Discussion Starters

Emoji
Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. Do you use emoji?

If yes, when do you use them? If no, why not?

2. How do emoji differ from words?

3. Which emoji describes your mood right now?

Draw it on the back of your paper and hold it
up for your class.

Emoji or Emojis?
The word emoji comes from the Japanese words
for picture and character. In Japanese, the plural
of emoji is “emoji.” In English, the acceptable plurals
are “emoji” or “emojis.” In this lesson, we use “emoji”
for plurals. Note that when “Emoji” refers to a
language, it is capitalized.

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings as you can.

Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page 2.

1. emotion a) used or recognized by all

2. universal b) innocent, not causing pain or damage
3. clear-cut c) a feeling or mood
4. wink d) a person who feels negatively about something
5. flirt e) to figure out what something really means
6. inside joke f) to express romantic interest
7. harmless g) a point or level that one can’t go beyond
8. crack the code h) precise or obvious, easy to understand
9. critic i) something that only people in a certain social circle understand
10. limit (noun) j) to quickly close and open one eye

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 1
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Reading
EMOJI
Say it with a smile (or a sushi symbol)

1. How do you express emotions when you send a text message? “With its poodles,
Why, with emoji, of course! noodles, and happy
2. The first emoji set came out in Japan in 1999. It included a few faces, poos, Emoji is now
some weather icons, and a variety of objects you’d see around the
city. Since then, hundreds of images have been added, and Emoji
the fastest-growing
has become its own language. language in the UK.”
—Jonathan Jones, journalist
3. Is Emoji a universal language? Though a smile is a smile in
every corner of the world, other images aren’t as clear-cut.
Are you joking or flirting when you send someone a winking
emoji? What does the raised hands emoji mean to you?

4. Emoji are sometimes used as a secret language or code.

Close friends use emoji to express inside jokes. Secret codes aren’t
always harmless. Some kids use emoji to discuss sex, drugs, and
alcohol. When adults crack the codes, kids just come up with
new ones.

5. Some critics say that the use of emoji is a big step backwards
for mankind. After all, humans moved from communicating with
pictographs to developing spoken and written language after learning
the limits of drawings. Is the fastest-growing language making
humanity lazy?

6. Despite these criticisms, emoji are not going away anytime soon.
In 2015, Oxford Dictionary named an emoji (Face with Tears of Joy) its
Word of the Year. Which emoji would best describe the current year?

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 2
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Comprehension
Discuss these questions in pairs, and write the answers in your notebook.

1. What is the meaning of the subtitle?

2. What does the author infer about the winking emoji?

3. Why does the passage mention alcohol?

4. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?

5. Choose an emoji to represent each paragraph.

Compare your choices with a classmate’s choices.

Vocabulary Review
A. Complete the Sentences

Complete the sentences using vocabulary from page 1.

You may need to change the word forms.

1. My teenage daughter and her friends have so many .

I never know what they’re laughing about.

2. said the Word of the Year should always be a real word, not a picture.

3. I have so many running through me.

I am happy, scared, and excited all at the same time.

4. Make sure you add a emoji to that post. He might not know you are joking!

5. She with me online, but in real life she ignores me.

6. Our son gets mysterious texts from his friends with emoji and text abbreviations.
We have no idea how to .

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 3
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Vocabulary Review cont.

B. Choose the Correct Word

Choose the word or phrase with the closest meaning to

the underlined word or phrase in the following sentences.

1. The rules aren’t that clear-cut. 3. There’s a limit to how many 5. I’m not good at reading
characters you can use in people’s emotions.
a) fair
a tweet.
b) obvious a) minds
c) written a) maximum b) words
d) easy b) mean c) pictographs
c) minimum d) feelings
2. Is the peace sign d) message
a universal symbol? 6. I cracked the code.
4. My dog looks mean, They are planning on
a) large
but he’s harmless. drinking alcohol at the party.
b) important
c) widespread a) dangerous a) figured it out
d) limited b) cute b) spelled it out
c) gentle c) needed to know
d) flirting d) checked the answers

Discussion Questions
1. Do some people in your social network go overboard with emoji?

2. Do emoji fulfill the purpose they were designed for?

3. Are today’s emoji diverse enough?

4. When would you NOT use emoji?

5. Do you agree or disagree with the argument that

the use of emoji is a big step backwards for mankind?

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 4
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Say It with Emoji

A. Survey

Survey some or all of your classmates. Which emoji activity would

they like to try? Put a check () under the activity they choose.

