LyCE Estudios - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad ...

LyCE Estudios 15 (2012)
49
Movie reviews constitute a useful and productive context to foster the
development of different types of expressions of attitude. The child
expresses personal feelings in an unmediated way in familiar contexts.
His / her first evaluations are based on feelings and emotions – his
subjectivity. Later on this child begins to make judicious evaluation of
behavior and phenomena based on institutional norms. As the child /
teenager grows, s/he starts moving away from bare assertions to more
sensitive or strategic ways of engaging with other perspectives and
possibilities. This is the process we undergo when we learn to express
our opinions in ways that are socially acceptable and effective (Christie
and Derewianka, 2010: 84-5).
Movie reviews have the potential to help us to teach students to express
different attitudinal values (Affect, Appreciation, Judgment); to teach
students how to move away from the bare, unmodulated expressions of
attitude (‘the movie is really bad’ or ‘I liked the movie’), towards
expressions that more strategically build a public persona / voice. The
strategic use of heteroglossic resources is critical in the construction of
this voice.
Additionally, movie reviews offer a unique opportunity to practice specific
features in upper levels of instruction. We can, for instance, get students
to practice non-core vocabulary. The aim would be to help our students
move away from expressions like ‘The film is so completely silly’ and to
empower them to voice their opinions in a way that is acceptable in a
public sphere, as in ‘Inception, though always riveting, isn’t always
comprehensible’. Also, we can try to get our students to become more
aware of the power of certain lexical choices so that they can, for
example, express their evaluations making more subtle yet powerful
meanings, for instance by saying ‘acclaimed movie’ rather than ‘very
good movie’. Last but not least, reviews constitute a productive context
for students to practice voicing their opinions in ways which show
awareness of the dialogic backdrop that exists. The challenge with upper
levels is always to show them that they are still learning. We believe
movie reviews are a very productive context for these students to
continue to improve their knowledge of English as a foreign or second
language and keep motivated in the process.