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The I&E (ideas and exposition) modules taught at the National University of Singapore use specialized knowledge from various disciplines to teach academic writing skills, and almost all these modules make use of the film medium. As a form that is readily seen as entertainment for the masses, and one that is encountered on an almost daily basis by most students, the pedagogical appeal of film is well-known and it is often used as a bridge to establish familiarity and expertise across undergraduates of differing levels in the writing classroom (Fluitt-Dupoy, 2001). However there is a lack of clear instructional strategies in the use of film for the teaching of writing. In spite of this absence of an established set of pedagogical strategies for using film to teach writing, film continues to be a popular instructional tool and there is thus much that can be benefitted from research that lays bare the successful methodologies of using film in the writing classroom. The objective of this paper is thus to address the research gap in the methodologies of using film in the writing classroom. The paper presents strategies on how film can be used to help students absorb pithy concepts with ease, motivate them to think critically, reflect on their current knowledge of the subject, and achieve a higher level of understanding, all of which lead to improvement in writing.
Keywords: Film; Critical thinking, Teaching rhetoric; Expository writing; Socratic questioning.
Introduction
It is an inherent irony, and one noted by other scholars1, that though not much has been written about film in the classroom, it is used widely as a medium of instruction. The rationale for the latter is well-known: as a form that is readily seen as entertainment for the masses, and one that is encountered on an almost daily basis for most students, the appeal of film is evident and it is often used as a bridge to establish familiarity and expertise across undergraduates of differing levels in the writing classroom and elsewhere. The irony is perhaps in part due to the rise in Film Studies from the 1970s and its popularity in academia, and the development of an aesthetic linked with the discipline that is perceived to be pitched at a level far...