Does Television Play a Positive or negative role in modern society?

Тема: Does Television Play a Positive or negative role in modern society?

Meтa: формування мовленнєвої компетенції з проблеми “ Tелебачення і діти у сучасному світі”.

Розвиток  уміння  соціального спілкування через рольову гру.

Формування творчого та критичного мислення та особистого ставлення до проблеми.

- Активизация лексико-граматичного матеріалу з теми;

- Вираження своєї точки зору, згоди чи незгоди;  відпрацьовування модальних диєслів  Should, must, can.

During the lesson you’ll be able to deepen and widen your knowledge about the most famous invention of the 20th century. You will work in small groups and than share your researched information with each other. The second part of the lesson will be dedicated to a Talk Show-” Does Television Play a positive or negative Role in Modern Society”?

In this day and age it is hard to find someone who doesn’t know what television is. Indeed, TV plays a very important part in our life and there are many reasons for this. In the first place, television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. For a family of four, for example, it is more convenient and cheaper to sit comfortably at home, with almost unlimited entertainment available, than to go out in search of amusement elsewhere. They do not have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre, the cinema, or the opera, only  to discover, perhaps, that the show is disappointing. All they have to do is press a button, and they can see plays, films, operas, and shows of every kind, not to mention political discussions and the latest exciting football match. Some people, however, maintain that this is precisely where the danger lies. The television view takes no initiative. He makes no choice and exercises no judgment. He is completely passive and has everything presented to him without any effort on his part. The television screen has an almost physical fascination for us. We get so used to looking at the screen, so dependent on its flickering pictures, that it begins to dominate our lives. Television, like other things, has both advantages and disadvantages. Do the former outweigh the latter?

Now we are approaching an extremely vital theme ’’Children and Television”.

Nowadays it is standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on  the set.It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence so long as they are quiet.

T: Now I’d like to read a text which is called ”Ultraman cartoon upsets parents.”

Before reading try to guess what problem is being discussed in the article.

                 Ultraman cartoon  upsets parents

1 Ultraman, a powerful extraterrestrial being in weird silver and red outfit, has obsessed many children in Shanghai.

2 Every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday night children from kindergarten and  schools turn on TV sets to watch the Japanese series that shows how  Ultraman from outer space fights the enemies of mankind.

3 The young people are so fascinated by Ultraman that he has become part of their daily language.

4Ultraman books, toys, clothes and even food can be found in many shops.

5”I worry about my son a lot these days. He has seen so much violence in the series and has grown quite aggressive. He now fights with other kids and tends to use force to solve disputes, said the mother of one five- year old.

6 Educators say television has a great influence on children, especially those under six years old. Small children can not tell what is real and what is fiction. They tend to think everything happening on television is real.

7Two months ago, a five-year old boy jumped from his home on the sixth floor of a building trying to imitate Ultraman’s flight and died, the local  Evening News reported.

8 The tragedy sounded alarm bells among parents and teachers. Next came the question: What would children watch if not Ultraman?

9The city’s cultural market is dominated by overseas cartoons. Many parents complain about the poor quality of some foreign cartoons and urge the concerned departments to exercise stricter control on their imports.

10 On the other hand, domestic cartoon makers are starved of funds and have to do contract work for foreign companies. Most of them have not produced their own cartoon pictures for years. The only exception seemed to be the Shainghai Cartoon.Film Studio, which recently merged with the Shainghai Television Station and produced a 100 part cartoon series,”Heroes in Their early Teens.”The series describes episodes from the childhood of  historical figures, such as Chinese poet li Bai and the first US President George Washington

You are very glad that the vital social problem”Children and Television” is being discussed.You’d like to say that you are very concerned about your pupils..You have been seeing an increase of violent and antisocial behavior and you believe that television is the cause.

Children spend too much time watching and they are becoming used to violence they see on the screen.You think T V Executives are to blame because they are interested only in making money on cartoons.

TV Executive

You disagree with the teacher entirely. You feel you have a right to run a business and make a profit. You are willing to produce any programme that sells. The cartoons are selling very well right now. You are only responding to what the people say they want to see. You don’t think the  Ultraman cartoons or any other programmes are harming children. They are only make- believe, after all it is the parents’ responsibility to monitor their children’s watching habits and discipline them.

Kindergarten teacher

You are very sorry for interrupting the TV Executive but you think that Politicians  are guilty too. You think the government should do something to limit the number of inappropriate programmes. You have noticed that the children try to solve disputes with violence and force. They are talking longer to learn to read. Your youngest children are coming to kindergarten quoting the language of television  characters. They seem fascinated by their favourite characters and it’s difficult  to get their attention sometimes. Television is becoming like a parent and busy parents are just placing their children in front of the TV and use it as a pacifier.

Parent: Well, it depends…(you disagree with an opinion)You try your best to bring up your child as a good person but you have to work hard and don’t have the opportunity to spend much time with your child. Your life is hard and the town authorities don’t do anything for you…

Local Politician

“Well, it depends”(you are strongly disagree with parent’s opinion) You want everybody to know that the TV industry pays high taxes and brings a lot of money into the community. This money helps build roads, parks and other improvements to the area. You are aware of a growing problem with aggressive behavior in the schools. You do not think that television is to blame. You think that young teachers and parents are not strict enough. You think that parents are guilty because they bring up their children badly and don’t take care of them.

Housewife

You love television. You feel it helps to keep the children at home and off the street. Your children come right home from school and don’t wander around the town at night. It helps keep them quiet and gives you time to do things around the house. You don’t think television is hurting your children. They seem to be interested in the programmes and ask lots of questions based on what they’ve seen Watching television is  one  of your  family’s  activities.

Doctor

You think that television is a very interesting activity, which has the possibility of making life brighter.  To your mind there are lots of intellectual TV programmes  nowadays.  But unfortunately most of the programmes  are packed with negative information. By watching the news you learn primarily about wars, crimes, disasters and accidents. All this negative information can cause stress and a bad mood.

Doctor

You’d like to add a little to what has been said by your colleague.You also think television in itself is very good. It conveys a lot of information  and shows a lot of interesting and instructive  programmes. But your main concern is the physical health of people that watch a lot of TV. Watching TV is a very passive activity. The important thing for your health is to be active, go outside, do things, think about things and be as creative as possible.

Child      Psychologist

TV does affect children in both positive and negative ways. Younger children  can  not tell the difference between reality and fiction. This can cause them to imitate beloved TV characters. They simply don’t realize that they are misbehaving. Another serious problem is addiction to television. It is similar to drug or alcohol addiction. Many people begin to feel closer to actors on the screen than to real people in their lives, their own lives seem boring. However, good children’s  programmes  help educate and socialize children.

Lonely elderly person

You love television. You don’t see many people these days since your children moved far away. Television is like a friend for you. You have grown used to having the television on. You  think  it’s comforting, interesting and  entertaining. It offers an insight into the world and gives you a chance to see things that are not possible to see otherwise. You can’t imagine that TV is bad for anyone. You wish people would stop talking about the problems of television and go and visit an old person from time to time