Using Documentary Films in Oral Interpretation Class What is the Appropriate Length?

Abstract

Documentary films may not be as well-organized as traditional textbooks used in classroom, but their potential as teaching materials is enormous and remains largely unexplored. In an oral interpretation class, normally the aim of using documentary films as teaching materials is to teach language; therefore, the presence of relevant functions and structures of the language should be the prime consideration. While using a documentary film in classroom, many teachers might be confronted with the question:” How long a film and how much its content should be?” Unlike a documentary film used to stimulate discussion or other skills for English native-speaker students, the documentary film for the oral interpretation class should be carefully selected and even tailor-made so as not to discourage students. The study is, therefore, carried out with an aim to investigate what length of documentary materials is acceptable to EFL students (especially low and pre-intermediate level students) of oral interpretation to deal with in a two hour class. Through data gathered from students of three classes I taught last semester, and in-depth interviews with five colleagues who also use video materials in class, this study identifies the length of video material a crucial factor on which depends the success of video-based oral interpretation class.