Disney's Moana: a pedagogical tool for educators to zoom into Pacific languages and cultures

Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Boulard, Florence;Craven, Allison
Abstract

According to Belgin (2007), the use of foreign language films in language teaching provide engaging, authentic and rich linguistic materials for all language learners. In 2016, the animated film Moana (also know as Vaiana and Oceania in some countries) was released, which tells the story of a young Pacific Islander girl who lives in Polynesia and needs to save her village from the dying natural environment. Moana is also the first Disney film to be translated in Pacific languages, including, Tahitian. While opportunities to learn about Pacific nations are limited within the current Australian curriculum, there are many elements within Moana that can be used by teachers (particularly French language teachers) in schools to increase knowledge of indigenous cultures and languages. We argue that the recent success of this particular Disney production could offer language teachers in Australia an ideal starting point to engage their students in meaningful learning which could help to challenge and deconstruct the various hegemonic dimensions associated with Pacific cultures, languages and people.

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23rd AFMLTA International Languages Conference

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17

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Online Event

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Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA)

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Online

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