Using Video in the ESL Class

Linguistics 139/239 presentation, February 20, 2007

Los Padres CATESOL workshop, May 5, 2006

Randall Rightmire

rightmire@linguistics.ucsb.edu

A. Teaching Pronunciation with Video Clips

Janet Goodwin pioneered this method at UCLA for use with advanced students. It can be adapted for students of all levels.

I. Choosing a clip

1. Choose a clip that is short (2-4 minutes)

2. Lots of visual context, including non-verbal communication

3. Recognizable, everyday situations

4. Humor, humor, humor

5. Informal, conversational language; lots of back-and-forth turn-taking

6. The clip should represent a wide variety of rhythm and intonation patterns

II. Using the clips in the classroom

Step 1: Before the exercise:

· Let the students know that the purpose of the exercise will be to practice the pronunciation of a variety of English intonation & rhythm patterns.

· Explain that the procedure will be to (a) listen to the characters and (b) try to imitate their pronunciation.

Step 2 (Optional): Any minimal introductory comments (such as “Has anyone ever seen Forrest Gump?” or “Who has heard of Tom Hanks?”)

Step 3: Play the clip once, with the sound off, and with captions/subtitles off. Repeat if desired.

Step 4: Ask the students, “Who are they? What is their relationship? What is the setting? What is their situation? How do they feel?”

Step 5 (Optional): Ask students to read silently through the script. They may ask any questions about unfamiliar vocabulary.

Step 6: Play the clip again, with the sound on, and the captions or subtitles on. They can read along in the script if they choose. (This is an especially good idea if you have skipped the optional Step 4.) Repeat if desired.

Step 7: Read the script aloud, call-response style, line by line, sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase.

Step 8: Elect students to play the parts on their own, with minimal teacher guidance.

Two or three students can perform it for the whole class.
Students can pair up or group us to read the script.
Students can read it as a read-around, with every student taking a line.
For a good laugh, divide the room into two halves, each half reading one part in chorus!

III. Examples—Video Clips for Pronunciation

Click on the links below for handouts with the video clip script.

How well does each clip fit the criteria named in section I?

· Clip 1: “Margaret’s Engagement” (MASH Episode 98: 1976)

· Clip 2: Dead Poets Society (1989)

· Clip 3: That Thing You Do! (1996)

· Clip 4: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

· Clip 5: The Truth about Cats and Dogs (1996)

· Clip 6: When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

· Clip 7: Mona Lisa Smile: Chapter 6

B. Multi-Skills Lesson for Advanced ESL

This is an activity for high-intermediate to advanced students. It assumes students can read quickly enough to follow along in a script, while the movie clip is playing, as quickly as the actors read their lines.

I. Choosing a clip

1. Choose a story-within-the-story—a segment with a clear beginning and end.

2. Clips of 10-25 minutes fit well into a 90-minute or two-hour class format.

3. Is the situation easy to identify? What background will you have to provide?

4. Is there a topic / theme (family, work, school, politics, society, environment)?

5. Is the vocabulary accessible? Is the pronunciation clear? Is the clip free of ambient noise?

II. Preparing materials

1. Decide how much prep you want to do. Will it be a simple fill-in? Will you add reinforcing vocabulary exercises for before/after the listening? Will you add follow-up discussion topics? Writing topics?

2. Download a script if possible, so that you won’t have to type it yourself.

3. Even if you download a script, check it once with the video on; errors happen!

4. Download movie facts for pre-listening (optional). Actor bios, photos, director filmographies, and plot synopses can make the lesson come alive.

5. Do you need to footnote any slang, idioms, or unusual vocabulary?

6. Choose a sampling of words to blank out.

7. Print a copy of the whole script as your answer key.

III. Using the clip in class

1. Turn off the close-captioning.

2. If the clip is short (10 minutes or less), you might show it twice. Ask students not to look at their script the first time. How much of the gist can they get without help from the script?

IV. Example—Traffic (two pages: pre-listening vocab exercise; vocab fill-in)

1. Pre-teach the vocabulary. Here is an example in html. Here is the same example as a Word document.

2. Listen and fill in the vocabulary you hear. Discussion questions follow. Here is an example in html. Here is the same example as a Word document.

3. Always save a copy of the original script to serve as an answer key. Here is an example in html. Here is the same example as a Word document.

C. Listening/Speaking, Intermediate to Advanced

“Innovations,” A Film Activity with a Game Follow-Up

Part 1: Benny and Joon

Characters:

Background:

Joon and Sam are innovators. In other words, they find unusual uses for everyday items. For example, Sam uses old car parts as a musical instrument.

