Lesson video

Hi everyone, my name is Ms. Boyle and I am really looking forward to teaching you a lesson where we will be generating vocabulary for a journalistic report.

For this lesson, you need to be listening carefully.

There'll be some tasks where you need somebody to talk to and you will also be doing some writing tasks.

I hope you are feeling ready and excited to explore lots of new formal vocabulary.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is, I can generate vocabulary to write a journalistic report.

Here are the key words.

Let's practise saying them, my turn, your turn.

Formal language.

Subject specific vocabulary.

Objective.

Synonyms. Well done let's take a look at their definitions.

Formal language is language used in certain nonfiction texts, involving sophisticated and objective vocabulary with fewer contractions.

Subject specific vocabulary is vocabulary used when writing about a particular subject.

Writing in an objective tone is writing, which has not been influenced by personal feelings or opinions when representing facts.

And a synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be looking at formal and subject specific vocabulary, And in the second part we will be looking at formal and objective reporting language.

So let's begin with formal and subject specific vocabulary.

Journalistic reports are written using formal language and subject specific vocabulary.

Subject specific vocabulary refers to vocabulary used when writing about a particular subject.

There is a variety of vocabulary specific to the subject of crime, which will support you in writing a journalistic report about "Little Red Riding Hood".

Let's check your understanding.

What type of subject specific vocabulary will support you in writing a journalistic report about "Little Red Riding Hood"? A, vocabulary specific to the environment.

B, vocabulary specific to politics.

Or C, vocabulary specific to crime.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answer is C, well done.

We are reporting on a crime, so we will be using vocabulary specific to crime in our journalistic report.

What do we know about the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" and how this involved crime? Let's recap.

Little Red walked through the forest to visit her grandmother.

A wolf spotted her and devised a plan to reach the grandma's house, first.

The wolf broke into the grandmother's house and ate her.

The wolf disguised himself in the grandmother's clothes and lay in her bed waiting for Red's arrival.

When Red arrived, she noticed the unusual features of the wolf, realised the deception and tried to escape.

The wolf stopped Little Red and tried to eat her too.

A local woodsman who heard the screams broke in with his axe saved Red and rescued the grandma from the wolf's stomach.

For the purpose of reporting on this crime, we will refer to the following people and places.

Mr. Wolf, the person who committed the crime.

Mrs. Puckett, the grandma and her granddaughter Red.

The people who suffered the crime.

The home of Mrs. Puckett on Cherry Pot Lane, where the crime took place.

Neighbours and local residents, people who saw or heard information linked to the crime.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the following people and places to their connection to the crime.

For people and places we have, Mr. Wolf, Mrs. Puckett and Red, property on Cherry Pot Lane and neighbours and local residents.

For the connection to the crime we have, where the crime took place, people who saw or heard information linked to the crime, the person who committed the crime and the people who suffered the crime.

Pause the video and match these now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Mr. Wolf is the person who committed the crime.

Mrs. Puckett and Red are the people who suffered the crime.

The property on Cherry Pot Lane is where the crime took place and neighbours and local residents are people who saw or heard information linked to the crime.

Well done.

Using a range of formal synonyms supports us in creating a formal tone and avoiding repetition.

We don't want to say the name Mr. Wolf over and over again.

A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

Mr. Wolf is accused of committing a crime.

We can refer to Mr. Wolf as the suspect in the case.

A suspect is a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offence.

Mrs. Puckett and Red suffered the crime.

We can refer to Mrs. Puckett and Red as the victims in the case.

A victim is a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime accident or other event.

Using words like suspect and victim within your journalistic reports will be really important.

There are a variety of formal and subject specific synonyms we can use to refer to the people involved in the crime.

Mr. Wolf, the suspect.

We know a suspect is a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offence.

Other words you could use instead of suspect are, assailant, perpetrator, accused, offender, defendant.

Mrs. Puckett and Red are the victims. We know that a victim is a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime accident or other event.

Other words you could use instead of victim are, target, injured party, innocent citizen, sufferer, or wounded resident.

