- This topic won't be suitable for most classes because many students won't be comfortable discussing pornography. With that said, I couldn't resist writing this lesson because I feel it's a rich and important topic. Though the lesson focuses on the societal impacts of pornography and not on a student's personal habits, please only try this lesson with adult students who you think would feel comfortable with this topic. Consider not only their age but also their cultural and religious backgrounds.
- I elected to write a text-based summary instead of using the video (only 6 mins) because I found it too spicy (women in underwear posing on beds, thumbnails of pornography). The video would be a good accompaniment to the lesson plan, but you'd have to be completely sure that your students would feel comfortable watching it with you.
Lesson Topics: pornography, the pornography industry
Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.5 hours
Lesson Plan Download: pornography-industry-perry-advanced-042023.docx
Lesson Overview:
- After warm-up questions, students read a passage that summarizes a video featuring Louise Perry entitled "How porn f*cked our minds." The passage explains how profit-driven corporations have changed the world of pornography.
- Post-reading activities include comprehension questions and a pair-work activity in which students use vocabulary from the video to ask each other questions.
- Afterward, students debate whether adult websites should be banned on a college campus, attempt to rank internet-related societal issues, and then discuss two difficult pornography-related issues at the workplace.
- Finally, the passage closes with some quotations and a review of collocations.
- All lessons come with warm-up questions, vocabulary questions, and discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) EFL Lesson Plan on the Effects of Pornography
Warm-up Questions
- What are your favorite websites?
- At what age should children be allowed to access the internet alone?
- How would you define pornography? Is it a form of art?
Membership is required to view this post. Please support EnglishCurrent by becoming a member today. Members, please log in.
-- Lesson plan on the Effects of Pornography written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.
Possible answers to comprehension questions:
- ….
- (This is the process of sex losing its mystery and magic and becoming merely a transaction between two people.)
- She means that we are no longer looking at simple erotic images. Though not stated explicitly, she means that we are viewing much more dynamic and varied content that is helping abnormal acts (e.g. choking) become part of mainstream culture.
- She compares it to fast food (McDonald’s in particular) for its ability to cause the pleasure-seeking parts of our brains to yearn for it.
- The contradiction is that most people are not critical of the porn industry despite holding critical views of many other industries.
Vocabulary Answers: 1-e, 2-c, 3-d, 4-f, 5-j, 6-i, 7-k, 8-b, 9-g, 10-h, 11-a
Collocation Answers: 1-e, 2-c, 3-f, 4-a, 5-b, 6-e
[1] Views summarized from transcript available here: https://bigthink.com/series/explain-it-like-im-smart/case-against-porn/