Your task:

Read the list below. Then, watch a segment of the movie. As you watch, try to identify the innovative uses Sam and Joon find for the following items:

Breadsticks =

Doorknobs =

Couch =

Bathtub =

Breakfast cereal =

Chair on wheels =

Mailbox =

Iron & ironing board =

Vacuum cleaner =

Balloon =

Tennis racket =

After you have watched the movie, compare your list with a partner’s.

Target language: <name> used <thing> as a <function>

Example: “Sam used doorknobs as a musical instrument.”

Part 2, “Innovations”

Work with a small group. Your teacher will name some everyday items. With your group, try to imagine innovative uses for each item. Make a list. Try to be the group with the longest list!

(List of example items to be provided by the teacher)

Pizza paddle

Salad spinner

Hair dryer

Toaster oven

Umbrella

Toothbrush

D. Activities for Low and Low-Intermediate Classes

I. Teaching Vocabulary: Shout It When You See It!

Good clips are those with a lot of action, and very little speaking.

Example: Knick Knack (On the DVD Finding Nemo)

Another good clip is: Let’s Give Kitty a Bath.

II. Teaching Grammar: What’s Happening/Happened/Will Happen?

Adjust the task to the level and grammar focus. Students can give on-line spoken narration in present progressive; they can recall and report in past tense; or they can predict what will happen in the second half of the clip using future.

Example: A Grand Day Out (On The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit)

III. Teaching Grammar through Video: Who Said What to Whom?

This lesson reinforces any lesson on reported-speech grammar. Students merely have to listen, recall, and report.

Example: Mrs. Doubtfire (Chapter 8, “Dad’s New Place”)

IV. Teaching Vocabulary: What Is He (She) Wearing?

The goal is for students to review the vocabulary and grammar of clothing and/or physical characteristics in a humorous way.

Example: Mrs. Doubtfire (Chapter 10, “Transformation”)

E. List of Videos and Where to Get Them

Benny and Joon (1993) Starring: Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik

Amazon Price: $9.99 (DVD)

used & new available from $3.99 (DVD)

used & new from $9.50 (VHS)

“Knick Knack” (1989)

Special feature on Finding Nemo (2003)

Amazon Price: $22.49 (VHS); $20.49 (DVD)

used & new available from $7.50

Also featured on Tiny Toy Stories by John Lasseter (1996)

Amazon Price New: from $5.18 (VHS)

Used: from $2.20

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field Director: Chris Columbus

Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD)

used & new available from $13.45 (DVD)

Traffic (2001) Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Jacob Vargas Director: Steven Soderbergh

Amazon Price: $10.49 (DVD)

used & new available from $4.80

Wallace & Gromit - A Grand Day Out (1990)

Amazon Price: used & new available from $3.50 (VHS)

Also featured on: The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit (1996)

Amazon Price: used & new available from $9.99 (DVD)

Let's Give Kitty a Bath!

Clearvue & SVE price $29.95

http://www.clearvue.com

F. Web Links

1. To Find Scripts, Credits, Biographies and More

www.imdb.com is a good source for actor, writer, and director credits.

www.allmoviescripts.com is a source of film scripts and credits.

www.dailyscript.com is another source of film scripts.

www.classicsitcoms.com is a source of television scripts and credits.

2. To Check Out Videos Free of Charge for One Week

Santa Barbara Public Libraries carry VHS and DVD movies, PBS programs, etc.

Library cards are issued free.

You can search online for the title you want at www.sbplibrary.org.

Interlibrary loan items and holds are subject to a small fee.

3. Karen’s ESL Party Land

http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/nov/film.htm

Karen’s ESL Party Land has lessons for these films: All the President's Men; Bonnie and Clyde; Dead Man Walking; Do the Right Thing; East of Krakatoa; Vertigo.

Each lesson is divided into components like: “Before You Watch: Discussion Questions”; “Before You Watch: WWW Activity”; “Before You Watch: Vocabulary for the Movie”; “While You Watch: Listening Activity”; “Halfway Through: Discussion Questions”; “After You Watch: Discussion Questions.”

Karen’s ESL Party Land has Classroom Handouts like: “Film Survey”; “Film Reviews (In-class Assignment)”; “Internet Scavenger Hunt: Movies.”

