Adult ESL Listening Skills Lesson Plan Using Film

Learning Objectives and Performance Indicators

Level: Adult — Listening Skills

This lesson targets the following performance indicators:

Vocabulary enhancement; vocabulary comprehension; attention to intonation; context-specific and textual cognitive comprehension; and additional interpersonal communication skills. The overarching goal is to develop context-dependent ESL listening skills that can be applied to real-world situations, while improving English vocabulary, intonation, and communication skills. This will be accomplished in a manner that is both robust and reflective of typical experiences within contemporary society.

Warm-Up and Pre-Loading Activities

Pass out the handout for the next class, which includes the dialog for the most difficult scenes in the movie, a character list, content questions that should be answered by the end of the class, vocabulary lists, and helpful background information that may increase the viewer's interest in the film. Ensure the class has the necessary handouts for the current class. Set up the media equipment for viewing the film.

Additionally, encourage students to discuss issues with family members and find areas of commonality on major themes or paradigms covered in the film. This family interaction component helps reinforce the lesson's vocabulary and content in a naturalistic, real-world context.

Task Chain 1: Previewing Exercises

One or two scenes appropriate for the students' level of English language proficiency will be dissected before the film clip is shown (Conlon, 1991).

1. Silent viewing: The selected scene(s) will first be presented without audio. The class will be asked several questions about the scene, such as location, historical period, possible language(s) being used, attire, mood and body language, and possible plot elements.
2. Viewing with audio: The scene(s) will then be played with the soundtrack. The class will be asked whether their impressions of the actors and perceived mood changed, and whether their guesses about the language and plot were correct. Vocabulary, intonation, and grammar will also be emphasized to ensure that most students can comprehend the scene when it appears during the subsequent, uninterrupted 45-minute showing of the partial film.
3. Mid-scene entry: For variety, a scene may be started at its midpoint to challenge students' ability to infer past events from partial information.

Task Chain 2: Viewing Exercises

Students watch a 45-minute segment of the movie during a single class, completing an entire film over two class sessions. Subtitles will not be used. If necessary, films will be abridged to fit within the time frame by removing panoramic transition shots, redundant recall scenes, irrelevant content, and scenes of impropriety that are not critical to the plot (Lin, 2000, p. 5).

1. Active transcription: Students will write down as much of the dialog as they can hear in their class journals while the movie plays. This task forces active listening, and despite predictable initial resistance, the progress students demonstrate by the end of the semester can be remarkable (Lin, 2000). The number of correctly heard words serves as one measure of comprehension.
2. Content questions: Students should be able to answer the content questions provided in the previous week's handout by the end of the film presentation.
3. Teacher support: The teacher provides support during the film by restating difficult-to-hear passages, passages requiring specialized vocabulary, and passages requiring more advanced English language skills. Context-specific meanings may also be emphasized during the screening.
4. Prediction exercise: If the film is a drama with an unknown ending, it will be paused at a selected point and the class will be asked to predict the final outcome.