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Psycholinguistics: A Resource Book for Students (review)

© 2005 The Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 61, 3 (March/mars) Each chapter begins with a full-page, black-and-white illustration, usually a poster or video box of the movie. It would be wonderful to have more photographs, but the usual financial constraints of educational publications are undoubtedly in play. The authors’ claim that the films chosen for this book ‘are commonly found in school and university video libraries and can easily be rented from a video store’ (p. ix) is a trifle optimistic. While movies such as Cinema Paradiso and La vita è bella are easily accessible, I had some difficulty tracking down Storia di ragazzi et ragazze and Lamerica, even in Toronto, with its huge Italian population. Certainly, most of these films would not be found in Ontario high school libraries unless teachers of Italian had made a point of building up the Italian cinema collection in collaboration with the school librarian. While the selection of films is very good, and the desire of the authors to be contemporary is commendable, a case can still be made for exposing students to some of the older classics of Italian cinema, such as Fellini’s La strada and DeSica’s Ladri di biciclette. The methodology described in the book can, however, be easily adapted to any film. Two topics are not addressed by the authors. One is whether subtitled or non-subtitled versions of the films should be shown. A case can be made for both, depending on the level of the class, the amount and kind of previewing activities, and so on. The pragmatic solution is, of course, that one shows whatever one can get (usually a subtitled version). The other issue is viewing rights. We are all familiar with the dire warning that precedes every video or DVD. While there are probably few language teachers who have never turned a blind eye to the law, we need to be aware of the potential consequences of showing any material to a class without legal approval to do so. The authors’ claim that the films ‘can easily be rented from a video store’ (p. ix) should be accompanied by a caveat. On the whole, the selection of films is excellent, and the accompanying activities are wide-ranging in difficulty and diversity. Instructors can choose films and exercises according to the age, interests, and ability of their classes. Italian through Film should be a valuable supplement to almost any Italian course. Michael Warden, Halton Board of Education