Prepared by: Emely Jean A. Ortiz

Movies as a Teaching Resource Many educators actually believe that we need to make our teaching more relevant to an increasingly diverse group of students and, at the same time, to develop their critical thinking skills. One way to do that is to use carefully chosen feature films as a part of the curriculum(Bluestone, 2000) Movies can help students understand concepts that are relevant in their lives (Marshall, 2002) and facilitate a more active and engaging curriculum, which today’s students prefer (Barron & Arcodia, 2002). According to Hobbs (1998), films can be used to gain attention, to illustrate subject matter,and also to encourage the analytical and critical viewing of film as ‘text.’ Today, many professors have successfully integrated movies clips and other video materials with traditional course materials to enhance student interest and learning.

. Several educators have used different types of movies (both classic and contemporary) to illustrate and teach concepts.  Holmes (2005), in fact, used the animated movie Finding Nemo to teach various OB concepts such as: (a) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, (b) McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory,(c) Self-efficacy, (d) Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, (e) Group Development Processes, Group Performances & Group Think, (f) Motivation, and (g) Leadership.

 Huffman and Kilian (2012) used The Flight of the Phoenix to teach interpersonal aspects of Project Management. The movie is used to highlight the importance of technical issues in projects such as the controlling of budgets and understanding the trade-offs in the project management triangle, and the impact interpersonal issues have on them.  Similarly, the movie Harry Potter series has been used to teach content analysis, leadership and power (Messinger, 2012; Rosser, 2007).

Why film is such a good resource? Language teachers have been using films in their classes for decades, and there are a number of reasons why film is an excellent teaching and learning tool.  Learning from films is motivating and enjoyable. Films and TV shows are an integral part of students’ lives so it makes perfect sense to bring them into the language classroom. Film, as a motivator, also makes the language learning process more entertaining and enjoyable

Why film is such a good resource?  Film provides authentic and varied language. Film provides students with examples of English used in ‘real’ situations outside the classroom, particularly interactive language – the language of real-life conversation. Film exposes students to natural expressions and the natural flow of speech. If they are not living in an English-speaking environment, perhaps only film and television can provide learners with this real-life language input.

Why film is such a good resource?  Film gives a visual context. The ‘visuality’ of film makes it an invaluable language teaching tool, enabling learners to understand more by interpreting the language in a full visual context. Film assists the learners’ comprehension by enabling them to listen to language exchanges and see such visual supports as facial expressions and gestures simultaneously. These visual clues support the verbal message and provide a focus of attention.

Why film is such a good resource?  It gives variety and flexibility. Film can bring variety and flexibility to the language classroom by extending the range of teaching techniques and resources, helping students to develop all four communicative skills. For example, a whole film or sequence can be used to practise listening and reading, and as a model for speaking and writing. Film can also act as a springboard for follow-up tasks such as discussions, debates on social issues, role plays, reconstructing a dialogue or summarising. It is also possible to bring further variety to the language learning classroom by screening different types of film: feature-length films, short sequences of films, short films, and adverts.

Before it was difficult to find pedagogically sound film material to help students improve their language through watching film, and teachers had to spend many hours creating their own materials. However, with the advent of the internet there is now a wealth of online resources for both language teachers and their students

Ways of Using a Film in Teaching  Case -Presenting narrative for analysis  Experiential Exercise -Going ‘inside’ a setting, for problem-solving and decision-making  Metaphor -Portraying complex, abstract ideas in vivid and memorable ways  Satire - Using humor, ridicule, exaggeration, understatement  Symbolism - Communicating with visual imagery, language, music  Meaning - Giving substance to abstract theories and concepts  Experience - Bringing vicarious experience, such as life in other cultures  Time - Illustrating historical events, temporal dimensions of behavior

Online Sources Datta, Biplab. (2013) And the Oscar Goes to.. Retrieved from Bringing_the_Magic_of_Movies_into_the_MBA_Classroom May 5, Donaghy, Kieran. How can film help you teach or learn English? Retrieved from help-you-teach-or-learn-englishretrieved may 2, 2015.

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