I use Hollywood films to give my language-acquisition students the opportunity to practise critical consumption. This hasn't always gone as planned.
Some films get it right. Krakozhian-speaking Viktor Navorski's (Tom Hanks) lengthy stay in an airport terminal, for example, yields English data befitting an actual developmental study.
Fortunately, there are enough films around for students to criticise - like those referred to ("Intellectual extras", 17 January) - that do not get it right.
