Advantages and Challenges of Teaching Film in the EFL Classroom. Teaching English with Films

Table of content

1. Introduction

2. The Potential of Films in the English Classroom
2.1 Relation to the World
2.2 Foreign-language Films as a Cultural Product
2.3 Audio-Visual Literacy
2.4 Different forms of Presentation of the Film Material

3. Accompanying Challenges of Using Films in the EFLC
3.1 Time Management and the Learning Effect
3.2 The “Communication Challenge”

4. Practical Part
4.1 Example for a Possible Film Choice
4.2 A Small Teaching Proposal

5. The Disadvantages of Using Films in the English Classroom and Possible Solutions

6. Conclusion

Works Cited

1. Introduction

Films have become an important medium over the years. Conversations are no longer embellished with quotes from great poets and thinkers, but are filled with film quotes in a community-building manner. The importance of films goes beyond entertainment. They are omnipresent. Whether through the movie in the evening, the documentary in the afternoon or simply through the short clip on the Internet. This omnipresence makes them easier for students to access than the works of Shakespeare that are usually covered in class. But only rarely do teachers make use of the work with films. The reservations about the use of feature films are too strong. At best, they find their way into classrooms as literary adaptations.

In this context, audiovisual media that authentically contextualize everyday situations and their linguistic coping shows which extraverbal elements are involved in routine language productions in the target culture (Gehring 2004: 132). Hence, it seems to make sense to deal with film as a teaching medium. In the following, the didactic benefits will be discussed theoretically, as well as the practical implementation and the challenges that go along with it will be shown with corresponding examples. The focus is on the treatment of films as they are shown in evening programs and cinemas.

2. The Potential of Films in the English Classroom

The trend observed in recent years of integrating films more and more frequently into English lessons as aesthetic works of art in their own right, and referring primarily to the way the medium is made, means that films are unable to develop much of their potential. When using films today, the students are primarily required to deal with the different mechanisms of representation, such as camera perspective, editing, and montage. The language-promoting properties of films are often neglected. Furthermore, too much focus on the processes leads to a suppression of the film content, so that a multitude of cultural aspects are neglected. Furthermore, the active involvement of the audience in the reception process is insufficiently considered. The potential of film used in English classes, which primarily pursues the "promotion of intercultural communicative competencies" (Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 8), will therefore be clarified in the following.

2.1 Relation to the World

One of the greatest potentials of films is that they establish a clear connection to the world for the students. The world reference is based on the active media and film use of the students in their free time. Therefore, audiovisual text types are often considered more media-attactive compared to other text types (Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011:14). The attractiveness of film is generally considered to be conducive to learning, as it has a positive effect on students' motivation.

The integration of films into English lessons enables students to integrate their personal experiences with the medium "film" into the lessons. Due to the strong reference to the world, it can also be assumed that the students already know quite a bit about films (cf. Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 14). Today's generation of young people is more accustomed to a wide variety of genres, etc. than any previous generation. Especially through the interaction of image and sound and the visualization of what is happening, students are motivated to emotional reactions and personal statements (Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 9). This strengthens participation in the classroom.

However, the film experience itself is not only based on emotional intensity of the experience. It evokes a process through which the students deal with it intensively during the experience (cf. Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 9). In the extracurricular sphere, this can be seen, for example, in the need to exchange personal feelings and reactions with others after a movie night. This need can also be used in foreign language classes by having students exchange ideas in the form of discussions following a film. The use of films thus promotes authentic conversations in foreign language classes. All this thus prompts the students to write and speak (Nunning & Surkamp 2008: 247). However, strong emotional reactions can also follow if a film should affect a student too much due to negative experiences. However, this should be asked for and agreed upon beforehand and poses a challenge to the teacher.

2.2 Foreign-language Films as a Cultural Product

In addition to the productive competences described earlier, films promote receptive communicative competences (Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 9). The use of films in foreign language teaching contextualizes the foreign language through images, social interactions and situations. This gives the students access to the foreign language. In contrast to purely language-based texts, films have a special way of communicating. This special way is based on a combination of images, language and sound. This leads to a broad spectrum of senses and processing forms being addressed in the recipient. Both emotional and cognitive (cf. Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 9). Furthermore, in addition to verbal aspects, nonverbal and paralinguistic aspects also play a decisive role in films. These include facial expressions, gestures and body language, speech tempo and pauses in speech (Henseler, Moller, Surkamp 2011: 9). Henseler, Moller and Surkamp describe film as a medium in which culture materializes (2011: 10). At this point it is emphasized that foreign language films are excellent for gaining insights into foreign cultures and countries. Films offer students the opportunity to broaden their own perspective by engaging them with perspectives and conflicts that are portrayed. Teaching with films has many advantages in contrast to other types of teaching materials. One of the biggest advantages of using films in EFLC is that learners can be introduced to the target culture. Thus, students can see real world situations in a country as well as their rituals and people and how they live. Wang and Zhang refer to this advantage of films as "students' ability in cross-cultural communication" (Wang and Zhang 2012: 1011).

In the context of intercultural learning, films can be used as “cultural orientation systems”. The insight into foreign cultures and countries provided by films leads to an increased perception on the part of the. In the past two decades, films have been produced again and again that have taken up the theme of intercultural encounters. For example, Bend it like Beckham (2002), a film we'll take a closer look at later.

2.3 Audio-Visual Literacy

Thaler (2007a: 9) explains that the use of audiovisual media in English classes is repeatedly advocated in the literature. Films are particularly suitable for understanding and using the spoken foreign language. According to Thaler, this interactive-colloquial use of language unfortunately still receives too little attention in English lessons. The special form of mediation of the film, which is based on visual, linguistic and acoustic aspects, appeals to many different senses and cognitive abilities of the students (Nunning & Surkamp 2008: 246f.).

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