B1 – Has the Internet Killed Television?

And just like that, we have made it to the end of the Culture Vulture course! The last class is about TV-watching habits and how they have changed in the last couple of years. It will also give a chance to think about the advantages and disadvantages of TV in comparison with the streaming platforms.

That’s the end of the five-hour-long online Preply group course about culture. So far, we have talked about music, books, cinema and art, so it’s only appropriate to end up with modern TV and its current state. With the rapidly growing popularity of streaming services, viewers are slowly stepping away from the TV making it obsolete. Or…is it all a facade, and we are all still secretly watching it?

If you would like to finish this course, scroll until the end of the post to get a free lesson plan and purchase the presentation with a Canva link included.

This time, the class begins with the students reading three famous quotes about TV, and ticking the ones they agree with. Put students into pairs and ask them to compare each other’s ideas. Elicit some answers and share them with the rest of the group.

I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts.

Orson Wells – actor and director

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns it on, I go into the other room and read a book.

Groucho Marx – actor

They say that 90% of TV is junk. But 90% of everything is junk.

Gene Roddenberry – creator of Star Trek

Before getting into the reading part of the lesson, have a group discussion about students’ watching habits. Think about the types of programmes that you can typically see on TV and the ones that are popular in students’ countries. Identify the programmes you can see in the pictures (the news, a sports event and a TV series), and think about how you usually watch these programmes (online or on TV). Collect students’ ideas about the end of the TV era. Do they believe that TV is slowly becoming obsolete?

The last two lessons relied heavily on YouTube videos, so this time I thought that students can develop their reading skills. I was on a hunt for an appropriate text when I found a perfect one titled The End of TV? by Flo-Joe, a website which is a goldmine for practice Cambridge exam tasks. Students read the text individually and answer the previously asked question – does the writer believe this is the end of the TV era? Read the text again and answer four multiple-choice questions. Underline the answers, and discuss why the other options are wrong. This should bring awareness to choosing and understanding why some answers are correct, and why others are incorrect, in case the right answers aren’t clear.

It’s finally time for the fun part. It can be done in many different ways, depending on the number of students you have in your class. You can either put students into groups, one focusing on the advantages of TV and disadvantages of the streaming platforms, and the other on the disadvantages of TV and the advantages of streaming services. Then mix the students and ask them to exchange ideas. You can also ask one group to focus only on the benefits and drawbacks of TV and the other group on the benefits and drawbacks of streaming platforms. Once again mix the students and ask them to share ideas about what they talked about with their previous groups.

Since everyone had plenty of time to prepare for the final debate, it should be a piece of cake! Put students into pairs and give them their roles. One student believes that in the next 25 years, people will still watch and enjoy TV. The other student doesn’t agree and believes that in the next 25 years, people will stop watching TV and will stream exclusively. Remind students to use Future Simple to talk about the uncertain future! Give them plenty of time to debate each other. After everyone is ready, put an additional minute or two on the clock to reach a common decision. Share the results of the debate with the rest of the group and compare their answers.

This should be enough to have a successful reading and speaking lesson, but in case you find yourself with some extra time on your hands, you can have a general group discussion about students’ TV-watching habits and whether they believe that TV is a good source of information, whether TV is oversaturated with commercials and if TV makes people lazy.

Can you imagine your life without TV? How much time do you spend watching TV? Has this changed in the last couple of years? Why?