The Film Viewing Experience in The Language Class: A Multiple Intelligence Laboratory for Language Learning
MATERIALS: The film viewing experience in the language class & SELECTED ACTIVITIES ON THE USE OF CINEMA IN THE LANGUAGE CLASS
How can we use film in the language class, addressing different learning styles and offering students the opportunity to put at work their own unique set of intelligences? Can we consider the film in the language class not just a source of linguistic comprehensible input but, at large, a cultural and artistic product? Can we bring back the student to their role of spectators, and encourage their ability to interpret and to engage with the film text as active readers? Once we make this shift, we will find out that we can propose motivational activities that elicit the students’ learning process at many levels, promoting a deep approach to learning, through a holistic and multimodal experience.
Through practical hands-on activities this workshop will explore how to maximize the use of film in the language class from a multimodal perspective, reaching multiple learning styles. Participants will be invited to reflect on the process of language teaching and learning through film, taking into account not just the verbal experience but as many others as possible.
Tania Convertini has been teaching Italian language and culture in the United States since 2002. She has experienced a variety of different academic settings from small liberal art colleges to large state universities. She completed a PhD in Italian with a specialization in Cinema and Human Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tania’s main areas of research include the cinematic representation of children and families, the integration of the cinematic and literary text in language teaching and learning, language pedagogy and multimodal learning, and new technologies for teaching. Since September 2011, she directs the French and Italian Language Program at Dartmouth, where she also holds an appointment as Faculty Fellow in the Center for the Advancement of Learning. She has published articles on the pedagogical use of film and technology in the language classroom, as well as critical readings of films.