Analysing language choices in reviews
In this lesson, students examine word choice in a pair of published reviews.
Goals
- Identify words with particular effects in a particular genre of English writing, the review.
- Discuss the effects of word choice in real language in use.
Lesson Plan
The teacher explains that today, we will look at two published reviews and analyse the language choices that the writers made.
One type of writing that is useful to analyse in terms of descriptive language is the review. Reviews are designed to offer the writer’s opinions about something, such as a piece of music, a film or an item of technology.
Have a look at the the first slide in the Activity page in the right hand menu, which is from a review of a phone. Students should see if they can identify the language choices that show (a) what the phone is like and (b) how the writer feels about the product.
Now, in Slide 2, we have a report of a football match in which goalkeeping blunders let the away team score three goals in the first thirty minutes.
See if you can identify the key words and phrases here that indicate how the writer views the performance of the goalkeeper who played in the first half compared to the one who came on in the second half.
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Analysing language choices in reviews: Activity
It’s reasonably compact, compared to most smartphones these days, with a 3.7in screen that’s slightly bigger than the iPhone’s. It looks neat enough, but when you pick it up it feels like no other phone around. The screen is slightly curved, and so are the edges of the phone. It all feels like a smooth, tactile pebble, with glossy front and matte back. It’s made from polycarbonate, that is plastic, but it’s put together like it’s one piece. Even the tiny holes on the bottom edge for the speaker are individually precision-milled.
And it’s invitingly warm to the touch. Apart from the chrome power button and volume rocker on one side, there are no buttons anywhere. The power socket is hidden under a hinged door on the top edge. Weirdly, this doesn’t fold back as you’d expect it to and this is the phone’s only weak spot in terms of design. Next to this door is the sim card holder. This handset uses the smaller micro-sim.
In the 13th minute, after Ludovic Sylvestre’s through-ball to Shelvey, Rachubka parried his shot straight to LuaLua, who scored easily. On 25 minutes, Rachubka spilled a routine catch from Alex Baptiste’s cross and only Lees’ illegal block kept out Sylvestre’s shot. Referee Roger East reduced Leeds to 10 men before Shelvey scored with a twice-taken penalty. Shelvey almost walked in Blackpool’s third in the 31st minute after another innocuous drive, by LuaLua, squirmed from Rachubka’s grasp.
The sight of a distraught Rachubka lying face-down on the turf, and the booing that greeted his errors, prompted Grayson to send on Cairns for the second half. The debutant performed confidently in a much-improved showing but was helpless as first LuaLua cut in from the left to score with a brutal drive and then Shelvey rounded off what Grayson called “a freak night”.