Using short, authentic film to teach culture

Carolyn N. Gill
Concordia College
CLV Educator Webinar Series
April 29, 2014
World Language Publishing
Challenges of Teaching Culture
ACTFL: the Products, Practices and
Perspectives of the Target Culture
 Cultural Iceberg

Observable: behaviors, language,

dress, habits, etc.

Non-observable: beliefs, expectations,

values, norms, etc.
World Language Publishers Claim Short Film is
Effective for Culture Instruction
 Short Subject Film
• A short film is defined
as an original motion
picture that has a
running time of forty
minutes or less,
including all credits
(Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and
Sciences, 2013).
 What makes short film so unique?
• Short films are typically non-commercial
• Created by aspiring directors
• Provide students with a distinctive cultural
manifestation
• The genre is growing
Literature Review
 Visual Learning and the Net Generation
• Gardner’s (1991) work on
visual learning

• Statistics on visual learning

from the Visual Learning
Alliance (2013)

• The Net Generation as

visual learners
(Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005)
 Authenticity in the Language Classroom

• Shrum and Glisan (2003), Kramsch (1993), and Villegas and

Medley (1988) stress the importance of authentic materials in
the language classroom.
 Rise in Popularity of Authentic Film

• Film represents an attractive resource to reach

students and assists them in functioning on more
profound levels in another culture (Bueno, 2009).

• Film both reflects and creates culture (Sherman, 2003).

 Modern Language Association Report
(2007)
Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New
Structures for a Changed World

• Language study should be used to promote

translingual and transcultural competence

• The report suggests film and media can be

used to challenge students’ imaginations and
help them consider alternate ways of seeing,
feeling, and understanding things
 Authentic Film and the ACTFL Standards

• Film allows students to

gain insights to the
products, perspectives
and practices of the
target culture CULTURE
(Bueno, 2009). Products
Practices
Perspectives
• Using film to foster Big
“C” and little “c” culture
(Herron, Cole, Corie and
Dubreil, 1999)
Big “C” little “c”
Kramsch’s “Third Place”
Byram: the Intercultural Sojourner
 Epistemological Humility through Film

• Examining and repositioning contemporary

cultural contexts with authentic French film
(Dubreil, 2011)
 Research Question:

How does authentic, short film impact

students’ cultural competence?
 Design of Study:
Qualitative Analysis using Ethnographic
and Narrative Research

• Two days of classroom

observations, two student focus
groups and interviews with each
professor

• Collection of field notes, journals

and recordings
 Participants
• 23 students in two sections
of Spanish 321: Composition
and Conversation in Cultural
Contexts

• Students were a mix of

freshman, sophomores and
juniors

• 2 of 23 students had studied

abroad
 Instrument for Data Collection
• Short, authentic films from Revista: Conversación sin barreras
 ~ Experiences and Expectations ~

*It is important to note that even though I have

promoted and believed in using short film for culture
instruction throughout my career at VHL, I was
unclear what the findings of my research would
reveal and was eager to explore all data—whether
congruent or incongruent with my previous beliefs—
that surfaced during my study.
Findings
 I. Overall Efficiency of Short Film

• Positive implications for

students’ attention spans:

• Short films are “easier to

digest” than a longer film.

• Short film demand a “higher

level of attention.”

• Time-effectiveness of a short
film: “Students get bored
with long film, and I do too.”
 II. Film as a Visual Medium
Overwhelming data from both students and
instructors showing that students are visual
learners:

• “I am more likely to remember it and

become more engaged with it than if I
were to read the words out of a book.”

• “When I watch a film, there is always

something keeping my attention. It’s
more a visual learner type thing. It just
works a lot better for me to watch a
film.”

• “75% of what people learn is visual and

adding the visual element to the
language education formula is
advantageous.”
III. Decipherability of Context Cues

• Both instructors and

students discussed the
decipherability of
context through the
visual medium of film (vs.
reading a text).

• When reading, students

said they hyper focus on
their comprehension of
every word whereas
with film, they can learn
through context.
 IV. Short film to Demonstrate Cultural
Perspectives

Film captures the ”essence of the culture”:

• Film allows to us to see “what it is really like.”

• How Spanish speakers think and feel – the

“base” things (i.e. the emotions and things we
all experience in life)

• Short, authentic films helps us “learn meaning

vs. facts.”

• The films showed the “realities of life”, not the

“superficial stuff.”

• Changing stereotypes about little “c” culture

What are the steps to make a film
instructionally effective?
Instructional Process using ROPED+
• Reflect
• Observe
• Predict
• Experience
• Demonstrate
Comprehension
• +Add Value
Reflect
Observe ~ Predict
Experience
Demonstrate Comprehension
Add Value+
Conclusions
• Authentic, short film
increases students’
cultural competence and
facilitates the teaching of
cultural perspectives

– Short film is an effective

vehicle of instruction for
reaching visual learners

– Due to its economized

length, short film is both
convenient and effective
for use in the language
classroom
 Implications, Challenges and Calls for Further
Research
• The results of this research highlights the
possibilities for a new type of curriculum

• More research is needed, specifically on short

film and its implications on learning about the
perspectives of the target culture

• As a result of this data, publishers have an

excellent opportunity to create more short film-
related materials with an emphasis on culture
learning and intercultural communication
Thank you for your attention!

Questions?
Comments?

cgill@vistahigherlearning.com
 References
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