LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERSFAKE NEWS
Apr. 12, 2025
Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of language: General English
Tags: The News; The Media; Society and Change; Analyzing Case Studies; Declaring and Diagnosing a Problem; Vocabulary Lesson; Article Based; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 04/12/2025
This lesson looks at the issue of fake news. Students will read an article on the topic and listen to an interview where the issue is discussed. Exercises focus on related vocabulary, reading and listening skills and offer the students the opportunity to discuss questions on the topic. (by Joe Wilson)
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Host: Good morning, listeners! Today on the show, I’m very pleased to welcome Dr. Neil Richardson, head of the Media Studies department at Churchill University and author of the new book ‘What are we supposed to believe?’ Dr. Richardson, welcome to the show.
Dr. Richardson: Very pleased to be here.
Host: Now, I've read your book and thought it was great. But what I really want to ask you is what do we do about fake news?
Dr. Richardson: Well, that’s a very good question. The answer really lies in what we all should be doing with any information we read and that’s applying critical thinking. Firstly, you have to look at the source of the information. Almost anyone can start a blog or set up a website and write almost anything they want to. That’s not to say that blogs don’t provide valuable information, quite the opposite. But if it’s something that’s only reported by one blog rather than a newspaper, then you need to be very skeptical.
Host: What can we do to check that information on a blog is true?
Dr. Richardson: Look at who the author of the blog or the piece is. Some blogs are set up by well-known journalists or academics. There will nearly always be an ‘about’ section on the blog, so look at that and also put their name in a search engine to find out more about them. You do need to keep in mind that the fact that they’re a professional doesn’t mean that they’re immune to bias, and they may still have an agenda. This last point applies to the story too, see if you can find something about the information from another place. A genuine story very rarely breaks without several people reporting on it.
Host: What else should we do before sharing a story?
Dr. Richardson: You can make a point of checking a few things, such as the date. There’s so much content on the Internet that it’s very easy to be duped into thinking something has just happened when it’s actually an old story. You should also be able to see where the sources of information came from. If there are links, click on them to find out if what they are saying actually supports the story. The other thing to watch out for is satire. A lot of people instantly understand when something is written as a joke, but many don’t. There are lots of examples of people who have looked gullible after publicly expressing shock or anger at a satirical story.
Host: What is it that makes people share fake news?
Dr. Richardson: It can be a variety of things. People like to be the first person in their social media circle to share something interesting. Others like to support their own ideas with stories which they think prove they are correct. Newspaper stories often have inflammatory headlines designed to attract interest, and we’re very used to having an instant reaction to something we see. At the same time, many of us feel powerless to do anything about the society we live in. One thing we can do is share on social media and give our opinion about it as a way of letting off steam. So a lot of people see fake news and post without pausing to question whether it’s true or not.
Host: What consequences has fake news had in the real world?
Dr. Richardson: Well, in the US there was a shooting in a pizza restaurant because the gunman believed they were harming children due to a series of political fake news stories supporting a conspiracy theory. They’ve almost certainly affected the political process in countries like the US, not only by spreading false information but by reducing the level of trust in leaders and legitimate sources of information. As I say in my book, it leaves people with the sense that they are being lied to more than they actually are. It’s much easier to believe nothing than to carefully consider what you do believe. The advice I gave about deciding if a news story is fake or not, is that takes time which most people don’t have. So it makes everyone less trusting of society and of each other which is really the worst thing about it. A final thing I will say is that there are some very good fact-checking sites such as Snopes.com and Politifact.com. They look in detail at news stories that have gone around the Internet and will clearly say to what degree they are true or false. So a quick check on those sites will often save you hours of time and help you to understand the situation more clearly.
Host: Thank you so much for coming to talk to us today. After the break, we’re going to look at some examples of fake news that had people fooled and look at where those stories came…
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/fake-news. Accessed on November 9, 2026. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2026. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment