K22 ENGLISH -

MAJORED STUDENT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SEMINAR

THE EFFECT OF MOVIE VIEWING ON

LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
Le Minh Phuong *

Summary: This article aims to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of

movie viewing on learning English as a second language. The main purpose of this
paper is to make some suggestions to deal with existing disadvantages and therefore
to facilitate language learning. It is hoped that the result of this paper will help
learners to improve their English learning and to some extent it will guide Vietnamese
educational system.
Key words: movie viewing, advantages, disadvantages, learning English.

I. INTRODUCTION disadvantages that it carries. Because of

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the the drawbacks of this method, the HUBT
development of the media and technology, English teachers are only able to give us
learning a second language has been a number of movie recommendations to
considered being an easy and interesting watch at home but not in the class.
task for learners to pursue. The learners As an English major student that has
can now absorb the foreign language that brought about this method, I have received
they are studying by attending online a great deal of helpful knowledge as
courses, listening to music or audio books, well as satisfied and enjoyable moments
and especially by watching movies. It when studying English. Nevertheless, I
is undeniable that movie viewing is an also experienced some drawbacks while
immensely convenient way for learners carrying it out: the lack of formal written
to learn English and also an innovative rules instruction, the learners’ reliance on
idea for teachers to consider applying to Vietnamese subtitle, etc…
their lessons. For all the reasons above, I have the
Using this ‘edutainment’ method desire to do research into The effect of movie
has brought English learners a lot of viewing on learning English as a second
improvements in not only their listening language, I do hope the research can point
skills but also communication skill. In out the pros and cons existing while doing
Vietnam, although applying the movie this method, so that English learners can
viewing to teaching and studying has have an objective view about it and decide
been widely spread in the English centers, whether they should carry it out. Moreover,
unfortunately it is rarely used in many it is expected to help the educators to make
universities, including HUBT, due to some better improvements in the future.

* The English Faculty, HUBT Tạp chí 11

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II. DEVELOPMENT movies of different countries gives the

1. About movie viewing learners the opportunity to get acquaintance
Since movie viewing was considered to the accent of people in different places.
as a way to learn English, there have For example: the accent of Australian
been many researchers agreeing that English, American English or British
this method is not only effective but also English… Learners will get familiar with
attractive for learners and they have also the sounds of the words and as a result,
given numerous compliments on this after a long time, the more movies they
method through their studies. watch, the better they are at listening.
Dr. Rao (2019), an English lecturer Yang and Chang (2013) conducted a
in King Faisal University, did a research study on the contribution of three modes
on how movie viewing developed EFL of English captions (full, keyword-
students’ communication as well as giving only, and annotated keyword captions)
them a visual context to naturally use the towards learning English reduced forms
sentences in movies. He also pointed out and the overall listening comprehension.
the positive changes of the learners and The results showed that all three groups
teachers after using the method in EFL demonstrated improvement.
classroom.
Hsieh and his friends (2010) used a
qualitative research method to explore
the perceptions of adult language learners
toward the use of movies to learn English.
According to his study: “Language
learners perceive movies to be an effective
and beneficial way of learning English.
Furthermore, the interviews revealed
that movies can be used to develop not
only language skills but also learners’ For speaking skill: Movies not only
autonomy and cultural awareness. provide a diversity of vocabulary, slangs,
Movies are fun, authentic, and enjoyable, idioms… for learners but also give learners
and that makes the learning process more the visual context to the dialogue, thus they
appealing to the language learners.” help the learners develop communication
Alberta. L (2013) also recommended skill. As watching dialogues between the
some kind of narrative English movies characters as well as the way they act
to put in the teaching-learning process in those situations, the learners have the
such as action, drama, comedy, romantic, experience of understanding the facial
science fiction, suspense or thriller, expressions and gestures whenever they
commentary, nonfiction, etc... are put in the same situation. Therefore,
2. The advantages of movie viewing they know how to say as well as react
on learning English in different circumstances in real life.
Movie viewing improves learners’ Moreover, movie viewing helps learners
English skills. improve their pronunciation. Sari and
For listening skill: Watching English Sugandi (2015) stated that listening to
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native English speakers talking to each a sense of achievement. Thus, it will