Using a range of these synonyms will help to avoid repetition in your journalistic report, but to keep the language formal and subject specific.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the following sentences use formal and subject specific synonyms to report on the event? A, the offender entered the property at approximately 4:00 PM B, Mr. Wolf broke into the house at 4:00.

C, the victims of the crime are said to be shaken.

Pause the video and select your answers now.

The answers are A and C.

In A, we can see that the noun offender has been used and entered the property is a formal phrase and it has been formal in saying the time, approximately 4:00 PM.

In C, we have referred to Mrs. Puckett and Red as the victims and we have used formal language, are said to be shaken.

B, does not use formal or subject specific vocabulary.

It refers to the suspect by name and uses more informal language broke into the house.

Well done.

Let's take a look at some other synonyms that will support us in writing our journalistic report.

So we know that using a range of formal synonyms supports us in creating a formal tone and avoiding repetition.

A reminder that a synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

The home of Mrs. Puckett is where the crime took place.

We can refer to the home of Mrs. Puckett as her residence.

A residence is a person's home, but it is a more formal way of saying it.

Neighbours and local residents are people who saw or heard the crime.

We can refer to these people as witnesses.

A witness is a person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident take place.

There are also a variety of formal and subject specific synonyms we can use to refer to places and people involved in the crime.

The home of Mrs. Puckett, is the residence where the crime took place.

We know that a residence is a person's home.

Instead of residence, we could also use the words.

Property, scene of the crime.

Home of.

Residential property.

We know that the neighbours and local residents are the witnesses to the crime.

A witness is a person who sees an event or crime take place.

As well as using the word witnesses, we could also use: bystander, passerby, onlooker, observer.

It is time to check your understanding.

Match the people and places to their formal synonyms for a journalistic report about a crime.

For people and places we have, Mr. Wolf, Mrs. Puckett and Red.

Home or house.

Neighbour and local resident.

For the formal synonyms first we have, victim, target, injured party, innocent citizen and sufferer.

Then we have assailant, perpetrator, suspect, accused, offender, defendant.

Next we have witness, bystander, passerby, onlooker, observer.

And finally, property, residence, scene of the crime and residential property.

Pause the video and match these now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Mr. Wolf can be referred to as, the assailant, perpetrator, suspect, accused, offender, or defendant.

Mrs. Puckett and Red can be referred to as, the victims, a target, injured party, innocent citizen or sufferer.

The home or house can be referred to as the property, residence, scene of the crime, residential property.

And the neighbours and local residents can be referred to as a witness, bystander, passerby, onlooker or observer.

Well done.

It is time for a task.

Use your knowledge of synonyms and subject specific vocabulary to rewrite these sentences formally.

A, the wolf went into the home at roughly 3:00 PM by breaking in.

B, Mrs Puckett and Red are apparently upset by the experience.

C, a person saw Mr. Wolf being taken away from the property by the police.

Now focus in on the the words or phrases that are highlighted in purple and consider which synonyms or formal pieces of subject specific vocabulary you could substitute these with.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for all of your hard work, I loved seeing your chosen synonyms and subject specific vocabulary to rewrite these sentences.

Let's take a look at some good examples For A, you might have said, the offender entered the property at approximately 3:00 PM by force.

For B, you might have said, the victims are said to be traumatised by the violent incident.

And for C, a good example is, A bystander witnessed the assailant being escorted from the property by the authorities.

Well done for using your knowledge of synonyms and formal subject specific vocabulary to rewrite these sentences.

It's now time for the second part of our lesson where we will be looking at formal and objective reporting language.

Journalistic reports use formal language to communicate information in a factual and objective tone.

Writing with an objective tone is writing, which has not been influenced by personal feelings, or opinions when representing facts.

This is crucial, as journalists need to present news events in an unbiased manner, so that the reader can absorb the information and draw their own conclusions.

The journalists must never use the first person I, or put their own opinion into their writing when reporting on news.

Let's check your understanding.

It is important for journalistic reports to be written using formal language to create an objective tone, true or false? Pause the video and answer now.

