Sessions

Teaching film and literature in the EFL classroom.

It is well known in the EFL world that film and fiction can be incredibly engaging for students. Through the media of film and literature, it is my belief that students are able to not only practice their listening and reading skills, but also develop their speaking and writing skills as well through class discussion and written assignments. Therefore, with a graduate and post-graduate background in Literature, I hoped to replicate an accessible seminar-style course, similar to my own educational experience, with a class of Upper-Intermediate students at a Japanese university. This presentation outlines the pedagogical methods, topics and format adopted, as well as highlighting some of the chosen texts and rationales for their use, which attempted to successfully bring a native-level film and literature university course into an EFL conversation classroom. It will also present and assess the strategies used to make authentic, ungraded film and short fiction accessible, engaging and a source of fruitful discussion for students.