Korean Job Discussion Forums

zpeanut · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Location: Pohang, Korea

I'm currently working at a Korean owned English college in Australia. I've just started this job and have been asked to teach a class for speaking. This class is made up of elementary and pre-intermediate students.

I don't mind speaking, but the problem is, I've been asked to teach using movies! students get a script and I'm expected to go through the script and teach them conversational skills! to make it worse, the current movie is Good Will Hunting!!

I have no idea how I'm going to do this as I've never taught this way, ever! So far I've suggested to the boss that the choice of movie is very important, as I don't think Good Will Hunting would be stimulating language wise... aside from the swearing.

Does anyone have any experience with this method? could anyone offer any tips? please? ^^ .. and is this a Korean thing??

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

Try the Focal Skills Movie Technique:

http://www.focalskills.info/articles/Movietechnique.pdf

http://www.focalskills.info/articles/moviesfs.html

Countrygirl · Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Location: in the classroom

You will have a hard time teaching elementary students speaking skills with a movie - listening comprehension skills but not speaking skills. If the students are given the script, are they expected to memorize it and then role-play? If they have to go through the entire movie, they will be very bored and then blame you and say you are a bad teacher.

What I would do is take an appropriate segment of the movie and have the students watch it and answer some comprehension questions. Once they understand what they saw, have them role-play a little bit of the movie. Then have the students brainstorm different conversations that could occur with the same situation. You will want to correct their English so that they are using English correctly. Have them role-play their new conversation. Or, instead of making different conversations with the same situation, you can make index cards with different situations and have them make a new role-play. For a speaking class, you really want the students to practice speaking and not focus only on watching the movie and reading the script. This means a lot of prep for you, but the classes will be more enjoyable.

BTW, this is an Asian thing. I also had to develop lesson plans using movies for a Chinese College in Canada. I quit before the College opened and the company went under very quickly.