Using Film Music and Film in TESOL

James FitzGibbon, UK

James FitzGibbon has nearly 20 years of experience as a TESOL teacher. Currently, he is enjoying a holiday in Bath and is exploring alternative career directions. His last employment was as a contract Pre-sessional EAP Associate Lecturer at Surrey University, his first time back living in UK since 1993. He is interested in the humanistic approach of how Film Music and Film can be used in TESOL. He presented on this subject at IATEFL UK in April 2015 and IATEFL Poland in September 2015. Film of presentation: IATEFL, Manchester & Krakow 2015: www.dropbox.com/sc/xrtq9cgsjtsg0pj/AAD7gg-x-X6Jtf3zcxaUId5Ca He has written several papers on this subject. He enjoys working with kindred spirits.
His personal Website is at: http://james-a-fitzgibbon.strikingly.com/
His LinkedIn address is: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/james-a-fitzgibbon-0a61a027 and the Film Music and Film FB group is at facebook.com/filmmusicandfilmintesol?ref=bookmarks
E-mail: jameselt@yahoo.co.uk

I have been a teacher of English for some time and there is nothing quite so enjoyable for both sides of the learning equation than listening to good music and relishing a good film. It’s methodologically sound too! Film music and film capitalizes on powerful sensory, motivational learning tools which offer students time to re-create language acquisition functions and promote appreciation of the artistic sides of language learning. The pedagogic practice and subsequent presentation/ workshop delves deep into the sub-conscious, using suggestopaedic methodology towards a visualisation that is directed toward the ideal learner and, at the same time, establishes a very humanistic back-ground, against which to maximise language retention and to encourage production.

In practice, I play film music from [10] film composers to students and ask them to visualise scenarios and, based on their mental images, have them share their thoughts in pairs to inform a feed-back session afterwards. Usually I have the students write about their mental images at this point. I will then play the section of the film the music accompanied, either immediately or after submission of the assignment. Obviously, there is no right answer here and the showing of the film is intended for motivational purposes, prompting discussion and a mere suggestion of how the film-makers visualized how image could be put to sound. I often record a long and short version of the film, according to which skill – and in how much depth – I wish to practice; the long version is good for extended writing practice, having students describe the location, historical context, plot, character-analysis and so on.

It is important for the teacher to be aware of student’s film knowledge. As an extension after the greeting in the presentation, I played a brief game of ‘Guess the film from the music’. This activity works well with students also, activating their competitiveness and schemata, or prior knowledge on the subject.

So much for the practice; in theory, there are many different thought-systems at play. Music and song are powerful in stimulating language growth by training the ear to sounds and lowering affective filters (Lems, 2014). This is well known in motivational circles. It is the presenter’s belief that they also enhance the development of personality through a visualization of mental images and the ‘vision’ of becoming the ideal learner. This is not limited to just language-learning, but as the platform on which to build a life-long education. The work of Zoltan Dornyei underpins much of the information on visualization and motivation. He noted that a given student must have a ‘vision’ of him/her-self as the ideal learner, not the ‘ought’ (I should learn) or bad learner. Some students are good at visualization and they are often the most successful learners; others need practice and encouragement and it is for them primarily that I have produced this approach.

The presentation also borrows greatly from the techniques of ‘Suggestopedia, which UNESCO notes as ‘a generally superior teaching method’ and recommends ‘Suggestopedic teacher training should be started as soon as possible’. This is based on the work of Dr. Lazinov who, through a ‘concert’, or input stage, realized a maximization of output by tapping into production at the sub-conscious level. Although his techniques have been labeled a pseudo-science, they have proven to be very effective. I, personally, have used these on numerous occasions, and look upon them favourably.

In practice, lessons are not difficult to produce: think of a favorite scene in a movie accompanied by music, locate that on YouTube or other share-ware, down-load the music and save the link to the movie clip. Often, the music or the clip cannot be found using this method; in which case, play the DVD or saved movie through VLC, go to Tools, Advanced Settings and you will see a tool that allows you to start record and stop record around the clip you require. It’s as simple as that.

Thus, although this is primarily a writing or speaking exercise, there are many variations on the format. It can be used as an ideal filler or warmer or as a full-lesson plan. The most impressive element is, though, that it produces a huge amount of motivation and is also a great deal of fun to produce, instruct and learn from. English is such a rich language – literary, theatrically and film-wise – this method really allows the student to appreciate it on its artistic merit and is a wonderful ally to the English teacher.

I have developed a Facebook group (facebook.com/filmmusicandfilmintesol?ref=bookmarks) for this as a forum to share ideas on this subject and to post comments concerning thoughts, presentation impressions and ideas on how to use this in the class-room. This is one component in a series of thought-provoking and interesting insights that act as a sign-post to successful TESOL study.

References

Lems, Kirsten, Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom, ERIC Digest, 2001.

Murphy, T (1992), The discourse op pop songs, TESOL Quarterly 26”(4), 770-774

Z Dörnyei, Motivation and the vision of knowing a second language

Z Dörnyei - IATEFL 2008: Exeter conference selections, 2009

Kristin Lems The power of beauty – music is beautiful! 2014

www.btrtesol.com/units/08making_teaching_enjoyable/8b_songs.php

Using Songs in the English Classroom - Humanizing Language Teaching, Hans Mol, Australia http://www.kuis.ac.jp/~murphey-t/Tim_Murphey/Articles Music_and_Song.html

http://old.hltmag.co.uk/apr09/less01.htm

http://www.americantesol.com/film-english.html

http://www.lozanov-international.com/unesco-report/

Please check the Practical Uses of Technology in the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.