Using DVD and Video in Your ESL Class - Part Two

In part one of this article, we suggested some ideas using very short extracts from movies to present and practise new language, and develop communicative skills. Here are five more...

6 Vocabulary in context

Choose an extract of about two or thee minutes which is rich in vocabulary (drama and documentary films work well for this). Make a sheet with ten to twenty words that are used in the extract. Give one sheet to each pair of students and go through it discussing meanings and possible contexts. (Giving them the context of the movie/documentary as a whole can make it easier to guess possible contexts of individual words within this.) Play the extract through once, asking students to listen for the contexts in which the words are used. Students can then pool their information and produce a list of contextualised vocabulary on the board.

7 Subtitles

A big advantage of DVD over video is the subtitle feature.

A good exercise for building confidence is to play an extract with subtitles in the students' own language. Play it first with the sound down and let them read the titles, then with the sound up, again reading the titles, and finally, with the sound up and the titles covered.

As reading practice for higher level students, use an extract with subtitles in English.

8 The news

Record the 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 your students discuss in groups what they think the item was about. Next, 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.

9 Cultural differences

Here's an activity to fit in with a topic on cultures. Find a short extract which shows a typical aspect of British or American culture. In groups, have students discuss the differences between what they saw and their own culture. Students do not necessarily need to understand the dialogue for this - the visual aspect of the cultural scene is usually enough.

10 Voices in my head

Choose a short extract with some interesting and expressive dialogue between two or more characters. Show the scene and check students' comprehension. Put your students into groups, one group for each character - if there are 4 characters in the scene, you will need four groups. It is the groups' task to imagine what is going on in the head of their assigned character! Play the scene again several times if necessary, for students to familiarise themselves with the character, and allow them to work together to imagine the character's thoughts. Finally, play the scene again, pausing after each character has spoken, at which point the groups add what they think he/she is thinking.

Video is a motivating and effective way to bring variety in to your ESL classes. Using short, sharp sequences with a clear linguistic focus, your students will go away from your class with more than if you sit them down in front of the screen and hit 'play'...!

Related links

Using video and DVD part 1
ESL resources
Downloadable activities

Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom

Comments

• "Thank you very much for 10 ways to use DVD and video in your ESL class, I was just trying to find new information and trying to find something on the internet to teach video in esl classes. I also would like to thank you for your fruitful studies and work on the website. Thanks a lot."
  Oguzhan Kalli
• "Have you ever imagined going to a presentation meeting only with DVD in your hand without your notebook computer? Have you ever imagined sending your PowerPoint presentation to people who does not have PowerPoint or even a PC and let them watch it on TV? I'd like to add the 11 ways to use DVD and video in your ESL class. Create engaging video or DVD from PowerPoint presentations and play it in your ESL class. That would be wonderful! I'd like to suggest a PowerPoint to DVD tool to you: www.sameshow.com/powerpoint-to-dvd.html"
  Anonymous

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