THEORY AND PRACTICE FOR ESOL (SKBI6013)
Prof. Dr. HAZITA BT. AZMAN & Dr. NOORIZAH BINTI MOHD
NOOR
'MOVIES AS TEACHING AND LEARNING TOOLS'
BY
Ala' Elddian Abdullah Ahmed Bani Kalef
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OUTLINE
1. ABSTRACT
2. INTODUCTION
ü Movies and Learning Styles

3. COMMENTARY
 Literature Review
 Movies as teaching tools
 Movies and Motivation Principles
 Movies and Learning Styles Principles
 Movies and students' Attitudes
 Movies and non-verbal language
 Movies and ambiguity tolerance

 The Environment and Outcomes in Watching movie
 Language Skil s and Movies
 Movies and Learning Styles
i.
Field independence and field dependence
ii.
Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic styles
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 Movies and Learning Strategies
i.
Cognitive strategies
ii.
Socioaffective strategies
4. Conclusion
5. References
6. Individual parts
i.
ALAELDDIN
1. Movies and Culture
2. Movies and communicative competence
3. Movies and Schemata
4. Linguistic Imperialism and Movies
ii.
ALI LABABNEH
1. Movies and Motivation
2. Movies and Social Strategy
3. Movies and stereotypes
iii.
MOHAMMAD QARQAZ
1. Movies and Intelligence
2. Movies and teacher's Beliefs
3. Movies and, left & right brain characteristics
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ABSTRACT
This article discusses the importance of using films as an effective method that al ow
students to immerse themselves in learning foreign language. Movies' principles and
features will be also taken into account. In addition, this paper is tried to explain both the
main language skills that may be developed by watching movies, and the appropriate
strategies that are employed in using movies as an educational material whether inside
or outside classroom. Therefore, some of learning theories will be presented to show the
powerful of using movies in teaching. It is hoped that this paper will be an eye opener to
ESL practitioners. It is important for them to know the significance of applying movies in
teaching language as well as the target culture.
INTRODUCTION
Students learn in various ways—by seeing and hearing; reflecting and acting;
reasoning logical y and intuitively. In other words students use different devices in
learning; some of them are visual learners and other are auditory learners or tactile.
Teaching methods, therefore, may diversify. Teachers have to use different teaching
methods in order to teach al students effectively. A variousness of teaching strategies,
knowledge of student levels, and a realization of which strategies are appropriate for
particular students can assist teachers to know which teaching methods will be most
efficacious for their class.
Movies and Learning Styles
In this section, learning styles will be briefly il ustrated in relation to the use of movies
in teaching language. Undoubtedly, there are strong ties between using movies and
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learning styles. Some of authors handle learning styles in different perspectives while
sensory learning styles will be especially emphasized.


The different ways of how a learner acquires, retains and retrieves information are
col ectively termed as learning styles or learning preferences. According to Claxton and
Ralston learning styles may be defined as people’s ‘consistent ways of responding to
and using stimuli in the context of learning’ (1987: 7). Likewise, for Keefe, learning styles
are the ‘characteristic, cognitive, affective and psychological behaviours that serve as
relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the
learning environment’ (1979: 4). Similarly, for Dunn and Griggs ‘learning style is the
biological y and developmentally imposed set of characteristics that make the same
teaching wonderful for some and terrible for others’ (1988: 3). Furthermore, according to
Wierzbicka ‘human being don’t think about…things in the same way, And language
doesn’t reflect the world directly, it reflects human conceptualisation, human
interpretation of the world’ (1992: 7).
Moreover, some of learning styles are adapted from Reid’s Perceptual Learning
Style Preference Questionnaire (1998). These learning styles are visual, auditory,
kinesthetic, tactile, group and individual. Brown also claims that there are three types of
learning style. Visual learners prefer reading and studding charts or any graphic
information. Auditory learners prefer listening to lectures and audiotapes. Finally,
kinesthetic learners prefer physical activity involving bodily movement (Brown 2005).
As shown above, most of learning styles prone to stimulate senses to create great
effective learning. Similarly, learning theories emphasize the importance role of arousal
sensory receptors to reach the efficient level teaching or learning. For instance, Sensory
stimulation theory (Laird, 1985) that states that when multisenses are stimulated greater
learning takes place. Holistic learning theory (Laird, 1985) that claims that the 'individual
personality consists of many elements… specifically... the intel ect, emotions, the
impulse or desire, intuition and imagination that al require activation if learning is to be
more effective. Experiential learning (D.A. Kolb, 1984) that argues that there are four-
stage in learning process: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract
conceptualization, and active experimentation. Briefly , most of learning theories tend to
highlight the value of senses stimulation whether by applying observations or
imaginations as well as experimentations.
