Today we
are going to talk about social networking. We are also going to spend
some time working on stressing important and new information in sentences.
.
2.- Social
networking
I think social
networking is very important. Nowadays, there are so many different
ways to stay in contact with your friends and family. In this lesson,
we are going to look at one particular website which is popular with
people today.
.
3.- Your
turn…
Answer the
following questions out loud giving as much information as possible.
What is
online social networking?
What are
the different ways you use to stay in contact with your friends?
What is
your preferred way of staying in contact with your friends and family?
Why?
.
4.- Listening
(Video)
You are now
going to listen to your teacher answer the above questions. Note
down her answers.
.
.
4.1.-
Tapescript
What
is online social networking?
When it comes
to online social networking, websites are commonly used. These websites
are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like
an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question,
many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies,
religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to a social networking
website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading
the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them.
The
friends that you can make are just one of the many benefits to social
networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity
because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access
to social networking sites. This means that although you are in the
United States, you could develop an online friendship with someone in
Denmark. Not only will you make new friends, but you just might learn
a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always
a good thing.
What
are the different ways you use to stay in contact with your friends?
I must admit I often email and text my closest friends. I hardly ever
call them as I don’t really have the time. The only people I call
are my mum and my brother. I think nowadays it is so easy, quick and
cheap to email or text.
What
is your preferred way of staying in contact with your friends and family?
Why?
I would
love to have the time to call my friends and family but I don’t.
For this reason I use informal methods like, facebook, email and text.
.
5.- Introduction
to Facebook
Facebook
is a global social networking website that has members from all over
the world. It is available to everyone to use and it is free.
.
www.facebook.com
.
5.1.- Key
vocabulary
Before listening
to John talk about Facebook, please learn the key vocabulary below:
Website
User
Status
To notify
To post
Fan club
Membership
To expand
To block
Listening
.
5.2.- Put
the following lexical items in order according to John’s initial
description of Facebook:
Private profile / Add friends / Share pictures / Promote an event
Keep track of friends / Block people / Make friends
Update status
(to
see the answer click on the table; double click return)
.
5.3.- Listen
to John again. Fill in the table with the information from the listening.
(to
see the answer click on the table; double click return)
5.4.- Look
at the tapescript and highlight the words and phrases that helped you
find the answers.
Tapescript
Facebook
is a free global social networking website that is privately owned.
There are many different things that facebook users can do. Here’s
just a few things:
Users can add friends and send them messages
They can keep track of what their friends are doing
They can block people they don’t want to be friends with.
They can make friends with a common interest
They can update their status to notify friends about how they are
feeling and what they are doing
Users can effortlessly share pictures and videos
They can promote an event by inviting their friends. Their guests
can then RSVP on the page. It’s environmentally clean, quick
fun.
Users can make their profile as private as they want with only giving
access to their close friends or all of their friends.
Mark
Zuckerberg founded Facebook with one of his college roommates and a
few computer science students when he was studying at Harvard University.
The website's membership was initially limited to Harvard students,
but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area. It later expanded
further to include all university students, then secondary school students,
and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and above. The website currently has
more than 300 million active users worldwide.
Facebook
has met with some problems. It has been blocked intermittently in several
countries including Syria, China and Iran. It has also been blocked
at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time whilst
they are supposed to be carrying out their daily job.
6.- Response
to listening
Answer the
following questions, giving as much detail as possible:
Are you
a member of facebook?
If yes:
How
often do you use it?
What do you use it for?
Do you think it will be around for a long time? Why?
If no:
Are
you interested in joining facebook? Why?
How do you like to keep in contact with your friends?
How do you see the future of social networking?
7.- Language
Focus: Primary Stress (Listening)
As we have
previously seen, in English, each sentence has a primary stress. The
primary stress usually indicates new or important information. For example:
-
He is happy (The primary stress
is on ‘happy’ because this provides us with important
information about how ‘he’ is feeling).
-
I received lots of presents because today
was my birthday (The primary stress is on ‘today’
because this provides us with new information).
It is important
that we stress the right word in a sentence because if we don’t,
we could be giving more importance to a word which is not that important
and therefore taking importance away from the new and important information.
7.1.- Listen
to the following short sentences and decide where the primary stress
falls. You can indicate the primary stress by placing ? over the word
where you want to place the stress.
Listening
(to
see the answer click on the table; double click return)
7.2.-
Look at the following passage and decide where the primary stress falls
in each sentence.
(to
see the answer click on the table; double click return)
Extract
taken from ‘A puzzle for Logan’ by Richard Macandrew (CUP)
You have
now reached the end of the Speaking and Listening Course for Intermediate
students. Congratulations! We hope you have learned a lot and enjoyed
yourself at the same time.