Date of submission: ENRICHED FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING Project RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT TASK for APRIL 2012 Target group: FOREIGN TEACHERS Gimnazija Poljane Juan De Teresa School: Author: THE USE OF FILMS IN THE FL CLASSROOM Films can play an important role in the FL classroom. They can be used to cultivate language skills, develop media literacy and support intercultural learning. Nevertheless, their usage must be carefully considered from the initial point of the selection of the film through its adaptation for classroom usage to its eventual implementation. In terms of this project, it is the usability (ie. practicality and efficacy) of films to assist in the delivery of intercultural education that is of key importance, namely: to develop intercultural awareness; to develop intercultural sensitivity; to develop intercultural communicative competence; and to promote empathy, understanding and acceptance of other(nes)s. INSTRUCTIONS: This R&D task requires you to read the emailed journal article (Roell, 2010) and use it as an impetus to start producing an open and flexible catalogue of suitable films for use in the FL classroom. 1. Read the Roell’s (2010) journal article “Intercultural Training through Film”. In particular pay close attention to the following aspects: a. The cultural theme categories which Roell has identified. b. The techniques employed during the pre-, while- and post-viewing phases of the implementation. c. The questions used to evaluate the intercultural aspects of a film. 2. Reflect on what you read in Roell (2010). Do you think the techniques and activities she identifies are worthwhile? 3. Conduct an Internet search of different films (in your target language) which could be utilised in the FL classroom for (inter)cultural learning. Ensure you use the Appendix 1 guiding questions when conducting your review. 4. Use the enclosed matrix to tabulate your findings from the previous step. Operacijo delno financira Evropska unija iz Evropskega socialnega sklada ter Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport. Operacija se izvaja v okviru Operativnega programa razvoja človeških virov v obdobju 2007-2013, razvojne prioritete: Razvoj človeških virov in vseživljenjsko učenje; prednostne usmeritve: Izboljšanje kakovosti in učinkovitosti sistemov izobraževanja in usposabljanja. Reflections on Roell (2010) I FOUND THE ARTICLE BY Roell quite interesting. I found particularly usefull some of the activities she proposes, for instance the one in which the class is divided in groups and each one adopts the point of view of one of the characters, trying to look for the reasons of his/her behaviour. Values like empathy can be worked with it as well as verbal expression in a role-playing debate. Some other activities I have already been using them during lessons involving seeing films. But still there area a lot of suggestions that I will be able to put into practice. I also liked to read some conceptual background about things that many times I was doing without all that reflection behind. The article can be even more usefull for English teachers, as they have a lot of different films suitable for the classroom. For the films reviews, I got the synopsis from internet (mostly IMDB) but I did watched all of them and most of them even used them in class. Keywords are in Spanish, as I guess the goal is to create a database for Spanish teachers. Submitted by 23 of April, 2012 Enclosure 1: REVIEW OF FILMS – TARGET FOREIGN LANGUAGE: SPANISH Choose and describe 5 - 7 films. Give reasons for your selection of each film. No 1. 2. Film Title /Year of Production LA LENGUA DE LAS MARIPOSAS (1999) VOLVER (2006) Synopsis of film with setting (at least 100 words for each film) For Moncho, it's an idyllic year: he starts school, he has a wonderful teacher, he makes a friend in Roque, he begins to figure out some of the mysteries of Eros, and, with his older brother, a budding saxophone player, he makes a trip with the band from their town in Galicia. But it's also the year that the Spanish Republic comes under fire from Fascist rebels. Moncho's father is a Republican as is the aging teacher, Don Gregorio. As sides are drawn and power falls clearly to one side, the forces of fear, violence, and betrayal alter profoundly what should be the pleasure of coming of age. Raimunda, her daughter Paula and her sister Sole travel from Madrid to the windy and superstitious village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to visit the grave of their mother and aunt Irene, who died years ago in a fire with her husband. Then they visit Irene's sister Paula, an old senile aunt that raised Raimunda after the death of her parents that insists to tell them that Irene is alive and living with her; later, they go to the house of her neighbor and friend Agustina, who gives a support to Paula. They return to Madrid, and after a hard day of work, Raimunda meets her daughter completely distraught at the bus stop waiting for her. When they arrive home, Paula tells that she killed her unemployed father Paco, who was completely drunk and tried to rape her. Genre drama Comedy/dram a Keywords / Intercultural topics Guerra Civil, educación, escala de valores, infancia, relación estudiantemaestro Length (mins) 96 