Breaking News English

        

1. SLEEP-TEXTING: Walk around the class and talk to other students about sleep-texting. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

twenty-first century / technology / disorders / potential / unaware / text messaging / advice / urges / a good night’s sleep / switch off at night / colleagues / consequences

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. SLEEP: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Sleep activity	What does it mean?	How do we stop it?
sleep-texting
sleepwalking
talking
snoring
grinding your teeth
tossing and turning

4. TEXTING: Students A strongly believe texting is not a problem; Students B strongly believe it is.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. SLEEPING: What do you like best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

dreaming the smell of newly-washed sheets the quiet your pillow

thinking time the dark listening to music while falling asleep waking up

6. TEXT MESSAGES: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the term ‘text messages’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Sleep-texting is actually a twentieth century problem.	T / F
b.	The disorder is now very common among the under-25s.	T / F
c.	Sleep-texters send well-written messages to people.	T / F
d.	Texters cannot remember texting when they wake up.	T / F
e.	A doctor advised people not to take the phone into the bedroom.	T / F
f.	The doctor said people must think more about respecting their sleep.	T / F
g.	The doctor said sleep-emailing was not as serious as sleep-texting.	T / F
h.	It is more probable text messages are sent to friends tan colleagues.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	disorders	a.	possibility
2	latest	b.	important
3.	potential	c.	muddled
4.	incoherent	d.	forced
5.	attached	e.	most recent
6.	urge	f.	effects
7.	compelled	g.	protest
8.	key	h.	illnesses
9.	consequences	i.	glued
10.	complain	j.	temptation

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	twenty-first century	a.	quite rare
2	This is a new	b.	the urge
3.	the condition is currently	c.	to their mobile phones
4.	sufferers sending incoherent	d.	sent to a friend
5.	young people are so attached	e.	off at night
6.	resist	f.	disorders
7.	have a good	g.	to complain
8.	make an effort to switch	h.	phenomenon
9.	more likely to be accidentally	i.	night's sleep
10.	aren't as likely	j.	text messages

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Twenty-first century technology is bringing with it twenty-first century (1) ____________. The latest is ‘sleep-texting’ – sending SMS messages in your sleep. This is a new phenomenon (2) ____________ by Australia’s Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre. Sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington, from the centre, said the (3) ____________ is currently quite rare but has the (4) ____________ to grow. He said he has seen many instances of (5) ____________ sending incoherent text messages to their friends while asleep. Texters are reported to be completely (6) ____________ of their late-night messaging. One expert says the stresses of daily life (7) ____________ people to text in their sleep. Another says young people are so (8) ____________ to their mobile phones that sleep-texting is almost like sleepwalking.		sufferers condition potential attached disorders cause unaware identified
Dr Cunnington’s advice is to leave the mobile phone out of the bedroom to (9) ____________ the urge to text. He said: “If your phone is on the nightstand, then it will be more difficult to have a good night's sleep without feeling (10) ____________ to reply to a message or check your Facebook account.” He added: “The   (11) ____________ point is that people need to (12) ____________ their sleep, and make an (13) ____________ to switch off at night.” Cunnington explained that sleep-emailing was a more serious problem, saying: “Emails can be sent to work colleagues and have much more (14) ____________ consequences, whereas text messages are more (15) ____________ to be accidentally sent to a friend or family member, so people aren't as likely to (16) ____________ of a problem.”		complain key likely resist respect compelled effort serious

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Twenty-first century technology ___________________ twenty-first century disorders. The latest is ‘sleep-texting’ – sending SMS messages in your sleep. This is a new ___________________ Australia’s Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre. Sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington, from the centre, said the condition is currently quite rare but has ___________________. He said he has seen many instances of sufferers _____________________ messages to their friends while asleep. Texters are reported to be completely unaware of their late-night messaging. One expert says the ___________________ cause people to text in their sleep. Another says young people are so attached to their mobile phones that sleep-texting is ______________________.

Dr Cunnington’s ___________________ the mobile phone out of the bedroom to resist the urge to text. He said: “If your phone is on the nightstand, then it will be more difficult to have ___________________ without feeling ___________________ to a message or check your Facebook account.” He added: “The key point is that people need to respect their sleep, and ___________________ switch off at night.” Cunnington explained that sleep-emailing was a more serious problem, saying: “Emails can be sent to work colleagues and have much ______________________, whereas text messages are more likely to be accidentally sent to a friend or family member, so people aren't ___________________ of a problem.”

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘sleep’ and ‘text’.

sleep

text

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

latest new condition rare while another

advice good reply key serious likely

STUDENT SLEEP-TEXTING SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about sleep-texting in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

SLEEP-TEXTING DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘sleep-texting’?
c)	What do you think about what you read?
d)	What other twenty-first century problems can you think of?
e)	Do you think this phenomenon could become widespread?
f)	What other problems are there with mobile phones?
g)	What do you think cause people to text in their sleep?
h)	Are you worried you might text in your sleep?
i)	What kinds of things might people text while asleep?
j)	How attached to your mobile phone are you?

