Teaching Films Approaches to Media Literacy

Up until the 1990s, films were most frequently used as a kind of ‘enrichment’: a reward after studying the original novel or drama. The films were not analysed in the same way as the fictional texts, and viewing a film was rarely more than a fleeting, cursory, experience with the student – as a rule - in the role of a passive percipient. Today’s focus has radically changed with media literacy and intercultural competence high on the list of educational objectives. We shall consequently begin the seminar by looking at the many reasons why films are particularly suited for the English lesson both in Sek I and Sek II. As the film is now recognized as a ‘plurimedial’ text form (Ansgar Nünning), we shall continue by initially treating it like any other literary text. We shall choose one or two suitable films and study the plot, characters, viewpoint, themes and symbols and the representation of space and time. In addition, we shall also analyse film-specific perspectives e.g. camera technique, cutting and its effect on the viewer, the integration of picture, dialogue and music etc. thereby learning selected terms for film analysis. As far as teaching methods are concerned, we shall try out pre-, while- and post-viewing activities e.g. the writing of a small part of a film script or developing ideas for a scenic presentation of an excerpt of a literary work. As several 'Lehrhilfen' and 'Stundenblätter' on recently released films have been published by Cornelsen and Klett, we shall also try out some of their suggestions. For a -Schein” the students are expected to attend regularly, participate in the lessons and plan and teach a double lesson (ca 75’) together with one or two fellow students based on a (suitable!!) film of their choice. Teaching English: Principles and practice (HR) abgeschlossenes Grundstudium/ Zwischenprüfung Anmeldung über LSF Anwesenheit in der ersten Sitzung 2 KP Universität Siegen WiSe 2010/11 Teaching English: Principles and Practice (GYM/BK) Schlömer, Peter Introduction to learning and teaching English as a foreign language