Movies

There are few things to take into account in selecting appropriate movies to teach language such as cultural factors, age factors, and religious issues. Students may have no background knowledge of the elements mentioned above. It is important if teachers can find a movie with common issues such as environmental to avoid confusing in students understanding while watching the movies.

Students with low-level proficiency may face difficulties in watching movies therefore, what teachers can do is to find the appropriate films for them to watch. Some of the older films can be use for the poor students. They prefer to watch films with physical, rather than verbal humour because it helps them to build understanding or to get the message in the films. For examples, Stagecoach, Groundhog Day, Forrest Gump, and Witness are suitable for the poor students. There are funny films that can be use in the language classroom such as Freaky Friday and Nine to Five; the students will find it easy to understand based on the characters’ actions, expressions and body language. Besides known as funny films, it has underlying message that students can use for further discussions.

Some important issues that need to be dealt with when using movies in teaching language are; firstly, teachers should inform the students that they are not supposed to understand every word in the dialogues. They should be able to understand the main idea of the story. Secondly, teachers should bear in mind that they are teaching the language using films as an aid, for instance English, not showing the films. The students may misinterpret what they should do while watching the movies. Therefore, clear instructions need to be given before view the movies. Thirdly, teachers should view snippets of the movies, not the entire films to encourage their thinking skills.

Variety of activities could be done by using snippets of the movies. The teachers can ask questions to stimulate the students thinking skills such as;

1. What do you think had happened before?
2. Why the character did take the actions?
3. Where do you think he is going?
4. What do you think will happened next?

Apart from that, in vocabulary lesson, students can be asked to describe the character’s appearance and attitudes. This activity will help to enrich their vocabulary. Other than that, the students can do discussions on the snippet of a crime movie about the appropriate punishment to the criminals. This activity will lead to their higher order thinking skills because they have to judge from all points of view before make any decision.