Rise and Fall of a Hero: Teaching English Through Literature and Cinema

Abstract

[eng] Multiple approaches to teaching English as a Foreign Language have been implemented. From a communicative perspective, the use of authentic materials in the classroom is key to motivating students and enhancing their language skills. In a Spanish secondary school environment, several competences must also be developed. This paper explores the way a Content-Based Learning approach in the EFL classroom, using literature and cinema as source materials, is effective in teaching both language and competence-based skills. A review on the use of literature and cinema in EFL is first presented, followed by an exploration of approaches to covering culture, critical thinking, social and emotional learning, and content-based learning in the EFL classroom. A didactic proposal that integrates these approaches is then suggested, including sample activities and materials. In eight sessions, the proposal revolves around the figure of the tragic hero in literature and cinema, as illustrated in the characters of Star Wars’ Anakin Skywalker and Kylo Ren, Shakespeare’s Macbeth and King Lear, Sophocles’ Oedipus, Euripides’ Medea, and Okonkwo, from Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart.