Videos for students Teacher Guide Author info Program info
English Insight
Suggestions for classroom use
December 2002

English Insight is designed as an independent program for advanced and high-intermediate English conversation courses but it can easily be adapted to fit with intermediate listening-speaking courses and also writing and EAP courses for ESL/EFL students. Lately I have heard from several instructors who also use this course for teacing and discussing American culture with their students. That works for me!

Outside the classroom

  • Students need access to computers with either this program preloaded or the CD. (Burning your own CD's allows HTML-savvy instructors to rewrite assignments and add email links to themselves for the forms and exercises on videos 6-10.)
  • Student assignments for the first part of the course are to watch the videos as often as necessary to understand them and answer assigned questions. For the second part of the course, students write exercises for their classmates.
Inside the classroom 
  • Students discuss the contents of the videos, their answers to questions, vocabulary, and projects, and also their own feelings about the issues raised in each video. Discussions should allow students to express their ideas about these issues and also identify interesting questions which can then provide opportunities for further research, learning, discussion, and reports.
  • Ideally, instructors will have in-class access to computers with projection facilities.
  • However, getting a copy of TV Nation #2 and a VCR/monitor is a good alternative for classrooms without computer projection facilities. With or without classroom computers, the whole class will benefit by watching segments of TV Nation #2 to accompany their out-of-class assignments; segments not included on the CD are also worth viewing and discussing.

  • The second part of the course (inspired by the ideas of Reciprocal Teaching) is the part I like best because it is more open-ended and challenging while building on and extending the work students do in the first part. Students divide up into teams and watch different videos in order to write "reasonable" exercises and vocabulary and expressions and projects, and then their classmates/instructor give them feedback (on the coherence and accuracy of their work without seeing the video) and ultimately do those exercises the same way they did the exercises provided by the CD.
  • Writing these exercises enables student collaboration, a deeper attention to and understanding of the language and ideas in each video segment, and also a process of writing, revision, editing, and "public" presentation. A central belief behind these student-written exercises is that such work with appropriate instructor/peer feedback will result in greater English fluency and accuracy. Please let me know if your classroom experiences support or disconfirm my beliefs.

Summary of videos:

  1. TV Nation tells the story of an African-American who has trouble with the local police department. Themes: crime, discrimination, attitudes of police and others toward "minorities"

  2. Chicago Tonight tells the story of a professional athlete who was suspended for using steroids, a drug that is legal but banned by American professional football leagues. Themes: athletes using legal and illegal drugs, organizations that penalize the use of legal substances

  3. TV Nation tells a story identified as corporate crime - a bank that received millions of dollars in tax breaks and then fired several dozen workers. Themes: crimes and punishment, crime prevention.

  4. Chicago Tonight tells the story of Southern Baptists planning to seek converts in Chicago, and the reaction of Chicago religious leaders to this campaign. Themes: religious freedom, proselytizing and avoiding having missionaries.

  5. Chicago Tonight tells the story of a Cuban boy whose mother dies trying to leave Cuba and reach the USA. Themes: parental rights, attitudes toward Cuba, using children for political purposes.

  6. TV Nation does a satirical piece on slavery because the state of Mississippi did not abolish slavery until 1995. Themes: local and national laws, attitudes towards slavery and discrimination.

  7. TV Nation attempts to challenge the right of a Connecticut community to own and control a local beach. Themes: private versus public property, tactics for challenging laws.

  8. A local news station has a Special Report on a bride and groom whose wedding reception occurred during a power outage. Themes: wedding customs and traditions, corporate and legal responsibility, when are events newsworthy and why.

  9. TV Nation explores a decision by local government to increase revenues, tourism and jobs by building public aquariums. Themes: local government responsibilities, economic issues.

  10. Politically Incorrect explores what the government of New York City is doing to homeless people. Themes: homelessness, attitudes toward and policies about homeless people.

  11. Politically Incorrect discusses the causes of divorces in the United States. Themes: marriage, divorce, local wedding customs and traditions, expectations about marriage.

  12. TV Nation exposes a company that produces baby walkers, a product considered unsafe by many pediatricians.

Please feel free to distribute this CD to colleagues and classmates, but remember
it's a free, educational, work-in-progress program for classroom testing purposes only.
Please send comments and suggestions to
dsorsa@depaul.edu Thanks.

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