The purpose of this lesson was to introduce language lab students to different styles of writing used in a travel brochure. This was part of our upper intermediate / Advanced Travel & Leisure module. We looked at 3 different paragraph styles commonly used in English travel brochures:
Introduction: Use of descriptive adjectives and future tenses for predictions.
Things to do: Sequence of events and future tenses using the word ‘enjoy’.
What to remember: Use of imperatives and ‘must/ have to’ to show obligation.
We met near the airport and looked at some sample paragraphs and in groups talked about the general grammar structure and organization of the paragraphs. For example, the grammar structure in the sample introduction was generally future tense and showed how you will feel if you went there: (you’ll love, you’ll never want to leave, will be happy). Also, there were lots of descriptive adjectives that made the writing colorful: (luxury amenities, classic cabin décor, perfect cabin retreat, tempting local attractions)
Then, we had to decide how to write paragraphs in Second Life. We used Chathats (special hats that show sentences above your heads) and projectors to show the finished paragraphs. We also created our own little ‘Virtual Yosemite Park’ (the real one is here) with waterfalls and mountains. We even created a campsite with some tents and a fire!
Finally, working together, we wrote our paragraphs and displayed them on screen projectors…