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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Understanding Audience

This activity is designed to help students identify their audience and determine appropriate language use based on the audience.

A lesson plan for grade 10 English Language Arts

By Bonnie Mcmurray and Julie Joslin

About the authors

Julie Joslin is a literacy specialist with Rowan-Salisbury Schools. She taught high school English for 10 years, middle school reading for 9 years, and elementary school for 1. She also worked 2 years with ESL students.

Bonnie McMurray is a curriculum coordinator for Union County Public Schools. She has taught high school English for 5 years.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • identify specific audiences.
  • adjust language use based on the audience.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1-2 Hours

Materials/resources

Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar:
“When Malindy Sings” and “We Wear the Mask”
Any size index card (3 per student)
Markers
Magazines

Technology resources

(Computers may be used to generate products instead of paper and markers)

Pre-activities

Role Playing:
Have 4 students go the the front of the room.

  • Student #1 represents him/herself
  • Student #2 represents student #1’s best friend
  • Student #3 represents a grandparent
  • Student #4 represents the president

Student #1 role plays introducing the teacher to each of the 3 different representatives. Tell student #1 to remember to keep in mind how they would react to/interact with each person.

After the role play, discuss the following topics with the class:

  • attitude
  • words
  • formality

Activities

Modeling

As a class, discuss levels of formality. What determines whether an interaction is formal or informal? Should a certain level of formality be used with everyone? How does knowing your audience determine your speech?

Give students the example of listening to a phone conversation. When you hear responses from a one-ended conversation you can tell if someone is talking to a close friend, telemarketer, or employer.

Show students the two poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, “When Malindy Sings” and “We Wear the Mask.” Compare the language of the two poems to show the difference between formal and informal styles of poems written for different audiences. Discuss differences in attitude, words, and formality for these two poems by the same author.

Guided Practice
Write a one to two sentence note saying you will be late to 1.) your best friend, 2.) your parents, and 3.) your boss.
Independent practice
Create three post cards from an imaginary vacation. Each card must contain the same information (ie, where you are, why you are there, what you have been doing, etc.). Each post card should be written with a different audience in mind (best friend, teacher, parent, principal, preacher, etc.)

Make sure that you have a picture on the front and your text on the back (you may use magazines, markers, clip art, etc.-make sure that your picture is appropriate for the audience).

Closure
Share post cards with class. Ask students how their cards changed based on the recipient. How would this concept of varying your language apply to other writings?

Assessment

Students products should reflect a change in language usage according to their audience.

Student responses to discussion indicate the understanding that language usage should change based on the audience.

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

Paul Laurence Dunbar
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C050409

Comments

You could tie this lesson into any work of literature with a character writing to other characters in the story. For example, when reading A Doll’s House, Nora could write a post card describing her new life to 1.) her children, 2.) Kristine, and 3.) Torvald.

This lesson was created as a part of the NCDPI Writing Lessons for Writing Features Workshop. (Style)

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 10 — English II

  • Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
      • employing varying sentence structures (e.g., inversion, introductory phrases) and sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex).
      • analyzing authors' choice of words, sentence structure, and use of language.
      • using word recognition strategies to understand vocabulary and exact word choice (Greek, Latin roots and affixes, analogies, idioms, denotation, connotation).
      • examining textual and classroom language for elements such as idioms, denotation, and connotation to apply effectively in own writing/speaking.
      • using correct form/format for essays, business letters, research papers, bibliographies.
      • using language effectively to create mood and tone.