Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm so glad you've chosen to join me here for today's lesson.

Now today's lesson is an exciting one because we're going to be performing our own radio broadcasts about the climate protest.

I can't wait to get started, so let's get to work.

Today's lesson is called "Performing a Radio Broadcast based on a Journalistic Report," and it comes from my unicorn climate emergency journalistic report writing.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to work in a group to perform a radio broadcast based on a journalistic report about a climate protest.

Now this lesson builds on the reports we wrote in previous lessons, but you won't need to have that with you in order to do well here.

We will be working in a group in this lesson, but if you're on your own home, that is absolutely fine, you can just play several parts in our radio broadcast yourself.

You might want to also have access to the transcript of a radio broadcast you can find in the additional materials for this lesson.

If you've got that ready, let's get to work.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

My turn, your turn.

Radio broadcast, informal tone, direct address, and expression.

A radio broadcast is an audio-only broadcast with no visuals or written words.

And informal tone is the effect created by using more conversational everyday language.

We're using direct address when we speak directly to the reader and when we speak with expression, we bring the words to life and try to engage our listener showing the words meaning clearly.

So here's our lesson outline for today.

We are going to start off by scripting a radio broadcast, and then we'll spend the rest of our lesson performing it.

I think you're really gonna enjoy it, so let's get to work.

So we've now written and edited a journalistic report about a climate protest and we're going to use our ideas to create a radio broadcast based on our written report.

And we might hear several voices on the broadcast.

There's usually a news anchor who introduces different news items. So they're reading the news and then they hand over to someone else and that person could be a reporter or sometimes a correspondent we might say, and they're often reporters in a radio broadcast who go to different places to report on what's happening there.

And then the reporter will often speak to interviewees to report their view.

So we might have three different voices that we hear in a radio broadcast, the news anchor, the reporter, and an interviewee, or maybe several interviewees.

So we are going to listen to an example of a radio broadcast about the bypass protest.

<v Alan>And in other news,</v> a protest is ongoing at Great Oak Wood against the planned bypass there.

We've been on the scene to get you the latest details.

Our local news correspondent Sam Riley is there.

<v Sam>That's right Alan, I'm here at Great Oak Wood</v> on the edge of Oakville where a large group of protestors are gathered.

You can probably hear them chanting in the background there.

So why are they here? Well, you might have heard that Oakville Council is planning to build a bypass through these woods.

They say this will reduce congestion in the town centre and help us all get around a bit more easily.

But these protesters aren't so sure this is a good idea.

One of them is here with me now.

Anna Samsonova, you are one of the organiser of this protest.

Why are you all here? Isn't reducing congestion going to be good for all of us.

<v Anna>Thanks, Sam.

</v> You're right, less congestion through Oakville would be great and the best way to do that is to have fewer cars on the road.

What we're worried about is climate change.

Building more roads means it's easier to drive, which means more cars on our roads and that means more greenhouse gases entering our atmosphere.

We're in a climate emergency right now and we need to be doing everything we can to cut emissions, not increase them.

<v Sam>So tell me what you've been doing today.

</v> How is this going to make a difference? <v Anna>Well, we are here with our placards and our banners</v> and we're trying to get our voices heard by the local community, but we also know we can't just wait for the council to see sense.

So that's why we are taking direct action today.

We're going to be camping in these woods for as long as it takes to stop this road being built.

We'd love for local people to come by and lend us their support.

We just know we've got to do this for the sake of our planet.

<v Sam>Thanks, Anna.

</v> So as you can see, emotions running high here.

In fact, one protestor has even changed herself to a tree over here to my left in the hopes of stopping it being chopped down to make way for the road.

As things stand, the council's bulldozers are going nowhere and the protestors say they're not moving either.

Here at Oakville radio, we'll be keeping you updated every step of the way.

Back to you, Alan.

<v ->So you might have noticed that the broadcast</v> followed a certain structure.

We had an introduction from the news anchor, we had a summary of the situation from the reporter, then an interview with the protestor and then we went back to the reporter for a conclusion where the reporter looked towards the future.

So let's have a look at the transcript of the broadcast and find those different sections.

So you can see our transcript here.

We start with the news reader introducing the piece about the protest, then we go to the reporter, Sam Riley and he introduces what's going on.

He gives a summary of the situation and then at the end of that first section, he introduces Anna Samsonova, the protestor.

Then we get Anna explaining her viewpoint.

She's challenged, she's given another question by the reporter and she answers that question.

And then the reporter thanks Anna, gives a summary of the situation going forward, what's about to happen, what they think is gonna happen.

