The Impact of Using Movies on Learning English language at University of Halabja PDF

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1 University of Halabja Faculty of Education and Human Sciences School of Basic Education Department of English Language Undergraduate Research Project The Impact of Using Movies on Learning English Language At University of Halabja A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE COUNCIL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGL...

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The Impact of Using Movies on Learning English language at University of Halabja Balambo Tahir

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University of Halabja Faculty of Education and Human Sciences School of Basic Education Department of English Language Undergraduate Research Project

The Impact of Using Movies on Learning English Language At University of Halabja A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE COUNCIL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE – UNIVERSITY OF HALABJA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

BY Balambo Jamal Tahir

SUPERVISED BY Barzan Hadi Hamakarim

April, 2015

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DEDICATION

Dedicated to…

My parents Those who inspired me in my life

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I want to show my sincerest appreciation to my parents who supported me in my life and my academic study, and my dear supervisor Barzan H. Hamakarim, who supported and guided me throughout this study. I’m also grateful to my beloved teachers who taught me throughout four years of my academic study at the English Department– University of Halabja, and their kind relationship with me. I’m grateful to my beloved lecturers: my role model Mr. Ibrahim Murad who taught me a lot, and Mr. Hameed Hussein Hama-Said, who supported and helped me in this paper. At last, I want to show my appreciation to my Friend Hemn Khulaways who supported me throughout the present paper and stand with me.

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Abstract This study investigated a relevant topic in the area of language teaching. To conduct the study 50 EFL learners were selected from three stages: 2nd, 3rd and 4th from the department of English language in the University of Halabja, aged 18-30 years old. The results of the study showed the significance of using movies as a modern technology in EFL classrooms to learn English language, its beneficial effect on English language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing and English language components. The study concluded that movies help EFL learners to learn English language faster than other ways. They improve language skills, specifically listening and reading skills, as well as improving the social relations of the learner, the familiarity with native speaker’s culture. Movie subtitles improve reading and writing skills.

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Table of Contents

Page Dedication………………………………………………………………….. i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………........ ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………... iii Table of contents…………………………………………………………..... iv Table of illustrations…………………………………………...…………… v Introduction......................................................................................................1 1. Chapter One: Historical Background 1.1 Historical background of using technology in ESL class…………..….....3 1.2 The importance of using Movies to learn English language………..…….5 2. Chapter Two: Literature review 2.1 The impact of using movies on the four language skills……………..…... 10 2.2 The impact of using movies on the four language components…….……..12 3. Chapter Three: The Study 3.1 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………..……..14 3.2 Sampling……………………………………………………………..…….14 3.3 Methodology…………………………………………………………..…...14 3.4 Data collection and analysis, findings and interpretations………….….…..14 Conclusion and Recommendations…………………………………….....….24 References……………………………………………………………….….....25 Appendix……………………………………………………………..….......... A

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Table of Illustrations Page TABLE I: DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR GENDERS…………15 TABLE II: DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR AGES ……...…….16 TABLE III: DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR STAGES …..….…17 TABLE IV: THE EFFECT OF MOVIES………………………………………..……..17 TABLE V: DURATION OF WATCHING MOVIES………………………………..……18 TABLE VI: SELECTING MOVIES TO WATCH………………………………..……….19 TABLE VII: THE USE OF SUBTITLES…………………………………….………….19 TABLEVIII: THE IMPACT OF MOVIES ON LANGUAGE SKILLS……………………….20 TABLE IX: MOTIVATING STUDENTS……………………………………………….22

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INTRODUCTION The purpose of this research paper is to determine how students at the university level are getting benefit from watching English movies in order to support their learning process. This paper provides a general framework about educational impacts of English movies as a pedagogical tool to learn English Language. A survey is conducted in order to explore opinions and expectations of 50 students as a sample from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th stages in the department of English language at the University of Halabja. The results display the educational impacts of watching English movies to improve their language learning. The purpose of the research is to investigate the impact of watching movies as a pedagogical tool on learning English Language by the students of English department and its academic achievements on ESL students. This paper will attempt to highlight findings that address the following questions: 1. To what extent watching movies beneficial for students to learn English language at the university? 2. To what extent do students prefer movies as a pedagogical tool for learning English Language in the department of English language? This research paper includes three chapters. Chapter one has two sections: section one is given to the historical background of using Technology in ESL class, section two is given to discuss the importance of using Movies to learn English language.

8 Chapter two has two sections: section one is given to discuss the impact of using Movies on the four language skills, and section two is given to discuss the impact of using Movies on the four language components. Chapter three includes a conducted study in which all the results are shown and descriptively analyzed. The research ends up with the conclusion which summarizes the most dominant findings of the study, and this is followed by the references.

