| Movies and Videos in the EFL Classroom | | | | viewing session, the lexis will have added impact. |
| If you're looking to expand the role of movies and | | | | 5. Make use of visual input |
| videos in your EFL classroom, what better way to | | | | A popular movie clip is an audio-visual experience, so |
| expand the learners' communicative skills, grammar | | | | use it as such. While learners are watching and |
| and vocabulary than by using clips from popular | | | | listening for general and detailed spoken information, |
| movies? Try using these seven tips for stimulating | | | | include visual aspects for them to skim and scan for |
| learner motivation while enjoying a favored pastime of | | | | as well. How many? How much? When? Where? |
| children and adults alike, watching short scenes or clips | | | | Who? How and why are good starters for capturing |
| from popular movies. | | | | visually-presented information from the movie clip or |
| 1. Use pre-viewing activities | | | | video segment. |
| Before the video, warm up your learners to the theme | | | | 6. Allow learners to select their preferred movie clip |
| and grammar using pre-viewing activities. A variety of | | | | It can be quite a dilemma. There you have perhaps |
| these might include puzzles, photos and images, short | | | | two or three or more movies from which to choose, |
| games like "concentration" or TPR activities, a story or | | | | but you're not sure which your learners would prefer. |
| anecdote, or activating the schema of the learners' in a | | | | So I have an idea, do you choose, let them do it. Take |
| number of other ways. | | | | three movies for example, show the learners only the |
| 2. Have learners complete a chart while viewing | | | | first five minutes of each, and then let them choose |
| While they are watching a short video or movie | | | | which they'd like to work with. If you have a clip in mind |
| segment you might have the learners fill in key | | | | from each of the movies, show each clip and give |
| information in a chart. Items like names of characters, | | | | them a choice. You can work up your activities and |
| occupations, family relationships, clothing and settings | | | | lesson stage plans confident in having your learners' |
| can be easily recorded this way. This allows the | | | | interest and motivation. |
| learners to focus more on the communicative aspects | | | | 7. For post-viewing discussion: |
| and less on actually writing. | | | | If not addressed during pre-viewing activities, now is |
| 3. Select a grammar point repeatedly demonstrated in | | | | the time to talk about favorite actors, actresses, similar |
| the movie clip | | | | plots and stories from other movies, and what might |
| There's no need to leave grammar out of a | | | | be different or better outcomes for what as seen. |
| video-based lesson or stage. If a useable grammar | | | | Stage re-enactments, altered dialogues and plot twists |
| point or structure is repeated or prominent during the | | | | your learners might come up with. Be imaginative, be |
| movie clip you plan to use, all the better. Just | | | | creative, be bold or even funny, but get them |
| remember to pre-teach that grammar or structural | | | | communicating about their experience. |
| element, even a class or two before the video, so that | | | | Prepare a Worksheet |
| it will be recognizable in context. | | | | You can prepare a one or two page worksheet to be |
| 4. Have a list of six to eight lexis | | | | photocopied and used by the learners for the video |
| Select a list of from six to eight or ten vocabulary | | | | session. Alternatively, learners can copy the format |
| words, idioms and expressions from the movie clip or | | | | into their notebooks. Just be sure to plan your |
| video you plan to use. Pre-teach these during the | | | | pre-viewing, while-viewing and post-viewing activities |
| pre-viewing stage of the lesson. When the learners | | | | well and your English language video clip-based lesson |
| then hear them used in context during the video | | | | is sure to be an award-winner. |