questions about Russian movies

[Mark Kaiser]

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:36:07 -0800, Katya Burvikova <seacoastrussian at YAHOO.COM> 
wrote:

>Dear Seelangers,
>
>
>
>I am doing some research and would
>appropriate if you could answer a few questions to help out.
>
>
>
>1. Please name five movies, Russian or
>Soviet, that you would absolutely want to show to your students.
>What criteria did you use to choose these movies?    Please explain
>briefly.

There are so many ways to answer the question (films essential for the language, e.g., 
Ironiia sud'by; or for the history of Russian film, e.g., anything by Tarkovsky; or for 
capturing historical or cultural moments, e.g., "Stilyagi"; or adaptations of lit., e.g., 
"Sobach'e serdtse"). 


>
>
>2. What levels of study do you use Russian
>movies with in the classroom setting?
>

I begin using clips the first week of class in Russian 1 (the opening scene in Kavkazskii 
plennik where the eye chart is shown). I'm teaching 3rd semester right now and students 
are watching about 5-7 clips per week.

>
>3. What actives do you use before and
>after showing a movie in class?
>

I usually have a set of questions that deal with listening comprehension, speaker 
attitudes, or cultural values. The questions are available to students before watching the 
clip. Generally, I think that the clip generates the questions - it is difficult to say a priori 
that this or that type of question should be used in general, as it really depends on the 
content of the clip, the level of the students, and what you are trying to get them to focus 
on. It has been our experience in working with film the past few years that rarely is film 
an effective way to illustrate grammar, because the grammar point is there for only a 
fraction of a second. 

Other activities are more complex and take longer for students to complete: create the 
English or Russian subtitles for a clip; after watching a clip, write a short screen play that 
would be the prequel or sequel to the clip you watched (not having seen other scenes in 
the film); memorize the lines and act out the clip. 

>
>
>4. Do you feel you need any additional
>teaching materials for using movies in class?   If so can you
>describe them?

I should point out that the clips we use are available to students for homework 
assignments, and then we  go over the clip in class after they have watched the clip and 
prepared their assignments. 

I would also like to draw your attention to a forthcoming volume of L2 Journal, which will 
be devoted to teaching with film. The call for papers (due 12/31/2010) will be coming out 
shortly. 

Mark Kaiser
UC Berkeley


>Thank you,
>Ekaterina Burvikova
>
>
>
>
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