| nly are clusters of movies, films, videos and | | | | “Man on Fire”, “Code |
| documentary clips stimulating, interesting and | | | | Name: Swordfish” |
| enjoyable for your English as a foreign language | | | | • Action / Adventure – Yet |
| learners, but the broad selection of available | | | | another nearly insatiable genre worldwide is this |
| genres and types offers a substantial range of | | | | exciting type of story. Set in well-know places |
| English language teaching and learning didactic aids. | | | | (world cities like London, Paris, New York, the |
| We previously identified a film cluster as simply a | | | | Amazon or Antarctica) with the story jumping |
| group or series of related movies, clips or videos. | | | | from one scene to another in rapid-fire |
| First though let’s get a brief over view of | | | | succession, you can never know what to expect |
| the genres in which most films are classified. | | | | next as the story unfolds, keeping us glued to our |
| Popular Film Genres | | | | seats in anticipation of one special effect after |
| Let’s look at a few of the more | | | | another. Surely you know these examples and |
| commonly available film genres, what they are | | | | many others of your favorites: “Jurassic |
| and exactly how we might use them in our English | | | | Park”, “Die Hard”, the |
| as a foreign language classroom settings. | | | | James Bond, “Superman”, |
| The more widely known movie and film types | | | | “Batman”, and |
| include: | | | | “Spiderman” series of films. |
| • Horror or Terror – Designed to | | | | • Westerns – Usually set in Mexico, |
| evoke strong negative emotions like fear, horror, | | | | the American West or on occasion, the Pampas |
| revulsion or suspense and apprehension examples | | | | of Argentina, this evergreen genre goes in and |
| of this genre include the likes of current or recent | | | | out of popularity in many countries, but is a |
| films such as “Nightmare on Elm | | | | perennial favorite in the USA. This genre of |
| Street”, “Saw”, | | | | cowboys and Indians includes many films starring |
| “Halloween” and | | | | John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, the stone-faced Lee |
| “Scream”. The mass of | | | | Van Cleef and the late Charles Bronson among |
| “monster” films are also included in | | | | others. |
| this genre in many cases, although some like | | | | These genres in which most film clusters are |
| “Alien” and its sequels are actually | | | | classified, feature a character or story series like |
| more thrillers (or sci-fi) than horror. | | | | the Star Wars saga, the Matrix sequels, the |
| • Romance – This genre frequently | | | | Indiana Jones series of adventures, James Bond, |
| features a “Romeo and Juliet” | | | | Harry Potter, the Die Hard series of films, King |
| type of story where boy meets, pursues then | | | | Kong remakes, Tarzan, Batman, Spiderman and |
| gets (or sometimes doesn’t get” | | | | numerous others also have sequels, trilogies or |
| the girl. Current and recent examples would be | | | | multiple parts. For the improvement of multiple |
| films like “Titanic”, “Pretty | | | | English language skills and competencies such as |
| Woman”, “An Officer and a | | | | listening comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, |
| Gentleman” | | | | in-context use of idioms and expressions or |
| • Drama – Always a popular genre | | | | applied use of connected speech elements in |
| worldwide, it features a strong story with lots of | | | | English language learners, such film and video |
| unpredictable ups and downs with a surprise | | | | clusters or related series can be invaluable. |
| ending in many cases. Think of films such as: | | | | |