Preview

The Effects of Watching English Movies

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2968 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Effects of Watching English Movies
Abstract

Learning a foreign language well does not simply mean mastering its pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. In fact, the learning of a language is inseparable from the learning of its culture. It shows that students not only should grasp vocabularies, grammar and pronunciation,but also properly grasp the relationship between language teaching and culture understanding. It's clear that language teaching is indeed culture teaching. It is necessary and urgent to teach not only cultural knowledge information but cultural communication information as well. Having plenty of knowledge of cultural perspectives, cultural contents and cultural practices, an individual can learn a foreign language to a desirable height and level. Briefly, cultural knowledge is a starting point, cultural awareness is the link between cultural knowledge and cultural understanding, and the final objective is to improve the language acquisition of English-learners through culture teaching.

Key words: culture; teaching; learning; approaches; learning strategies

Introduction

Taking the cultural dimension into account is nothing new in language teaching and learning. A widely defined notion of language is that people use language as a means of communication. English has already become firmly established as the international language of the present time, irrespective of the diverse range of situations and cultures throughout the world. For the last several decades we have been witnessing the fact that contemporary society is undergoing rapid and profound transformation on a wider scale. Economic globalization is a powerful factor underlying the changes taking place, and it is underpinned by the communications revolution. The past decades have seen a dramatic increase in travel, and more recently, new information technologies, notably the internet, have produced a degree of mobility, both true and virtual, that could hardly have been dreamt of half a century ago. As



References: [1] 李学珍. 语言概论[M].山东大学出版社, 1999. [2] 李文忠. 中国英语和中式英语[J].外语教学与研究, 1993. [3] 罗运芝.中国英语前景观[J]. 外语与外语教学, 1998. [4] 贾玉新.跨文化交际学[M]. 上海外语教育出版社,1997. [5] Guixia Sun.Instructing Foreign Language Teaching from Social Linguistic Aspects. Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Qinghua University Press. 1997. [6] Wenzhong Hu. English Teaching and Learning. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 1989. [7] YuhuiYang.The Influence of Cultural Elements in English Teaching. Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Qinghua [8] D. Buttjes. Teaching Foreign Language and Culture: Social Impact and Political Significance. Language Learning Journal. 1990 [9] C. Kramsch. The Cultural Discourse of Foreign Language Textbooks. In: A. Singerman, ed. Towards a New Integration of Language and Culture. Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference . 1988 [10] M. Byram. Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters . 1988

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    References: Cross, T., Bazron, B., Dennis, K. and Isaacs, M. (1989). The four tools of cultural proficiency. Adapted from work by Randall B. Lindsey, Kikanza Nuri Robins, Raymond Terrell, Delores Lindsey et al. Used with permission. www.KikanzaNuriRobins.com.…

    • 2599 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Pachler, N., Barnes, A., and Field, K., 2009, Learning to teach Modern Foreign Languages in the secondary school: a Companion to School Experience, Routledge…

    • 6870 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nowadays, majority of classroom environments are culturally diverse. In the Philippines, an English language classroom is not limited to only Filipino students but also to other nationalities such as Koreans, Indians, Timorese and the like. This scenario is evident in universities catering other nationalities, such as Angeles University Foundation. Aside from having a bachelor degree in any field of their choice, foreign students also aim to learn the English language. Guided by the university with its teaching personnel, foreign students are given opportunities to enhance their English communication through interactive language learning activities. These activities are applicable not only to foreign students but also Filipino students. Although the university has the capability of providing opportunities to students, there are still other factors that could affect the quality of the English language learning. One of which is the socio-cultural foundation of the students.…

    • 4285 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inquiry Project Paper

