Contents of the review: comparison with similar products.

Mission road map

step 1

Look at the opening spread of the Mission and read the Mission briefing. Now you know what important job you have been given.

Go to the end of the Mission to read Complete your mission and Mission debriefing. These will tell you what your exact assignment is, the steps you need to take to complete it and how the end result of your Mission is going to be assessed.

Go to New Interface online. Do the Pre-assessment to determine whether you should do the exercises in Training session 1.

Follow the Training sessions (your teacher has assigned to you) to make sure you are ready to complete the Mission successfully.

step 2

step 3

step 4

step 5

step 6

Complete your mission.

Follow the Mission debriefing to evaluate the end result.

B2 Listening and watching

Mission 20 Buyer beware!

MISSION GOALS

Life skill: Media literacy Listening B2: You can understand most news broadcasts and current affairs programmes,

both on television and on the internet.

Writing B2: You can synthesise information and arguments from various sources.

MISSION SUPPORT

Vocabulary: 20 Product specifications and reviews Advanced vocabulary: Word formation Grammar: 24 Prepositions

Phrases:

26 The possessive 39 How to express happiness or enthusiasm 41 How to express worry or concerns

136

Mission 9 Complete your mission

Complete your mission

Be critical!

STRATEGY

• Review the product information you have gathered: is it relevant, reliable and

informative enough?

• Be critical of any claims made by manufacturers and retailers. Of course, they will point

out what is good about their products: can you – or other users – fi nd any faults or fl aws?

• Compare your own motives for the purchase to those of other buyers and take into

account how their motives may have infl uenced their opinion about the product.

• Use your own criteria, observations and experiences to assess the product: what

functions do you think the product needs to fulfi l and does it live up to your personal expectations?

• Use facts and arguments to support your conclusion. • Ideally, let someone else read your review before publishing it and, if necessary, make

improvements based on their comments.

Use Mission briefi ng, Strategy: Be critical and Consumer product review format. Follow the steps to complete your mission.

□ Choose the product you want to review. Write about a type of product you know well and/or have actually used yourself, for example: clothing and shoes, apps and games, accessories and beauty products.

□ Go online and research the product of your choice. Look up the product on the manufacturer's website, read other people's reviews and look into alternative products.

Write down or copy the URLs of the online information you have collected.

□ Carefully read all the information you have found. Compare the product information and product reviews to your own observations and experiences of the product.

□ Take notes and form your opinion.

□ Write your review, using your notes. Use approximately 300 words.

□ Make sure your review is helpful to other customers who are trying to decide whether the product is right for them!

□ Have a classmate read your review and suggest improvements based on the Strategy and the Consumer product review format. Write a fi nal version of your review. Use your classmate's comments to make improvements.

172

Mission 20 Mission briefing

Mission briefing

There's this thing you really, really want. You can probably think of something to replace 'thing' with. It may be a new phone, a smartwatch, a pair of trainers, anything really. Before you spend your (or your parents') hard-earned money on it, it is wise to do some research. Is this 'thing' really all it's cracked up to be, or are you blinded by the ads from the company that produced it? Find out!

YOUR MISSION

Find video or audio reviews of the thing you really want to buy. Not one, but at least three, because, as they say in journalism, a single source is the same as no source at all. Make notes on the good, the bad and the ugly out of these reviews and decide whether the product is worth your money.

137

Mission 9 Mission debriefi ng

Mission debriefi ng

Go to New Interface online for the Model answer. Compare your product review to the model and fi ll in the rubric. Alternatively, you could ask a classmate to read your product review and fi ll in the rubric for you. Mission accomplished ...? Needs improving OK Excellent

1 Finding and understanding product information and consumer reviews. 2 Assessment: relevance and reliability of the information gathered. 3 Structure of the review: use of the consumer product review format. 4 Contents of the review: description of good and bad points of the product. 5 Contents of the review: comparison with similar products. 6 Contents of the review: supporting conclusion with arguments. 7 Use of vocabulary, grammar and phrases.

If you have indicated ‘Needs improving’ in any category, please give tips here.

173 173

References

7

11

13

5A Throughout the Missions you will come across the following references and icons:

Use Mission support, vocabulary, list number 7 in the back of your book.

Use Mission support, grammar, theory number 11 in the back of your book.

Use Mission support, phrases, list number 13 in the back of your book.

Use speech card, number 5A. Scan the QR-code next to the assignment, or find the speech card in the Mission support on New Interface online.

This strategy, input text or assignment will help you develop your life skills.

Work together with one or more classmates (as indicated in the assignment).

Go to New Interface online or the website that is indicated in the assignment. Scan the QR-code next to the assignment or find the website on New Interface online.

Listen to the audio clip. Scan the QR-code next to the assignment or find your clip on New Interface online.

Watch the video. Scan the QR-code next to the assignment or find your clip on New Interface online.