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CHAPTER ONE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

1.3 Historical Background of Using Technology in ESL classroom Technology has always been at the first place. From the days humans carved figures on the walls of caves, until now, when students are given technological devices, technology pushed educational abilities to new levels (“The Evolution of Technology in the Classroom”, 2015). Technology can have a complementary relationship with teaching. The invention of new technologies makes learners understand the course content and achieve a good result in the classroom. So long as many new technologies have been invented in history, they had a message for learners to discover appropriate methods to incorporate these new technologies into the class (Groff, Haas, Klopfer & Osterweil, 2009). During the Colonial years till 1900, several educational tools were invented including: wooden paddles, which helped students learn verses, Magic Lantern, an old basic type of projector that causes images to appear on glass plates, the Chalkboard and pencil, and students were expecting for more advanced educational tools. After that, several advanced technologies invented till videotapes arrived in 1951, which developed the process of education and made a new exciting method of teaching (“The History of Classroom Technology”, 2015).

10 Technology has an effective relation with English language education (Singhal, 1997). Throughout the last century, English language laboratories were being used in various institutions, and they were consisted of several small cabinets; each cabinet had a cassette deck, a microphone and a headphone. Teachers use a dominant control panel to observe their students' interactions. The foremost advantage of that type of technology was that spoken function of students would help them to learn the second language faster. Through exercising more practical drill problems the language skills of the learners can be enhanced (Nomass, 2013). Also these laboratories were a good step in creating a connection between technology and language education (Singhal, 1997). While new technologies came in the 1980s, incorporation of visual materials in language classrooms has become common (Vanderplank, 2010). Language teaching is an area in which the utilization in technology has been motivated. So far, technological devices are being used in language classes (Traore & Kyei-Blankson, 2011). Using technology, especially movies, as a teaching strategy for learning a second language in ESL classrooms has become popular today. It supports learning process among ESL learners and can be utilized in various forms to improve comprehension skill in their course contents (Hicks, Reid, & George, 2001) and ESL learners themselves see it as pivotal source for advancing their second language proficiency as well (Neuman & Koskinen, 1992). At the present time, technology surrounds humanity. Especially the new generation is growing up with technology and live with it. Computer technologies have extremely changed the way people get information, and communicate with

11 people around the world. For this reason, schools and educational institutions obliged to be aware of technological equipments, and instructors at the schools and institutions are necessary to improve their technological skills to be able to catch the students` attention and interests (Akyol, 2010). Now teachers are utilizing technology to help improve and enhance comprehending of their course content (Hicks, Reid, & George, 2001). Utilizing various kinds of technological equipments gives ESL learners the sense of freedom, motivation, and encouragement they need for learning process (Genc- Ilter, 2009), also makes the lesson more efficient (Akyol, 2010). According to Lee Wang, incorporating technology in ESL classrooms has many advantages; it improves the learners’ language skills like: reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. English-language learners use computers, software programs to enhance their fluency, and improve their language skills. They use the Internet to search for information and read technology texts (Wang, 2005).

1.2 The Importance of Using Movies to Learning English Language In the world, the cultural heritage of a nation is the language. During the last decade, learning languages has become more important. Learning a new language not only develops individual intelligence, but also it gives learners, permission to enter and gets learners near to another culture and prepares them with the essential skills to succeed and change their behavior in a rapidly changing world (Chan & Herrero, 2010). Movies are a part of visual literacy and “movies are an enjoyable source of entertainment and language acquisition” (Ismaili, 2012, p. 122).

12 Using movies in the ESL classrooms or as an outside school activity can support motivation of the learners, because of their playful component, and they can be used as task activities to give an ideal environment for learning, as well as encouraging participation and interaction among students (Chan & Herrero, 2010). “The use of movies in the language classroom can encourage a creative approach that can have applications across the curriculum” (Chan & Herrero, 2010, p. 6). Many scholars have revealed that movies used in ESL classroom can become an essential part of the courses. This is based on the fact that movies give exposures to “real language,” used in authentic settings and in the cultural context which the second language is spoken. They also have recognized that movies attract the learner, and it can positively affect their motivation to learn (Xhemaili, 2013). Watching movies serve as a bridge between learning skills and language objectives (output) and using them in ESL classroom provide background information that activates foremost knowledge, which is important in stimulating the four skills’ activities in the classroom (Herron & Hanley, 1992). Using subtitled movies in the language classroom make students interact with the movies. When ESL learners watching a subtitled movie, except watching and listening to the audiovisual materials, they are also understand and interact with the movie, and they make a translation, between the source language and target language. This interaction seems to be in its pick in case of watching movies in reversed subtitled mode. While watching reversed subtitled movies, learners try less to understand aural input due to their familiarity with the audio language (Gorjian, 2014).

