Teacher Discussion Forums

lots of students think they can improve their english by wacthing english movie. what's your opinion? on which aspect it can help?
can you give us some suggestions ?
can you recommend some good english movies?
thank you~

Yes, I think watching films can help. It helps to take the language away from the artificial classroom norm, which helps students because they get a to see/hear the language in a more natural setting. This can really help with listening skills as the visual support is what's missing from the usual classroom tapes/CDs, which, unless you're working on something to do with telephoning, are a bit naff really. Using DVD is helpful because they can have the added support of under titles; but only use the English under titles.

As for recommendations, anything really that isn't too long or too serious. Mr Bean is very good or anything with Hugh Grant. You could also try showing some television serials, which normally only last between 20 and 40 minutes - comedy being a good place to start.

Macavity wrote:Yes, I think watching films can help. It helps to take the language away from the artificial classroom norm, which helps students because they get a to see/hear the language in a more natural setting. This can really help with listening skills as the visual support is what's missing from the usual classroom tapes/CDs, which, unless you're working on something to do with telephoning, are a bit naff really. Using DVD is helpful because they can have the added support of under titles; but only use the English under titles.

As for recommendations, anything really that isn't too long or too serious. Mr Bean is very good or anything with Hugh Grant. You could also try showing some television serials, which normally only last between 20 and 40 minutes - comedy being a good place to start.

Yes, I am totally agreed with you. In my opinion, watching movies will not only improve your listening ability, but will help you a lot on your spoken English, espcially our English intonation. Besides, when you watch a movie, you can also learn the culture reflected in the movie.
Take myself for example, I like watch movies very much and it's really helpful for my English study. I really recommand you watch some typical movies "Pride and Prejudice", "The Sound of Music"are all very wonderful. or you may also try some TV plays, "Friends" is my favourite and I dare say you will love it.

I teach ESL at the high school level and feel that showing movies can be very beneficial, especially when they supplement difficult reading. My students read Romeo and Juliet this week, which is not an easy task for someone learning English. We read the book one act at a time, summarizing each scene, and then watched each act on the movie. Many students shouted "Oh!" throughout the movie as the visuals helped clarify some of what they read by seeing it and listening to the dialogue.

We watched many movies in Greenland that went along with the stories in the textbooks and then we made our own movies. It worked great because they began to watch the movies with an eye to using the camera or how the actors moved and so on. My favourite was a horror movie called, "My sister ate my feet." The other students and parents could see the older students speaking English and it became "cool"

I really think that it depends on what movies students are watching! If they are watching movies that are grammatically incorrect, I cannot see how that’s going to help them with the English language. They can watch movies from the fifty’s and sixty’s, those movies were make with proper grammar in mind.

Luz

I would also agree that they are helpful and that the movie selection is very important. I would stay away from movies with jokes because the humor may confuse some EL's and is difficult to understand especially if you haven't mastered the language yet. I would stick to educational movies maybe teaching about technology. The students may learn about how something works along with improving their English at the same time.

My opinion is that ELs should surround themselves in the American culture, which includes not only movies, but books, magazines, television, and music. Just hanging out at our malls provides a wealth of information regarding the American culture. My mother came to this country in the 1940s and there was no bilingual education or ESL to speak of. She immersed herself in the culture by reading newspapers in English, watching American soap operas (All My Children, General Hospital) and although she still has a very heavy Spanish accent, she developed enough communicative language to interact with native English speakers.

As far as movies are concerned, whatever the popular release (either in the theater or movie rental establishment) is available is a good start. Television stations that concentrate on the classics is always a must. (American Movie Classics –a/k/a AMC channel or TMC – a/k/a Turner Movie Classic). TMC channels features a lot of black and white movies.

It has been recommended for adult ESL's to watch The History Channel or a television show in English where they speak slower (most children's shows do speak slower) when they are first learning. It helps them to learn English easier and mimic the words.

You can watch movies and TV programs with English subtitles as well. That helps a lot.

It depends on what you want your students to get out of them (and what age). Any Disney movie should have more clearly spoken plainer english.

Both the travel channel and food network have good shows that travel around the US and the world. They show varying aspects of food and culture and most of the hosts speak pretty good English.

I absolutely think that showing films will help students with their English as well as be exposed to American culture. I have heard that many people learn a language well through the media. Disney films might be a good idea, or anything that is current that is not too racy. You might want to create some kind of activity or a game for them to play as they watch. Maybe you can pause it at times to teach certain words. Hope this helps!

I'm glad that someone brought this topic up. I am doing my student teaching at a high school right now and would really like to show the students a movie. Sometimes though I think that it's hard to justify spending that much class time.

I'd really like to show 12 Angry Men, I'm planning on trying to tie it to a discussion on the US justice system to make it relevant.

I think using movies as a tool for ESL education can be beneficial but it depends on what types of movies are shown and what activities are involved. Movies should have a simple story line that is predictable for students. This will allows students to follow along even if they do not understand everything that is said and will keep them from getting frustrated. You can also choose a popular movie that most students will have already seen since this will also make the story line easy to follow and allow them to focus on the language. While watching the movie students also need to have a task that is required of them either during or after the movie to further their learning.

Hi there!
Yes I think that English movies can help ESL learners to become better in English. Original English movies are authentic materials. Watching a movie in English also provide learners with meaningful input since they have access to visual support while listening to the characters in the movie. Learners can also put on the subtitles (in English!) to provide additional visual support. Subtitles help to make associations between words that are heard in the movie and written words on the screen.

You ask for suggestions. Well I would suggest you to ask your students! Find what kind of movies interest them.