Do photos with catchy phrases, pop culture buzz, and smart lines make you laugh? If so, why not use them in the ELT classroom? Your possible reaction: "Say whaaaat (TF...OMG)?" with a Grumpy Cat face. Before the idea triggers "diabeetus" in you, let me elaborate: Digging further into their apparent frivolousness, discover their richness in authentic discourse, depth in meaning, accuracy in use and usage, in other words, what makes them amusing. These virally spreading snippets of cultural commentary are imitated because they encapsulate relevant insights of current events. Their wisdom is rewarded by listeners with a laugh, and appeal to the most serious adult's inner brat. We can help our students benefit from their playful creativity by matching them with helpful ELT criteria for creative and brilliant fun at the crossroads of language, culture, and life!

1. MEMES:
Witty Cultural Discourse
for An ELT Blast!
Andrés Ramos
From an infographic at:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/542050505122897649/

2. Important Disclosures:
Slides modified from related webinar
Topic further elaborated from an infographic
Images by others in Fair Use
All sources referenced, also own content
Original research under Creative Commons 4.0

3. Ringing any ?

4. Ringing any ?
Diabeetus
Watch out, guys! We’re
dealing with…
You gotta work, [expletive
redacted]!
Uno, doh, treh, cuatro,
dale!

5. “Oh, my God!” girl from
Friends, Ryan Locke’s
‘Jeah’, Grumpy Cat,
closeup memes…

6. Webinar Aims:
To review concepts related to memes
To explore cultural and linguistic value of memes
To reflect on ELT strategies for memes
To comment on sample memes for educational use
To practice activities with memes.
(Archived at http://bit.ly/3rdWebinarVenTESOL-AVEALMEC)

7. MEME:WTF (what the facts? ) on
Are they…
… aphorisms?
… idioms?
… rhymes / chants?
… primary source content?

8. MEME:WTF (what the facts? ) on
From Greek μίμηα [mi’
mε ma]= imitated
thing… … that “conveys the idea of a
unit of cultural transmission,
or a unit of imitation”
(Dawkins, 1989);
"a piece of thought copied from person
to person.” (Wilkins, 1998)

9. … use?
… meaning?
… lexical units?
… sounds?
WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT…

10. WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT…
… use?
• Counting
• Expressing posession
• Talking about health
… meaning?
• Food / taste
• Quantities
• Math v. disease
… lexical units?
• Discourse markers
• Collocations
• Inst. utterances
… sounds?
• Transliteration
• Vowel shift

11. LET’S COMMENT ON THIS MEME’S…
… use
… meaning
… lexical units
… sounds.

12. • Procedure / steps
• Strategies for language areas
• Suggestions for cultural context
• Ideas for production
Level ELT Initials
Thinking of making memes
classroom worthy? Here’s how:

13. • Find a meme in real examples
• Discover meaning or purpose (use)
• Come up with other contexts
• Use it for speaking and writing.
Thinking of making memes
classroom worthy? Here’s how:
Elementary A1 A2

14. PRACTICEI:OriginalMeme
cheezburger.com
PRACTICEI:OtherContexts

15. PRACTICEI:OriginalMeme
cheezburger.com
PRACTICEI:OtherContexts
Once upon a time, [place some
brazenly, bluntly delivered bad
news here].

16. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Issues,relevance,commentary
palmbeachpost.com
eonline.com
Reflection in class:
Too much of something?
Issue:
Fitness, to what extent?

17. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Understand,imitate,create
msn.com
http://laranaroja.com
eonline.com
Issue:
Beauty, at what cost?
Narrative for meme:
Before, after, and reaction

18. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Understand,imitate,create
msn.com
http://laranaroja.com
eonline.com
Issue:
Too much well-being?
Thought processes:
Critical v. creative

19. • Awareness of meaning, function,
wordplay, lexical sets (i. e. discourse
markers), sounds or rhymes
• Explain meme or find origin
• Make locally meaningful memes from the
one studied.
Thinking of making memes
classroom worthy? Here’s how:
Intermediate B1 B2

20. Helpful ELT Criteria:
Level
Target students
SLA processes
Graded tasks
EAP strategies
healthyplace.com

21. facebook.com/pitbullviavk.com
youtube.com/user/openenglishtv
Level
Target students
SLA processes
Graded tasks
EAP strategies

22. PRACTICEII:
Origins,Wordplay&Rhyme
PRACTICEII:
Locallymeaningfulmemes
facebook.com/pitbullviavk.com
youtube.com/user/openenglishtv
[Place a ‘from /
to’ aspirational
tale with
rhymes]
[Place
one trademark
expression from
this celebrity]
[Ironic
reply from
transliterated
mistake]
[Movie line mistaken for above]

23. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Authenticity,apparentmisspeling
themetapicture.comatPinterest

24. •Figure out contexts for an isolated meme
• Search for historical or documentary source
• Explain cultural implications
• Elaborate on lexis, semantics, function,
syntax, phonetics (suprasegmentals), or dialect
• Write an essay or discuss in class
• Find dynamic equivalents in L1
• Video or post a story with several memes
• Make it viral!
Thinking of making memes
classroom worthy? Here’s how:
Advanced C1 C2

25. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Perse,history,implications
Anne-MarieHaavistoviapinterest.com

26. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Perse,history,implications
Anne-MarieHaavistoviapinterest.com
over [legitimate cause
of anger / outrage]

27. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Perse,history,implications

28. Thinking of making memes
classroom worthy? Here’s how:
•Wordplay: Alliteration and fun help focus on meaning.
• Rhyme: Sounds maximize brevity and recall.
• Spelling: Use apparent misspelling and transliteration.
• False etymology: Amusingly expose wrong formations.
• Homophony: Words are learned; differences, discerned.
• Advertising / Arts / Psy.: Bring techniques of their own.
• Other careers: See how ESP terms, initials, meanings
intersect with the mainstream and across languages.
ELT EAP ESP Techniques

29. MEMESINTERSECTWITHESP:
Music,law,business,media
twitter.com
styleite.com
eonline.com

30. uspto.gov

31. uspto.gov

32. More Memes &
Pop Culture:
memebase.cheezburger.com
memecreator.org
memecenter.com
pinterest.com/AndresRamosVE/ (2 memes boards)
Research on trends: Vine, E!, MTV, Instagram

33. CULTURE-RICHMEMES:
Video,othermedia
Anne-MarieHaavistoviapinterest.com
[Short video available on webinar]

34. PRACTICEIII:
Techniquesfromprofessions

35. Related webinar:
http://bit.ly/3rdWebinarVenTESOL-AVEALMEC
Original infographic:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/542050505122897649/
Further collaboration on my social media:
Links to them in my SlideShare profile

36. MEMES:
Witty Cultural Discourse
for An ELT Blast!
Andrés Ramos
From an infographic at:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/542050505122897649/