Lesson Overview:

In this C1/C2 ESL lesson plan, students explore the impact smartphones have on modern life and consider whether our dependence on them is changing the way we think, communicate, and behave. They begin by examining the benefits and drawbacks of smartphone use before listening to contrasting opinions on whether smartphones are improving or damaging our lives.

Students develop advanced vocabulary and useful expressions related to technology, behaviour, communication, and modern life while completing listening and reading activities and analysing different perspectives on smartphone use. They then explore issues such as digital dependency, sleep deprivation, reduced attention spans, information overload, and social comparison, alongside the many practical benefits smartphones provide.

The lesson challenges students to consider whether smartphones are genuinely making our lives better, whether we have become too dependent on them, and where the line between useful technology and excessive use should be drawn. Through debates, picture discussions, and personalised speaking activities, students are encouraged to think critically and express nuanced opinions about the role smartphones play in modern life.

1. Warm Up: Smartphone Usage
2. Smartphones: Problems
3. Smartphones: Positives
4. Article: My Phone, My Problem
5. Audio: I Love My Smartphone
6. Key Language and Debate
7. Debate
8. Discussion
9. Picture Round: Smartphones 

Homework

There is an excellent homework task to supplement this C1/C2 ESL lesson plan. Students read an engaging article before completing comprehension questions.

1. Article: Are Smartphones Making Us Less Human
2. Writing Task