Using DVD and Video in Your ESL Class – Part Two
Have you ever wondered how to use video in your ESL classes, without just sitting your students down in front of the screen and hitting ‘Play’? Here are five more activities for you to try.
1 Vocabulary in context
Choose a scene (no longer than two or three minutes) with some dialogue rich in vocabulary. Make a worksheet with ten to twenty words that are used in the scene, or that describe the scene in some way. Give the worksheet to each pair of students and have them discuss some possible contexts in which the vocabulary might appear in a movie. (Giving students the context of the movie as a whole can make this task easier). Play your chosen scene once, asking students to listen for the contexts in which the vocabulary is used. Pairs can then compare their information and report back to you.
2 Subtitles
A big advantage of DVD over video is the subtitles feature. Playing a scene with subtitles in the students’ own language or in English is good for building confidence. Try playing it with the sound down first, letting them read the subtitles, then with the...