Elegance versus bling (case study)

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Phrases for giving opinions

phrases for giving opinions

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson, students watch a video about a company facing problems, learn advanced phrases for giving opinions, and discuss case studies. 

B2 / Upper Intermediate
C1 / Advanced
75 minStandard LessonUnlimited Plan

VOCABULARY & VIDEO

At the beginning of the lesson students discuss brand awareness and brand image. Then, they read opinions about inconspicuous consumption. Their task is to match some underlined words and phrases in the text (e.g. bling, shake up, buzz around something) to their meanings. This is also where students see some advanced phrases for giving opinions. After the reading part, students discuss which of the comments from the text they agree with. Before watching the video, students find out what the company from the video is and brainstorm the problems it might have. Students also discuss ways for the company to create a buzz around the brand, as well as the idea of endorsement deals. While watching the first part of the video, students complete a table with the details about the issues mentioned in the video. Then, students watch the second part of the video and answer some questions

PHRASES FOR GIVING OPINIONS & CASE STUDY

In this part of the lesson, students analyse some case studies. To do that, they first decide what function certain phrases from the first part of the lesson perform (e.g. I am entirely convinced that…, Plainly,…). Then, they put phrases for giving opinions into categories, e.g. expressing absolute certainty. After that, students review the story from the video and have a case study discussion. They need to use the phrases from the previous exercise (e.g. Without a shred of doubt…, Having given this question due consideration…). Finally, students look at four examples of brand extension and discuss what the companies wanted to achieve with the extensions and whether they were a success or not.

WORKSHEETS

 

Comments

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Leave a Reply

  1. ronnie.english.101

    Yes! Finally another business case lesson! 😀

    1. Iulia

      We’ll be happy if your class enjoys it!

  2. Inna

    Hi Iulia! I used this lesson plan with two of my IT students last Friday and it worked really well! Thank you for these great materials! 😉

    1. Iulia

      Hi Inna,

      It’s great to hear this. We’ll do our best to make more lessons that your students will enjoy 🙂

      Thank you for the feedback.

  3. Agnieszka

    I was delighted to see another business English lesson plan 🙂 I liked the case study (really interesting) and follow-up exercises (phrase bank) and other examples of cases which I could discuss with my students. Looking forward to new business English lesson plans 🙂

    1. Iulia

      Hi Agnieszka,
      Thank you:) We appreciate it that you leave your feedback on our lessons. This encourages us to work further for you!

  4. liselig

    Hey, is the video u posted correct? 🙂 thanks

    1. Justa

      Yes, it seems so 🙂

  5. Lois Gantley

    I really enjoyed teaching this lesson plan today for the first time and I love case studies, but unfortunately, my Asian student immediately informed me that the name of the ‘influencer’ type character in the video is extremely racist, so I probably won’t risk teaching it again.

    1. Stan

      Oh, wow! That’s worrying. Though, I wonder what’s inappropriate about it. The character is called Changchang Gao and as far as I could google it, there’s nothing wrong with it. Changchang is a Mandarin female name and Gao is an East Asian surname (supposedly 17 million people have this name). Do you mind asking your students what’s racist about it?

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