An ESP project: the film "Twelve angry men" in teaching law students

The possibilities for using authentic feature films in the ESP class are numerous. A strong tendency towards the use of authentic materials and tasks makes films a valuable tool for exploring linguistic aspects of the language, investigating cultural differences, expanding the learner’s knowledge of a certain field of life or science. We cannot but agree that ESP is culture – based.

This article is aimed at demonstrating the ways of integrating cross-cultural issues in legal context while applying feature films in class.The selection of films is the most important factor for maintaining and increasing the students’ motivation. First of all, the topic should be of interest to the learner. In the ESP class it ought to be related to professional interests. We find it highly motivating and productive to use not only full-length films, but also segments of films to reinforce topics treated within the content-based syllabus.

They can be used successfully to illustrate interesting and challenging situations that create a stimulus for further discussion of issues in relation to the topic considered. We use a variety of feature films in class, such as “Step-mom”, “Sleeping with the Enemy”, “The Firm”, “Twelve Angry Men” with law and social work students which are integrated in the course of the lessons devoted to the topics “Adoption”, “Domestic Violence”, “Jury Trial” respectively [Гриценко,

Полякова, 2013, с. 168-171]. These thematic lessons include a variety of project work activities ranging from making short presentations, answering questions and discussing certain problems to sharing personal experiences, giving feedback on what has been seen and expressing opinions about moral, ethical and legal issues. These are some of the ways to use films effectively in the classroom.

Main Part

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the educational potential of feature films in a cross-cultural ESP project which can serve as a valuable authentic tool for both classroom use and self study. In our projects we make an extensive use of the content-based, the system activity and the learner-centered approaches [Гриценко, Полякова, 2013, 2016, 2017; Полякова, Гриценко, Ремизова, Фролович, 2015].

According to Kieran Donaghy, “film can bring variety and flexibility to the language classroom by extending the range of teaching techniques and resources, helping students to develop all four communicative skills” [Donaghy, 2014].

As experience shows learners become more motivated about language learning when feature films are involved since they reflect authentic use of the target language, another country’s culture, and thus can be used as a valuable source of information applied for academic and professional purposes. However, because of the complexity of an authentic language, teachers tend to limit the use of feature films to students with intermediate-to advanced proficiency levels. [Ishihara, Chi, 2004; Donaghy, 2014].

For this reason, for the implementation of the project based on the American movie “Twelve Angry Men”, it was decided to allow students to watch the film in Russian with an exception of the advanced students who were encouraged to view the movie in English. It was their home assignment to save classroom time. However, all the pre and post-viewing activities were conducted in English. The goal set was to familiarize the students with the trial jury in the USA which is part of the ESP program.

The focus of the project was on creative writing where the students were asked to choose a juror (after viewing the movie) and write a story in English in the first person singular taking the role of this juror.

Effective use of films requires careful planning and teacher guidance of pre-viewing, whileviewing and post-viewing activities [Spiro, 2009].

Pre-viewing activities are generally used to identify the students’ background knowledge and to introduce key vocabulary.

The students were offered to answer the following questions: 1.What do you think the film is about? Focus on the number 12. 2. What do you know about the system of trial jury in Russia? 3. What associations do you have when you hear the word ‘jury’? This can be seen as an initial stage for introducing the specific vocabulary.

Another significant part of the pre-viewing session is reading a number of texts from the textbook “Just English”: ‘Selection of the Trial Jury’, ‘In the Courtroom’, ‘Kinds of Cases’, ‘Do’s and Don’ts for Jurors’ [Гуманова, 2016, с. 123-136]. This stage is aimed at widening the learners’ knowledge of the history of trial jury, the procedures involved and further expanding of specialist vocabulary, e.g. voir dire, challenge for cause, peremptory challenge, the taking of the oath, deliberations, preponderance of evidence and others.

As mentioned earlier, the while-viewing stage was done by the students at home. It was recommended that they view for important information and details which was significant for fulfilling the post-viewing tasks.

The post-viewing stage of the project included two components: creative writing and extention work (presentations on jury trials in different countries).

In our project the students were offered a plan (were given a scaffold) that served as the basis for writing their stories. The plan was based on the plot of the film and incuded four questions:

• “1. Introducing oneself. 2. What case was being considered? 3. What happened during the discussion of the case? 4. What made you change your opinion in deciding the case?”

