The Language Teacher
06 - 2002

Reading the World through Advertisements

Elizabeth Lokon

Miyazaki International College

<clokon@miyazaki-mic.ac.jp>


QUICK GUIDE

Key Words: Gender, culture, critical thinking
Learner English Level: Intermediate to advanced
Learner Maturity Level: University
Preparation Time: Minimal
Activity Time: 3 or 4 classes, 60-90 minutes per class
Materials:
Advertisements from magazines, large sheets of paper, OHP, student copies of Appendix 1, OHP copy of Appendix 2 (optional), "post-its" of two different colors


Rationale

Though gender issues have been discussed in many ESL classrooms since the early 1970s when feminism entered the sphere of education (Vandrick, 1995), there is still a need for practical ESL activities that genuinely invite students to become aware of their own gender identity development process. Without imperialistic endorsement of certain versions of masculinity or femininity, the activities below are aimed at teaching college students how to critically analyze the media as it constructs the definition of the acceptable, normative, idealized image of the self. Advertisements (ads) are selected here because they both reflect and shape cultural values. Ads are made with the assumption that the actors and models in the ads are similar to the target audience in terms of age, race, gender, social class, and appearance, so that the audience can identify with the ads (Maynard & Taylor, 1999). Marketers analyze prevailing cultural values before designing ads to ensure that there is a match between the target audienceÕs reality and the content of the ads. As members of the target audience identify with the carefully matched model or actor in the ads, they are ready to accept the advertisementsÕ depictions of their idealized selves. The media helps shape the development of oneÕs gender identity through prescribing the ideal versions of the masculine and the feminine. Japanese males and females over the age of 15 spend on average two hours and 34 minutes a day watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers and magazines (Japan Information Network, 1997). This number has been steadily increasing since 1981. At this rate, over an average lifetime, a Japanese person will have spent over 70,000 hours as media consumers. Knowing how mass media, advertisements in particular, influence their lives and shape their identity is a useful and necessary skill, which the activities described below are aimed at developing.

Procedure
Pre-classtime

Ask students to bring in two different advertisements from their favorite magazines. One must have a man as the central character and the other must have a woman. It is fine for the ads to contain other characters, provided that the main character is a female in one and a male in the other. The only other criteria for selection are that the ads should be interesting, intriguing, and/or appealing to the students.

Class One

1. Have students individually analyze the ads using the handout below (see Appendix 1). It is a good idea to model the analysis using a sample ad and an overhead transparency of the handout.

2. Individually, students paste their ads onto a large sheet of paper and attach their individual analysis of the visual, verbal, and hidden messages to each ad.

3. In small groups, ask students to compare ads along with their individual analysis. Then ask students to look at all the women characters and, after reading each otherÕs analyses, select key words or phrases that describe the women in all of the ads in the group. These descriptions should be written on sticky notes (post-its) of one color. The post-its can then be put on one large sheet of paper in no particular order to be sorted later.

4. Repeat step three for the male characters and write the key words on post-its of a different color than those used for the female characters.

Class Two

1. Students review all the words on post-its describing the women in the ads. The post-its should then be sorted by putting similar words together into groups. They should eventually have all the post-its sorted into no more than five or six categories (see explanation on classifying in Teaching Notes below).

2. Repeat step one for the description of the male characters.

3. Finally, students are ready to discuss the following questions:

Class Three

Students prepare and present a summary of their groupÕs discussion with the rest of the class. One way to ensure that all students get a chance to speak is the use of the carousel approach. In this approach, one student in each group presents his/her group's analysis simultaneously while the other students browse the other groups' presentations. In a class of 20 students, for example, students may work in small groups of four. This means that there will be five presentations under way simultaneously. As the first student in each group completes the presentation, a second student takes his/her place and the first student presenter is free to roam and listen to other groups' presentations. Since the content of the presentation is inherently interesting, I have found that students asked questions on their own, without being prompted. During this carousel activity, the instructor simply listens and keeps track of the time and the switching of presenters.

Homework

Students write an essay that addresses the following questions:

Teaching Notes

Students' unfamiliarity with this type of analytical thinking activity, in addition to the challenge of conducting the activity in a foreign language may make it difficult for them to do the task successfully without the preparation outlined above.

Further, I find it necessary to show students how to sort and classify the post-its. Students who have never done this before tend to be concerned that they are somehow not doing it right or not getting the correct answers. To resolve this problem, I borrow a technique that I used when teaching scientific classification in my fourth grade science classes. Using various abstract figures (see Appendix 2), I ask students how I might sort these figures into several groups. The most important point to convey here is that there are many different ways of sorting the very same set of figures, depending on the sorting criteria being applied. If the figures were sorted based on whether their borders consisted only of curved lines, the grouping will be different than if the figures were sorted based on the presence of holes inside the figures. Students in my classes were very interested in volunteering a variety of different criteria to sort these figures. Any other objects such as buttons, nails, and screws can be used to illustrate the same point. When students have completed this exercise, they are more confident and ready to work on the classifying activity.

I have further found that my Japanese students showed great interest in the topic of gender in general. Anchoring the whole activity on ads that they like from magazines they read make the activities personally relevant. Students showed a genuine desire to express their views allowing authentic communication to take place.

As a final note, I would like to emphasize that the purpose of these activities is to help students become aware of the role of the media in their gender identity development process, and not to impose upon them a politically correct image of gender roles. When students become more conscious of their own socialization process, they have some degree of autonomy in choosing the person they want to become.

References

Japan Information Network (1997). Survey on time use and leisure activities. Available: http://www.jinjapan.org/. (January 28, 2001)

Maynard, M. L. & Taylor, C. R. (1999). Girlish images across cultures: Analyzing Japanese versus U.S. Seventeen magazine ads. Journal of Advertising, 28(1), 39-48.

McGee, K. & Fujita, T. (2000). Playing the semiotic game: Analyzing and creating TV commercials in an EFL class. The Language Teacher, 24(6), 17-24.

Vandrick, S. (1995). Teaching and practicing feminism in the university ESL class. TESOL Journal, 4(3), 4-6.

Appendix 1

Analyzing Advertisements—Individual Work

NAME: _____________________________________

DATE: ______________

PRODUCT:_________________________________________________

COMPANY:________________________________________________

TARGET AUDIENCE:________________________________________________

This is an analysis of the following character in my advertisement:

(circle one) MALE FEMALE

1. Description of Visual Images
(Describe in detail what you see.)

2. Verbal Message
(Translate key written messages into English)

3. Hidden (inferential) Message
(What does this ad promise its potential buyer?)

(Adapted from: McGee, K. & Fujita, T. (2000). Playing the semiotic game: Analyzing and creating TV commercials in an EFL class. The Language Teacher, 24(6), pp. 17-24.)


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