Филологические науки/ 1.Методика преподавания языка и литературы

Samoilenko S.A.

Alfred Nobel University, Dnipropenrovsk, Ukraine

Using films for intercultural training

Culture, according to one definition, is the values, traditions, customs, art, and institutions shared by a group of people who are unified by nationality, ethnicity, religion, or language. The language teaching profession’s interest in cross-cultural communication has increased during the past few decades. According to Kramsch, this development is due to political, educational, and ideological factors; even though politicians might feel that learning a foreign language will solve socioeconomic problems, educators think that for that to happen a language course must contain legitimate cultural content. Kramsch thinks that in the future the language teacher will be defined “not only as the impresario of a certain linguistic performance, but as the catalyst for an ever-widening critical cultural competence.”

Intercultural topics that show how people from different backgrounds communicate and interact are becoming more prominent in language teaching. Teachers can benefit from the treasure trove of films that deal with subjects like immigration, xenophobia, adjusting to a new culture, or the dilemmas faced when one belongs to two cultures. Although films cannot substitute for actual interaction with members of other cultures, they can provide useful preparation for those encounters by fostering understanding and developing sensitivity. “Learning about stereotypes, ethnocentrism, discrimination, and acculturation in the abstract can be flat and uninspiring. But if we experience intercultural contact with our eyes and ears, we begin to understand it”. Intercultural contact through films enables students to understand other people’s actions and to have empathy with members of minority groups. Films also vividly represent intercultural misunderstandings and the roots of racism.

There is a wide variety of films with intercultural themes, and the teacher must consult reviews or see the movie firsthand to determine if it is appropriate for the desired lesson. The following categories describe cultural elements in just a few of the films available for study. (Note than many of the films can fall into more that one category.)

Films that foster empathy with foreigners

The following films foster empathy with people of different backgrounds:

• Bread and Roses portrays the situation of Ana, a young Mexican woman who works illegally in the United States.

• Dirty Pretty Things is about illegal workers in London.

• In This World shows the journey of two Afghan brothers who are on their way to Europe.

Films that illustrate intercultural conflict

Not surprisingly, there are many films that illustrate the conflicts and problems that arise between members of different cultural groups:

• Witness shows the culture clash between the mainstream American lifestyle and the Amish culture.

• A Love Divided, based on a true story, reveals some causes of hostility between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.

• Ae Fond Kiss is about the problems faced by an Irish woman and a man of Pakistani descent after they start a relationship.

• Save the Last Dance shows the resentment a white teenage girl is exposed to due to her relationship with a black classmate.

• Yasmin explores the anger and estrangement a young British Muslim woman feels because of the way she is treated in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Films that deal with racism

Some films tackle the difficult topic of racism:

• American History X is about a Southern Californian skinhead who is imprisoned after committing murder; in prison he starts seeing the error of his ways.

• This Is England portrays a teenager who joins a skinhead group in the early 1980s.

• A Class Divided is a documentary about an experiment conducted by Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small all-white Iowa town, in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King. Elliott divided her class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups to make them experience discrimination.

Films that contain stereotypes

Movies are authentic cultural products, and many tend to be culture-bound. These types of film allow students to identify the stereotypes held by a certain culture.

• The Prince and Me portrays Paige, an American student who displays stereotypical values of achievement, success, ethics, equality, optimism, efficiency, and pragmatism. Interestingly, these values were also identified by researchers looking at the rhetoric of several U.S. presidential election campaigns.

• Green Card portrays a Frenchman full of joie de vivre in a stereotypical way.

• Mind Your Language is a British comedy series from the 1970s. Although somewhat dated, it portrays stereotypical characters from different countries.

References

1. Beer, J. E. 2003. Communicating across cultures: High and low context. Culture at work. www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html.

2. Kramsch, C. 1995. The cultural component of language teaching. Language, Culture and Curriculum 8 (2): 83–92. http://zif.spz.tu-darmstadt.de/jg-01-2/beitrag/kramsch2.htm.

3. Kwintessential. 2009. Hofstede’s intercultural dimensions. London: Kwintessential. www.kwintessential.co.uk/intercultural/dimensions.html.

4. Larson, C. U. 2009. Persuasion: Reception and responsibility.12th ed. Boston: Wadsworth.

5. Sherman, J. 2003. Using authentic video in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.