This is a simple idea that I have used in the past for engaging students with scenes from films. The secret is to identify a single line which is both ambiguous and intriguing. Students’ task is to guess about its context and what is happening in the film scene.

Here’s an example:

“That’s a big chicken”

Students’ task is now to decide (in pairs or small groups) the following:

• What is happening?
• Who is speaking?
• Where is he/she?

Ask students to be as imaginative as possible (points can be awarded for originality).

Let everyone share their ideas with the rest of the class before showing the film scene:

The best clips for this activity are ones with a strong visual narrative and minimal dialogue. Here is another example:

“Who throws a shoe?”

The answer:

It doesn’t have to be film scenes, of course. Here are some well-known YouTube clips that can be used. In each case, click on the text to see the corresponding clip (NB There is a piece of semi-strong language at the end of the first one - understandable perhaps).

“We’ve got a wild cat on our hands!”

“That really hurt”

“Stay down, stay down”

“It’s definitely been jumped on, that egg.”

“Are you OK?”

Incidentally, this last question is such a basic one in English but one that often doesn’t find its way into the language classroom. I once gave my students the following question:

Imagine you are walking in the street in London. There is an old man in front of you. He falls over. You go to help him. What is the first thing you ask?

Nearly everyone said that they would ask, “How are you?“.

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Does anyone have any other ideas for clips that could be used for this activity?

Note: There are some very practical reasons for language learners to be made aware of the importance of context. Click here for my blog posting on this subject.

Posted by admin on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm.