Lesson 13 on DIC
(materials for teaching culture (literature, newspapers, TV, Internet,
pictures, realia, films, signs)
Task I. Read the text, title it and guess the meaning of words in italics. Present the
main facts of this text.
Like most inventions, television was the combination of earlier
technological developments and not the creation of a single “creative genius.” Its
history can be traced in the developments of radio, motion pictures, photography
and the electronic camera. Although much of this technology had existed for some
time, the first experimental broadcasts did not take place until the mid- 1920s.
These broadcasts took place more or less simultaneously in Hungary, the Soviet
Union, the USA and Germany. Regular television transmissions began in 1936 in
Britain and in 1939 in the USA. Television was forced to close down completely in
Britain throughout the Second World War and it was not until after the war that
television was able to grow as a medium, in part thanks to military technology and
expertise. It was during the 1950s that television overtook cinema as the most
popular medium of entertainment for the majority of the population in Europe and
North America. This phenomenon of television becoming the most powerful
medium of communication around the world has occurred alongside
industrialization and the resulting changes in living standards throughout the
world. Today Television is eve considered by most people around the world to be a
necessity and not a luxury item in the home. Television’s worldwide power and
influence can be seen in the priority television stations give to reporting and
showing war pictures on camera. The picture of war and its aftermath can now be
brought into the home through the television. Likewise, television’s power is
evident in the billions of dollars advertisers pay to a watching world.
The two positions most commonly occupied in arguments about television
and the mass media can be summarized as being ‘pessimist” and “optimistic”. The
pessimists who are often associated with so-called “mass culture theory” tend to
stress the uniformity of media production and the role it plays in pacifying and
exploiting audiences. According to this view television is a kind of opiate of the
masses, the phrase Karl Marx used to describe religion. Culture pessimist are
concerned about the dominance and corrosive influence of US and transnational
entertainment industries; about stereotypical representations of a variety of social
groups; the negative effects of television on audiences, particularly in relation to
violent and sexual content; the commercialization of television; and the
ideological role of television in ‘controlling” the way we view the world.
The ‘optimists’, on the other hand, celebrate the diversity, complexity and
equality which they see as a product of television. Television is considered to be as
rich and subtle in its potential as Elizabethan theater was for England in the 16 th
century. Like Elizabethan theater, television is thought as a familiar and popular
experience for all sections of society. The optimists often accuse the pessimists of
‘elitism’ of denigrating popular culture.
Task II. Match the vocabulary word with the correct definition.
7
3
2
5
4
9
1
6
8
12
10
13
11
invent
1.across nations
creation
2.to transmit by television or by radio
broadcast
3.something made by someone
necessity
4.something not needed but extra;
luxury
5.something needed or required
dominance
6.to comfort and keep quiet
transnational
7.to make or cause an original idea
pacify
8.to use someone in a way that takes advantage of them
exploit
9.power over something
opiate
10.art as a financial transaction
commercialized
11.situation comedy
soap opera
12.drug to numb you from feeling reality
sitcom
13.drama in serial form (weekly continuous)
Task III. Write the full meaning of these abbreviations. Students work in groups
or pairs.
ABC- Active Body Control
AP- Associated Press
CBS- Can't Be Stopped
CNN- Cable News Network
NBC- Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical
UPI- United Press International
PBS- Public Broadcasting Service
BBC- British Broadcasting Corporation
ITV- Interactive TeleVision
WEEKLLY ASSIGNMENT
Written task:
- What materials for teaching culture (literature, newspapers, TV, Internet,
pictures, realia, films, signs) give a good results.
- In your written task present one of the materials as a example, include
material which you have found as a good result, and explain it (include your
material and one paper written task)
Home work.