Let us consider a story written by Semyon Fedoseev (a first-year student of law) who followed the plan provided above:

“It all started with the fact that I was at a meeting in court. I was one of the jurors, number three.

We heard a murder case. It was committed by a teenager who grew up in a slum. He was accused of killing his father. All the facts and evidence had been collected. We had to bring in a verdict. The final stage was a discussion between the members of the jury and the final verdict. I was sure that the boy was guilty but one of the jury expressed his doubt which I disagreed with. At some point I was ready to pounce on him because he presented the most stupid evidence to refute the accusation. And only at the end of the discussion I realized my injustice. I thought about my own life situation. I had quarreled with my son and practically stopped talking to him. That was my biggest mistake. I had been too categorical.

All the eleven jurors and especially juror eight were able to change my life principles. I discovered in myself another person capable of being sincere and understanding. I was able to objectively look at the arguments. I was closed to them and did not want to listen which was my problem. In the end I totally agreed with the boy’s innocence and his full acquittal.”

As we can see from this story, the learner uses a wide range of legal terminology, such as “a murder case” , “to refute the accusation ”, “the final verdict” , “evidence” and others. This shows that the texts offered for reading were of great use for the students.

This story also demonstrates that the plan helped them focus on the details related to their characters, whereas personalization made students look deeply into their characters, analyze their actions, motives and thoughts and eventually made writer’s expression more emotional. Taking a role make learners feel: “ At the end of the film I felt relieved like all the characters”; “I was pleased”; “it was interesting to observe how one person could persuade all the others”; “I was delighted and began to feel more confident”; “I was ready to pounce on him”;“…we could kill the boy with the wrong decision”; “I could not remain silent”; “then I got angry”.

The second component of the post-viewing stage invoved a discussion of social and cultural aspects depicted in the film in order to develop the students’ awareness of cultural differences. In our case the emphsis is on the differences between the trial jury systems in the USA and Russia. The students were given the following questions to reflect on the film: 1. What have you learned about the trial jury in the USA?

• 2. Did you like the film? Why / why not?

Student feedback on this kind of writing project was on the whole positive. Below are some examples of student responses to the questions. The comments demonstrate that the learners pay attention to three main aspects: 1. future profession, 2. personal impressions, 3. critical thinking.

The first group of comments includes the following examples: “ The case for discussion (deliberation) was chosen ideally to think hard and find the truth.”; “ I like such films, especially the moments when the witnesses are disclosed. The smallest details noticed can change the picture of what really happened.” “The film was very informative and I think it will be a great basis for my future career as a lawyer”; “I like the film because I was not familiar with the work of jurors. I understand now that they needed to make impartial decisions. Taking a role of a juror, I was going through all the events together with him. The film shows that all the jurors are different.

The category “ personal impressions” is presented in the comments, such as: “ The film is wonderful”; “ I like such films”,“Yes, I liked the film. It discloses a lot of social problems and people’s indifference to other persons, especially to people from lower strata of population.”; “I find the film unusual. It is set in one room but within this limited setting the characters, their beliefs and ideals are disclosed very well. The film is a real discovery for me.”

The final aspect “critical thinking” is reflected in the following responses: “ One of them could help to decide the fate of a person, all pros and cons must be carefully weighed.”;“The film made me think. I can’t say if I liked it or not but I can say for sure that it gives viewers a message: you have to always think critically, to have doubt in everything that happens with you or other person.”

One more post-viewing activity was organizing a mini conference devoted to trial juries in Russia, CIS and foreign countries. The students prepared presentations about some historical facts, current problems and interesting cases settled by trial juries in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Denmark and other states. One of the discoveries made by the students was that the number of jurors is different in various countries depending sometimes on the severity of a crime: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 12.

Conclusion

Judging by the students’ responses we can draw the conclusion that quality films such as “Twelve Angry Men” may become a valuable source of information and knowledge for learners, relating to their professional interests and specialisms.

In addition, the project helped the students to improve their knowledge of legal terminology through readings and discussions of professional information, to perfect their presentation skills and to deepen their understanding of the new trends in the domestic and foreign court systems.

Thus, the possibilities for using film in ESP curricula are numerous. The use of authentic materials and tasks makes such projects a valuable aid for perfecting language skills, exploring cultural differences, expanding the learner’s knowledge of a certain field of life or science. Films can be an important tool for maintaining and increasing the students’ motivation.