The TV series Mr. Bean was first broadcast in the United Kingdom over a decade ago and was extremely popular among a variety of age groups. This was largely due to the fact that the humour used in Mr. Bean can be understood and enjoyed by almost anyone, anywhere in the world. In the series, the main character, Mr. Bean, rarely speaks, preferring instead to rely on actions to express himself. Together with the universally accepted humour, the nonverbal communication is, in fact, probably one of the main reasons why the series is so internationally well received. Lessons employing Mr. Bean can be tailored to focus on language features such as the past tense and the past continuous, storytelling as well as vocabulary practice, and so on. Hamada and Akimoto (2002) mentioned that it is not easy for learners, especially those at a lower level, to comprehend the language in films. However, using Mr. Bean in a class activity can be a powerful tool to increase learners’ motivation to communicate both orally and in written form. This is mainly due to the short episodes, easy plots, and use of everyday topics, and also because there is very little dialogue (Epstein, 1999; Hamada & Akimoto, 2002; Osborne, 2005).

The following activity has been recently exploited in a class of approximately 18 intermediate-level university students in their early twenties. The 90-minute class was part of a 15-week general English course, which met once a week. It was found to be quite effective at increasing students’ motivation and enjoyment of the class.

Preparation

It usually takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare a Mr. Bean video lesson plan, with the actual activity time being anywhere from 30 minutes to the full class length (here 90 minutes). The materials to be prepared beforehand are a computer with Wi-Fi capability to link to the online Mr. Bean series as well as a projector and speakers, and a vocabulary worksheet (see Appendix B). The teacher should preview some episodes of Mr. Bean and choose two consecutive scenes from one of the stories. Each scene should be no longer than 10 minutes. The following examples are suggested episodes, which have worked well in my EFL classrooms: Mr. Bean - Street Performance and Mr. Bean - Library.

Procedure

Step 1

The teacher briefly explains the activity to the students. This can take the form of written steps or a verbal explanation (for an example of written steps, see Appendix A).

Step 2

Students are placed in pairs, and they decide who is A and B. Worksheets (see Appendix B) are handed out and partners discuss the meaning of pertinent vocabulary. The teacher confirms the students have understood the vocabulary.

Step 3

All As are asked to put their heads down on their desks to refrain from watching the video, while Bs view the first of the two scenes. Bs are also encouraged to take notes for communication later. After the scene is finished, the roles are reversed. Bs then put their heads down while As watch the second scene and take notes. An alternative would be to flip the class and have students watch the episodes and make notes at home. They would then come to the next class ready to describe what they had seen to their partners. If the teacher wishes to carry out the activity in this way, scenes from two different episodes should be considered instead of two different scenes in one episode. This would reduce the possibility of students accidentally watching each other’s assignment.

Step 4

After both As and Bs have finished watching, the teacher should ask all As to work together in pairs to verify their explanations of the scene, and Bs do likewise. This invites negotiation of meaning and ensures that even the weaker students can then more confidently go on to the next step, which is to explain what happened to Mr. Bean to a classmate who has not watched the same material.

Step 5

As now pair up with Bs and explain to their new partners what Mr. Bean did. Before they start to communicate, the teacher can model one or two sentences from each scene using the vocabulary sheet (see Appendix B). While learners are explaining what happened to Mr. Bean, the teacher can walk around and help with pronunciation, expressions, and choice of words for the situation, and can generally give advice where necessary.

Step 6

After finishing their explanations, the students view both scenes to see if they have fully understood their partner’s explanation. After this, the teacher asks for several volunteers to present briefly on the two parts of the story in front of the class. This enables the teacher to give feedback and for classmates to ask questions about grammar points, useful expressions, and so on. This will also improve the students’ abilities to adopt a point or expression that they have learned. Finally, all pairs should explain what happened to Mr. Bean to their partners again, incorporating words and expressions learned from the feedback activities. If the class has been flipped, there may be time to add further steps such as role-plays or writing activities based on what the students have seen. Alternatively, these next steps could be continued in the next class.

Conclusion

In my experience, this activity is almost always more successful than many other video-based language learning activities. There seem to be two possible reasons for this. Primarily, the humour of Mr. Bean appears to boost students’ motivation to communicate, but also the Mr. Bean activity itself may inadvertently force learners to recognise the gaps in their vocabulary, knowledge of grammar, ability to explain an ongoing series of events, and so forth. Depending on the student, these can be good motivating factors. As a final note, it is worth remembering that although this activity actually lends itself easily to lower level grammar points such as the simple past and past continuous, it can be adapted to more advanced target grammar points and communicative skills such as the subjunctive mood (e.g., “If I were Mr. Bean, I would…”) as well as the writing in presentations.

References

Epstein, J. (1999). Mr. Bean in the ESL classroom, TESOL Journal. 8(3), pp.41–42.

Hamada, M., & Akimoto, H. (2002). Effective ways of using Mr. Bean for lower-level students. In M. Swanson & D. McMurray (Eds.), PAC3 at JALT2001 Conference Proceedings. (pp. 342–345). Tokyo, Japan: The Japan Association for Language Teaching.

Gurakuqi, L. (2006, December 28). Mr. Bean - Library [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDY0hiMZy8

Mr. Bean. (2013, May 21). Mr. Bean - Street performance [Video file]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHkQ1Or2f2M

Osborne, P. (2005). Teaching English one to one: How to teach one to one classes – for the professional English language teacher. London, England: Modern English.

Appendix A

The following chart shows suggested instructions for this activity. These can be prepared beforehand and briefly explained to the class using an OHP or via PowerPoint slides.

Appendix B

Mr. Bean Goes to the Library

Make pairs (two As and two Bs together) and, in your pairs, discuss the meaning of the vocabulary for the two different scenes below.

While you are watching your part of the Mr. Bean episode, write down any key words and phrases for a later communication activity.

Hidenori Kuwabara is an assistant professor at Tokiwa University, Mito, Japan. He is interested in fear of negative evaluation in foreign language anxiety, focus on form, task-based language teaching, and second language acquisition.