Learning English Through Films
Carme Porcel, Spain
Carme Porcel is a secondary school teacher at IES Abat Oliba, Ripoll in Girona, Spain. She has been teaching English for 20 years now and has a long experience in creating her own materials and worksheets. Great supporter of active, motivating and creative English classes. She’s specialized in working with films in class. She’s given several talks on the topic in Girona, APAC ELT Convention Barcelona, at the APIGA annual conference in Galicia, at the British Council (Barcelona), at the Paris TESOL conference 2009 and the the TESOL conference in Spain 2010.
E-mail: porcel1968@yahoo.es
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Introduction
Why films?
My experience
How to work with films in class
Which films?
The worksheets
Useful tips to take into account
By using films in the English class our students can improve their listening and speaking skills, they can enlarge their vocabulary knowledge and they can even make their pronunciation and intonation better. That’s why using films in my English classes has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had as a teacher so far.
CLINGY, WEIRD, COSY, MILD, SNEAKY, LUMPY, MELLOW, CLUMSY, CHARMING, ODD, SLINKY, NEWSWORTHY, GLOOMY, APPALLING, ARSEY, POISED, STUFFED, SEEDY, THRILLED, SMART, RUFFLED, SEARING, FOOLISH, AMAZING, GREEDY, FLINTY, IMPERVIOUS, LOOPY, CUTE, LOVABLE,OVERWHELMED, DIZZY, AWKWARD, EAGER, DIM, DREADFUL, SNOOTY, NAÏVE, BEARABLE, COOL, CLEVER, EXHILARATING, DECEITFUL,OUTSTANDING, SMOOTH, HAUGHTY, SPOILED, COLD-HEARTED, OUTSPOKEN, UPTIGHT, PIERCING, LUNKY ...
These are all adjectives my students have learnt this year by watching a film in class every two units. Apart from adjectives they have discovered loads of new other words and expressions which can help them improve their communication skills.
Watching a film in the English class is more than doing an activity just for fun or for a break in between units. It is a matter of learning and listening to the real English that British or American people speak in their everyday lives, the language which is alive and kicking in the streets of English-speaking countries.
Have you ever wondered why more than 80% of the population in countries like the Netherlands or Sweden have an excellent command of speaking English? How can young children, teenagers, adults and even some elderly people speak English fluently and with a good pronunciation when it is not their mother tongue? The answer is TELEVISION. Films, cartoons, soap operas and other programmes are all broadcasted in their original version with subtitles.
Some years ago, after the visit of a group of Swedish students to our high school I started thinking there was something else to do in class with our students apart from the typical exercises and activities we used to do , and it was using films. Our students can benefit a lot from watching films in English. They can improve their listening and speaking skills, they can enlarge their vocabulary knowledge and they can even make their pronunciation and intonation better. That’s why using films in my English classes has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had as a teacher so far.
Every two units we watch a film in class. We watch the whole film without interruptions, so depending on the length of the film we devote two classes to the viewing. We watch the film in English and we choose Spanish or English subtitles depending on the students’ level. First we do some vocabulary exercises before watching the film. I basically like working with nouns, verbs, adjectives and expressions. After having watched the film the students do some activities to work on the plot and characters so that I can check their comprehension.
So first I watch the film and take notes on any words and expressions I want my students to learn or I think can be useful to them. I also pay attention to the plot and characters and write down important events, characters features ... Then it is time to be creative and I make some worksheets full of exercises for the students to do before and after watching the film. As I said before the vocabulary exercises are done in class before watching the film, and the characters and plot exercises are done after watching the film.
It is important to choose films the students will feel motivated to watch. Not all films will give you the same results. The best are comedy, animated or adventure films. We are not trying to give a master class on cinema, our aim must be have our students immersed in the language for a couple of classes, that is, about two hours. Sometimes I give the students the chance to pick out among two or three films I think they may like watching and we choose the most voted one. Other times I just choose the film I want them to work on since maybe there is something in the plot or setting related to what we have been doing in class.
Here is a list of films I have used and which work with secondary school students:
Films for 12 to 14 year olds
High School Musical 1, 2, 3
Camp Rock
Elf
The Cheetah girls
Ice Age 1, 2
Madagascar
Shark Tale
Cars
Finding Nemo
Over the Hedge
A bug’s life
Shrek 1, 2, Third
Harry Potter 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5
Night at the Museum
The Shaggy Dog
Jumanji
Evan Almighty
Johny English
Just my luck
Films of 14 to 16 year-olds
Shall we dance
My best friend’s wedding
The Holiday
Love Actually
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Meet the Fockers
Meet the Parents
Freaky Friday
Maid in Manhattan
Along came Polly
How to lose a guy in ten days
Failure to launch
Cheaper by the dozen
Guess who
Something’s gotta give
Die another day
The Mummy
Indiana Jones
Sahara
Ocean’s Eleven
Pearl Harbour
Casino Royale
Full Monty
Four weddings and a funeral
We are not going to invent the uninvented, there are lots of exercise structures that we usually use and which work, so it’s something we must keep doing. I try to make the film worksheets more attractive by including pictures from the film and very practical exercises so that the students don’t get bored doing them.
There are many types of exercises you can create and you can use different kinds of exercises in each film worksheet. Here are some examples:
Vocabulary exercises
Match words and expressions to their translations.
Match words and definitions.
Match words and synonyms or opposites.
Complete sentences with the words taken from the film.
Complete a piece of dialogue extracted from the film.
Multiple choice test: choose the correct word to complete the sentences from 3 given.
Work on some specific vocabulary related to the plot: hotels, love, luck, travelling, holidays, food, cooking, weddings, the airport ...
Match the beginnings and endings of phrases or expressions.
Find the odd one out
Classify vocabulary from the film into types of words, topics ...
Plot exercises
Plot multiple choice test.
True or false sentences.
Fill in the gaps with the words given to complete a summary of the film.
Answer questions about the plot
Order facts chronologically.
Order sentences in order to build up a summary of the film.
Choose relevant words from a list provided. For example “Which of these objects did you see in the film?”
Match beginnings and ends of sentences.
Correct the mistakes.
Writing exercises: write a different ending for the film, write a guided dialogue, write a summary... All of these writing exercises should be done by using as many words and expressions from the film as possible.
Characters exercises
Match descriptions and names.
Who said it? Match quotes and characters.
Match words related to each character.
Answer questions about the characters.
Match facts and names. Who did it?
Choose the characters which appear in the film from a list provided.
Match adjectives and characters.
Which objects belong to each character?
This is just a sample , I’m sure you can think of other types of exercises which can be useful and attractive for students.
Don’t stop the film to make comments, students don’t like it and it is really of no use. The best thing to do is warn them that at the beginning it will be hard for them to understand, but gradually they will get used to the speed and tone. It is also essential to ask them to pay attention, watch and listen carefully since they will have to do some work after the film.
Before watching the film warn your students that it is hard to understand when they first begin to listen, but gradually they will get used to the speed and tone.
I am sure you have always thought this is an excellent way of practising a language but maybe you didn’t know how to approach it. I hope this article can give you the confidence and the tips to try using films in your classes. So, if you want motivation to visit your classroom choose a film you think your students may like, create your own worksheets and give it a try. You won’t regret it.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How to Use Technology in the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
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