The Influence of Media
Lesson 8.4 builds the Task 2 to-what-extent essay, with a clear position and well-justified support.
- Take a clear position on a to-what-extent prompt
- Plan a 4-paragraph essay around your degree of agreement
- Justify your view with two distinct, developed reasons
Listening Skills — The Influence of Media Lecture
You will hear an extract from a lecture about how media influences public opinion. Read the statements before you listen and decide what information would prove each one true or false.
- Read all six statements carefully before you listen.
- Listen for exact wording — a small change can turn a true statement into a false one.
- If the lecture does not mention something at all, the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- Answers usually follow the order of the lecture.
Listen first — the transcript stays hidden so this works like the real exam.
Listening audio
Tap play to generate and listen.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the lecture? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
- Agenda-setting theory claims that media tells people exactly what to think.
- The framing effect is about how a story is presented, not just the facts themselves.
- Priming can influence which information people recall when judging something later.
- The cultivation effect can appear after only a few weeks of television viewing.
- The Norway study found that increased negative coverage was linked to reduced public anxiety.
- Students will be required to submit a written report after their seminar presentation.
Answer key
Today's Task 2 prompt
The media has a much greater influence on young people today than it did in the past. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Plan · 4 paragraphs
Model body paragraph
- 'Young people use phones a lot. They see many things on the internet. This is more than before.'
- 'A teenager today is exposed to media almost continuously, from morning notifications to late-night recommendations curated by an algorithm. This level of constant, personalised exposure is something previous generations simply did not face, which is why I believe the influence is now substantially greater.'
Take a clear position
Avoid 'I 50% agree and 50% disagree.' Examiners want a position that is recognisable from the intro to the conclusion.
Pathway focus · Academic justification language
Lift your reasoning with: 'a key driver of this is …', 'this is largely attributable to …', 'this trend is reinforced by …'.
Exam Strategy
- Exam Tip
State your degree of agreement in the FIRST sentence after the paraphrase — don't make the examiner search for it.
Independent Practice
Write the full 250 words in 40 minutes.
Key Takeaways
- 'To what extent' = your job is to argue HOW MUCH, not just yes/no.
- Two developed reasons beat four shallow ones.
- Tense choice under pressure20 fast decisions between present simple, present perfect and past simple.
- Sentence & summary completionWord-limit discipline: NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
- Trend language workoutDescribe movement precisely — verbs, adverbs and noun phrases.
Optional — this doesn't affect your lesson or course progress.