That is true, well done.

Are you ready to justify your answer? A, this makes the report sound more serious.

Or B, this ensures information is presented factually and is not influenced by the writer's opinions or feelings.

Pause the video and justify your answer now.

The answer is B, well done.

Using formal language creates an objective tone which ensures that information is presented factually and does not sound like it's been influenced by the writer's opinions or feelings.

In order to achieve a formal and objective tone, we need to do the following.

Write in the third person at all times.

It is crucial not to use first person.

I, we, or my.

Use factual adjectives to describe events.

It is important not to use descriptive adjectives that show opinion.

Use precise and formal verbs to describe actions.

It is important not to use casual terminology to describe events.

Read the following sentence and consider which elements make it informal and unobjective.

I have been told that an awful crime took place yesterday on cherry pot lane after a wolf barged into Mrs. Puckett's cottage.

Have a little think.

Can you spot any words or phrases that you think are informal and unobjective? Let's analyse this together.

The sentence begins with, I have been told.

This is in first person, which we cannot use when writing a journalistic report.

Awful, is quite a descriptive adjective that implies some kind of personal opinion.

A wolf is an informal noun.

We know that we want to use formal synonyms for the wolf, such as suspect, or perpetrator.

Barged is an informal verb.

We would want to use more precise and formal verbs like entered.

And Mrs. Puckett's cottage is also an informal noun.

We might want to say Mrs. Puckett's residence instead.

Let's now take a look at how we could write the same sentence but in a formal and objective tone.

It has been reported, that a concerning crime took place yesterday on Cherry Pot Lane.

After a suspect identified as Mr. Wolf, unlawfully entered the property of Mrs. Puckett.

You will notice the sentence begins with formal journalistic language, not in first person.

It has been reported.

Concerning, has been chosen as a more formal and unbiased adjective.

Suspect has been chosen as a more formal noun.

Unlawfully entered has been chosen as an adverb and verb that is more formal and the property of Mrs. Puckett is a more formal way of referring to her cottage.

The following are examples of formal and objective language commonly used when reporting on a crime.

It is believed, it is thought that, it was reported, it is clear.

As details begin to emerge, while further details remain unknown.

Several witnesses have, another eyewitness stated.

Many have questions over.

This has left many with questions.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the informal phrases to their formal equivalent.

For informal phrases we have, somebody told us, everyone is wondering, we think that, lots of people said.

And for their formal equivalence we have, this has left many with questions.

It is thought that, it was reported and several witnesses stated.

Pause the video and match these now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Instead of saying somebody told us, we would say, it was reported.

Instead of everyone is wondering, we would say, this has left many with questions.

Rather than we think that which is in first person, we would say, it is thought that.

And instead of lots of people said, we would say several witnesses stated, well done.

It's now time for your task.

Choose the appropriate formal language phrases to rewrite the following sentences in an objective journalistic tone.

A, someone told us that the wolf kept on peering through the window of the home before entering.

B we think that a fight happened between Red and Mr. Wolf when she saw him inside the house.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

I loved reading some of your examples.

You have done so well at using formal language, to rewrite these sentences in an objective journalistic tone.

Let's take a look at some really good examples.

Instead of someone told us that the wolf kept on peering through the window of the home before entering, you could say, it was reported that the perpetrator repeatedly peered through the window of the residence before breaking and entering.

And instead of we think that a fight happened between Red and Mr. Wolf when she saw him inside the house.

You could say, it is thought that an altercation broke out between Red and Mr. Wolf when she discovered his presence in the property.

And there were lots of alternatives that you could have used to rewrite these sentences.

As long as you ensured you did not use first person and you chose formal vocabulary, you did a great job, well done.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

Journalistic reports are written using formal and factual language to create a serious and objective tone.

The use of subject specific vocabulary is crucial in journalistic reports and varies depending on the news event.

Appropriate synonyms are used in journalistic reports to create a formal tone and to avoid repetition.

And formal language involves the use of sophisticated vocabulary without the use of contractions.

Well done for all of your hard work in this lesson.