Teaching EAP/ESP for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Project assignment
Approaching Online Content Critically
●Language level, number of students: B2, 20 students
1. Engage
Objectives: In this sequence students should activate the knowledge they already have.
Linking the topic to their personal lives will hopefully spark their interest as well. The
second introductory question encourages a critical approach to the following
sequences.
https://www.menti.com/al75k1qhyuzp
Word Clouds:
- What kind of online content do you encounter most often? (Please try to be as specific
as your character limit allows you.)
- What is the purpose of creating these materials?
2. Explore
Objectives: From now on the class will work in heterogeneous teams of 4 in order to
improve communication and collaboration skills. Other skills that the tasks improve are
the following: a. expressing an opinion and reasoning, answering to opposing views,
critical thinking, oral communication skills, understanding of visual information b.
listening comprehension, highlighting main ideas, reflection
Questions:
One of the following infographics and videos is going to be assigned for each group.
a. Social media group: look at the social media platforms mentioned below, discuss
the pros and cons you can read about, add your own arguments while giving
examples, and finally choose three of them that you prefer based on what you
discussed
Fake news group: look at the infographic and try to give examples to each type of
news that are mentioned. Following this, talk about why their level of impact is
different.
b. Watch the following TED-talks and highlight 5 keywords. Starting from these
words write at least 5 questions that could continue the rail of thought.
Explain
The objectives of this activity are to develop topic-based vocabulary, adjectives, essay
writing, conditionals.
Apply
Task 1: Gather 5 video ads you find smart or interesting. After choosing them, watch them again
while keeping in mind the following questions: Is there anything in particular that stands out in
these? Why are they engaging? What are the visuals and the sounds like? Considering the
narration (if there is such an aspect), list the adjectives they use and analyze them.
Task 2: Based on what you observed in the previous exercise, imagine an unusual product and,
using Canva, create an ad that contains both visual elements and text. Choose a target
audience as well, and try to make the product’s description as appealing as possible. How does
the target audience influence your way of communicating?
Task 3: Compare ads that appear in Instagram posts, sponsored products inside YouTube
videos and websites. Which keywords are repeated often? Write these in a mind map (you can
use a digital tool such as https://app.mindmup.com/map/new/1686168131209), then discuss
what kind of underlying advertising strategies can you identify. Do you see any differences and
similarities between websites and content creators’ ways of interacting with their audience?
Task 4: Imagine that you are a sales person trying to convince people to buy the product you
have just created in task 2. Write a short essay which enumerates positive consequences of
buying the product, using conditionals and the adjectives and strategies discussed in the
previous exercises.
Task 5: Choose a well-known brand, go to their official page on any online platform and analyze
their posts starting from the following questions. What makes the brand recognisable? What
kind of values do they claim to support? How can you know if they really are authentically
representing these values or if these are only present on the level of advertisement? How do
they adress their audience/customers?
Share:
Create a private Instagram page for the class and upload the Canva ad your group created.
Then everyone should individually point out the strenghts of each ad by writing comments to the
posts of other groups.
Reflect
Discuss in pairs about which parts of this lesson you found the most interesting or relatable and
talk about your personal experiences regarding ads or videos you find the most engaging.
Following this, imagine what examples would you follow if you worked at a marketing agency
and had to design you own brand.
Extend
If this topic sparked your interest, I recommend you the media literacy Crash Course which is
available on the following link: Crash Course Media Literacy Preview
Thank you for your valuable work! Now, please take a few minutes to fill in your
exit ticket right here 🎯
