journal of linguistic studies

horizons. The student should be encouraged to get the global idea in the first place, and
only in some instances should be asked to concentrate on bits and pieces of language
itself. Furthermore, apart from being faced with language, the student is confronted with
the cultural environment in which the film is set. The selection of films was the most
important step in the process and constituted the biggest challenge. However, we tried to
follow our national curriculum and reorganized some of the activities presented in the
students’ course book.
2.1. ABC STEPS FOR WHAT TO DO WHEN PLANNING A VIDEO LESSON
There are three basic things to remember before choosing a film.
- The most important thing was to be sure that teacher has watched the video unit
before taking it into the classroom. Because, all classes are different and you may
need to do some extra background work with the students before watching the
film. The duration of the film is another aspect to be kept in mind. Long films can
be used, but thorough planning is required to divide the film into several viewing
sessions with pre-viewing and post viewing questions.
- Teacher should check that all the students can see and hear the video, and that
equipment is working properly, no matter is it a DVD or a projector with
computer.
- The activities should be prepared in a manner to invite the students to discuss the
issues and topics both before and after watching. In this way they are exchanging
personal opinions, and preparation is not needed. In cases where they are required
to compare their culture with the UK, you may need to prepare the discussion by
providing information about your country or eliciting ideas from the students.
There are several ways of starting a video lesson but these activities can be done in
advance of watching the video or as part of the video lesson, as a preview. We have put
our students to work in pairs and showed them parts of the material to discuss with the
students what they think the unit is going to contain. They were well prepared and felt
more confident when they watched the video.
Activities included were:
- pair and group discussion – each group was given two of the 9 love stories from
the film “Love Actually”;
- brainstorming / guessing – students were supposed to guess what will happen to
the pairs from the story (predicting and matching exercises);
- vocabulary exercises – Christmas vocabulary, relationships, single
mothers/fathers…
These were activities which students did while they were watching the film. Teacher
read the instructions to students before playing the film and checked they understand
what they have to do. We asked them to watch the film once without writing. Then we
played it again while they wrote their answers. Before playing the film again teacher can
get students to check answers in pairs, or can elicit answers from a few students, and
indicate if they need to watch more carefully (as a part of cooperative learning). Apart
from these traditional viewing activities, freeze-frame techniques can be implemented to
highlight some important images. For example, the introduction scene of PM and Natalie
can be freeze-framed and we can ask students can they guess what will happen next with
them. After watching a second time, we went through the answers with the students and
watched the film again to confirm all that we needed.
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