It’s time for story telling again. This post will make a review about Bombay TV as a tool for digital story telling.
General Description
Bombay TV is a website where users can find scenes from Bollywood movies, which are usually packed with a melodramatic acting. This web tool allows users to create a story by typing in the subtitles or texts to speech for the movie scenes provided as well as to record voices to dub the movie. Then, the users can save the final work and mail it to others to be shared with. To use the tool, users can simply go to the website and then select a movie scene that that they like. Once the users have chosen their movie, they can start to type in the subtitle to the dialogue, text to the speech, or use a microphone to dub the movie. After that, the users can add the title and give a credit for the movie. Finally, it can be shared with others through emails.
Level and Age
This website is applicable to be used by upper secondary school students (16-17 years old) at intermediate and advanced level since it requires lots of language production by the students. Nevertheless, the website can also be useful for adult learners to improve their English.
How To Use Bombay TV To Teach English?
Before proceed with a task, students should be presented with an example of how to use the tool to create a movie. Teacher can create a movie in the class to give students the example before asking them to create their own movie.
This tool can be used as follows:
1. Teacher can provide students with vocabulary items which are appropriate for certain movie scene.Then, students are told which movie scene to use and then asking them to use the vocabulary items in the movie. Nevertheless, this may lead to unnatural language production.
2. Teacher can also provide students with language structure, and then asking them to use the structure in the movie. However, this task may restrict students’ choice of movie.
3. For more freedom of ideas, teacher can give students a theme for a dialogue and based on the dialogue, students are required to select a movie and create the dialogue. For example, create a funny dialogue.
4. Besides, teacher can give students a specific topic, and then students are required to select and create a movie based on the topic. This allows more freedom in language structure and vocabulary use.
Bombay TV is appropriate to be used as a warm-up activity, homework, or as a lighter activity for the purpose of giving students a variety in learning approach.
Evaluation
Advantages:
1. Bombay TV requires students to use language in context which in turn helps them to acquire the language by focusing more on meaning creation rather than form.
2. By typing in the subtitles or text to the speech in the movie, it helps students to enhance their syntactical knowledge as well as vocabulary use.
3. This website can also help students to produce a creative piece of work by giving them freedom in making choice and expressing ideas apart from personalize the movie to their interest and experience.
4. It can also benefit students in practising and improving their spoken language or dialogue.
5. If the movie is dubbed, students can improve their speaking skill specifically on the tone of the speech and practice to speak the real language used in everyday life.
Disadvantages:
1. The layout of the movie is lame and so it may get students to feel bored with it.
2. Bombay TV does not allow the users to add extra features such as music or song to the movie.
