Snapshots of Reality

This chapter discusses the way in which teachers teaching literature in the Language B International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme incorporate film into their teaching. It presents findings from a mixed methods study, using a large-scale survey of Language B teachers (n=265) and case studies of three schools, incorporating lesson observations and teacher interviews. Analysis of the data relating to film revealed that teachers use film in their literature classroom fairly frequently, are aware of film as an important cultural artefact, and use a wide variety of filmed versions of the literature they taught. Films are used for a variety of purposes, from raising accessibility and helping learners to understand the plot to discussing issues of film adaptation. Using Eken's framework, the main approaches to using film were identified as focusing on the literary and linguistic aspects of the film, rather than on the dramatic and cinematic aspects.