Everybody Loves Spending Time with “Friends”: A Lesson Plan

Mark Mallinder, Taiwan

Mark Mallinder is an English instructor at National Changhua University of Education. He has been teaching a variety of college-level courses to Taiwanese EFL learners. His research interests include reading instruction and using multimedia in language classrooms. E-mail: markc@cc.ncue.edu.tw

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Introduction
Lesson plan: everybody loves spending time with “Friends”
Pre-activity information
Viewing the show
After the activity
Conclusion
References

Introduction

As of the writing of this article, over 50 years have passed since a former “chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)” gave a speech in which he both praised and criticized what was being shown on American television in 1961. While the speaker, Newton Minow, lauded broadcasting as “a most honorable profession,” he was also clearly distressed at much of the content that was being presented to the public, which is revealed by his most well-known comment in which he referred to American television as a “vast wasteland.” Today, there are no doubt people who would agree with Minow’s opinion, but I believe that there are many good television shows which can be used to help EFL students gain a better understanding of American culture and English. One such program is the American TV show “Friends.”

“Friends” is one of the most popular television shows of all time. After being on the air for 10 consecutive seasons, it officially ended in 2004. During its incredibly successful run on TV, “Friends” introduced viewers to 6 very funny and interesting characters, and offered viewers an opportunity to vicariously participate in their fictional lives. However, even though there are no longer any new episodes of “Friends” being created, thanks to syndication, which allows viewers to see reruns of the program, and DVDs, people all over the world can continue to watch and enjoy this show.

As an EFL teacher in Asia, I have been using different episodes of “Friends” in my classes to help students learn English. In this article, I will use the 1st episode of the series to illustrate how teachers may best utilize the show in their own classes.

Lesson plan: everybody loves spending time with “Friends”

Since each episode of “Friends” is approximately 25 minutes in length, teachers who would like to present this show to their class would be well-advised to spend time deciding how much time they have available to devote to this lesson. I would suggest that a minimum of at least 1 hour of in-class time be set aside for this lesson, which, if needed, can be spread out over several classes. Also, I would suggest that it may be best if a teacher does not use this lesson until she/he has gotten to know the students in a particular class. This is not a good lesson for a first class, because the teacher needs to make sure that the students understand that watching this show is not done simply to “waste” time, but that it is being presented because the teacher believes it has educational value for the students. Also, the teacher needs to know the general English proficiency level that a particular class possesses. Doing this will help the teacher judge how much time is needed for the class to get the maximum educational value from the lesson.

Pre-activity information

1. The teacher should prepare for this lesson by watching the first episode of “Friends” without the class being present. She/he should write a brief synopsis of what the episode is about, and also write down any words/expressions/jokes which may be unfamiliar to the students. This is good to do, because it is possible that some of the jokes may not make sense even to the teacher.
2. In class, the teacher can call on individual students to answer a series of short questions, such as
   1. Do you like to watch TV shows? Why or why not?
   2. Have you ever watched a TV show to help you learn English? Please explain why or why not.
   3. Would you rather watch a funny or serious TV show? Please explain your answer.
3. At the beginning of class, the teacher should ask the students if they have ever watched “Friends.” It is quite possible that some, or at least one student, has seen the show. However, since it is probable that most of the students have not watched an episode of “Friends,” then this is a good opportunity to explain to everyone what the series is about, who the characters are, why the teacher thinks the show can help the students to gain a better understanding about American culture, and how it can help them to improve their English listening and speaking ability.
4. The teacher should explain what the first episode they are going to watch is about. In “Friends,” the very first episode introduces the six main characters to the viewers, and the plot revolves around one character, Rachel, who has run away on the day she is to be married to a man she does not love. The teacher can explain the meaning of some vocabulary words/ expressions /jokes that will be used in this episode. One example of a joke that may not be understood by EFL students is when Rachel tells the other characters that the man she was suppose to marry looks like “Mr. Potato Head.” While Americans would be aware that Rachel was comparing her fiancé to a strange and funny looking children’s toy, it is likely that EFL students would not understand her meaning. Thus, prior to watching the episode, the teacher could verbally explain this joke to a class, with students writing down what is being said, or the teacher can give a handout to the students in class and discuss it with them before the episode is played. As for cultural information in the first episode, one of the characters, Monica, goes on a first date with a man she likes, and he ends up spending the night with her. Even though some of the other characters find out about this and they tease her about what she has done, it is obvious to the viewer that neither Monica nor the other characters really feel that she has done anything wrong by having sex with a man on the first date, which may not be something that is easily accepted by the students in an EFL class. Thus, a teacher may choose to discuss how people from different cultures view issues such as premarital sex very differently.

Viewing the show

1. The teacher should encourage the students to write down, while viewing the episode, any words or expressions they had heard which they may not understand. While the teacher will have already given the students some information about vocabulary and jokes used in the episode, students are likely to hear something in the show that will leave them confused.
2. The teacher should play the entire episode with the captions/sub-titles in the student’s native language, as well as with English captions/sub-titles, if possible. This can done by playing a DVD of the show using PowerDVD. If the teacher is unable to use PowerDVD, or if the episode is shown using a CD, then it is fine to show the episode using English only with no captions/sub-titles. However, teachers should be aware that unless the students have a high proficiency of English listening ability, then they will likely be very confused by what they hear said during the program.

After the activity

1. The teacher should give the students a handout to see how they felt about the show and to also discover if they had trouble understanding what was taking place during the episode. Here is a possible handout to use:

   Friend’s Characters: Phoebe, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Chandler, Joey Please answer the following questions based on the episode we have watched in class. Which of the characters was suppose to get married? _______________________ Which of the characters had recently gotten divorced ?______________________ Which of the characters was an actor? _______________________ Which of the characters worked as a chef? ______________________ Which of the characters did you like the best? Please explain why you felt the way you did. ______________________________________________ Why did one of the characters break a person’s watch? ______________________________________ Did you like watching this show? Why or why not? ___________________________________________ Please use 3 adjectives to describe the way you feel about this TV show. _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ Do you think you could improve your English speaking and listening ability from this show? Why or why not?

2. After the students have answered the questions, the teacher can call on individual people to explain their answer to particular questions.
3. The teacher can encourage students to ask any questions they may have about anything they did not understand while the show was playing, and which they had written down.
4. Some scripts are available online for free. Teachers may choose to have students read a script after watching an episode. This may be useful for their speaking ability.

Conclusion

Overall, I would say that my student’s experience watching “Friends” was quite good, because most of them really liked the show. Here are some of my student’s feelings about “Friends,” which they shared with me after we watched the first episode:

1. I thought the show was interesting and funny.
2. I didn’t understand all of the jokes, but it was funny how they acted.
3. They spoke too fast for me to always understand, but I would like to watch more of the show.

The overwhelming majority of my students said to me that they wished we could watch more episodes because it gave them a chance to learn authentic English, and have fun at the same time. I would strongly recommend that EFL teachers use “Friends” in their classes, as it is a very useful language learning tool.

References

http://terramedia.co.uk/reference/documents/vast_wasteland.htm

http://www.simplyscripts.com/tv_all.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends

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