICA TV REPORT ON

ONE OF THE CHARACTERS

APP: Placas Rojas

LATEST NEWS
LATEST NEWS
LATEST NEWS
 POST-VIEWING

HOW DO YOU IMAGINE YOUR UPSIDE-

DOWN UNIVERSE?

What is it like?
Who lives there?
How can you get there?
Why does this universe exist?
When was it created?
Who by?
Why was it created?
 POST-VIEWING

ROLEPLAYING

Choose two characters and think of a conflict which is

part of the episode.
Political drama.
Set in contemporary
times.

Francis Underwood, a
ruthless US Congressman,
does whatever he can to
gain more and more power
within the American
political system.
 PRE-VIEWING

PHRASES AUCTION
 PRE-VIEWING

PHRASES AUCTION
“Follow me. I won’t let you down.”

“I have no patience for useless things”

“I got her hired”

 PRE-VIEWING

PHRASES AUCTION
“We must stop stealing money for two
years”

“I keep things moving in Congress”

“I can smell which way the wind is

blowing”
PRE-VIEWING

DUBBING
PRE-VIEWING

TRAITS
 WHILE-VIEWING

ADJECTIVE CHECKING
WHILE-VIEWING

BINGO
 AFTER-VIEWING

THE QUOTES TRAFFIC LIGHTS

 AFTER-VIEWING

DIRECT ADDRESS
 AFTER-VIEWING

READING: QUIZ TIME

 AFTER-VIEWING

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Why study characters?

 “The Grammar of Hypertelevision”
(Scolari, 2008)
Whereas traditional TV series had a basic
group of characters, contemporary series
have more than ten characters, thus creating
a complex narrative structure

In traditional TV series, there was a clear-cut

distinction between the “good ones” and the
“bad ones.” In contemporary series, the
characters are more morally ambiguous.
 AFTER-VIEWING

Speaking: Kate’s session

 AFTER-VIEWING

WRITING: Whatsapp Fake Chat

 Set in the London offices of the
fictional Reynholm Industries, the
show revolves around the three
staff members of its IT
British department: a geeky genius
sitcom named Maurice, the work-shy Roy,
and Jen, the department head.
THE IT CROWD: Emergency Number
 PRE-VIEWING TASK

QUIZ

What is a COMPUTER GEEK?

What is the EMERGENCY SERVICE number?
Is the word “TUMBLE” a synonym of “FALL”?
 PRE- / WHILE-VIEWING TASK

Predict before watching… and then check!

An old lady in trouble
New emergency service / new number

SELF-ASSESSMENT SLIPS
 PRE-VIEWING TASK

Predict language based on the co-

text (the text before and after a given
word or phrase)

Is Beaking Bad ______

ON channel 11?
 THE IT CROWD: The Spider
Complete the spaces with an appropriate preposition:

There’s a spider in my office. Could you deal ____ it?

I am not overly fond _____ them myself.

I actually recommend my good friend Roy there _____

the go-to guy ____ anything _____ more than seven
eyes.

He is _____ a very brief personal call right now.

It seems to have left _____ its own volition.

 PRE-VIEWING TASK

The intonation a speaker uses, the

lexico-grammatical choices s/he
makes, and the speed of delivery
might be indicators of the speaker’s
attitude.
 ANGER
IMPATIENCE
DISBELIEF
SUSPICION
I don’t really like TV SURPRISE
REPROACH
AUTHORITY
ANXIETY
DENIAL
 ANGER
IMPATIENCE
DISBELIEF
SUSPICION
I don’t really like TV SURPRISE
REPROACH
AUTHORITY
ANXIETY
DENIAL
 FRIENDS: Airport Security

Match the phrases on the left with the

corresponding feelings / attitudes on the right
 Go, go, go! ANGER
Oh, really? IMPATIENCE
Could you hurry up? DISBELIEF
Oh, but only for a few days SUSPICION
Thank you, darling SURPRISE
What do you mean by “plan”? REPROACH
You’re mean! AUTHORITY
Step back inside, please. ANXIETY
Are you serious? DENIAL
 Go, go, go! ANGER
Oh, really? IMPATIENCE
Could you hurry up? DISBELIEF
Oh, but only for a few days SUSPICION
Thank you, darling SURPRISE
What do you mean by “plan”? REPROACH
You’re mean! AUTHORITY
Step back inside, please. ANXIETY
Are you serious? DENIAL
BECOMING CRITICAL
OF TV SERIES
 METATELEVISION

According to Carlón (2006), television has an

increasing tendency to refer to itself.

