danahazzard(at)pusan.ac.kr
Pusan National University (Pusan, Korea)
An ESL classroom is more than a class; it’s a learning community thatbecomes a better learning environment when students are motivated, andcomfortable with their classmates. That is not how students feel on thefirst day of class, particularly in mandatory ESL classes. That senseof community can be hard to create, but adding a couple of digitalcameras and an unusual project assignment helps.
The Project Beginnings
In an effort to motivate students to get to know each other and toincorporate as many skills as possible in an English languageexperience, I took advantage of the high level of English fluency,creativity and technology among Korean students. They were asked tomake an original four-minute movie using their digital cameras and cellphone cameras for their mid-term grade. The results far surpassed myexpectations. The classroom turned from being a group of clock-watcherswaiting for the end of class into a room of dynamic English-speakingbutterflies. Students who were terrified of speaking forgot their fearsas they argued over the advisability of using a digital camera or cellphone camera in a particular location. Music majors and physicaleducation majors became authors as they shared their ideas for thedialogue. Students who would never have gone out together becamefriends as they made the movie and all of them forgot that most of thetime they were speaking a language they thought was difficult
Procedure
To prepare for the project, students were semi-randomly placed ingroups ranging from three to five. The students were not told about theproject at this point. The main rule used for dividing the class was tohave a variety of majors in one group to create the most fertile groundfor creativity. In the instructor's experience, student conversation ismost invigorated not by feeling comfortable but by variety. Thestudents were given 30 minutes in the first class to become acquaintedwith one another.
Once students had become acquainted with each other, the class was toldthat the group they were sitting with would be their group for themovie project. The project was to be turned in seven weeks later. Themovies had to be four minutes long. The scripts needed to be original,and all class members needed to contribute an equal amount of effort.The movies could be filmed on cell phones, digital cameras, webcams, orcamcorders. The filmed segment needed to be put together on a CD andturned in on the due date.
Classroom Planning
For the first class, the group needed to work together to brainstorm alist of five ideas. The students were encouraged to come up with asmany crazy, funny, strange ideas as possible. They were then told thata proposal needed to be either handed in or discussed with theinstructor by next week.
In the second class, the proposals were approved with the instructorgiving suggestions if needed. The students were given 30 minutes inclass to begin writing their scripts and creating a filming schedule.The scripts needed to be turned in for approval in the third class.
In the third and fourth classes, the scripts were scanned by theinstructor and specific comments were madeabout originality,grammar mistakes, and length. Students read their scripts aloud insmall groups to check if they met the movies' time requirement and tobegin memorizing lines. In this class, the instructor encouragedstudents to beginthinking about special effects, background music, costumes, lighting,computer graphics, and make-up.
In the fifth class, students were allowed to leave class early to beginor continue filming. Many students used the classroom in their movies.Scene changes were implemented by drawing pictures on the blackboard,simple props, posters, and signs with location names written on them.
In the sixth class, students were given fifteen minutes in class to setup any final schedules that their groups needed.
In the seventh class, students filled out a form about their movies andturned in the CDs.
Results
The movies were incredible. An enormous amount of time, creativity, andeffort went into the movies. Scripts varied from a Cinderella tale inwhich Cinderella's credit card debt keeps her from marrying her princeto an original horror story of students mysteriously dying from failingEnglish class by one point to documentaries on the lack of seating inthe university libraries and nearby archeology sites.
The students were polled to see if my goals of encouraging them tospeak in English, make friends, and incorporate more skills than justEnglish were reached. The results were very positive. In fact, theresults were incredible.
Seventy-four percent of students spent more than eight hours working ontheir movies. Almost 100% of students were surprised to watch theirgroups' movie and see how well they turned out. Nearly 80% of studentsfelt more motivated to study English while making the movie and afterthe movie. Ninety-eight percent of the students enjoyed making themovie and eighty-two percent of the students would rather make a moviethan have a regular test even knowing that they will spend a lot moretime making a movie.
Student Opinions
In the comment section of the survey, students commented that theyenjoyed the experience. Many students felt they had experiencedsomething special. One student stated, "Making the movie encouraged mygroup to study hard. For example, I study English harder and my movieskill is developed." Another student commented, "I had a good timewhile making a movie. I met new friends (even Turkish) [exchangestudents]. I can’t forget this experience. Thank you." Another studentwrote, "I was forlorn at first, but it was fun and I used my computerskills." Even on their final exams given the first week of December,eight weeks after they turned in their projects, students were stilltalking about how many fond memories they had of making the movies andfriends from different majors. Students wished we had an actual moviescreen toview the other groups' movies.
Benefits to the Instructor
As an instructor, I valued the camaraderie created by the project, thesense of purpose students seemed to have in class, and the increasedattention to grammatical detail in their scripts. The movie projectreached all the students with the great improvement in speech andconfidence showing up among the weakest students. A final addedbenefit for me as an instructor was being given hard evidence that mystudents had accomplished something they felt worthwhile.
Ways to Improve the Project
When I do the project again, there is only one adjustment I plan tomake. Next time, it would be fun to arrange a 'Movie Night' toshow all the student movies on a large screen television.
Examples: Movies Made by Pusan National University Practical English ESL V and VI Students
- Peace Home Shopping Network (5:55)
- 7 Minute Cook (5:03)
- Ghost of the Campus (5:20)
- Blind Date (4:51)
- The YouTube Link with All of the Above:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=PNUEnglish
http://iteslj.org/http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Mansor-EmailDiscussion/
