The Use of Film in a First Year College Writing Class for ESL Students

Abstract

The inclusion of film is becoming ever-more popular in the field of First Year College Writing Classes for NES and NNES students around the country. Many of the reasons for this are self-evident. Film frequently offers a strong emotional appeal to NNES students and more opportunities to access what may otherwise be linguistically inaccessible material (e.g., Stempleski, 1990; Kasper, 2000). In addition, film offers a pleasant alternative to the use of literature in a First Year Writing Class which can often intimidate or discourage many NNES students due to its linguistic complexity (McKay, 1982). What is less clear, however, is how film's inclusion may contribute to the development of academic writing skills in similar or different ways from print texts, such as short stories, poems, and essays. Therefore, this dissertation will compare the benefits and challenges of using film and print texts in a First Year College Writing Class for NNES students. From data gathered from student essays, interviews, surveys, and field notes, the current study addresses the following research questions: (1. What linguistic and rhetorical features characterize the style of academic discourse NES and NNES students produce about films compared to print texts? (2. What challenges do NNES freshman composition students face writing academic essays about films compared to writing about print texts? (3. What academic strategies do they say they use to try to overcome these challenges? Do any academic strategies correspond with particular linguistic and rhetorical features? (4. What are NNES students' opinions regarding watching and writing about films in a university composition class? Do students consider watching and writing about a film comparable as an academic activity to reading and writing about a print text? The study aims to contribute to the field of Second Language Writing literature by considering the impact of the choice of text form, either a movie or a print text, on NNES students' motivation and ability to write academic, college-level essays. Further, it will explore in what ways students' cultural, educational and linguistic backgrounds affect the ways they approach writing about a film and a print text. This knowledge should be especially helpful for Writing Program Administrators and First Year College Writing Teachers for NNES students. It should be noted that, as a result of this dissertation's findings, the researcher has changed his approach toward the use of film in a First Year College Writing class for NNES students. Descriptions of activities the researcher currently uses before and after screening a film are included in the final chapter of this dissertation.