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What’s your advice to sleep-texting sufferers?
c)	Can you resist the urge to text or check your mail or Facebook?
d)	Why is technology so addictive?
e)	Do phone calls or text messages ever get in the way of a good night’s sleep?
f)	Do you think it’s a problem for people to leave their phone in another room while they sleep?
g)	Do you think ‘sleep-emailing’ is a bigger problem than sleep-texting?
h)	Have you ever sent a text message or e-mail and then wished you hadn’t?
i)	What would you think if you were told you were a sleep-texter?
j)	What questions would you like to ask a sleeptexter expert?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Twenty-first century technology is bringing with it twenty-first century (1) ____. The latest is ‘sleep-texting’ – sending SMS messages in your sleep. This is a new phenomenon (2) ____ by Australia’s Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre. Sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington, from the centre, said the condition is currently quite (3) ____ but has the potential to grow. He said he has seen many (4) ____ of sufferers sending incoherent text messages to their friends (5) ____ asleep. Texters are reported to be completely unaware of their late-night messaging. One expert says the stresses of daily life cause people to text in their sleep. Another says young people are (6) ____ attached to their mobile phones that sleep-texting is almost like sleepwalking.

Dr Cunnington’s advice is to leave the mobile phone out of the bedroom to resist the (7) ____ to text. He said: “If your phone is on the nightstand, then it will be more difficult to have a (8) ____ night's sleep without feeling compelled (9) ____ reply to a message or check your Facebook account.” He added: “The (10) ____ point is that people need to respect their sleep, and make an effort to switch off at night.” Cunnington explained that sleep-emailing was a more serious problem, saying: “Emails can be sent to work colleagues and have (11) ____ more serious consequences, whereas text messages are more likely to be accidentally sent to a friend or family member, so people aren't (12) ____ likely to complain of a problem.”

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	odors	(b)	disorder	(c)	disowned	(d)	disorders
2.	(a)	identity	(b)	identified	(c)	identical	(d)	identification
3.	(a)	rare	(b)	not common	(c)	unusually	(d)	sought after
4.	(a)	stances	(b)	instills	(c)	instances	(d)	incites
5.	(a)	during	(b)	via	(c)	while	(d)	through
6.	(a)	as	(b)	so	(c)	very	(d)	really
7.	(a)	urge	(b)	surge	(c)	purge	(d)	merge
8.	(a)	well	(b)	best	(c)	OK	(d)	good
9.	(a)	as	(b)	to	(c)	of	(d)	by
10.	(a)	lock	(b)	chain	(c)	unlock	(d)	key
11.	(a)	most	(b)	minor	(c)	much	(d)	major
12.	(a)	as	(b)	has	(c)	if	(d)	was

 
 

WRITING

Write about sleep-texting for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about sleep-texting. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. SLEEP-TEXTING: Make a poster about sleep-texting. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. DISORDER: Write a magazine article about the disorder of sleep-texting. Include imaginary interviews with sufferers and doctors.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to a sleep expert. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

F

e.

F

f.

F

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	disorders	a.	illnesses
2	latest	b.	most recent
3.	potential	c.	possibility
4.	incoherent	d.	muddled
5.	attached	e.	glued
6.	urge	f.	temptation
7.	compelled	g.	forced
8.	key	h.	important
9.	consequences	i.	effects
10.	complain	j.	protest

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	twenty-first century	a.	disorders
2	This is a new	b.	phenomenon
3.	the condition is currently	c.	quite rare
4.	sufferers sending incoherent	d.	text messages
5.	young people are so attached	e.	to their mobile phones
6.	resist	f.	the urge
7.	have a good	g.	night's sleep
8.	make an effort to switch	h.	off at night
9.	more likely to be accidentally	i.	sent to a friend
10.	aren't as likely	j.	to complain

GAP FILL:

‘Sleep-texting’ is here and on the increase

Twenty-first century technology is bringing with it twenty-first century (1) disorders. The latest is ‘sleep-texting’ – sending SMS messages in your sleep. This is a new phenomenon (2) identified by Australia’s Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre. Sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington, from the centre, said the (3) condition is currently quite rare but has the (4) potential to grow. He said he has seen many instances of (5) sufferers sending incoherent text messages to their friends while asleep. Texters are reported to be completely (6) unaware of their late-night messaging. One expert says the stresses of daily life (7) cause people to text in their sleep. Another says young people are so (8) attached to their mobile phones that sleep-texting is almost like sleepwalking.

Dr Cunnington’s advice is to leave the mobile phone out of the bedroom to (9) resist the urge to text. He said: “If your phone is on the nightstand, then it will be more difficult to have a good night's sleep without feeling (10) compelled to reply to a message or check your Facebook account.” He added: “The (11) key point is that people need to (12) respect their sleep, and make an (13) effort to switch off at night.” Cunnington explained that sleep-emailing was a more serious problem, saying: “Emails can be sent to work colleagues and have much more (14) serious consequences, whereas text messages are more (15) likely to be accidentally sent to a friend or family member, so people aren't as likely to (16) complain of a problem.”

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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