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Trina Marlow
Joined: 28 Apr 2014
Posts: 50
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 Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:17 pm Post subject: Movies and Learning Language |
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| What are your thoughts about improving your English just by watching English movies. Is there a list of movies someone compiled somewhere that I can recommend to my students? |
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water rat
Joined: 30 Aug 2014
Posts: 1098
Location: North Antarctica
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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Just by watching movies? You have to ask yourself: are you an English teacher or a projectionist?
One place I worked - a profitable education center- some teachers were showing movies all the time. The students said to the DOS that if they wanted to watch movies they would have stayed at home.
However to answer your question: Rocky I, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky VI, Rambo I, II and III.
If you're unwilling to be a model speaker, why, Sylvester Stallone can fill in for you!
n.b. I can't recommend Arnold Schwarzenegger. Great films, terrible accent.
Last edited by water rat on Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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adaruby
Joined: 21 Apr 2014
Posts: 171
Location: has served on a hiring committee
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: Movies and Learning Language |
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| Trina Marlow wrote: |
| What are your thoughts about improving your English just by watching English movies. Is there a list of movies someone compiled somewhere that I can recommend to my students? |
Movies are extremely enjoyable for students and can also be equally rewarding, but what are your aims? Which area of your students' English do you want to improve?
It's possible to use a movie over a full term, with students watching a clip each lesson and you creating activities based around this to encourage language production, but it wouldn't just be a case of putting a movie on and then sitting back after you've given out some paper!
You'll need to think about their level and how much of the movie they'll be able to understand, but an example lesson might result in the class writing a diary entry as one of the characters based on a scene they've just watched.
A combination of the process and product approaches to writing will help the class reach their target: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/product-process-writing-a-comparison |
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Trina Marlow
Joined: 28 Apr 2014
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: Movies and Learning Language |
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| adaruby wrote: |
| Trina Marlow wrote: |
| What are your thoughts about improving your English just by watching English movies. Is there a list of movies someone compiled somewhere that I can recommend to my students? |
Movies are extremely enjoyable for students and can also be equally rewarding, but what are your aims? Which area of your students' English do you want to improve?
It's possible to use a movie over a full term, with students watching a clip each lesson and you creating activities based around this to encourage language production, but it wouldn't just be a case of putting a movie on and then sitting back after you've given out some paper!
You'll need to think about their level and how much of the movie they'll be able to understand, but an example lesson might result in the class writing a diary entry as one of the characters based on a scene they've just watched.
A combination of the process and product approaches to writing will help the class reach their target: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/product-process-writing-a-comparison |
That is good. What I did was asked my students to watch the end of "Independence Day," when the president in the movie delivered a speech. Afterwards, I opened the session for discussion. Since English is not their first language, each person of the six takes a long time before they can get a full thought in, but the discussion was an improvement to our first session. This gave me an idea that given the limited time we have per session per week and how much they know of the language, maybe I can "expose" them first. Once they are ready, I can move on to a more structure learning / formal approach? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Smarter students already know that they can use movies for language consolidation. However they have to acquire some language first ! |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: Movies and Learning Language |
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| Trina Marlow wrote: |
| What are your thoughts about improving your English just by watching English movies. Is there a list of movies someone compiled somewhere that I can recommend to my students? |
I'd simply recommend movies that build on the themes you're already covering in your regular classes anyway. For example, we spend a fair amount of time in one of my reading classes covering readings related to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, so I recommend that students watch things like Malcolm X or the documentary series Eyes on the Prize, both of which are readily available via Netflix or the local public library. Once the class has piqued student interest in the topic, movie (or book) recommendations provide them avenues to use their free time to continue building on the language and content we've already covered.
As for actual movie watching in-class, I try to use movies to supplement or develop particular units of study. I follow our novel unit on Sarah, Plain and Tall for example with an in-class screening of the movie based on the book. Then students must write a short comparison essay on the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. Or in my conversation class, I showed American Violet, based on a true story, in conjunction with a unit on law enforcement and crime, which stimulated lots of class discussion on the role of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system. In short, don't just show movies. Think about how to use them strategically to support and develop the content and language you're already covering in your classes. |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Who knows? I once met a man from Morraco who spoke excellent Spanish which he claimed to have learnt solely from watching Spanish television.
I also gave a placement test to a student whose English was better than his classmates, I asked him if he'd gone to extra classes and he said no his mother liked movies and went each week since he was a small child, and since he couldn't read the subtitles back then he " learned " English.
The key would be that the students enjoyed the movies, so the list would be movies the like and are motivated to watch and follow. |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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| MotherF wrote: |
| Who knows? |
Yes, I have had the occasional student who has never lived in an English-speaking country but seemed to have the uncanny ability to acquire near-native conversational proficiency simply by watching American television, movies, etc.
Most such media, when used strategically, can help students improve their language skills, but rare is the student who seemingly absorbs English from the TV screen through osmosis. |
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Trina Marlow
Joined: 28 Apr 2014
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 4:17 pm Post subject: Re: Movies and Learning Language |
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| esl_prof wrote: |
| Trina Marlow wrote: |
| What are your thoughts about improving your English just by watching English movies. Is there a list of movies someone compiled somewhere that I can recommend to my students? |
I'd simply recommend movies that build on the themes you're already covering in your regular classes anyway. For example, we spend a fair amount of time in one of my reading classes covering readings related to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, so I recommend that students watch things like Malcolm X or the documentary series Eyes on the Prize, both of which are readily available via Netflix or the local public library. Once the class has piqued student interest in the topic, movie (or book) recommendations provide them avenues to use their free time to continue building on the language and content we've already covered.
As for actual movie watching in-class, I try to use movies to supplement or develop particular units of study. I follow our novel unit on Sarah, Plain and Tall for example with an in-class screening of the movie based on the book. Then students must write a short comparison essay on the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. Or in my conversation class, I showed American Violet, based on a true story, in conjunction with a unit on law enforcement and crime, which stimulated lots of class discussion on the role of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system. In short, don't just show movies. Think about how to use them strategically to support and develop the content and language you're already covering in your classes. |
Thank you for the very detailed description / example. I will keep those tips in mind. This is really helpful. We are going to discuss careers, like this, next week and I am planning to give "Pursuit of Happiness" as a homework and "Devil Wears Prada" as an in-class discussion. I am having thoughts with the 2nd movie though, because it might be too "girly" to the males in class.
Wish me luck! |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 11:37 pm Post subject: Re: Movies and Learning Language |
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| Trina Marlow wrote: |
| Thank you for the very detailed description / example. I will keep those tips in mind. This is really helpful. We are going to discuss careers, like this, next week and I am planning to give "Pursuit of Happiness" as a homework and "Devil Wears Prada" as an in-class discussion. I am having thoughts with the 2nd movie though, because it might be too "girly" to the males in class. |
I'm glad you found my suggestions to be helpful, Trina. Please let us know know how next week's movie assignments go. It sounds like a fun unit! |
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