Page 30 - ELG2202 Feb Issue 479

TEACHERS’ TIPS .

PHOTOS SHUTTERSTOCK/PIXABAY

Using the silver screen

A film is worth a thousand visual aids, says ELT teacher Rick Haill

cene 1 A 15-year-old schoolboy fully with a short extract, is it possible to arrange a “…as a communicative device, most feature
holds his classmates’ attention as he viewing of the whole film? I believe that this is films expose learners to language scripted
describes how he trains a wild bird. the ideal arrangement and will go on to discuss for an L1 audience... Films are still authentic
SScene 2 Just before she says her the skills which such viewings – short or long resources that can be harnessed for language
wedding vows, a young woman punches her – might require and develop in the student, teaching purposes”.
would-be bridegroom in the face. Cinema is an infinitely flexible and accessible
This experience taught medium which can appeal to students at any
These scenes are from two wonderful British level of language ability. For many years I taught
films (Kes, from 1969, and Four Weddings and me that the stimulus of a a course for international students entitled
a Funeral, from 1994) which have gripped Modern British Cinema and Society at a university
and entertained audiences around the world. good film prompts in the UK. My aim was to show the students
Each scene can be used to illustrate aspects even the less proficient aspects of British culture and society, while also
of British society or analysed for its use of motivating them to watch closely, share their
language, its portrayal of character or the way speakers to wish to findings, put across their views and improve
that the scene is presented in the film (the their language skills. This experience taught me
setting, camera angles, editing, etc). contribute to the that the stimulus of a good film prompts even
Hundreds of films could serve similar post-film discussion the less proficient language speakers to wish to
purposes, but perhaps you may find it more contribute to the post-film discussion. In using
satisfying to watch a whole film with your film – just as when dealing with a written text –
class? Using short video clips, of course, has as well as suggest teaching techniques and there is a range of techniques that, given careful
its place in the ELT classroom, as I will show, films which can prove great source materials. planning and preparation, can encourage a class
but having whetted your students’ appetites As Daniel Xerri comments in ELTJ (2019), to improve these key skills:
30 February 2022