Job Discussion Forums

[bj80]

At least in my own philosophy, movies can be a great way of teaching English.

Everybody likes them, etc.

Is there any research to show how to best use movies or TV shows as a supplement to class time?

I think we all know that learning a language is not just about information/data transfer in a new language, it is about understanding a different culture.

Movies, especially the movies that make AFI Top 100, Disney movies, etc. tell students a lot about the host culture.

What are some ways to really make movies seen as constructive, and not just a waste of time?

My guess is movies with relevant, detailed worksheets that explicitly connect what was seen to principles of American culture?

[nomad soul]

There are quite a few articles and teaching resources about incorporating video. Google using video esl.

Since you teach kids in China, I suggest posting this question on the China forum.

[spiral78]

[CTravel32]

1. Compare and contrast a book you have just read with the movie. I do that once or twice a year (Life of Pi is a recent example). Movies or films are good for helping high school students understand more complex readings like Shakespeare as well.

2. Show a documentary about a current global issue. Students can write (mock) letters to a local politician about the issue and offer possible solutions. This is great because you can work on proper struture for formal letters, and using very formal language, two important skills.

3. Asking students to find examples of literary devices (middle school students love this), or to help understand sequence of events (especially for younger students), etc.

4. In fact, I have a list of about 20 activities kids and adults can do after watching short documentaries. They can create radio shows, do interviews with other people in the school or community, record videos, etc.

Really, the possibilities are almost limitless in regards to making good use of a documentary or even movies in the class.

[currentaffairs]

I think short is the keyword. Most classes are one hour or even 50 mins. Getting students focused and ready to watch a 20-minute segment of something and then follow up with the worksheet or activities needs some good planning.

[Jmbf]

However you choose to integrate movies into your lessons, DON'T do what this 'teacher' did.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=110334&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

"Honestly for the university job I just put on movies, don't do any lesson planning or marking at all since that's time I could be using to earn more money elsewhere"

[Blistering Zanazilz]

[lionheartuk]

Don't know if this is relevant but I have used documentaries in a lesson with grade 5 and 6 and in middle school back in 2011.

One I have used since 2011 is one called "Why democracy. Vote for me"

It's about choosing a class monitor in a primary school in Wuhan and how three grade 3 candidates go about getting votes from their classmates.
The speaking is in Chinese but the subs are English.

Lots of talking points and vocabulary learning. Takes about 4 lessons to complete including taking notes and giving a test at the end. If you have a good assistant who can help and ask questions it is worth the effort.

Don't know if it would work at Uni level as the level of the vocabulary used
may be too simple.

[ttxor1]

I would agree that a whole movie shouldn't be shown in class. A 5-20 min clip, max, will do.

A good resource for this is:

Madylus, O. (2009) Film, TV, and Music: Multilevel photocopiable activities for teenagers. Cambridge Copy Collection: Cambridge University Press.

If you have the time, creating your own worksheet works as well. On the worksheet, you might have a section that pre-teaches some vocabulary, and then a fill-in-the-blank or a correct the mistakes section, and finally a few discussion questions related to theme(s) of the film.

Could also stop the clip at various points and ask questions related to the pre-taught vocab, what might come next, or general comprehension questions.

[nimadecaomei]

[I'm With Stupid]

In my last school, we used to show a whole movie over 8 weeks. So 10-15 minutes a week with related tasks and activities. In principle, it's generally the same as using stories in a class except that the medium is different. As there's not generally such a thing as 'graded films' there has to be a lot more emphasis on grading the task.

One of the main benefits that is actually backed up by research is learning vocabulary in context. Most course books still teach lexical sets, despite the research being fairly clear that this is not necessarily the most effective way to learn them. I imagine it also offers a far stronger context for any functional language that might appear than the typical coursebook text.

More anecdotally, I would say that at higher levels, it creates an excellent shared context for discussions. Usually with discussions, you're never sure about the level of prior knowledge of interest the students have, but if you're discussing, for example, a decision a character made in a film, then everyone has the same starting point and everyone can have an opinion. The same goes for any writing tasks that might come out of it.

Keiran Donaghty's Film English has some good ideas for standalone lessons, usually based on short films.

I did read a chapter on using film, and I can't remember the book, but one of the key pieces of advice is to always allow the students to watch the video without giving them a task initially. A lot of teachers feel the need to give them a task while they watch, because they think that just putting a video on isn't doing their job properly, but it's not only an unnatural way to watch a film, but it's very difficult to concentrate on a film in your second language and also do some sort of gap fill or ordering task. You can always come back to an individual scene for a more focused listening task.

[nimadecaomei]

The only initial take I usually give students is to note down what they think is important or interesting as they watch. Helps with later discussion or writing that they have something noted down, but also not so rigid as to force them what and when they need to do something during the viewing.

[yurii]