Body | by Carla Consolini, CASLS Research Assistant
This activity guides learners in the creation of memes designed for target langauge communities. While the activity was created with Intermediate and Advanced learners in mind, it could be easily adapted for Novice learners.
Learning Outcomes:
Learners will be able to:
- Create a meme designed for a target language community
- Evaluate the success of their memes
Mode(s): Presentational
Procedure:
- Ask learners to brainstorm what they know about memes and memeing in the target language. If they haven’t already considered memes in class before, provide them with our memes for language learning video and/or our political memes video to build some foundational knowledge.
- Next, show learners the creating memes video. Save time for questions at the end.
- Direct learners to a specific online target language community that you consider to be safe. Provide 10 minutes for learners to analyze the memes in the online target language community. Learners should focus on dissecting humor, the types of images used, and the type of language (e.g., slang or formal) that is used in most memes.
- Learners will draft a meme. Direct them to consider the tips in the video. Particularly, they should consider the language used (e.g., how formal they are) as well as how the image(s) selected contribute to meaning making.
- Learners will review their memes after drafting them. They should consult with other peers during the review process, paying attention to the same aspects mentioned in Step 4.
- Learners will share the meme with the online target language community.
- Learners will consider the feedback that they get from the community on their meme over the course of a week. They should consider the content of reactions, the number of reactions, and the number of likes.
Notes:
- Teachers can access these different online communities to search and curate for memes to be used in this activity here.
- As a possible extention, teachers may ask learners to recreate their memes based on research and feedback from the target language community.
- Teachers may opt to ask learners to share their memes within the classroom community in lieu of an open online platform. Padlet and Google Jamboard are good tools for classroom sharing.
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