And then they pass back to the news anchor right at the end.

Now notice that we don't cover the full range of perspectives that we had in our written report and that's because this radio broadcast is a live broadcast.

The report has gone to the protest and they've spoken to a protester there.

In the written report, the journalists would've gone back to their office, called up various people and had interviews with them at different times, but this is happening live.

So we just have the one perspective here.

So can you put the structure of the radio broadcast in order where one is the first step in the broadcast.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done, good job.

So the first one is that the news anchor introduces the broadcast and the reporter.

Then we have the reporter giving a brief summary of the event and introducing the protester.

Then we have the reporter carrying out the interview with the protester.

And finally, the reporter gives a conclusion looking towards the future and then hands back to the anchor, they say back to you to show that we're going back to the main news.

So there might be another news item coming next and that might lead into another report or another interview.

So I'm sure you also noticed that the language in the radio broadcast was much more informal than in our written journalistic report.

So this informal tone is created by using more everyday language.

For instance, the reporter uses the first person at times, that's the I perspective.

For instance, I'm here at Great Oak Wood.

The report is also talking directly to the listener at times and that's called direct address.

You're directly addressing the listener.

For instance, you can probably hear them chanting in the background.

Now we also see the news anchor, the reporter and the protestor all using contractions when they speak so contracted forms of words for instance, instead of that is right, that's right.

So we've used an apostrophe for contraction to show that is being contracted to that.

And you'll see lots and lots of those contractions when we use informal language as we did in this broadcast.

So have a look again at the broadcast transcript.

Can you see any other language that gives it an informal tone? Pause the video and have a look and if you need to look back in the video to find that you can do that.

Well done, great job.

So maybe you spotted all those contractions.

I'm here, aren't so sure, you've been doing, they're not moving.

They really add to that in formal tone.

There's lots more direct address you might have heard.

As you can see, we'll be keeping you updated, we're talking directly to the reader.

And some more first person, one of them is here with me now, that word me tells me it's the first person.

And you might notice, also, there's a lot less subject-specific vocabulary than we had in our written reports.

So all of this adds to a much more informal tone to our language.

Well done, for spotting all this.

And we can also see that the radio broadcast has far fewer cohesive devices than our written report.

So we have far fewer complex sentences, compound sentences, pieces of parenthesis because we're talking more informally.

So instead, we start sentences in much more conversational ways like we would do speaking to each other.

For instance, that's right Alan, well, so tell me, so as you can see, as things stand, here at Oakville Radio, back to you, all of these are much more informal conversational ways of starting sentences.

Now we're also using lots of questions, both rhetoric questions and normal questions as well.

For instance, so why are they here? Why are you all here? Is it reducing congestion going to be good for all of us? And how is this going to make a difference? All of these questions, these conversational sentence openers are great ways of building that informal tone.

So what language in this section of the transcript really contributes to that informal tone? See how many features you can spot.

Pause video and have a look.

Well done, great thinking.

So maybe you spotted those conversational sentence openers like that's right Alan, and So here and Well, maybe it's budgeted some first person, I'm here at Great Oak Wood, some direct address.

You can hear, probably hear them chanting and you might have heard.

And finally, we've got a question here.

So why are they here? All of these features really build that chatty, informal conversational style we're going for with our radio broadcast here.

Now I should say, not all radio broadcasts have this style.

You could have a very formal radio broadcast.

It depends on which station you're listening to and what their audience is.

But in our case, we're choosing to do an informal tone here.

So in fact, you'll see that lots of the sentences in the broadcast break the rules that we normally follow in writing.

Now this seems strange.

We teachers are always telling you, oh, that sentence has to be structured like this.

You have to have a comma here, this has to look like this.

So why is it okay to break the rules here that we would normally follow in writing? Pause the video and have a chat to the next person next to you.

Well done, good job.

It's because this radio broadcast is speech, isn't it? It's following the rules of speaking and not the rules of writing.

What we saw in the transcript is a record of language that was spoken.

So we're seeing a record of spoken language that it's not intended to be seen as written language.

It's intended to be heard.

So because a radio broadcast is spoken language, we might do the following.

We might start a sentence with but or and, or so, which we wouldn't usually do if we're doing written language.

We can switch very quickly between different persons, between first person and second person, and third person, which we saw in our transcript there.

And we often use fewer complex sentences and many more simple sentences.

And all of these things match up with how we speak normally.

We don't generally think in terms of using parenthesis and using complex sentences as we speak.

And we might do it just naturally, but we're not always intentionally doing it.

So when we speak, we generally tend to use much more informal language.

