Focal Skills Movie Technique
Encyclopedia
The Focal Skills
Movie Technique (FSMT), also referred to as the Narrative/Paraphrase Approach, is a language-teaching technique originally developed for use in Focal Skills
programs. The purpose of FSMT is to provide large quantities of high-interest comprehensible input (see Monitor Theory), which has been identified by researchers, primarily Stephen Krashen
, as a necessary element for successful language acquisition.
A teacher using FSMT shows a movie to students, describing the scenes as they occur and paraphrasing dialogue when necessary to help the students understand the story. The narrations and paraphrases are meant to be at a level of language that is just a bit beyond the students’ current proficiency (i+1; see Monitor Theory).
The work of the teacher in this process is vital, as the dialogue in the movie is not likely to be intelligible to the students for whom FSMT is intended. The teacher’s task is to use the images, actions, and plot of the movie as supports for the students’ comprehension of the language produced by the teacher.
Research (see External Links) indicates that FSMT can be highly effective.
Focal Skills
Focal Skills refers to a specific non-traditional program design and assessment regime that purposely structures intensive foreign or second language instruction to align with student-centered, communicative language teaching that is skills-focused and content-based...
Movie Technique (FSMT), also referred to as the Narrative/Paraphrase Approach, is a language-teaching technique originally developed for use in Focal Skills
Focal Skills
Focal Skills refers to a specific non-traditional program design and assessment regime that purposely structures intensive foreign or second language instruction to align with student-centered, communicative language teaching that is skills-focused and content-based...
programs. The purpose of FSMT is to provide large quantities of high-interest comprehensible input (see Monitor Theory), which has been identified by researchers, primarily Stephen Krashen
Stephen Krashen
Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, who moved from the linguistics department to the faculty of the School of Education in 1994. He is a linguist, educational researcher, and activist.-Work:...
, as a necessary element for successful language acquisition.
A teacher using FSMT shows a movie to students, describing the scenes as they occur and paraphrasing dialogue when necessary to help the students understand the story. The narrations and paraphrases are meant to be at a level of language that is just a bit beyond the students’ current proficiency (i+1; see Monitor Theory).
The work of the teacher in this process is vital, as the dialogue in the movie is not likely to be intelligible to the students for whom FSMT is intended. The teacher’s task is to use the images, actions, and plot of the movie as supports for the students’ comprehension of the language produced by the teacher.
Research (see External Links) indicates that FSMT can be highly effective.
External links
- http://www.focalskills.info/articles/moviesfs.html Hastings, A.J. (1997). ‘Movies and Listening Comprehension in FOCAL SKILLS Programs’
- http://www.focalskills.info/articles/Movietechnique.pdf Murphy, B. and A. Hastings. (2006). 'Making Movies More Comprehensible: The Narrative/Paraphrase Approach'
- http://www.focalskills.info/ International Center for FOCAL SKILLS