Cinema-based and socio-critical tefl in secondary educationdesign, implementation results, and teacher and student perceptions

Abstract

The present doctoral thesis aims to contribute to updating the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL) by exploring an instructional approach fitter for today’s demands than the conventional model, which, given its originality, has been termed in this work cinema-based and socio-critical TEFL. In this approach, the commonly employed coursebook is replaced by feature films, an authentic audio-visual content proved to be remarkably beneficial for EFL and integral education. Additionally, multiliteracies pedagogy and critical applied linguistics are applied in order to pursue the said socio-critical turn. It is a thesis by compendium composed of six articles. In light of the need to delimit the research field of cinema-based EFL and of the gaps identified, the following objectives were established: 1. To examine available research on the use of feature films for the teaching of English as a foreign language, delimiting the field. 2. To explore teacher perception on the employment of cinema in the high school EFL class. 3. To provide teacher training on the implementation of cinema-based EFL in the context of compulsory secondary education and analyse its efficacy. 4. To evaluate the implementation of cinema-based EFL instruction in the context of compulsory secondary education. 5. To explore student perception on the employment of cinema in the high school EFL class. Several studies have been conducted to achieve these objectives, whose results are reported throughout the articles. A systematic literature review was carried out first in order to determine significant avenues for research (Article 1). Then, two training-oriented interventions were performed with high school EFL teachers (one in-service teacher and 121 prospective teachers), which allowed to provide specific training and also to analyse their perception on the method (Articles 2 and 3). A classroom intervention was later performed with 48 students, in which I implemented one of the cinema-based teaching sequences designed, the one revolving around ecological matters. Article 4 consists on a didactic proposal. It comprises a description of this teaching sequence and examines the implementation process from an auto-ethnographic approach. The EFL learners’ attitude towards the method proposed was studied (Article 5), as well as the impact of the teaching sequence tested on their socio-critical learning, which, in this case, was related to environmental aspects (Article 6). The research approaches employed were a qualitative and a mixed one, and data were collected by means of interviews, questionnaires, open-ended questions, focus groups, a reflective journal, and a written report. The results obtained echo, to a great extent, previous findings. Both teachers and students reflected a positive perception on the use of cinema in the EFL class, and the method was effective for integral learning. It boosted the learners’ motivation and engagement levels, helped them to develop their ecological consciousness, and to hone most of their EFL competencies. Nonetheless, the method was not as successful as expected as regards curricular learning owing to certain pedagogical factors. In brief, the students were so familiar with purely instrumental approaches to TEFL and with a passive utilization of cinema in the classroom that such radical departure from the conventional model became a huge challenge for them. And so were the participating teachers. Analysing the exemplary teaching sequences provided allowed them not only to acquire a more accurate understanding of the pedagogical possibilities of cinema, but also to realize that TEFL may transcend linguistic goals. The findings entail substantial implications for the methodological conceptualization of cinema-based TEFL and for research on this area, which should devote attention to the refinement of the method and to teacher preparation given the transformative potential training on this area has been shown to have.