And that's what we do in a radio broadcast because it is spoken language that we're really using.

So can you find any sentence openers and ideas from the transcript that you think you'd like to use in your own broadcast? This is your chance to steal a few pieces that you might want to use in your own broadcast that we'll create soon.

Pause the video and have a look.

Well done, now this one's up to you.

It depends what you wanted to choose.

Maybe you went for our local news correspondent, is there, one of them is here with me now.

Emotions running high here and in fact, you could also have the council's bulldozers are going nowhere.

We'll be keeping you updated every step of the way.

What we're worried about is climate change.

And thanks Sam, you're right.

Any of these might be good to steal for your own broadcast.

Well done for collecting some ideas.

So what we read is a transcript, remember, of a radio broadcast.

It's a written record of words that were spoken.

Now in reality, some of those words would've been scripted and some would've been improvised.

So maybe the news anchor's words might have been scripted in advance, but the protestors words in the interview wouldn't have been scripted.

They would've just been said in the moment.

Now because we're pretending here, we're going to write a script for our broadcast so that we can perform it more easily.

But we want to make it sound like it's real speech like in a real interview.

So we're going to work in pairs for this task and one person is going to be the reporter because they have quite a big job.

And then one person is going to be both the news anchor and the protestor, and you might wanna put on a different voice for the protestor if you like.

So we're going to get writing this script and we're going to write a script for the podcast following that structure I've shown you on the right hand side here and using the transcript to help you if you like as well for some inspiration.

So you're going to make sure you create that informal tone by using those contractions, direct address, a conversational sentence openers and first person where appropriate.

And don't forget some questions as well.

So I'd like to pause the video and see if you can have a go in your pair by writing your script.

If you're on your own, you can do all three parts, that'd be absolutely fine.

Pause the video and have a go writing your script.

Well done, fantastic job.

So here's an example of how the first part of your script might sound.

I've got my news anchor first.

We now go to Great Oak Wood, just outside Oakville, where our intrepid reporter Sam Riley, is at the scene of a very noisy protest against the planned bypass there.

Sam, I hope you can hear me.

Another reporter says, thank you Alan, yes, loud and clear.

And yes, I'm here at Great Oak Wood where 30 or 40 protestors are gathered.

So what are they up to? Well, I'm sure many of you have heard of Oakville Council's plan to build a bypass around our great city.

They promise that this will reduce congestion and make our morning commutes that little bit easier.

But there's a snag.

Protestors like these are saying that the council is failing in its duty to help reduce emissions and tackle climate change.

So who's coming next? Well done, it's going to be this introduction to our protestor.

I'm joined by one of those reporters, Anna Samsonova, who is carrying an enormous and very colourful placard.

Anna, why are you here? Hi, Sam.

To be honest, I'm here for my kids.

We know that the climate emergency is going to get worse and we know we need to do more to stop it, if we know that building roads like this just doesn't make any sense.

And what are you hoping to achieve by being here? We want to stop the road, we'll be here until that happens.

And then we've got our conclusion here, looking towards the future.

Anna, thank you.

So as you can see, this is an issue that's not going away.

We'll be here to see how it unfolds.

Alan, back to you.

So you might have gone into much more detail than I did, but hopefully you managed to get that informal tone where we are showing this as spoken language that we're doing.

Even though we have scripted it in writing, we're imagining that this is just impromptu, an improvised spoken language in the context of this interview.

Really well done.

Let's get ready to perform.

So we've scripted our broadcast, now let's prepare to perform it.

And of course, when we perform something it makes sense to practise it before we perform it.

So let's listen again to the example broadcast.

And this time we're just going to focus on how do the different people speak.

Is there something slightly different about the tone that they might use? <v Alan>And in other news, a protest is ongoing</v> at great Oak Wood against the planned bypass there.

We've been on the scene to get you the latest details.

Our local news correspondent Sam Riley is there.

<v Sam>That's right Alan, I'm here at Great Oak Wood</v> on the edge of Oakville where a large group of protesters are gathered.

You can probably hear them chanting in the background there.

So why are they here? Well, you might have heard that Oakville Council is planning to build a bypass through these woods.

They say this will reduce congestion in the town centre and help us all get around a bit more easily.

But these protesters aren't so sure this is a good idea.

One of them is here with me now.

Anna Samsonova, you are one of the organisers of this protest.

Why are you all here? Isn't reducing congestion going to be good for all of us? <v Anna>Thanks, Sam.

</v> You're right, less congestion through Oakville would be great, and the best way to do that is to have fewer cars on the road.

What we're worried about is climate change.

