Speaking about film and learning about speaking: teaching speaking through film study

Apart from Aken (2003), research into using film in language teaching has overlooked the potential of film, streaming video or DVD to encourage sociocultural and ethnolinguistic learning about speaking, particularly among advanced learners. Flanked by a study of literature on film’s pedagogic applications, this paper examines the sociocultural learning about speaking that can develop from applied study of filmic speech in an advanced English as an Additional Language (EAL) course in and about speaking. In particular, this paper describes a form of pedagogy using film studies presentations as tools for rehearsing, presenting and assessing students’ speaking. The research uses a grounded methodology to locate emergent understandings in the transcripts of videotaped presentations and oral reflective logs of 13 second-year students. These understandings articulate aspects of sociocultural learning about speaking which most impact on learners. The data also leads to a consideration of what insights learners can glean about their own voices and identities as speakers of EAL. These understandings and insights corroborate my pedagogy of using films to heighten learners’ awareness of sociocultural aspects of speaking–and our spoken selves.