The teaching of culture has become gradually more significant for all teachers involved in language education; it has been referred as the "hidden curriculum" of foreign language teaching. Because of limited time available in the classroom and curriculum constraints, the inclusion of cultural lessons often comes second to the teaching of…

Studies made in the last few years show that using films in language classrooms is an effective way in teaching a foreign language. Well-chosen films can serve as a valuable pedagogical aid, both for classroom use and self-study. This article is about using films in language classrooms through a specially designed course, whose outline description…

Describes an intermediate-level college course based on authentic, unedited, German television murder mysteries that lend themselves well to language instruction and maintain student motivation, improve listening comprehension, and, through accompanying exercises, support speaking, reading, and writing skills. (four references) (Author/CB)

Suggests that the study of Chinese films should be more than just merely an adjunct to Chinese literature studies but an analysis of Chinese literary adaptation in terms of the aesthetic, narrative, intellectual, and political concerns of the period in which the film adaptation was made. (six references) (CB)

An approach that introduces a Quebec film into a college-level course for advanced students of French is described. The technique addresses three aspects of the film: organization; the significance of certain film-making processes; and cultural and social aspects of the film as they relate to Quebecoise culture. (MSE)

Describes and assesses Florida State University's two-week summer institute on the use of video materials in the classroom. Four general methodological statements for initiating the presentation of Spanish language films to high school students are provided as well as recommendations about presentation of full length movies in Spanish. (nine…

Describes a university's use of a multilingual cable network as a foreign language instructional resource by incorporating series, news programs, and commercials into foreign language courses. (CB)

A description of a secondary school Italian course using literature and film as teaching resources illustrate how the use of a communicative approach can foster the natural integration and development of listening, understanding, speaking, reading, and writing skills. (two references) (CB)

Describes an approach to French literature that looks at the process of making a novel into a film. The technique focuses on comparisons of composition, characters, and language. (MSE)

A discussion of teaching culture through the use of films focuses on how German Cinema films can be used successfully as a required extracurricular activity in German second-language-instruction. This kind of extracurricular activity is seen as a two dimensional educational experience. From the students' point of view, everything about seeing a…

This paper discusses the use of francophone films produced in French-speaking areas outside France in the second-language classroom, using several films from African countries and Canada as examples. The idea is that such films give students more than an abstract idea of a francophone region outside France, and represent large views of language…

This paper presents and comments on an experiment on teaching grammar that was started at Gettysburg College (PA). Using a proficiency-based approach, this course uses films as texts that provide a cultural, visual, and linguistic context in which the class functions. (six references) (JL)

A discussion of the use of movies on videotape in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom begins with a brief review of the history and emergence of videotape recordings as a popular technology. The advantages of video as a language teaching aid are then examined, including its instructional flexibility, exposure to paralinguistic…

A French language immersion weekend housed in an off-campus college lodge and accommodating 12 college students has been successfully implemented by the State University College of New York at Fredonia. The goals of the weekend experiences have been: the development of listening and speaking skills; creation of a cultural atmosphere of the…

Combined with a computer, videodisks of foreign films are helping second-language students at the University of Pennsylvania learn two neglected skills, listening and looking. The combination of attractive visual and linguistic information and fast pace stimulates vocabulary acquisition. The program has prepared 20 interactive videodiscs in 6…