Lights, Camera, Action! : Exploring the Use of Films in Interpreting Literary Texts

Mary Jastine S. Torreon

St. Mary’s College of Tagum, Inc., Philippines

ABSTRACT

The study explored the lived experiences of college literature teachers who used films as tools in interpreting literary texts. For their positive stance, it revealed that films promote students’ active engagement, aid comprehension, and add visual contexts. On the other hand, the results also disclosed that films have modifications from literary texts, possess violent and frivolous themes, have physical barriers and can affect students’ communication problem. To address these negative experiences, the participants suggested to compare and contrast the film with the literary text, to bridge the gap between the text and the film, to embrace the students’ ideas, to maneuver physical barriers and to give precautions on the content of the film. The study hoped that the literature teachers must set objectivedriven film viewing, guarantee film accuracy, availability of source materials, consider quality films, promote social awareness and values, and enhance language and critical thinking skills among students. Moreover, the study implies that the teachers must ensure that the students are well-directed and guided on the purpose of viewing the film through giving objectives and safeguarding the accuracy on the content between the literary text and the film. Based on the results, it can be suggested to conduct this study to students to also gather their experiences on using films in interpreting the literary texts.

KEYWORDS

literary texts, films, phenomenology, college literature teachers, Philippines