Читать книгу Short Films in Language Teaching - Группа авторов - Страница 7

Engelbert Thaler

»I hate it when my house is so big I need two wireless routers« – this is what a poor black man, standing in front of a tiny, decrepit wooden hut, is complaining about in the short film First World Problems (www.viralvideoaward.com/first-world-problems). This viral video, directed by the American Alec Helm (2012), is a tongue-in-cheek jab at complaints that are only voiced by privileged individuals in wealthy countries. Although it lasts only 1:01 minutes, it can be exploited for all the competences asked for in the educational standards (KMK 2012, Fig. 1).

Competences	First World Problems
Functional communicative competences:
Listening-viewing	Recognizing the satirical clash between words and visuals
Speaking	Discussing trivial inconveniences
Reading	Reading the subtitles
Writing	Adding a comment on YouTube
Mediating	Transferring statements into L1
Lexical competence	Explaining unknown words, e.g. »mint gums«
Grammatical competence	Revising passive voice, e.g. »… my leather seats aren’t heated …«
Pronunciation	Repeating the statements in RP
Spelling	Distinguishing between BE and AE, e.g. »neighbours« / »neighbors«
Text and media competence	Investigating the make-up and impact of viral videos
Intercultural communicative competence	Exploring the chasm between First and Third World
Language awareness	Bringing multilingualism, ESL and lingua franca to mind
Language learning competence	Making students aware of the language learning potential of short film platforms

Fig. 1: First World Problems video & educational standards

The following paper attempts to answer what is meant by short films, why they should be used in the TEFL classroom, where teachers can find suitable material, what subgenres can be distinguished, what criteria of selection may be applied, what objectives can be determined, and how short films can actually be exploited in language classes. The theoretical argumentation will be supported by the description and analysis of several film examples, which are described with the help of six criteria: title, type, source, synopsis, features, and learning potential.