other can help students to hear how words enhance the frequency they apply this
are pronounced. Students can know where method in their daily life. Kusumarasdyati
to put intonation on certain words and (2004) pointed out that movie viewing can
sentences. motivate both students and teacher in the
For reading skill: teaching-learning process, because they
Most of the learners use English have fun and comfortable atmosphere in
subtitle as a way to catch up with the the classroom.
movies’ storyline. As they get used to 3. The disadvantages of movie
reading the subtitle which only appear viewing on learning English
in 2-3 seconds, it is easier for them to Despite of numerous benefits, movie
recognize the words in future. Thus, it is viewing still holds several limitations.
understandable that they become faster at This is also the reason why teachers meet
reading English after watching movies. difficulties when they try to apply this
Movie viewing gives learners’ a method in the official education at schools
cultural awareness. and universities.
The viewers can achieve knowledge Learners won’t learn formal written
about the culture of many countries rules or grammar from movie viewing.
through movie viewing as movie is As the dialogues in the movies are
always a good way for the director to usually daily conversation, it seems that
transfer and advertise the culture of one the learners don’t acquire much knowledge
country. Learners can learn it from the about writing from this learning method.
way characters react and communicate in Sari and Bugandi (2015) also stated
specific situations, the characters’ daily that using English movies in the EFL
life, and the architecture in characters’ classroom will reduce student’s time to
country… Serliah Nur (2016) analyzed do classroom activities such as writing or
three way movies can increase students’ having discussion. For the beginners, it
cultural awareness: “Students get is also hard to follow the storyline due to
information from the movie; They can their slow reading speed and unfamiliarity
compare their culture and others; It can with the English sounds.
prevent them from culture shock if they
study CCU”. According to his research,
students have positive attitude toward
the use of film in the Cross Cultural
Understanding class.
Movie viewing increases learners’
interest in learning English.
The most important reason that makes
movie viewing as an incredible way to
learn English is that it keeps learners feel
enjoyable and entertaining. Additionally,
the fact that they know they are watching
– learning at the same time will give them
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Learners might be distracted from 4. Some recommendations for

the main goal while implementing this modification
method. Although movie viewing carries
Generally, learners will get the best some drawbacks, we cannot deny the
result when learning English through huge benefits that movie viewing brings
combining reading the subtitle and to English learners. Since it has such a
listening to the sounds in the movie. great value, I personally want to suggest
However, some students are using this some of my recommendations to modify
method in the wrong way. For example, and make this method suit the official
some learners turn off the sound of the educational system.
movie to focus only on the subtitle or English subtitle should be
some turn on the sound but choosing to prioritized when movie viewing is used
read their native language subtitle. for learning.
Watching movies is always an For beginners, their native language
entertaining activity and somehow it subtitle can be used in the early days
makes the learners forget to pay attention of learning English through movies.
to the sounds, pronunciation, new words, However, for Intermediate and Advanced
or the culture background….at the same level learners, using English subtitle
time. Moreover, according to Yang and perhaps should be a must!
Zhang (2013) when watching a movie Using English subtitle instead of
that has the learner’s favorite actor or one’s native language subtitle will give
actress, learners will just focus on them the learners a connection between the
and forget the whole purpose they want to sounds and the spelling of the words.
achieve before watching. This led to the This will fill the gap between listening
failure in enhancing the learners’ level. and reading. Moreover, with subtitle,
Some movies are not suitable for the learners can follow the story line as well
educational purpose. as understanding the humor (the jokes),
Besides the meaningful and slangs, idioms… of the characters using
educational movies, there are some in the movies in an easier way (Lonergan,
movies that are not appropriate for English 1989).
learners to develop their skills. Watching Both teacher and learners should
those movies might be pleasurable; choose the kind of movies that are
however, the improvement in English beneficial for studying.
of learners is hardly seen. For instance: As the examples I gave above, many
Movies like Harry Potter, Forrest Gump, kinds of movie are not suitable for the
Click, The pursuit of happiness,… are English learning process because of its
very inspirational and meaningful, they impracticality and lack of applicability.
also have creative dialogues for the Most of the movies that have little or no
learners to memorize; However, learners subtitle was in the horror genre, therefore,
perhaps learn nothing from movies like English teachers and learners should avoid
Bird box, The quiet place, The silence, using this kind of movie for learning.
All is lost,… because those movies have Not only should the teacher choose
little or no dialogue. inspirational movies for the learners to

