Isn’t it intriguing how creative minds think up TV commercials that are not only entertaining but also teach lessons about life in general?
Did you then know that TV commercials can serve as useful language teaching materials, in the education sphere?
People rarely know the advantages of TV commercials and how it serves as a creative resource for learning world languages and can serve as a valuable addition to the world language classroom sphere.
4 reasons to induce tv commercials
TV commercials showcase the culture and social regions of a given country
It is exciting how commercials from different countries either showcase extensively or give a hint about culture and societal truths that can touch anyone’s consciousness and awareness.
For instance, a Globacom, commercial that integrated all the ethnic groups in Nigeria, dressed in their cultural attires, to sing the national anthem.
Served as a reminder that Nigerian’s are one even in their various tribes or tribal clothes. This telecommunication commercial pushes for unity regardless of diversity yet it is still informing people that they can stay united with Globacom.
This commercial type is educative to learners in giving them a taste of target culture and additionally offers a possibility of instilling In my world language classes, this type of TV commercial is what I want my students to watch, as it gives them a taste of the target culture, plus it offers the possibility of inspiring a sense of unity and benevolence among the learners.
TV commercials view the authentic and natural way that locals speak their target language.
Apart from learning the correct pronunciations and the exact types of sounds used for production in a conversation, learners should also learn the gestures and other linguistic refinements that support the negotiation of meaning.
The South African commercial for a cable TV titled DSTV is a good one as it captures the students’ attention as a stout man with a rotund belly humorously drinks a beer in a bar with his friends and insults another woman for being stout.
The learners are also exposed to how South-African speak and the use of their language in their cordial matters and also when one is in trouble(because the man gets embattled at the end when the lady appears).
TV commercials can serve as a source of entertainment.
The humor and entertaining value are usually the criteria that set a good TV commercial away from the rest.
In world language learning, students would find it entertaining to watch TV commercials that touch their curiosity of what is happening, such as the Kenyan commercial for betway.
Apart from the Kenya song playing in the background, everyone wonders why some selected individuals are dancing in a market setting but at the end of the commercial, the sports betting platform is introduced to us as the main reason for the joyfulness.
TV commercials sometimes explore the notational and functional style of language learning.
It’s helpful for learners to learn a language by conducting communicative activities (functions) while performing language structures that pinpoint certain circumstances and goals (notions).
Many of the TV commercials spoken in world languages are usually structured around real-life circumstances of how people interact with one another.
The commercial on Indomie commercial done in Yoruba language is very notional-functional for world language teaching.
The woman featured in the commercial is usually called “Iya Ewe”, meaning mother of children. This function for this word gives the learners an insight into its use in the needed context.
In everything, a good and bad side is available, so teachers still need to be careful when making use of a TV commercial as a teaching tool.
For minor learners, choose TV commercials that have universal themes. Be sure to ensure enough guidance and supplementation, especially when the commercials get a little sensitive and context-specific.
The teacher should always be prepared and patient to explain things with interval reminders to the students that they’re watching a featured TV commercial.
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