In this lesson, my goal was for students to identify messages sent through body language. I used two clips from the 1982 'Annie' movie. Common among musicals, scenes in 'Annie' are rich in body language. I chose two contrasting scenes to show the different messages of adult characters. The first scene was Miss Hannigan with Annie and the orphans. The other was the scene when Annie first enters the Warbucks mansion with Miss Farrell., Mr. Warbucks's secretary.
The lesson began with students looking at picture from their textbook, a sketch of two faces. Students explained how the people felt and were asked to give reasons for there opinions. Following a brief discussion, I taught the terms facial expression, gestures and body language. One of the students knew the meaning of 'body language' and had been introduced to the word 'gesture'. As I watched the video, I realized that I could have asked the students if they knew what the terms meant before going directly into explanations. I also noticed that when students were hearing a word or phrase for the first time, I did nothing to stimulate student understanding. Phrases, such as 'facial expression, and words, like 'annoyed and confused', were stated without allowing students to repeat them. I was too hasty. As a result, it is unlikely that the new vocabulary was placed in short term memory.
Before the video clip activity began, both the students and I gave examples of different types of body language. We tried guessing the messages that were being sent. Sometimes the intended message of the sender differed from what the recipient understood. These instances, were opportunities to point out how the messages one intends to send are not always what is received by the observer. Unfortunately, I failed to point out that such misunderstanding is a common challenge in intercultural and interpersonal communication.
When it was time to show the video clips, students had a good understanding of what they were looking for. My instructions were pretty clear and the following discussion showed that students understood the goal of the lesson. During the discussion, I returned to the clips and asked them to point out specific movements that sent the messages they received. One student said that Miss Hannigan was drunk. I asked her why she thought so and she said that the way Miss Hannigan was moving was how her father moves after drinking alcohol. I was not surprised that she shared such personal information. This is common amongst my students.
Continuing with the lesson, I pointed out several gestures and asked what messages were being sent. In the first clip Annie and another orphan are hugging each other tightly as Miss Hannigan enters their bedroom. In the second clip, Miss Farrell touches Annie's face and makes other gestures for expressing her message to Annie. What I did not anticipate was that students lacked the emotion vocabulary needed to describe the messages. I should have taught some terms before showing the scenes. I could have asked students to identify which gestures matched the terms discussed before the viewing.
In observing the video I realized that there were quite a few missed opportunities for encouraging greater intercultural competence. I also noticed that at times, when reacting to student comments, my voice carried tones of judgement. When facilitating lessons of intercultural competence, I must be cautious as to how I use my voice in responding to student messages. Voice inflection can send messages more explicit than the words themselves. Also, I must accept that student viewpoints will not always correspond to my own and that this difference in understanding should be expected and encouraged. If students are taught to answer according to what they think the teacher wants to hear, then the communication is dishonest and the lesson will be unsuccessful.
This lesson was an introduction to understanding body language. The gestures in the movie were obvious to read. In the future I'd like to teach a lesson in which the cultural messages of body language are less definable. Students should know that body language is not always easy to read and that misunderstandings occur when people of different countries use the same body language to express different meanings. When I do teach a follow-up lesson, I will hopefully avoid the mistakes made this week.
These are interesting and thorough reflections. Thanks for sharing. What happened to the rest of November? :-)
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