a. What did you think when you read the headline?
b. What springs to mind when you hear the words 'video games'?
c. What was the first video game you ever played?
d. Are video games good for you?
e. What do you think of the Grand Theft Auto video game?
f. What is your favourite video game?
g. Do you prefer playing video games or watching TV?
h. Do you think a video game can really be called a masterpiece?
i. What do you think it is about GTA series that makes them so popular?
j. What do you like and dislike about video games?
k. What can you learn (or children) playing video games?
l. Do video games make people more violent?
m. Should parents limit the amount of time children spend playing video games ?
n. Do you feel good when you kill people and destroy things in video games? Why?
o. Are you addicted or do you know anyone who is addicted to playing video games?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL.
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS: FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION. SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS. THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.
FINAL TASK:
THERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO AND THIS WAY YOU WILL COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU MUST IMPROVE WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.WRITING:
Write a composition of not more than 180 words and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 6, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of the following options:
- Write a formal letter to Rockstar vice president Dan Houser. Give him two or three pieces of advice on what he should do to make future video games even better. Ask him a couple of questions about his company and his games.
- Express your opinion about whether gaming is dangerous for kids and teenagers.
Violent video games are only another piece in our each time madder society. In connection with other situations (rubbish TV programs, spoiled children, etc.), they are getting to change our scale of values. From the beginning of time every human being was able to distinguish good from evil and most of them wanted to be good and fight against evil. If we analyse the video game we have read about, we can see the player plays the role of a criminal (good) and not only he kills people but he kills innocent bystanders (evil) who have committed an awful crime, to be present in the street when that good criminal drove “his” newly stolen car about 250 km/h. You will be agree with me that these insolent bystanders must die. Maybe I am getting older but there are lots of things in this world that I don’t understand and I don’t want to understand.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, video games are a very good learning environment: kids start to play without a teacher with them and there isn’t a video game subject in the school. It’s learning by doing project usually undertaken by the players, who choose the matter by their own personal interests.
ReplyDeleteWhen you play video games you can experience a lot of different situations: the most common is that you must learn the rules experiencing them, by trial and error. You love to play because of the same reason that you are frustrated every time you have a “game over” screen. You need to try again and again because you want to be an expert, a better player. The more you do it, the more you will be able to manage more complex situations and you’ll evolve, mastering the chosen goal.
Of course there’s violence and abuse in almost every title that wins the audience’s attention, but …what about Homer’s Iliad, one of the first novels? War, fighting is inside us, not only in the video game underlying structure. Maybe the more we play, the less we´d fight between us. Let’s give video games a try!
IMHO, video games are a very good learning environment: kids start to play without a teacher with them and there isn’t a video game subject in the school. It’s learning by doing project usually undertaken by the players, who choose the matter by their own personal interests.
ReplyDeleteWhen you play video games you can experience a lot of different situations: the most common is that you must learn the rules experiencing them, by trial and error. You love to play because of the same reason that you are frustrated every time you have a “game over” screen. You need to try again and again because you want to be an expert, a better player. The more you do it, the more you will be able to manage more complex situations and you’ll evolve, mastering the chosen goal.
Of course there’s violence and abuse in almost every title that wins the audience’s attention, but …what about Homer’s Iliad, one of the first novels? War, fighting is inside us, not only in the video game underlying structure. Maybe the more we play, the less we´d fight between us. Let’s give video games a try!