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It is important for teachers to enter their students culture, a culture and tradition they are passionate to share. “The more people read, the more their reading comprehension will improve and the more capable they will be of finding difficult, academic-style texts more comprehensible. For bilingual children, they best approach is to develop their first language literacy and be sure they have many opportunities to read in both their first and second language” (Cummins, 2000; Krashen, 1996; Thomas & Collier, 2001). The key is to find books that students connect to in some way. In order to teach in a culturally responsive approach it is important to use culturally relevant books. Readers make links and connections when they are reading when they read books that connect to their own experiences. Students are more engaged when the books they read connect to their lives and background and they have more success in reading. When students are involved in assessing the books they read it could help teachers decide whether the books are culturally relevant. “Students are asked to rate each book on several criteria including sociocultural factors, the setting, the time period, the age and sex of the characters, and the language characters use. By discussing the answers with their students, teachers can better judge whether or not a book is culturally relevant for a particular group of students” (Freeman…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Pufahl, Ingrid, Christian Donna, and Nancy Rhodes. “Foreign Language Teaching: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries.” ERIC Clearing House on Languages and Linguistics (2000):1-35. Eric Digest. Web 18 Apr.2012…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bulfin, Scott; Koutsogiannis, Dimitris. Language & Education: An International Journal. Jul2012, Vol. 26 Issue 4, p331-346.…

    • 1019 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a social scientist, the decision was to review the idea of using social and linguistics as a means to define the American culture to a visitor from Mars or any other Country. Language can be used as the vehicle that carries and mediates communication in an increasingly globalized world, but in the discipline of international studies, it is often or better yet forgotten. If someone decides to become global citizens, students of international studies must content with the vehicle that carries our communication. Language competence employs a critical role in order to navigate successfully between cultures and survive within another culture. The success in a global society is always enhanced by what constitutes as a relevant second language. Researchers view business ventures are more effective when there is an attempt to learn the host language and is more effective when spoken language has been achieved. Teachers routinely use languages other than their own to conduct research and synthesize material relevant for their students.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Language is a fundamental aspect of culture; language barriers present major obstacles (Friedman, Bowden & Jones, 2003).…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Moving from Theory to Practice: Proposals for Beginning to Work with Formative Assessment in the Foreign Language Classroom. Peter Hone Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Master in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Trade Schools and Language Schools – English Specialisation Teaching Practice: Institut Joan Ramon Benaprès, Sitges Mentor: Emigdi Subirats Tutor: Àngels Oliva Draft Two Thursday 19th May 2011 1 CONTENTS 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 5 1.1 1.2 2 General Presentation of the Paper ............................................................. 5 Introduction to the school ........................................................................... 7 Applicable Theories and the Legal Framework ......................... 8 2.1 Contextualising the Project: within the School ............................................ 8 2.2 Contextualising the Project: within the corresponding Theoretical, Legal and Curricular Frameworks.................................................................................. 8 3 4 From Theory to Methodology..................................................... 14 From Methodology to Practice...................................................17 4.1 Testing the Model ..................................................................................... 17 4.2…

    • 22427 Words
    • 150 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bibliography: Xu, Lisheng , ed. Intercultural Communication In English. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.…

    • 4476 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Best Essays

    Felder, R. M, & Henriques, E. R. (1995), “Learning and Teaching Styles in Foreign and Second Language education”. Foreign Language Annals, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 21-31.…

    • 3066 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Andrew Crilly, English In New Cultural Contexts, Study Guide-Block 1, ed. T. F. Tan, (Singapore: Singapore Institute of Management, 1999) 12-23.…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taks 5

    • 3015 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Learning new languages had always been considered an investment in one’s success. There are various examples of folklore sayings, such as, ‘you are as many times a man, as many languages you speak’ (Slavic proverb), or that you live as many lives as many languages you know (Czeck folk song). These days such opinions can be considered truer than ever. It isn’t just diplomats and interpreters who are obliged to learn languages. In the twenty-first century, the process of globalization has expanded further than ever, and people all over the world are becoming more and more interconnected. Whether one is working for a big international corporation, or frequently travels abroad for leisure, enjoys watching foreign movies with the original soundtrack, or simply wants to widen ones horizons, learning a second, or third language, is always a wonderful decision.…

    • 3015 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is essential to understand in order to become a successful communicator. As noted by the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, through the study of language, students gain a knowledge and understanding of the cultures that use that language. In fact, students cannot truly master a language until they have also mastered the cultural context in which the language occurs.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Class Observation

    • 2472 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Then she hands out strips of paper with five discussion questions that pertain to the topic of bullies, for example “Why do you think children become bullies?” and “What would you do if someone bullies your child?” Students get into groups of two to discuss their opinions on these questions. The instructor walks around from group to group and listens. She elicits more responses from the students and scaffolds them as needed. It seems as though she employs an integrated focus on form…

    • 2472 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays