Job Discussion Forums

[golsa]

Films for teaching basics of western culture and films that feature simple English language.

Here is the deal: I'm currently teaching EFL in the Caucuses and quickly learned that people here have almost no cultural references to western culture. We're talking about not knowing what French fries are and not being aware of major movie productions from the west.

I firmly believe that to successfully learn a foreign language, one must also learn the basic elements of the culture that produced that language, and to meet this need I've created an English language club at my school. The club will focus on colloquial English skills and I've decided to use western films to introduce students to colloquial English and the culture necessary to understand the English language.

So far, I've only come up with two suitable films: I Am Legend and Thor. Here is the rationale:

1) I Am Legend features very simple English, which makes it a great starting point for the club. The dialogue is mostly Will Smith talking to his dog and it's a good opportunity to introduce terms associated with science.

2) Thor because it's a fast paced film that includes a little Norse mythology. I plan to start this lesson with a crash course in historical linguistics to explain why Norse mythology is part of Anglophone culture. The film also features plenty of colloquial English.


Here is my question: have you started a project like this? If so, which films did you use and why? I'm not looking for high brow films here - the films need to hold the interest of students in the 12-18 age range.

[cheezsteakwit]

I'm not an ESL teacher yet, (flying to Korea on Saturday) , so I've never used films to teach English.

But along the same lines as your logic for using I am Legend , what about using the Tom Hanks movie "Castaway"??? , where he spends most of the movie using simple language to communicate with his volleyball ' friend' ,- 'Wilson' - I think 'Castaway' is the title of the film.

[MotherF]

If you're going to go with Tom Hanks--I think Forrest Gump would be a good bet, it covers a large amount of history and deals with iconic events from each decade.

I also think films that show cutural rituals like weddings, funerals, and births or graduations are a good bet. Which brings a certain Hugh Grant film to mind...

One thing to keep in mind is that I've found that non-westerns lack a basic understanding that westerners have and never talk about when talking about movies--we accept that movies are exagerations meant for entertainment.

[golsa]

[MotherF]

I don't remember there being sex scenes in it at all!--but then I only ever saw it on TV, so it was probably edited.

[santi84]

I'm not so sure about Gump - great movie, but there are a variety of scenes/topics that could make your audience uncomfortable (yes he conceives a child with Jenny, I believe it's in the background and she's clothed), the drug use, the topic of child sex abuse, etc. Of course, you know your audience and I don't - but I would not bring it up in my classroom unless I was ready to discuss those topics with students. You may also struggle with the student's comprehension of a thick southern accent. Same with I Am Legend - rather graphic, isn't it?

ETA: Your audience is 12-18? I would absolutely NOT use those movies (I haven't seen Thor, no comment) for that age group.

[santi84]

I would recommend Charlotte's Web - either the animated or more recent live action film with Dakota Fanning. It broaches some more serious topics (ie. death) without being too graphic for this age group.

[DebMer]

[the_otter]

I love Watership Down and tend to recommend it indiscriminately. Still, I think it has pretty much the same pros that santi84 mentions in relation to Charlotte's Web.

[uh huh]

Akeelah and the Bee
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/

Lovely inspirational film about a girl from South Los Angeles who enters the spelling bee. The teenagers I watched it with were completely engaged, as was I!

[golsa]

[golsa]

[santi84]

Again just my opinion, but I think it is important to consider discretion when we use when showing films to children/youth in the classroom (the same can apply to adults). Just because kids watch violence on regular TV or are exposed to various subjects on their own time does not mean it may necessarily be appropriate for the ESL classroom.

It is also important to consider why a film should be shown - what sort of American cultural factors will they take from I Am Legend? The vast majority of the film takes place in an empty city and it has one major film star (aside from the zombies, of course). What American cultural topics will come from that? I'm not saying that you can't get anything out of it, but it really does seem like an odd choice.

For example, with a film like Charlotte's Web, you have the cultural topics of the agricultural industry and celebrations/fairs (both of which can be contrasted with their own cultural ideas of these topics, making it easier to talk about).

I dunno, I'm just trying to figure out where you are going with this. I really can't figure out what IAL has to do with the basics of Western culture??? Same with Thor - it's Norse mythology, is it not?

I understand you want to balance the interests of a 12-18 year old age group and actual teaching topics but I think they are poor film choices in that regard. Again, just my opinion. I have taught many age groups (from 6-1 and would not show those films to my students, even if they used Facebook/searched internet porn/had a zombie movie collection at home.

[MotherF]

I'm also curious, what level of English do the students have?
How about using a TV series instead of film--a half hour show without the commercials is down to 20 minutes, a more resonable chunk for students below B2 to understand. Even a hour would be about 40 minutes without the commercials.

And while TV shows made for this age group in mind tend to be rather, uh, innane, you would be more certain that the content was acceptable.

[artemisia]

What about Startrek IV? It might be a bit �old� for that age range but I really liked the theme story of the crew returning to the past (on earth) to take whales, which had been wiped out in the future setting of the story, back with them on the Enterprise. I suppose you could say it primarily has an environmental message, but think it�s also about how �alien� the visiting �beings� feel, not knowing the local customs etc..

I can�t remember it all but I think there might be a romance between Capt. Kirk and the scientist (?) he meets on earth. While that age probably won�t fully appreciate the incongruity of seeing Capt. Kirk and Dr. Spock back on earth and catching a bus downtown, it�s still amusing (unless you consider showing giving the finger in a movie to be off-limits):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr82dZpCr48&feature=related

I�ve used Gump but not in its entirety. Selected scenes were used along with the graded reader, which is a bit different to the film. Showing the film was mixed with various kinds of exercises based on both the film and book. It wasn�t a kids� class but the religion of a lot of the participants ensured the same precautions were needed. Using TV programs aimed at teens is a good idea, but may well have themes parents wouldn�t like. Being able to vet material in advance is as important as knowing who�s in or going to be in your class. I wouldn�t use anything of Gump if there were any Vietnamese students in the class, for example, but that�s not a concern here.