Building more roads means it's easier to drive, which means more cars on our roads and that means more greenhouse gases entering our atmosphere.

We're in a climate emergency right now and we need to be doing everything we can to cut emissions, not increase them.

<v Sam>So tell me what you've been doing today.

</v> How is this going to make a difference? <v Anna>Well, we are here with our placards and our banners</v> and we're trying to get our voices heard by the local community, but we also know we can't just wait for the council to see sense.

So that's why we are taking direct action today.

We are going to be camping in these woods for as long as it takes to stop this road being built.

We'd love for local people to come by and lend us their support.

We just know we've got to do this for the sake of our planet.

<v Sam>Thanks, Anna.

</v> So as you can see, emotions running high here.

In fact, one protestor has even changed herself to a tree over here to my left in the hopes of stopping it being chopped down to make way for the road.

As things stand, the council's bulldozers are going nowhere and the protesters say they're not moving either.

Here at Oakville radio we'll be keeping you updated every step of the way.

Back to you, Alan.

<v ->So maybe you notice there</v> that the news anchor speaks quite seriously and then the reporter is much more chatty and informal.

And then the protestor can be quite passionate, can't they? So no one here, or at least we tried not to, no one sounds like they're reading from his script here 'cause we are trying to make it sound like normal chatty, personal conversation.

Remember, each person speaks with a different expression in their voice to help them show the meaning of what they're saying.

So the protestor is passionate in their expression because they're trying to show they think this is a really important issue.

The news anchor is more serious because their job is to introduce the piece and not really to have an opinion on it.

So can you match each person in the broadcast to the purpose behind their speech.

Pause a video and have a look.

Well done, great job.

So the protestor is trying to get across their views and persuade the audience.

The news anchor is trying to introduce the broadcast in a clear, simple way and the reporter is trying to keep the audience engaged and entertained throughout.

So that's why their tone is the most chatty and informal of the three in this case.

Really well done for matching those up.

So before we perform into each other, we have to practise saying our broadcast with appropriate expression.

So I want you to practise now reading your in your pair.

And I want you to use good expression to show what the different people's motivations are.

So the news anchor is trying to inform people what's coming up, the reporters trying to entertain people, keep them engaged, and the trying to persuade people that they're right.

So we've got to try and sound most importantly of all, as if we're speaking naturally and not reading from a script.

So really trying to get that lovely conversational turn to our voice that sounds natural.

Pause the video and have a go at practising with your partner or on your own if you need to.

Well done, great job.

I'm going to play you an example of part of the reporter script being read with good expression.

Thank you, Alan.

Yes, I can hear you loud and clear.

And yes, I'm here at Great Oak Wood where 30 or 40 protesters are gathered.

So what are they up to? Well, I'm sure many of you have heard of Oakville Council's plan to build a bypass around our great city and they promise that this will reduce congestion and make our morning commutes that little bit easier, but there's a snag.

Protesters like these are saying that the council is failing in its duty to help reduce emissions and tackle climate change.

<v ->So you probably noticed there, the reporter speaking kind</v> of a chatty, informal tone.

They've used expression to keep their listener engaged and entertained and they don't sound as if they're reading from a script.

I'm sure that you managed to do the same, good job.

So now it's time to perform our broadcasts.

As before we're gonna use that expression to show different people's motivations.

We're gonna try and sound as if we're speaking naturally, not reading from a script.

And remember, if you're a listener, make sure you completely silent until the end of other people's broadcasts 'cause I'm sure they would do the same for you.

So pause the video and let's perform our broadcast to each other.

Fantastic, job well done.

I hope you really enjoyed that.

So I'm going to play you again an example of the protester's script being read with really good expression.

Hi Sam, to be honest, I'm here for my kids.

We know climate change is going to get worse and we know we need to do more to stop it.

If we know that building roads like this just doesn't make any sense, we want to stop this road and we'll be here until that happens.

And again, I bet you notice they're speaking in an informal tone.

They're using that expression, try and show how passionate they are about this issue to try and be persuasive to the audience and they don't sound as if they're reading from a script.

You've done a fantastic job there, well done.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that radio broadcast can sound very different depending on the radio station we listen to and what kind of audience it's targeting.

We've said that a radio broadcast can give similar information to a written journalistic report, but it may have a more informal tone and it may make direct addresses to the listener.

And when we perform for a radio broadcast, we try and use good expression in our voice to engage the listener and convey our meaning clearly.

You've done a fantastic job in this lesson.

I hope you've really enjoyed it and that you've enjoyed reporting on our climate protests all the way through this unit.

Great job and hope to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.