A Truth Universally Acknowledged


It is a truth universally acknowledged that…” –quoting Jane Austen’s opening line of Pride and Prejudice – adolescents have developed a strong negative attitude to writing. So, I find myself invariably squeezing my brains to figure out how I can make writing more appealing, more authentic, more creative for my FCE students. In Unit 4 of FCE Result, they are asked to produce a review of a film. 

Therefore, I thought it’d be far more motivating and engaging to start with a class discussion of films in general – different kinds, films they’d seen or would like to see, films they would or wouldn’t recommend at all. They worked in groups, exchanged opinions, agreed or disagreed about the messages sent by some films they discussed and, most importantly, they naturally used loads of meaningful, thematically related language. The final step of the activity would be, of course, writing the review. 

I do not know if they had a good time while writing it at home. I choose to think they did. Anyway, if it was half as much as the fun they had while discussing the movies in class I believe the task was successfully accomplished. 


Teacher: Laura Lupo
Class: FCE `G´ and FCE Cultural Norte