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remember well, but he/she also needs to They can themselves summarize the
choose the ones that have new words or storyline of the movies after watching it
content related to the lesson of that day. so that they can memorize it deeply.
Sari and Sugandi (2015) also claimed Teachers should choose short movies.
that “Since a good movie is a movie In order to save the class time,
that contains good moral value, teachers teachers can use short movies or divide
need to preview the movies first before the movie into short cuts and spend the
playing the movies in front of students”. first 15 minutes of the lesson to show
Learners should always remember the the movie. This will warm up the class
main goal of learning English while atmosphere, give the students a chance
watching movies and Teacher should to get used to this method and also have
remind students of it as well. the instruction on how to accomplish this
Watching movies for the learning method at home.
purpose requires learners to focus on the III. CONCLUSION
sounds, the spelling of the words and The development of the media has
slangs, idioms,... However, watching given us a huge opportunity to approach
movies may be distracting sometimes. and enhance our English in many different
To keep the students concentrating, after ways. Over a decade, movie viewing has
the movie viewing time, teacher can give been considered as the most useful and
students some exercises asking them about convenient way to bring about when people
the plot, new words in the movies, and also learn English as a second language. Movie
let them do the role-play game to remember viewing is not only the solution for the
the story in an interesting way. learners’ financial problems and the fear
towards English, but also a very creative
way for the teachers to apply to their
teaching methods. However, due to some
disadvantages that it carries, in Vietnam,
this method has not had a chance to enter
the English official educational system.
In my humble opinion, if this method is
applied to the English classes in the right
way, it will give countless benefits that
will change our future as the students will
not feel afraid or hate English anymore,
and they will absorb and use it naturally.
After doing my research into the effect of
movie viewing on learning English as a
While watching movies, learners second language, and also giving some
should be aware that they are studying, recommendations to modify and apply it
and they have to take it seriously to get into the English teaching-learning, I really
the best result. Listening to the characters’ hope this method will be approached
dialogues, imitating it a couple of times to every English learners in Vietnam in
will fasten the learners’ learning process. general and in HUBT in particular./.
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References

1. Parupalli Rao.( 2019).The impact of English movie on learning English in ESL/

EFL classroom.
2. Hsieh; Wu; Lai; Chang; Chen; KAO.(2010).The effect of movie viewing on
learning English as a second language.
3.Alberta, L. (2013).Film as media to learn English. English Language and
Literature Education Study Program Journal, 2(2), 11-17.
4. Yang, J. & Chang, P. (2013). Captions and Reduced Forms in Instruction: the
Impact on EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension. Recall - the Journal of the European
Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning (Eurocall), 26(1), 44-61.
5. Armilia Sari & Bastian Sugandi .(2015).Teaching English through English
movies: Advangtages and Disadvangtages.
6. Serliah Nur.(2016). Increasing students’ cultural awareness by using film in
teaching cross cultural understanding.
7. Kusumarasdyati Kusumarasdyati.(2004).Listening, viewing and imagination:
movies in EFL classes.

TÁC DỤNG CỦA VIỆC XEM PHIM ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC

HỌC TIẾNG ANH NHƯ NGÔN NGỮ THỨ HAI
Lê Minh Phương

Tóm Tắt: Bài báo chỉ ra các thuận lợi và bất lợi của việc xem phim đối với việc
học tiếng Anh. Mục đích chính của bài viết là đưa ra một vài gợi ý nhằm giải quyết
những mặt hạn chế và qua đó giúp cho việc học dễ dàng hơn. Hi vọng rằng kết quả
của bài viết sẽ giúp cho người học có thể cải thiện việc học tiếng Anh và trên một khía
cạnh nào đó giúp cho cả hệ thống giáo dục Việt Nam.
Từ khóa: xem phim, thuận lợi, khó khăn, học tiếng Anh

Tạp chí 16
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