Contraste vida rural/vida en la ciudad, superstición, Espana profunda, problemas sociales y familiares (desempleo, violencia de género, abuso sexual) 121 Rating Classroom Suitability Level 3 in 4 letnik 2 in 3 letnik 3. LOS LUNES AL SOL (2002) 4. RETORNO A HANSALA (2008) While Raimunda is hiding his body, Sole calls her to tell that their beloved aunt Paula had died. On the next morning, Sole travels alone to the funeral, and when she returns to Madrid, she finds her mother hidden in the trunk of her car. She brings Irene to her apartment, where secrets from the past are disclosed men without jobs, in the port city of Vigo. Six men worked in a shipyard, now shuttered. They pass the time at La Naval, a bar opened by one of them after the yard closed. They face their futures in makeshift ways: Rico has his bar and a sharp 15-year-old daughter, Reina has become a watchman and a moralizer, Lino fills out job applications, Amador drinks heavily and talks of his wife's return; José is married to Ana, who works at a cannery and tires of being the breadwinner amidst José's emasculated moodiness; Santa, the group's conscience and troublemaker, occasionally fantasizes about Australia. In truth, all are joined like Siamese twins, adrift Near the Strait of Gibraltar, in the city of Algeciras, harried Spaniard Martin (Jose Luis Garcia Perez) runs an undertaking business. When the bodies of numerous African migrants wash up on shore -- a plot point ripped from real life -- he sees a payday and agrees to assist. A scribbled phone number in the fist of one corpse leads him to Leila (Farah Hamed); it's her little brother, whom she financed on his fateful trip. When Martin agrees to drive Leila to her remote Atlas Mountains village to return the body, it becomes a voyage of discovery for them both. drama/comedy Desempleo, escala de calores, superviviencia, amistad, globalización, 113 drama Inmigration, estrecho de Gibraltar, diferencias interculturales, respeto y tolerancia hacia otras culturas 95 2, 3 in 4 letnik 5. 7:35 DE LA MANANA (2003) 6. EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO (2006) 7. MAR ADENTRO (2004) Helmer Chus Gutierrez avoids an early temptation to take pic toward Martin's money troubles; once they're on the road, story flows. Trim tech package is marred by the extreme shakiness of d.p. Kiko de la Rica's otherwise attractive images. A woman enters the café where she has breakfast every morning and finds that all of the other diners are staring at their plates in silence. In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) was a fisherman and part-time poet who, at the age of 26, suffered an accident while diving that left him a bedridden quadriplegic. Now 54, Ramón must depend on his family to survive. While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ramón was always an active person, and as the years wore on, he has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. drama/dark comedy drama drama Mezcla de tiempos pasados, costumbres espanolas, el bar como institución Posguerra espanola, infancia, imaginación, cuentos de hadas 8 2 in 3 letnik 119 4 letnik Eutanasia, dignidad, derecho a la muerte 125 4 letnik No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Film Title LA LENGUA DE LAS MARIPOSAS (1999) VOLVER (2006) LOS LUNES AL SOL (2002) RETORNO A HANSALA (2008) 7:35 DE LA MANANA (2003) EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO (2006) MAR ADENTRO (2004) Argumentation of choice It was part of a series of films meant to be used as a cycle in wich History of Spain was teached thrugh the use of films. It also portrays the way education was understood in the 30's and the importance of the teacher as a reference in early childhood It allows a good discussion about how is life in rural, deep Spain, focused on the land of Almodóvar and Don Quijote. It shows as well the courage of some women who will be ablo to do everything to survive. It is an excellent film about the consequences of externalization of companies due to globalization. It shows the effect of unemployment in the lives of normal, every-day people who, first of all, learn how to keep their dignity above everything else. Gives a great opportunity to discuss cultural differences and misunderstandings that happen when whe judge the other before getting to know him. It also deals with an important social issue in nowadays Spain, as it is the drama of inmigration from Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar. Is a short film and, therefore, not so time-consuming as a whole film. It portrays some typical Spanish costums in a shocking manner but, best of all, it allows students to practice different past tenses in a ludic and clarifying way. It is one of the films thought to be included in a group of lessons about Spanish History, like La lengua de las mariposas.Besides that, is a great film to establish simmilarities and differences with the book students need to read for Matura (No soy un libro), which gives them a better understanding of it and a broader sense of interpretation. It is able to deal in a subtile but powerful way with a delicate issue like eutanasia and the right to die with dignity. It is meant to be used as part of a group of films that deal with moral issues that in my opinion should be more extensively discussed in Gimnazija.