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furthermore,( Laird1985) 'quotes research that found that the vast majority of
knowledge held by adults (75%) is learned through seeing. Hearing is the next most
effective (about 13%) and the other senses – touch, smel and taste – account for 12% of
what we know'. He acclaims also that stimulation through the senses is achieved through
a 'greater variety of colours, volume levels, strong statements, facts presented visual y,
use of a variety of techniques and media'.
The question that could be raised. Does watching movies stimulate the watcher's senses?
COMMENTARY
Movie is form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images
giving the il usion of continuous movement; "they went to a movie every Saturday night";
"the film was shot on location (thefreedictionary). Movie is at best defined as the
selection and sequence of messages in an audio-visual context. Movie categories are
general y sorted by these genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Romance,
historical, , Teen, Family, Suspense, fantasy and educational short film movies.
Movie is surly modern-day storytelling instruments. They have the power to reach
massive audiences, which is why they should, and do, matter so much to society.
Whether they are stories of afar or just everyday existence, good movies are a means for
people, particularly adults, to understand and relate to the world in constructive ways.
Researches find that youth spend an average of 6.5 hours each day with media
(Rideout, Roberts & Foehr, 2005). Therefore, it is important for adults to understand how
youth process the messages being conveyed by the media.
Moreover, Research has demonstrated that the media plays an important role in the
socialization of youth. Socialization refers to learning one’s culture and how to live within
it. Social cognitive theory of mass communication addresses concerns about the effects
of increased viewership on human behavior (Bandura, 2002). Media content consumed
by children is likely to shape their perceptions of the real world and the people operating
within it.
Nevertheless, the effects of the media on children can be profound, often
establishing gender and racial stereotypes. For example, some movies that presented
the image of Islam as recourse of terrorism. Some movies also portray women as a
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means of temptation and seduction, may lead youth to believe this is how females are to
be, for example. Both instructors and learners, therefore, must be aware of choosing the
suitable movie for language task.
LITERTURE REVIEW
In order to investigate the importance of movie materials for language teaching and to
study the effectiveness of audiovisual input in language teaching activities, some of the
existing research needs to be reviewed. This review will elucidate the emergence and
history of foreign movies in the SL classroom, as well as the advantages of using videos
and movies (films, segments) as a teaching medium for second languages.
Films in SL classroom started to acquire pedagogic importance in the 1960 when
more researchers came to agree that videotexts could give students the opportunity to
experience contact with contextualized language and the culture of the target country,
thus facilitating language acquisition (Lonergan,1984, cited in Fassbender 2009).
Little research has been done on the using of movies as an educational tools
whether inside or outside classroom. However as early as the late of 1930(quoted in
Fassbender 2009), researchers like Hendrix (1939) and Tatum (1941), noticed the rise of
the moving- picture industry and expected great success from utilizing movies in the
teaching of foreign languages. While Johnson (1956) noted that, the adolescents' rising
interest in and familiarity with movies promised a high acceptance on the students'.
In recent years, some of these studies have begun to be addressed, but in limited
contexts. For example, Balatova (1994) claims 'that unlike a student, who listened in
sound only conditions, the use of video and sound conditions were more consistent in
their perception of the story, in the sense that difficult and easy passages formed a
pattern' . This study remarks that scenes where utterances were supported by an action
and/or body language and that were relatively shorter were considered easier to
understand by students.
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Research by Herron, Hanley and Cole (1995) reports that the visual support in the
form of descriptive pictures significantly improved comprehension scores with language
videos for English speaking students learning French. The results of the study suggests
that extensive listening is facilitated by the richness of the context that visual organizers,
such as educational videos, provide. Heron (1994) finds that advanced organizers based
on videos helped learners improve comprehension and aid in the retention of
information.
Similarly, Canning-Wilson (2000) indicates that the students prefer learning language
through the use of videos. One of the results of her study reveals that learners prefer
action/entertainment films to language films or documentaries in the classroom. She
claims although these films may seem to hold student interest, she believes that it could
be inferred that student comprehension of the video may be due to the visual clues
instead of the auditory components.
