Vicki Hollett

Bother! The Shark Tank video in my last posting isn’t accessible outside the US. Thanks for alerting me, Evan and very sorry for any frustration I caused folks.

When I first came to the US, I was amused to find people who would pop up on the TV screen after I’d watched a PBS programme and explain what I’d just watched to me. It was surprisingly low context and didactic behaviour that prompted me to ask ‘Do they think I’m an idiot?’. But it also had a sort of charm to it. And the truth is, while it was irritating and condecending to have folks pointing out the bleedingly obvious, sometimes they pointed out things I hadn’t noticed or didn’t know – and was glad to know.

The two pictures below should lead to two example videos that come from a US TV programme called ‘What would you do?’ (if you have time to click on them and wait for an annoying 15 second ad to run – sorry about that) They don’t explore culture so much as race, and gender and there’s an obvious link to the second conditional. I found the content very interesting and perhaps your students will too. I’d expect they’d need to be upper intermediate or advanced to follow the dialogue well. (I’ve run some checks this time and the videos seem to be accessible in Europe at least, so fingers crossed.)

There’s a question I find myself wondering when I watch them: do you think TV programme makers in other countries might have made them differently and how?  (Oh and if you do show them to your students, please tell me what they make of them – thank you)  

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I came across a video when I was hunting for material to use with the COO of a chain of Brazilian shopping malls. It proved so intriguing, that now I sometimes show it to other students, if I can find a way to work it in. So here it is - a contribution to the ESL/EFL Carnival of Lessons. If you have any ideas for extending it, please share. It's for upper-intermediate students.

Clicking on the picture of the shopping mall to the right will take you to the video.

(Viewers in the UK  may find they hit a copyright block, but they can find something similar here. UK : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1f_o7xgvl8

Thanks for that link Laura!)

When your students have watched it, ask the logical question: how did he do it?

Students unfamiliar with Derren Brown may have difficulty believing it’s for real at first. You can assure them it is – or ar least, as I understand it, it really did happen.

OK, onto the dictation task. Explain to your students that they’re going to listen again and find out what he said. Then hand out the text below. Derren said something similar, but not quite the same. Their task is to spot the differences and make a note of them.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Pallisades Mall. We hope that your shopping experience is an uplifting one and I’d like to bring to your attention some very special offers today. Details of our special offers can be found by the elevators, so why not come right on up and see for yourselves. Our special offers will only be available for a short period of time, so all those customers wishing to reach out and grab this exciting opportunity should do so now.

For your reference, here’s what Derren actually said. Embedded (in CAPS) are hidden commands.

We hope that your shopping experience is an UPLIFTING ARM, and I’d like to bring to your PAY ATTENTION some very special offers today. Details of our special offers can be found HANDILY by the ELEVATORS, so why not come RIGHT ARM UP and SEIZE for yourselves. Our special offers will only be available for a short period of time, so all those customers wishing to REACH UP and GRAB this exciting opportunity should do so NOW.

So now your students are looking at what Derren Brown actually said: how do they think he did it?

The answer? Well, goodness knows really, but it seems shopping malls put us into some kind of trance where we become susceptible to subliminal messages. He mentioned at the start that:

• the recording was prerecorded and played throughout the shopping centre for about half an hour
• shopping malls are ‘the perfect place’ to find a large number of compliant people

Derren often seems to raise his voice for the embedded commands, and there’s a call to action in his final sentence – so he’s not just telling the shoppers what to do, but also when to do it.

(Sales people may be familiar with that technique.)

For a printable classroom worksheet with some vocabulary help and possible discussion questions, click here.

And if your students want to see more Derren Brown, they’ll find lots more to watch at youtube. For example:

Subliminal advertising      Paying with paper       Winning on a losing ticket Part one and Part two