the effect of movie viewing on learning english as a foreign language

ABSTRACTFor years, finding ways and materials to make <strong>the</strong> learning experiences forEFL students more inspiring and fruitful has been one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most important tasks<strong>of</strong> English teaching. Recently, it has become very popular among EFL teachers touse <strong>movie</strong>s (in DVD format) as core content in <strong>the</strong> course curriculum orsupplementary materials to teach English. And many researchers have reportedthat au<strong>the</strong>ntic video is motivating and beneficial.However, few studies have been conducted to investigate <strong>the</strong> relationshipbetween students’ <strong>movie</strong> preferences and <strong>effect</strong>ive learning. If films shown in aclass don’t arouse students’ interest, <strong>the</strong> learning <strong>effect</strong> will be lessened.Therefore, in <strong>the</strong> present study, <strong>the</strong> <strong>effect</strong>iveness <strong>of</strong> using DVD films <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mostpopular <strong>movie</strong> genres was examined.The five research questions were: 1. Does instruction using DVD filmsmotivate students to study in EFL classes? 2. Are <strong>movie</strong> preferences related to<strong>effect</strong>ive learning? 3. What are <strong>the</strong> most popular <strong>movie</strong> genres? 4. Dosubtitles/captions, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unique characteristics <strong>of</strong> DVD films, enhancecomprehension <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> language used in <strong>the</strong> <strong>movie</strong> and thus motivate students tolearn? 5. Are <strong>movie</strong>‐related classroom activities such as keyword preview useful?The current study lasted for two semesters from February 2009 to January2010. The research group conducted a survey to collect data which were analyzedto evaluate participants’ opinions on using <strong>movie</strong>s to teach in EFL classrooms.Since all <strong>the</strong> participants were Yuanpei University students, we hope that <strong>the</strong>results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> survey will provide English teachers with useful information to teachEFL classrooms.iii