Incorporation of Film in the Lesson

In this chapter, I discuss the practical examples of how to use films in the classroom.

Here I also list various activities that can be used in connection with viewing of the films on the topic of racism and discrimination, as well as how to prepare yourself, the classroom, and the students to watch the film without disturbances.

2.2.1. What to do Before Watching the Film

As with many different teaching methods, some preparation is required before the lesson based on watching a film is executed in class. When it comes to showing a film in class, the teacher has to do some preparation to make the viewing as enjoyable and undisturbed as possible.

“The visual aids, sound, dialogue, action, and plots in videos can all engage students in a way that can improve their foreign language listening ability” (Yang 2014, p. 348).

After procuring the film, the teacher needs to check for subtitles. For an EFL class, the subtitles should be provided for easier understanding of the dialogue. Yang (2014) claims that “the rapid delivery rate and transient nature of these authentic videos imposed a significant cognitive load on the learners in this study” (ibid., p. 346).

Because students already have trouble understanding English as it is not their native language, it is much more strenuous when they have to follow multiple inputs, both visual and audio, so offering subtitles in English is very beneficial. When presenting students with subtitles, they can provide more than just assistance with the dialogue.

Students find new vocabulary and phrases with contextual clues, they concentrate and follow the dialogue more easily, they match the sound and text which in turn helps them learn pronunciation and how to use words and phrases, they help distinguish regional words and various accents, and help follow the speech with a loud background or fast speakers (Vanderplank 1988, p. 277-281).

31 One of the most obvious, but often overlooked aspects of preparations for film-watching is physical classroom preparation. Fisher and Petro (2012) list a few things teachers need to check before showing the film. The classroom should have:

- an adequate locked media closet

- blackout shades or curtains, especially important if you are teaching in the daytime

- video projection or a large-screen monitor of a size that is feasible for the number of students you will teach

- have dimmable lights

- be soundproof enough not to bother the other classes (ibid., p.21)

Nowadays, most classrooms are already equipped with all the requirements set by Fisher and Petro, due to most teachers using PowerPoint presentations or other online tools to teach, but the teachers should still check if the classroom is suitable.

It is also important, despite it being obvious, that the teacher watches the film before showing it to the class to determine its suitability, keeping the target students and their language level in mind (Russell 2009, p. 3).

2.2.2. How to Prepare the Students

When all pre-requirements are set and it has been determined that both the film and the classroom are suitable, the teacher has to prepare the students. A film itself is a teaching tool, but it requires pre-viewing, while-viewing and post-viewing activities.

Russell (2009) lists the pre-viewing stage as:

• Introduce the film to students.

• Discuss the background of the film.

• Explain the purpose for viewing the film.

• Clearly connect the film to the topic/unit currently being studied.

• Introduce new vocabulary.

• Relate the film to students’ prior knowledge.

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• Relate the film to students’ everyday lives.

• Relate the film to other content areas. (ibid., p. 3)

Some of these points may be discussed after watching the film, however, they should nonetheless be mentioned.

An important part of preparation is also warning the students of traumatizing content and providing adequate trigger warnings while watching (Brookfield, 2018, p. 245;

Kuzma and Haney, 2001, p. 37).

Teachers may also opt for a K-W-L method – What I know, what I wonder, what I learned (Woelders 2007 p. 147, Russell 2009, p. 3). The KWL chart is a great method for both the teachers and the students to determine what they already know about the subject prior to watching the film, what they wish to know, and discuss what they have learned after watching the film. As the teacher presents the topic and the film, the students take a few minutes to brainstorm about what they already know on the topic.

This encourages students to share their knowledge with the rest of the class. Then, they think about what they do not know yet and would like to know (Woelders 2007, p.

147-148).

As an example, if the film in discussion is BlacKKKlansman (Blum, 2018), students first write down everything they know about the KuKluxKlan. After sharing their information, students think about what they wonder about the topic. These questions may be “Why did they think the White race is superior?”, “How did they meet and what did they do at their meetings?”, “How did people join the KKK?”. After writing down a few of these

“wonder questions”, the students are instructed to find the answers in the film. After watching, the class discusses what new information they have learned.

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