13 Furthermore, Scholars have revealed that movie fragments are useful to enhance memory and improve recovery of information in reading skill and listening skill (Pezdek, Lehrer, & Simon, 1984). Using the same pattern, movies help the development of the writing skill of the learner and give interesting and motivating clues to accompany audio or written inputs, in that way they help understanding and producing of second language input/output (Ismaili, 2012). Videos that related to the content of the curriculum can be used in EFL classrooms, to bring a realistic phase of what is being taught in the class. This issue work as a supporter and motivator to the learners (Furmanovsky, 1997). “For this reason, many scholars and EFL practitioners prefer to watch the movie adaptations of famous and current novels as a supplementary source for the reading” (Ismaili, 2012, p. 122). Movies pave the way for the EFL learners and give the opportunities to see the social dynamics of communication just like native speakers incorporate into real settings (Ismaili, 2012). In addition, movies provide a great chance to students to gain background understanding, to combine with their own understanding of a story or concept. When students reading a text, movie features can help them connect to new information they may have not had a background in and change their new thoughts, images, and feelings to the text at hand (Gambrell & Jawits, 1993). “The main component of using the movies in the class is actually enabling the reader to picture or to visualize the events, characters, narration, story and words in the context” (Ismaili, 2012, p. 123). Draper (2012) has described visualization as a foremost prerequisite for a good reader. Helping students gain visualization skills is an essential way to advance greater understanding while reading. It permits students the ability to become more engaged in their reading and they use their images to draw

14 conclusions, create interpretations of the text, and recall details and elements from the text (Keene & Simmerman, 1997). Draper (2012) has researched and recognized that expert readers impulsively and purposefully create mental images in their mind at the time, and after they read. The creation of the images comes from the five senses and emotions, and they are stored in readers’ encyclopedic knowledge. They use images to put themselves in detail while they read. The detail provides depth and dimension to the reading, engaging the reader more deeply, and making the text more memorable. Expert readers get the benefit from images to draw conclusions, to create different and unique interpretations of the text, to remember the essential elements of the text, and to remember a text after it has been read. This is a good reason to support English instructors to be more imaginative and motivated using movies in EFL classrooms (Ismaili, 2012). Therefore, teachers believed that using movies in EFL classroom can increase the interaction among learners; they improve learners’ speaking skill and offer learners more opportunities to use English (Ismaili, 2012). “They also claim that they faced difficulties while selecting suitable movies for different proficiency levels and that watching a movie might be very time consuming”(Ismaili, 2012, p.125). Students believe that using movies in the classroom was new and very pleasant experience for the students. They claim that they enjoyed the assigned activities in the classroom. Students were more excited to see and hear real-life situations in spite of to follow the activities in a book, and movies also provide a relaxed atmosphere for students (Ismaili, 2012)

15 “In short, films provide an invaluable extension of what we might call the technologies of language acquisition that have been used to teach students the basics of English learning in elementary and high schools or institutes”(Sabouri, Zohrabi & Osbouei, 2015, p. 110).

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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Impact of Using Movies on The Four Language skills “In terms of instruction, teaching English is supposedly not confined only to grammar; it should include several aspects of the language, such as the four skills” (Al-Muhtaseb, 2012, p. 4). Language is in terms of the four basic language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. In the oral mode, listening comprehension is the receptive skill and speaking is the productive skill, whereas in the written mode, reading is the receptive skill, and writing is the productive skill (Four Skills in the English Language, 2013). The aim of learning English language is to improve the four language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing of the EFL learner, with support of a great number of English vocabularies and proper grammar, but this is not enough. The learners should be able to speak in English language. Furthermore, most of the EFL learners have a good reading and writing skill compared to listening and speaking skill. They can easily read and write, but it is difficult for them to speak in second language and talk about themselves (Chun, 2006), because always the major focus has been on writing skill. Students do many writing activities from the first year of their academic study until they write their research paper in last year and during time, they will have almost some courses related to speaking and reading skills (Al-Muhtaseb, 2012).

17 therefore, it is necessary for the instructors and learners to estimate the exertions and time given to pronunciation as an essential part of second language learning, and they have to decide which level of proficiency is required for effective communication (Gimson, 1980). Varga stated a research question as follows: “Which skills can be developed with the help of feature movies?” (Varga, 2013, p. 343). The results demonstrate that all the four skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing are possible to develop with one single movie. Using movies in ESL classrooms has beneficial effects on the learners’ receptive and productive skills (Varga, 2013), since “much language production work grows out of texts that students see or hear” (Harmer, 2007, p. 267). Most of the instructors, experts and even learners believe that using movies in ESL classrooms has many advantages as they are essential tools for developing listening skill (Varga, 2013). The most dominant advantage of English movies in ESL classroom is their authenticity (Varga, 2013). “Language is presented in everyday conversational settings, “in real life contexts rather than artificial situations” (King, 2002:2)” (Varga, 2013, p. 344). Furthermore, movies pave they way to get familiar with the dialects of English language (King, 2002). Another advantage of English movies is that in spite of demonstrating real materials related to English language. They offer learners with paralinguistic characteristics such as; facial expressions and motion of hands and body to express thoughts and feelings which they can have beneficial effects in communicative situations (King, 2002; Kusumarasdyati, 2004; Rammal, 2005).

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