LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson students learn vocabulary useful to talk about cancel culture, do a CAE multiple-choice cloze task, watch a video, and get the opportunity to discuss cancel culture and freedom of speech in depth. 

MULTIPLE-CHOICE CLOZE & VIDEO

The lesson starts with a brainstorming activity in which students come up with words associated with the idea of freedom. After the brief introduction, students match halves of four quotes about freedom and discuss if they agree with them. After that, they watch the first part of the video and define what cancel culture is, as well as share some examples. Before watching the second part of the video, students do a multiple-choice cloze task. They have to choose words and phrases which best fit eight sentences (e.g. backlash, mob mentality, hold accountable). Then, students choose three of the words or phrases, and say how they think the vocabulary is related to cancel culture. They also consider why some people might think that cancel culture has gone too far. Finally, students watch the second part of the video and compare their ideas with those of the speakers.

VOCABULARY PRACTISE & DISCUSSION

In the second part of the lesson, students complete six statements using some of the vocabulary they learned in the multiple-choice cloze task (e.g. call out, go after, political correctness). Most of the statements come from the video. Students also share their thoughts about the statemtents and cancel culture in general. Then, they discuss questions related to free speech, hate speech, company boycotts, being ostracised, and other issues related to cancel culture. Finally, students examine six real-life scenarios of people being cancelled, and decide whether they deserved to be ‘cancelled’. Students also consider some possible consequences cancel culture might bring on people who caused offence.