4. ESL Magazine article “New Ways of Using Video Technologies in English Language Teaching” by Naomi Migliacci

http://www.eslmag.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=25

5. Dave’s ESL Café

http://www.eslcafe.com/search/Video/index.html

6. Center for Adult English Language Acquisition’s Article “Using Video with Adult English Language Learners” by Miriam Burt, National Center for ESL Literacy Education

http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/video.html

7. ERIC’s article “Practical Aspects of Using Video in the EFL and ESL Classroom” by Christine Canning-Wilson

www.eric.ed.gov/sitemap/html_0900000b801268e2.html

8. Lectures from UCTV on Google Video

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=uctv

Examples:

Beyond The Human Genome: What's Next?

Executive Power and the War on Terror

The Media's Financial Influence on Politics

Music and the Mind

The Republican War on Science

Using Video in the ESL Class

Linguistics 139/239 presentation, February 20, 2007

Los Padres CATESOL workshop, May 5, 2006

Randall Rightmire

rightmire@linguistics.ucsb.edu

A. Teaching Pronunciation with Video Clips

Janet Goodwin pioneered this method at UCLA for use with advanced students. It can be adapted for students of all levels.

I. Choosing a clip

1. Choose a clip that is short (2-4 minutes)

2. Lots of visual context, including non-verbal communication

3. Recognizable, everyday situations

4. Humor, humor, humor

5. Informal, conversational language; lots of back-and-forth turn-taking

6. The clip should represent a wide variety of rhythm and intonation patterns

II. Using the clips in the classroom

Step 1: Before the exercise:

· Let the students know that the purpose of the exercise will be to practice the pronunciation of a variety of English intonation & rhythm patterns.

· Explain that the procedure will be to (a) listen to the characters and (b) try to imitate their pronunciation.

III. Examples—Video Clips for Pronunciation

· Clip 1: “Margaret’s Engagement” (M*A*S*H* Episode 98: 1976)

· Clip 2: Dead Poets Society (1989)

· Clip 3: That Thing You Do! (1996)

· Clip 4: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

· Clip 5: The Truth about Cats and Dogs (1996)

· Clip 6: When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

· Clip 7: Mona Lisa Smile: Chapter 6

B. Multi-Skills Lesson for Advanced ESL

This is an activity for high-intermediate to advanced students. It assumes students can read quickly enough to follow along in a script, while the movie clip is playing, as quickly as the actors read their lines.

I. Choosing a clip

II. Preparing materials

III. Using the clip in class

C. Listening/Speaking, Intermediate to Advanced

“Innovations,” A Film Activity with a Game Follow-Up

Part 1: Benny and Joon

Part 2, “Innovations”

D. Activities for Low and Low-Intermediate Classes

I. Teaching Vocabulary: Shout It When You See It!

Good clips are those with a lot of action, and very little speaking.

Example: Knick Knack (On the DVD Finding Nemo)

Another good clip is: Let’s Give Kitty a Bath.

II. Teaching Grammar: What’s Happening/Happened/Will Happen?

Adjust the task to the level and grammar focus. Students can give on-line spoken narration in present progressive; they can recall and report in past tense; or they can predict what will happen in the second half of the clip using future.

Example: A Grand Day Out (On The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit)

III. Teaching Grammar through Video: Who Said What to Whom?

This lesson reinforces any lesson on reported-speech grammar. Students merely have to listen, recall, and report.

Example: Mrs. Doubtfire (Chapter 8, “Dad’s New Place”)

IV. Teaching Vocabulary: What Is He (She) Wearing?

The goal is for students to review the vocabulary and grammar of clothing and/or physical characteristics in a humorous way.

Example: Mrs. Doubtfire (Chapter 10, “Transformation”)

E. List of Videos and Where to Get Them

F. Web Links

1. To Find Scripts, Credits, Biographies and More

www.imdb.com is a good source for actor, writer, and director credits.

www.allmoviescripts.com is a source of film scripts and credits.

www.dailyscript.com is another source of film scripts.

www.classicsitcoms.com is a source of television scripts and credits.

2. To Check Out Videos Free of Charge for One Week

Santa Barbara Public Libraries carry VHS and DVD movies, PBS programs, etc.

Library cards are issued free.

You can search online for the title you want at www.sbplibrary.org.

Interlibrary loan items and holds are subject to a small fee.

6. Center for Adult English Language Acquisition’s Article “Using Video with Adult English Language Learners” by Miriam Burt, National Center for ESL Literacy Education

7. ERIC’s article “Practical Aspects of Using Video in the EFL and ESL Classroom” by Christine Canning-Wilson

www.eric.ed.gov/sitemap/html_0900000b801268e2.html

The Truth About Medical Marijuana

· Clip 1: “Margaret’s Engagement” (MASH Episode 98: 1976)