Wazzuppp!: Using Television
Commercials to Teach Writing
William Martínez, Jr.
California Polytechnic State University
Theoretical background in
writing
 The Domains of Writing
– 4 categories:
• A. Sensory/ Descriptive
• B. Imaginative/ Narrative
• C. Practical/Informative
• D. Analytic/ Expository
A. Sensory/ Descriptive
 Based on on concrete details
 Gathering information through 5 senses
 Provide vivid descriptions
 Have the reader be an observer
 “Show not tell”
 Focus on the details
 Create appeal for the reader to read on
B. Imaginative/ Narrative
 The purpose is to tell a story
 Organization of ideas into beginning,
middle and end (plot, suspense and climax)
 Add details to actions
 Point of view
 Bringing the writing process to life by
selecting unique details to tell
C. Practical/Informative
 Focus on facts not speculation
 Writing that provides little interpretation
 Observations that add details to facts
 Sequence that helps readers “see” the action
 Ordering of importance in details
 Editing skills
D. Analytic/ Expository
 Writing that explains in detail
 Writing that persuades with facts
 Writing that influences with development of
ideas
 Anaysis, organization and development
 Building and explaining relationships that
were not obvious
D. Analytic/ Expository
(continued)
 The use of logic
 Differentiation of fallacies
 A combination of skills learned in other
domains to produce a logical, persuasive,
argument.
Theoretical background in the
methodology
 Based on the Neurological Bimodal
Learning Model (Multisensorial teaching
model)
– Neurological Bimodality Definition:“The
notion that both hemispheres of the brain are
involved in a complementary fashion in global
language processing.”
» Marcel Danesi “Neurological Bimodality,” 18
What is Multi-Sensorial Teaching?
 It attempts to stimulate both sides of the
brain at the same time
 Left hemisphere:
–
–
–
–
Phonological, Morphological, etc. (grammar)
Link syntactic and semantic elements (style, tone, etc.)
Implication of sentence (What does it mean?)
Controls motor functions of speech
What is Multi-Sensorial Teaching?
(continued)
 Right Hemisphere:
– Determines the sense of the sentence (question, statement,
command, etc.)
– Handles figurative meaning (metaphor, simile, etc)
– Understands humor and double meaning
– Processes most of the everyday occurrences
How does it work?
 It presents students with more than one
stimuli at any one time
 It uses technology (in all its forms) as a way
to lower the affective filters
 It provides both text and context at the same
time
 It increases the motivation of the students
 It helps giving students more context
Danesi and Writing
 According to Danesi:
– It is mostly a first year-type methodology
– It emphasizes oral communication
– By using metaphor it could be used for writing,
but Danesi does not indicate how.
My adaptations
 Stimulate students by using things that they
know and understand-- TV Commercials
 Stimulate students by using props--Objects/
products used in TV Commercials
 Give them specific target writing
assignments--Writing about or with TV
Commercials
My adaptations
(continued)
 Motivate through technology
– High and low technology items
 Incorporate cultural components in writing--
How do TV Commercials affect specific
target groups?
 Integrate several technologies in a particular
assignment.
Using TV commercials--The writing
process
Some Examples
Descriptive:
 Ask them to describe what is going on.
 Focus on different senses
 Describe colors and/or music
 Describe the nature of the product
 Produce a paragraph and have thesis
statement at end.
 Discuss in class
Narrative:
 Tell the story of the commercial
 What came first and what came next. Why
this order?
 Have them explain what feelings these
characters are demonstrating and why (Use
of narrator)
 Have them create their own storyboards
Informative:
 Have them explain the process of making a
commercial.
 What would they change and why?
 How does meaning change with sound? Etc.
(who, what, where, when, and how?)
 Report on the use of commercials in a
particular event, a particular timeslot, etc.
Analytic:
 Focus on the meaning--Reading “between
the lines”
 Look at the cultural aspects
 Focus on specific characters in a
commercial
 Produce their own commercial, explaining
how it attempts to influence viewers.
Advantages
 Students are more involved in writing
 Students feel that writing makes sense
 Students see marked improvement in all
critical thinking skills
 Students use L2 in real life situations
 Students realize that L2 is a living, evolving
language
 Students use techniques for all writing, not just
L2 language situations
Disadvantages
 It takes a great deal of energy
 Must give very detailed instructions on
assignments
 Must be willing to drop everything at a
moment’s notice--Not for the faint of heart!
 Need a lot of imagination
 It is difficult to get use to
 Evaluation of materials produced must be
rigorous
Bibliography
Battenburg, John and William Martinez. Communicative Activities for the Second
Language Classroom. Debuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publications, 1999.
Britton, James. The Development of Writing Abilities. London: MacMillan
Education, LTD. Schools Council Publications, 1975.
Danesi, Marcel. “Neurological Bimodality and Theorys of Language Teaching.” in
Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Vol. 10. 1988. Pp 13-31.
--------. “Practical Application of Current Brain Research to Teaching of Italian.”
in Italica, Vol. 64. 1987. Pp. 377-392.
Lewis, Michael. The Lexical Approach: The State of ELT and a Way Forward.
Hove, England: Langauge Teaching Publications, 1993.
McHugh, Nancy. Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing as Process. Sacramento,
CA: CA department of Education, 1987.
Smith, William F. Modern Media in Foreign language Education: Theory and
Implementation. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company, 1987.