Arthur (1999 quoted in LI Ling) claims that:
"Video can give students realistic models to imitate for role-play; can increase
awareness of other cultures by teaching appropriateness and suitability; can
strengthen audio/visual linguistic perceptions simultaneously; can widen the
classroom repertoire and range of activities; can help utilize the latest technology
to facilitate language learning; can teach direct observation of the paralinguistic
features found in association with the target language; can be used to help when
training students in ESP related scenarios and language; can offer a visual
reinforcement of the target language and can lower anxiety when practicing the
skil of listening."
LI Ling (2009) also in his study entitle ' On the use of films in EFL classroom' notes
that students' motivation can be enhanced through using films, such as familiarizing
learners with target culture, and making classes more interesting. Interactive language
learning using films offers learners interesting comprehensible input and allows them to
get actively involved in lessons at their desired pace. Therefore, it is strongly
recommended that colleges and practitioners encourage the use of instructional video in
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the classroom as it offers an exciting and innovative way for EFL learners to learn
English.
Prof. Dinçay (2004) emphasizes, in his study entitled to ' kill the blackboard?
technology in language teaching and learning' , to the importance of using the new
technology in teaching instead of using blackboard only. Through using films, students
will be entertained in learning the language. The results of his study Videos can be used
as a tool for developing students' listening comprehension and enhancing their
intercultural competence as well as presenting new language material or consolidating
what has already been presented through the activities.
Canning (2001 cited in Dinçay 2004) discusses the practical implications of using
video in the classroom as fol ows:
' Video provides visual stimuli such as the environment and this can lead to
and generate prediction, speculation and a chance to activate background
schemata when viewing a visual scene re-enacted. It can be argued that
language found in videos could help nonnative speakers understand stress
patterns. Videos allow the learner to see both rhythm and speech rhythm in
second language discourse through the use of authentic language and
speed of speech in various situations. Videos al ow contextual clues to be
offered. In addition, video can stimulate and motivate student interest. The
use of visuals overal can help learners to predict information, infer ideas
and analyse the world that is brought into the classroom via the use of
video instruction. In a teaching or testing situation video can help enhance
clarity and give meaning to an auditory text; it can create a solid link
between the materials being learned and the practical application of it in a
testing situation; the video can act as a stimulus or catalyst to help
integrate materials or aspects of the language; videos can help manipulate
language and at the same time be open to a variety of interpretations''.
New internet phenomena like the website "YouTube.com" are now providing
everybody with an inexhaustible wealth of videos. YouTube is a video-sharing website,
created in 2005, were users can upload, view and sharing video clips as well as al types
of long and short movies. According to Social Media Statistics, showed unexpected
findings from July 2008 include:
-75 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
-Americans spent a total of 558 million hours watching online video during the
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month.
-The average online video viewer watched 235 minutes of video.
- 91 mil ion viewers watched 5 billion videos on YouTube.com (54.8 videos per
viewer).
-51.4 mil ion viewers watched 400 million videos on MySpace.com (7.8 videos
per viewer).
- The duration of the average online video was 2.9 minutes.
With these facts in mind, it is hardly surprising that researchers like Peter Duffy in his
study entitled, 'Engaging the YouTube Google-Eyed Generation: Strategies for Using
Web 2.0 in Teaching and Learning', found that Blogs, YouTube and wikis provide a
means to encourage and make visible the social construction of knowledge which such
theory postulates, and it is incumbent on teachers to embrace such tools where their use
is beneficial to learners and teachers alike.
Movies as teaching tools
Movies can be effective tools. A prepared educator can use movies to stimulate
discussion, facilitate learning on particular topics, or reemphasizing material being
presented through textbooks or classroom lectures. Jonson (1956) in his experience in
using movies in the classroom lead to the following results:
1. Increased ability to understand the spoken language
2. Improvement in pronunciation
3. Acquisition of vocabulary
4. Development of ability in self-expresion through talking and writing
5. Unconscious assimilation of grammatical forms and sentence patterns in context.
(p.44 quoted in Fassbender 2009)
Likewise, Procotor (1990) states that movies are a great beneficial tool for
communication interaction for the following reasons :
1. Heighten student interest without sacrificing academic rigor
2. Use available resource that makes students more comfortable.
3. Provide affective and cognitive experiences through vicarious involvement
Learning English by watching movies is similar with learning process, since either
learning process or learning by movies are promoting learners' skil s. First learners will
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Document Outline

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