Tips for a didactic application of TV advertising to the learning of the language

Abstract

In this communication we set off from the evidence that the advertising message produces a great impact in society and that the models that it introduces are imitated immediately, especially for the youngsters. For these reasons it is essential that school and university reflect on the advertising mechanisms and make use of the didactic possibilities that it offers to work the advertising message in the classrooms, because it is a complete and entertaining method of studying different disciplines and encouraging transversality in education. Questions of image, social aspects, values, music… can be treated from the advertisements; and, evidently, questions of language. Commenting an advertisement is, in fact, to comment a text and from this point of view it is an activity that can be carried out in the classroom in any educational level. However, the commentary of an advertisement, as that of any text, can not be conceived as an exercise in itself, but has to be part of didactic sequences or sets of tasks channelled to specific goals. In our communication we will detail the elements that have to be taken into account for the linguistic analysis of the advertising spots, offer a categorization of possible exercises and present some operating proposals of advertisements, focusing basically on the study of the textual typology.