🚀 go-pugleaf

In reference to the ongoing discussion about video in the classroom, I
want to say that I witnessed several instances where the video becomes
the babysitter. Those bad examples made me guilty each time I showed a
full-length film, because truth be told I often relied upon video when I
was miserably ill with a cold, too ashamed to cancel class, and unable
to find a substitute. But I lessened my guilt by sitting in the back of
the classroom, sniffling along with the soundtrack and making it obvious
that I was pretty sick.

Then a colleague taught me not to be guilty. She surveyed her students,
and discovered that they did not regard the viewing of a full-length
film (maybe twice in a semester) as a waste of time. They preferred it,
because it was a delightful experience and a great alternative to the
textbook. She assigned her students the task of taking at least five
minutes off from reading the subtitles (in Chinese) to concentrate on
the spoken English -- to this end, a film the students have already seen
is quite valuable. She demands their attention to the film by giving
them a quiz at the end of the film. I force the mandatory five minutes
of listening concentration on my class by re-editing the film so that a
segment is shown without native language subtitles. Before class this
segment is shown with subtitles, and used in a regular listening
comprehension activities such as script study, audiotape repeats,
pattern practices, and even vocabulary word games. Larger themes from
the film can serve as sources for prepared debates, discussions, essays,
etc. It takes a lot of work, but if done properly a feature length film
can provide both motivation and the necessary I+1.

And it should also be noted that these activities work just as well with
a low-ability learner as with a higher level student. The secret is in
the amount of creative preparation the teacher does, and the in-class
pacing.

Like Tom Nixon, I'm considering using "To Kill a Mockingbird." Also, I
recently found that students enjoy seeing, back-to-back, the original
and remake of "Cape Fear." Afterwards they had fun contrasting the plots
and discussing the different values presented in each. I need to know if
anybody has had any success using Action films, such as Twister or Men
In Black, or even Independence Day.

Timothy Fox     timfox@MS3.HINET.NET
Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan

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