Reflection
on Documentary
Documentation is the artist’s
relationship with the focus and it further progresses by his or her
participation within the scenario, how he interprets this information or
evidences into perceptible form (Kasper, Singer, 2001). Participation does not need to be material; it
begins when he/she sets off for witnessing the document and cultivates during
process of listening or viewing the process itself. Vit Havranek explains in
“The Documentary method versus the ontology of documentarism” as “Documentarism
in film and photography could be described as a genre in which the
director/artist transmits other people knowledge, stances and experiences by
articulating the medium and technology he or she uses”.
Visual aids are a great enhancement for
teaching an ESL classroom. An even better resource is a motion picture or video
clip. The combination of both image and sound significantly aids in the
achievement of the pedagogical goals of reading, writing, listening and
speaking English. Academics debate whether showing either a short sequence or
an entire film can replace the published text in the ESL classroom. Conversely,
no textbook is comprehensive, allowing the need for a good teaching aid such as
a motion picture (Li, 2009). Finally, the presence of film and video changes
the learning atmosphere of the class, as ESL students are hearing authentic
English in real life scenes and natural settings.
When you watch a movie or TV program,
superficial and even deep feelings and emotions are elicited, such as
excitement, anger, laughter, relaxation, love, whimsy, or even boredom. These
emotions are often triggered or heightened by the mood created by specific
visual scenes, the actors, and/or the background music. A video can have a strong
effect on your mind and senses. It is so powerful that you may download it off
the Internet or order the DVD from Amazon along with the CD soundtrack so you
can relive the entire experience over and over again. This attraction to videos
extends to movies, TV programs, commercials, and music videos. So ESL teachers
can use video clips as an instructional tool so their students can experience
the powerful cognitive and emotional impact they can provide?
The emerging technologies of computers
and multimedia provide opportunities for even more learning experiences for ESL
students. Word processing, e-mail, computer software, the Internet, and the
World Wide Web are all sources of more and different learning activities. The
interactive nature of multimedia provides new ways to enhance the learning
experience of ESL students.
Teachers use multimedia with ESL
students for a variety of reasons. The text, graphics, video, and audio
encourage immersion in language (Kasper, Singer, 2001). The nonjudgmental aspect of technology is
comforting for these students. The individualization, instant feedback, and
assessment components of many software packages are all positive factors.
Students are motivated when using technology, especially the new emerging
technologies. They feel empowered and often content is more accessible to them.
After doing this project, I am happy to say that I am looking
forward to using this process in the classroom. I think I can record TV
news and choose an item with a lot of visual footage. Make a list of vocabulary
essential to the understanding of the item. Play the item with the sound down
and have their students discuss in groups what they think the item was about.
Next, I can hand out the vocabulary list and have the groups use it to
reconstruct the story. Finally, play the item with the sound up for students to
compare their version with the original.
Vocabulary exercises are quite
popular in written ESL activities involving motion pictures (Li, 2009). One
method is to provide a handout for each student with a list of quotations from
a scene or segment of a motion picture and an answer sheet (Kusumarasdyati,
2004). Another exercise is to pose a question based on dialogue from a motion picture.
Teachers could ask students to interpret that in a five minute writing
exercise.
I have learned so much from this
documentary project. I have come to realize that I can use this process in the
classroom, especially for my ESL students. I really enjoyed and I take pride in
creating this project and I am hoping that my students will do the same. I don’t
think I will look at documentary the same way I used to. I am very excited that
I now know how to create a documentary using Movie Maker and iMovie. I am going
to try and use iMovie in the near future and will encourage my students to use
both.
Students
often show a great amount of interest when watching English language films. The
teacher’s task is to harness this enthusiasm in a way that develops a positive
effect on language learning. (Li, 2009) The key to the effective use of motion
pictures in the ESL classroom lies in the creative presentation of films and in
the construction of challenging, yet achievable, learning tasks that are
enjoyed by ESL students. Teachers and facilitators should foster and develop
motivation by providing clear goals and achievable tasks using motion pictures
which might otherwise be beyond the linguistic capacity of the students.
My documentary
My documentary
References
Kasper, L.F. & R. Singer (2001) Unspoken
content: silent film in the ESL
classroom. Teaching English inthe Two-Year College. Retrieved
Kusumarasdyati (2004). Listening, Viewing and
Imagination: Movies in EFL Classes.
Paper presented at 2nd International
Conference on Imagination and
Education, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved
Li, L. (2009). On the use of Films in the ESL
Classroom. US-China Foreign Language.
Retrieved
from. http://www.eslbase.com/articles/video2
