I'll admit it freely: I LOVE memes. I think they are often hilarious and I share them with my friends and family regularly. If you are not familiar with what a meme is, it is formally defined as: an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation. AKA: funny pictures shared online that often have accompanying captions adding to their hilarity.
Now what, might you ask, do memes have to do with teaching ESL students? This is a fair question indeed. The fact is, many of our students today share my enjoyment in both creating and sharing memes with their friends. Memes are incredibly engaging for students at the secondary level and the articles I read this week ("Using Classroom Memes to Connect with Your Students" and "Try Not to Smile When an ESL Student Uses Memes as Writing Prompts") showed me that I need to start harnessing the power of memes to engage my students.
The first article showed some practical uses in the classroom for memes. One use could be to explain rules of the classroom or to give students some advice about your classroom. Instead of using traditional class rules posters, memes can be used to deliver the same content with humor, making them more memorable for students.
Now what, might you ask, do memes have to do with teaching ESL students? This is a fair question indeed. The fact is, many of our students today share my enjoyment in both creating and sharing memes with their friends. Memes are incredibly engaging for students at the secondary level and the articles I read this week ("Using Classroom Memes to Connect with Your Students" and "Try Not to Smile When an ESL Student Uses Memes as Writing Prompts") showed me that I need to start harnessing the power of memes to engage my students.
The first article showed some practical uses in the classroom for memes. One use could be to explain rules of the classroom or to give students some advice about your classroom. Instead of using traditional class rules posters, memes can be used to deliver the same content with humor, making them more memorable for students.
Some other ways memes can be used in the classroom are as fill-in-the-blanks or writing prompts. This is a great way to get ESL students to use skills that they have learned in class in an engaging way. Students could be given a meme like the following and fill in the blank.
Students could also be given a "blank" meme and create a story about it using the learned language. An example of this was used in an ESL classroom with a Japanese-speaking student. When she was given the following meme, she was tasked with writing a short description in English.
"This is the newest Olympic game which is called Olympic husband hammer. The rule is very simple, you just throw your husband as far as possible with screaming. You can get rid of stress, and get a fame and a shame."
As you can see, the student uses learned language and grammar skills in her description. This method could be used countless times as writing prompts, allowing students to further practice their language and writing skills.
I can't wait to use memes in my class this year and I hope I have inspired you to try too! How could you implement memes to benefit your L2 students? Comment below!
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