Teaching Non-Linguistic Specialties Students of the Main Types of Work with a Scientific Text in the Study of the Discipline "Professional Foreign Language"

5. Didactization of a Film

You may choose to base a lesson, a group of lessons or a thematic course on the didactization (the process of rendering content into syllabi) of a film. This has many advantages in that the film becomes the primary source for content. However, it does not limit you to expanding the course to various other themes.

Early on in my ESP (English for Specific Purposes) career, as a university instructor in France, I did this with the film The Rainmaker (1997) in the context of teaching legal English for my third year students (source: Di Pardo Léon-Henri, D. 2012. Teaching foreign Languages through the Analysis of Film and Television Series: English for Legal Purposes. Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité/Cahiers de l’APLIUT, Vol. XXXI, N° 2, p. 126-139). Many different areas of the film were exploited to show many intercultural differences between the French and American legal systems, from: 

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  the initial stages of establishing a contract between lawyer and client;
  
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  jury selection and courtroom drama;
  
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  opening arguments, exchanges between lawyers and judges;
  
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  closing arguments, and
  
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  the outcome of the case.
  

Since the main story line of this film deals with a sick patient and the evolution of his insurance bad faith court trial against the fictitious American insurance giant, Great Benefit. Involving a newly established young lawyer and an established specialist in tort law, the following scenes were chosen for analysis:

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  being assigned a lawyer and signing the initial contract;
  
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  preparing a case;
  
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  choosing and dealing with jury members;
  
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  appearing before the court, questioning witnesses, and
  
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  negotiating with defense lawyers, as well as presenting closing arguments.
  

The above study demonstrated that the students greatly appreciated the manner in which the course was taught. The overall objectives of this course – to improve written and oral language skills, while focusing on legal terminology in a motivational setting through the use of film were achieved.