This ESL lesson for high intermediate to advanced learners is a good way to get students reflecting on specific years in a global socio-economic context. It focuses on dictionary ‘words of the year’ and develops reading, vocabulary and speaking skills in English. All lesson materials are available for download at the bottom of this article.
This lesson is inspired by Suzy Ratcliff’s Collin’s Word of the Year 2023 ESL lesson plan, featured on Tim’s Free English Lesson Plans.
Every year, major English dictionaries present their ‘Word of the year’ shortlists, usually featuring new words which have emerged and been ‘made official’ by their inclusion in the dictionary, or words which are otherwise very topical. Ratcliff’s lesson was based on Collins Dictionary’s blog post ‘The acceleration of AI and other 2023 trends’. I was given this lesson when I worked for one of my first academies in Barcelona as an icebreaker with two students studying for the C2 proficiency exam. And while Ratcliff puts the level at C1-C2, I think it can also work for B2 students (I always like to push my students at the higher levels where possible).
The authentic material central to this particular lesson is an ABC News article exploring the ‘2024 Word of the year’ shortlists of a few dictionaries around the world.
In 2024, ‘AI’ (Artificial Intelligence) was Collins Dictionary’s ‘Word of the year’. Screenshot taken from Suzy Ratcliff’s lesson plan.
Which ESL students is 2024 Words of the year best suited to?
High-intermediate to advanced adult students. This lesson not only includes a swear word (which isn’t suitable for non-adult learners), but it also requires a higher level of maturity and worldliness. To fully participate in this lesson, students should have a general understanding of world affairs and socio-political-economic contexts. It could certainly work for older teenagers who are interested in these topics, but generally it works better for adults.
How do you run this lesson?
This lesson can be done both online and offline, with groups of all sizes. I first did it online, but I can imagine it would work just as well in a classroom setting (or even in a quiet outdoors space – why not?).
Monitor the conversations in pairs closely throughout this lesson because there is a lot of opportunity for emergent language. This allows you to really highlight and praise students when they produce interesting phrases or terms, as well as feed a richer, more interesting discussion in open class. The best part of this lesson is the opportunity it presents to have an in-depth, thought-provoking and reflective discourse about the cultural zeitgeist of our time.
Slide 3 of the 2024 Words of the year lesson presentation.
Here’s an overview of the ESL lesson: 2024 Words of the year
- Warm-up discussion: students reflect on 2024 and start thinking about the words which could represent it (10 minutes).
- Skim reading and discussion: Students can reflect on their predictions and have their first, brief introduction to the 2024 Words of the year (5 minutes).
- Reading and gap-fill task: Closed practice of the words in focus (10 minutes).
- Discussion: Putting the target language into practise and connecting them with their own real-world experience (10 minutes).
- Evolution of words discussion: Students delve deeper into how the meaning of words change over time. Opportunity for emergent language (10 minutes).
- Brainstorm and then follow-up of freer production: Students focus in on specific English expressions from the text and then use those to talk about their current view of the world (10 minutes).
The vocabulary focussed on in this ESL lesson include: brat, enshittification, manifest, demure, brain rot, hedonistic, profit-seeking, notoriety, capture the spirit of the age, and meteoric rise.
A few of the 2024 words of the year emerged from viral trends.
How long does this ESL lesson take?
1 hour. It could be stretched over the course of two classes if the follow-up task is applied. In the follow-up task, students write a short article (individually or in pairs/groups) about ‘the spirit of the time’ in the current year. They could ‘nominate’ five English words they feel represent the current cultural zeitgeist and justify their choices in the text. This task will require some research on their part (which, of course, should be done in English).
After corrections have been done, students could present their nominated words to the class (all the while being boarded by the teacher). After all presentations are done and all the words are boarded, the class could review them and try to come to a consensus on five ‘finalists’.
The takeaway
One of the best things about this lesson is its replicability. Annually, every major dictionary presents its ‘Words of the year’ (see Macquarie Dictionary, Australian National Dictionary and Collins Dictionary, for instance). From this emerges a wealth of authentic materials to work with (such as the authentic material focussed on in this lesson).
It’s a great way to start off or end off a year, with students reflecting on the cultural zeitgeist of our time. It’s also a reminder that, despite our differences and despite the divisions bad actors may try to sow based on those, we are all human beings living a shared experience. Language and how it constantly evolves reminds us of that. And that’s beautiful.
Coming soon: 2025 Words of the year.
Download ESL Lesson: 2024 Words of the year
What was your experience with this lesson? If you have any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below!