Activity

summarize a historic translate a song summarize a book

Classmate’s Name
event using emoji using emoji or movie using emoji

B. Your Chosen Activity C. Presentation

 et into a group with a few classmates that chose the

G Present your emoji summaries/translations to
same activity as you. Choose an event, song, book, or your class. Can your classmates guess what the story,
movie and try to retell it with emoji. Do a rough draft. event, or song is? What words or ideas were difficult
Then create a display on a large piece of poster paper. to convey with emoji?

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 5
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Listening – Gap Fill

 http://blog.esllibrary.com/2017/03/15/podcast-emoji/

Fill in the blanks as you listen to the recording.

EMOJI
Say it with a smile (or a sushi symbol)

1. How do you express when you send a text

message? Why, with emoji, of course!

2. The first emoji set came out in Japan in 1999. It included a few faces,
some icons, and a variety of objects you’d
see around the city. Since then, hundreds of images have been added,
and Emoji has become own language.

3. Is Emoji a language? Though a smile is a

smile in every corner of the world, other images aren’t as
. Are you joking or
when you send someone a emoji?
What does the raised hands emoji mean to you?

4. Emoji are sometimes used as a secret language or code. Close friends

use emoji to express . Secret codes aren’t
always . Some kids use emoji to discuss sex,
drugs, and alcohol. When adults , kids just
come up with new ones.

5. Some say that the use of emoji is a big step

backwards for mankind. After all, humans moved from communicating
with pictographs to developing spoken and written language after
learning the of drawings. Is the
fastest-growing language making humanity lazy?

6. Despite these criticisms, emoji are not going away anytime

soon. In 2015, Oxford Dictionary named an emoji
(Face with ) its Word of the Year.
Which emoji would best describe the current year?
6. Tears of Joy
5. critics, limits
crack the codes
4. inside jokes, harmless,
3. universal, clear-cut, flirting, winking
2. weather, its
1. emotions

ANSWERS:

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 6
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Answer Key
LESSON DESCRIPTION: TEACHING TIPS: LEVEL: Int

Students read about the evolution and use See Discussion Starters Teaching Guide TIME: 1.5–2 hours
of emoji. They learn related vocabulary and (https://esllibrary.com/courses/72/lessons/)
TAGS: emoji, emojis, emoticons,
discuss topics such as emoji diversity. They for a variety of ways to use the reading.
emoticon, emotion, feelings,
also explore the limits of emoji by doing a
pictures, language, technology,
group challenge.
culture, communication

Pre-Reading Comprehension

A. WARM-UP QUESTIONS 1. The subtitle suggests that you can say anything with emoji
these days. (E.g., You can simply express an emotion or you
Have students work in small groups or as a class.
can say what you feel like eating or are eating.)
2. The author infers that the winking emoji can mean different
B. VOCABULARY PREVIEW
things to different people depending on who is sending and
1. c 3. h 5. f 7. b 9. d receiving it (and possibly what one’s cultural background is).
2. a 4. j 6. i 8. e 10. g Some emoji mean more than one thing.
3. Alcohol is mentioned as a secret subject that young people
can discuss by using emoji that adults won’t suspect.
Reading (and/or Listening)
4. Paragraph 5 is mainly a criticism of emoji.
It introduces the idea that emoji use can be
Read individually, in small groups, or as a class. Discuss the quote.
viewed as language reverting to how it used to be.
You can also play the listening as your students read along. A gap-
5. Answers will vary.
fill version of the reading is available on page 6. Help your students
with vocabulary and expressions that they are unfamiliar with.
(continued on the next page...)

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 7
 Emoji
Discussion Starters

Answer Key cont.

Vocabulary Review SPELLING NOTE:

Note that Backwards is preferred in Canadian and British English,

A. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES while Backward is preferred in American English.

1. inside jokes 4. winking

2. Critics 5. flirts ABOUT THE EMOJI:
3. emotions 6. crack the code
The emoji (and their derivatives) used in this lesson are from
Twemoji, an open-source project by Twitter. They are licensed
B. CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD under CC-BY 4.0. https://github.com/twitter/twemoji

1. b 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. d 6. a

Discussion Questions

Answers will vary.

Can be done individually or in small groups or pairs.

Say It with Emoji

A. SURVEY

Have students walk around the class and

find out which group they want to be in.

B. YOUR CHOSEN ACTIVIT Y

Then give them time in or outside of class to complete

the challenge on a large piece of poster board.

C. PRESENTATION

Hold group presentations. Then have students

discuss the limits of communicating with emoji.

Copyright 2017, Red River Press Inc. For use by ESL Library members only. ( I N T / V E R S I O N 1. 0) 8