We can use these instances of self-reference

to reflect on the role of television in our lives.
THE SIMPSONS: Homer Badman
 POST-VIEWING
Throw Away Your Television
(by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Throw away your TELEVISION
Time to make this clean DECISION
Master waits for its COLLISION now
It’s a repeat of a story TOLD
It’s a repeat and it’s getting OLD

School survey on television

THE VOICE OF THE SIMPSONS
How do you picture…?
LISA
MARGE
HOMER
BART

REFLECTING ON PREJUDICE
 The Language of Television
(Marshall & Werndly, 2002:105)

In examining television, [Foucault’s] definition

of discourse explains for us how language
used in television texts connects to a world
outside the text. (…) Very simply, discourse
can be thought of as ways of speaking about
the world: ways of using language which
create ways of understanding the world.
English Teaching and the Moving Image
(Goodwyn, 2004:76)

“(…) a soap is a social construction

meant to be representative of everyday
life (…). Academic research on soaps
typically portrays them as strong
transmitters of mainstream values
(Burton, 2000).”

It is especially challenging but particularly

important to enable pupils to interrogate
the ideology of a soap opera.”
100 DIAS PARA SIMONA
ENAMORARSE
 ANALYSING LOCAL TV SERIES

•  What reality does the programme

describe? Where do the characters live?

•  What do these characters look like? What

message do viewers get?

•  Do the characters have a family? Is this

relevant? If so, why? What type of a family
do they have?
 ANALYSING LOCAL TV SERIES

•  What kind of a school do they attend?

What message do viewers get?

•  What is said (or implied) in connection

with alcohol, sex, drugs and violence?
BECOMING CRITICAL
OF TECHNOLOGY
AND ITS EFFECTS
Science fiction series.
Futuristic settings mostly

The series examines

modern society,
particularly with regard to
the terrible consequences
of new technologies. Each
episode is a standalone
work.
 PRE-VIEWING

MAGAZINE COVER
 PRE-VIEWING

PRODUCT MATCHING

DATE HELP
This device allows a dating counsellor
to see and hear what you see and hear
so that he or she can guide you
throughout a date. You will be in touch
with the counsellor at all times. He or
she will provide you with vital
information about the person so that
you can use it to your own advantage.
 COOKIE
A device which shadows your brain for
a week so that, when extracted, it can
perform everyday activities for you. It is
a copy of your own brain. Another you.

BLOCKER
A device which allows you to block a
person. When activated, the person will
see a blurred image of you and will not
be able to hear you. In turn, you will see
a blurred image of this person and hear
nothing he or she says.
 PRE-VIEWING

DISCUSSION: 

WHICH OF THE THREE PRODUCTS
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET?
 WHILE-VIEWING
WATCH THE EPISODE AND TAKE
DOWN NOTES OF THE PROS AND
CONS OF OWNING THAT PRODUCT
PROS CONS

COOKIE

DATE HELP

BLOCKER
 AFTER-VIEWING

INVENT YOUR OWN IDEAL IT

PRODUCT
 AFTER-VIEWING

LISTEN TO THE SONG

One of the roles of education
is to provide learners with
tools to CRITICALLY
ASSESS the external images
which they are constantly
exposed to. Students need
to RESIST the creation of
certain internal images that
later engender prejudice
EDUCATING THE GAZE
(Dussel et al)
DR. HOUSE
 DR. HOUSE
Nativos Digitales
(Piscitelli, 2009)
Dr. House breaks the epistemology of
his own profession: he prescribes first,
and then he diagnozes.

We can learn two important lessons

from Dr. House :
Dr. House does not follow any logical or
expected behaviour

Dr. House does not follow the medical

principle “the patient comes first” in a
conventional way. He is very blunt and,
at times, might even seem cruel. Still,
because he cares, he tells them the
bare truth. This is a criticism to false
humanism.
 DR. HOUSE IS A PEDAGOGUE
RATHER THAN A DOCTOR

FACILITATOR PROBLEMATIZATOR

LEARNER LEARNING
CENTREDNESS CENTREDNESS

TRANSFORMATIVE
INTELLECTUALS
(Giroux, 1988)
Have you ever felt demotivated?
Do you sometimes feel your
adolescent learners do not want
to learn?
Think of the reasons why you
have chosen this great
profession.
Have you ever had the paralysing feeling that “nothing can be done”?

Go back to the moment you

made that choice and think of
the ideals you had at the time.
 YOUR PASSION FOR
TEACHING IS STILL ALIVE!
Education can become a
powerful tool for change.
Teachers can transform society
together with their learners.
Even if at times we feel
hopeless, we cannot give up.
We cannot miss the chance of
making this world a better
place.
 SO… LET’S GO BACK TO OUR
CLASSROOMS AND SHOW OUR
STUDENTS IT’S NOT WORTH…

BREAKING BAD
 LET’S SHOW THEM A
BETTER WORLD IS
POSSIBLE
[email protected]