Idea of Progress: For or Against Mobile Phones

Idea of Progress: For or Against Mobile Phones? Cours d’anglais terminale spécial préparation bac avec Valérie, notre célèbre E-prof de soutien scolaire en ligne.

You are studying modern technologies at the moment in English? Why not read this article on mobile phones written for Science week.  I will use some extracts of on-line or newspaper articles first, to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones which you may discuss in the exam.

(Tu étudies la notion de progrès et des nouvelles technologies en anglais ? Tu es en terminale et tu prépares la notion de « l’idée de progrès », (The Idea of Progress). Ici,  je discuterai des avantages et des avantages des téléphones portables. En me basant sur des articles en ligne ou sur des articles de presse).

Times have changed.
Nowadays, children worldwide are spending more and more time glued to their electronic devices. It is becoming their favourite hobby and leisure time scarifying their academic performance, their family value times, their other activities and their sleeping time.

Negative impacts:

Here is a French song by Soprano showing how much mobiles can take over our lives:

“Smartphones are psychologically addictive, encourage narcissistic tendencies and should come with a health warning, researchers have said”, according to the Guardian article of the 4^th March 2015.

English quiz

1. According to studies, mobile phones can have negative impacts on school results.
2. They can influence behaviour and make people aggressive or reclusive.
3. Mobile phones can affect people’s health says a Guardian article: more and more teenagers feel lonely and depressed
4. There is an obvious link between the time teenagers spend online on social media or on games and the increase in young people’s depression cases.
5. Less and less teens see friends in person.
6. They can increase stress levels and make you lose your self-esteem.
7. Smartphones encourage a narcissistic and selfish behaviour.
8. They are addictive like a drug.
9. Smartphones can distract people from their responsibilities.
10. Smartphones improve all the time and when we buy the last model, how do we recycle our old phone?

Here are some statistics published by emarketer.com, giving us the amount of time spent on digital devices by American adults between 2011 and 2017.

You can use some of these figures to illustrate your ideas in the oral exam.
(Tu peux utiliser ces chiffres  pour illustrer tes idées pour l’examen oral).

Smartphones are stealing our time. This new year, I want to claim it back

Marcus Gilroy-Ware over 3 hours per day

«As George Monbiot has argued, “the age in which we live is not one that makes us happy. 2016 has been earmarked by many as a particularly difficult year. Whether you attribute it to Britain’s unexpected vote to leave the EU, the election of Donald Trump, the deaths of much-loved public figures such as David Bowie, Prince, George Michael and Carrie Fisher, or some other cause, it is hard to disagree.”

“smartphones might seem like hard things to hate. On average, smartphone

owners use them for over three hours per day.”

“I’ve been on my phone more than I’ve been with actual people,” she said. “My bed has, like, an imprint of my body.”
One of the ironies of iGen life is that despite spending far more time under the same roof as their parents, today’s teens can hardly be said to be closer to their mothers and fathers than the previous generations ».

(«  J’ai passé plus de temps sur mon portable que de temps à être avec mes amis en réalité », dit-elle. « Mon lit a, genre, l’empreinte de mon corps. » Une des ironies de la génération ‘i phone’ est que malgré le fait qu’ils passent plus de temps sous le même toit que leurs parents, les ados d’aujourd’hui ne peuvent pas vraiment dire qu’ils sont plus proches de leur mère et de leur père que les générations précédentes).

From Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.

Positive effects :

English quiz

1. Teenagers are more comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party: today’s teens are physically safer than teens have ever been.
2. They’re less likely to get into a car accident and they are less attracted by alcohol than the previous generations.
3. You can talk to your friends at any time of the day or night.
4. You can keep in touch with friends and family abroad or who live far away.
5. You can read your mail wherever you are.
6. You can see your friends’ holiday photos on Facebook and post your photos too.
7. You can comment on the news on Twitter.
8. You can download music.
9. You can play games alone or with partners on the other end of the world.
10. With your smartphone, you are able to control various devices, like the heating, the air-conditioned or the locking system in your house.

Quiz  corrections

Negative points :

Negative points :