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Watch and Discuss Possible Routine
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10 thoughts on “Watch and Discuss Possible Routine”
The name “Watch and Discuss” comes from Diane, I’m pretty sure, to differentiate from a real MovieTalk.
I like calling it “Video and Discuss.” I think back a couple years, when this was a new thing, there was discussion about the name…
This is a great sequence of activities! The call out thing as a final run-through is something I’ve not yet done.
OK let’s start using V and D and then see what sticks. I lean toward your reasoning on it, Diane.
Just looking for a distinction between this and MovieTalk. Is there a simple difference I’m not seeing?
Huge differences, if you know what Ashley Hastings did originally with full-length movies as a tool for compelling listening input. I think that the use of full-length movies (for upper levels) really is worth knowing and using if you teach levels, say, 3 and up. But I believe he suggested that short film clips would also work. However, I think using the same term means nobody knows about how great an upper-level thing with a full-length film can be.
I wrote at length about the process with a full-length film (and if you scroll down, I briefly describe using short video clips — which I wish I could have called “Video & Discuss” because I think otherwise people will lose track of the other approach with a full-length film). I wrote this for Chinese teachers who may have no CI background:
tprsforchinese.blogspot.com/2015/10/chinese-innovation-forum-movietalk.html
I’ve been doing that with upper levels for several years now. I add reading as follow-up.
I will personally keep calling it MovieTalk. To pay tribute to Hastings.
If it really has become something so different from what Hastings envisioned and the only similarity is the use of a video, then it’s deserving of a different name. Like how TPRS grew out of TPR.
I suggest we stop seeing “methods” and “steps.” Those things help a teacher who can’t naturally just talk to their kids in comprehensible ways. Let’s deconstruct those steps and give a teacher the skills and strategies as well as the knowledge in order to be able to apply them to anything to make it comprehensible and do so purposefully.
What we have are ways to make things comprehensible and compelling. And these ways mix in different ways from day to day, class to class. It’s all comprehensible input with a video.
“If it really has become something so different from what Hastings envisioned and the only similarity is the use of a video, then it’s deserving of a different name.”
That’s what I think has happened. Not that Dr. Hastings didn’t suggest the use of shorter videos — he did. And these are all ways of providing compelling, comprehensible input and talking with our students. Really my concern is that like a treasured family recipe, I feel that the original MovieTalk approach, which I’ve found so wonderful for students with a few years’ of language in them, is being forgotten and I am sorry to see that. My sense is most people who teach using videos comprehensibly don’t even know of it, or they don’t see value in it. That happened in this PLC years back when I talked about using a full-length film with my 8th grade classes. There was skepticism. If the movie is chosen well, it can be the highlight of the year and a great way to integrate real culture, geography, etc. in a natural way.
The other thing: I think full-length film MovieTalk is easier for someone new to CI to do because there is less questioning and more narration/description than with a shorter video. You’re essentially providing a new soundtrack (through narration and description) of the movie in language at the students’ level. This is why I’ve shared it with Chinese teachers at large. They know that movies are powerful in engaging interest of students, but 99% of them just show movies with English subtitles, and miss a great opportunity.
Likewise, Judy Dubois’ very narrow listening from a movie is another means of using a film. Calling all of it MovieTalk blurs some of the great possibilities, depending on one’s students and what suits their preferences and abilities.
I want to contact Dr. Hastings and ask him about this. I’m all for him retaining credit for his ideas. I’ll report back.
“I suggest we stop seeing ‘methods’ and ‘steps.'”
Steps sometimes can help some people get their sea legs, and it really can feel like a rolling deck with the icy depths just a few feet away.
I know what you mean, though, Eric. At least I think I know what you mean 😉
What you say is the ideal, and sometimes the steps and methods are stifling, confusing, disempowering, and obscure the spirit and real energy in what we are trying to do. BUT, some people are naturals, and some others get there with something tangible to follow, at least at first, or some other way. Depends on who you are. Skills are learned and honed in different ways.
I actually have a really hard time thinking of ways to effectively give someone the skills and strategies etc. that you are talking about without giving them some tangible things to try along with the theory, so they can experience what it feels like. Especially if someone asks what I did in a particular situation, I want to tell them. Am I missing your point entirely?
What often helps me when I am feeling like I don’t have a handle on something, is if I see some method or series of steps, digest it somewhat at least, and then make it my own to try in my own way. Feeling awkward and bound by a method or series of steps that aren’t your own is deadly.
I contacted Dr. Hastings. Here’s our correspondence, which was via Facebook. I feel fine using MovieTalk for whatever video gets used after his comments, but I feel justified in wanting to remind about the option to use a full movie. His comments relate to recent discussion on targeting vs sheltering, too:
Dr. Hastings, I have a question about MovieTalk. You know that many TPRS and CI teachers have greatly enjoyed using short videos clips. I’d like to know what you think of them calling that “MovieTalk,” and that the majority of them do not seem to know the original MovieTalk use of full-length films. I’ve really enjoyed doing both approaches with different groups of students. I’m sorry to see that it seems making a full-length film comprehensible (especially for intermediate-level students) is being forgotten with the interest in short video clips. May I ask what you think of this trend, and if you would apply the term “MovieTalk” to use of any length of video — or more specifically to your approach with full-length films? Thank you!
FRI 8:31PM
I guess the short answer would be that using a video of any length as visual support for CI qualifies as MovieTalk. I suppose there are good reasons for using short clips in some settings. What I think is happening, though, is that many TPRS teachers are looking for clips that can be used to teach specific grammar points—and that is quite different from the original concept, which was to use authentic language with authentic materials and let the grammar sort itself out. With a grammar-oriented syllabus, it’s understandable that teachers think in terms of short clips that lend themselves to specific structures, but they are missing the benefits of the continuity and interest that can be achieved with feature-length movies (especially at the intermediate level, as you point out). Anyway, I am more or less hors de combat at this point, so I just wish everyone good luck with whatever they are doing!
Dr. Hastings, thanks for your quick reply. Very helpful! May I share it with the other teachers in Ben Slavic’s PLC? We’ve been discussing both MovieTalk and avoiding targeting of vocabulary or grammar (going with “sheltering” as a concept instead). I agree that the breadth of a full film has many advantages and plan to keep advocating for its usefulness. I recently shared at a Chinese teacher conference about it, using this blog post: http://tprsforchinese.blogspot.com/2015/10/chinese-innovation-forum-movietalk.html Thanks!
Of course, feel free to share. You’re doing good stuff!