Learning English Through Movies/Dramas

            Watching movies has a favorable effect on a person's stress level. According to medical data, stress is caused by a constant buildup of tension within a person, and without a way to remove it, stress is unavoidable. One of the most efficient ways to decrease anxiety is to watch movies. Each film has its own merit, which may be investigated, especially in terms of language learning. Language acquisition activities such as watching movies without subtitles can help enhance listening and speaking skills. Apart from learning languages, films may teach us a variety of topics and give us an improved awareness of topics we would not have considered before. From viewing movies, we may develop social skills such as problem solving, sharing, and sensitivity.

Film can certainly be applied as a language learning method. "Motivation is one of the most important factors in determining the success of mastering a second language" Donaghy, K. (2014). Apart from being a motivator, films are also an effective and fun way of learning. They also have found that movies catch the learners’ interest and it can positively affect their motivation to learn (Kusumarasdyati, 2004; Luo, 2004). Another benefit of using movies to learn a language is that it provides a reliable and diversified source of information. Students can observe examples of English in'real' situations outside of the classroom by viewing movies, particularly real-life conversational language. A film can be taught as a topic in school. Students get a lot of benefit from movies in a variety of ways, including improved speaking and listening skills. One of the exercises is for students to watch a preset movie and then submit a review and their point of view on the film, as well as link it to issues that occur in their environment.

Using films in language learning

First, select films that are fascinating to you. Choosing the correct film helps pique the learners' interest in learning English. Klippel (1984: 5) claims that “learning is more effective if the learners are actively involved in the process”. What we must keep in mind while selecting a film is to match the genre to the target students. For example, from a young age, we may watch Nemo and other children's moviesn so that youngsters are not influenced negatively by films that are not appropriate for their age

Second, repeat favorite line. After the children watch the movie with English subtitle for the first time, give them a chance to name their favorite part. After that replay the scene. If the kids read an interesting line or scene, ask them to take notes and say it again. Maybe they found idioms they just encountered because casual idioms are not often taught in textbooks, but exist in movies.

Third, ask students to write down the words they don't understand. Every children can present 3-5 difficult words. Then, we can discussed together about difficult words to add their vocabulary. Robinson (2007: 2) defines that “the power of seeing an actor speak, hearing their pronunciation, and linking it reforces learning, it is challenging and makes you think”. Of course, at this stage is the stage to increase their vocabulary in understanding English.

Last, ask students to summarize the story in the film and reveal the moral values in it. As a form of understanding language, summarizing is one way for us to be able to assess whether the children understand every dialogue in the film. and not only that, learning through films can also reap moral values and good views for students.

It can be concluded that using film media in language learning is certainly highly recommended as long as it can adjust to the age of the film to be presented. Learning to use films is also sensitive to hearing and also provides good examples of pronunciation and increases vocabulary.

 

References

Donaghy, K. (2014). How Can Film Help You Teach or Learn English? Available at https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-can-film-help-you-teach-or- learn-english?_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C8867826068

Klippel, F. (1984). Keep Talking. Communicative Fluency Activities for Language Teaching, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Kusumardayanti (2004). Listning, Viewing and Imagination: Movies In EFL Classes.Vancour: Canada