Western Films and English Learning.doc

western films and english learning【abstract】 with the popularization of english and social demand for english talent, students spend more time on english than in other courses. the traditional classroom language learning course is based on teacher domination，which is onefold and boring. however, the film culture belongs to the visual culture, which is expressive. western films are both rich in content, and outstanding in culture characteristics. they are closest to students life and can be good helpers in english learning. besides, foreign language learning is a combination of language learning, culture learning and the learning of intercultural communicative competence. films, as part of the human cultural life, straightly reflect the culture of a nation. nowadays more and more school teachers use film appreciation to cultivate students culture consciousness and their cross-culture communicative competence. an attempt is made in this essay to study the effects of western films to english learners in three partsgaining interest, cultivating culture consciousness, improving communication competence, and the learning steps of utilizing films in english learning. 【key words】 western films; culture consciousness; communicative competence; learning strategies西方电影与英语教学【摘 要】随着英语的普及化和社会对英语人才的需求，学校学生在英语科目上花费的时间远比其他科目的多。传统的课堂语言文化学习基本上是以老师口耳相传的方式进行的，形式上比较单一、枯燥。而电影文化属于视觉文化，比较具有表现力。英语电影内容丰富,文化特色突出,语料真实,又最贴近学生生活,也是学生学习语言知识的好帮手。除此之外，外语学习其实是语言学习、文化学习 以及跨文化交际能力的结合体。而电影，作为人们日常文化生活的一部分，能够直接得反映一个国家的文化。随着现代科技的发展，越来越多的老师把影视欣赏应用到了英语教学上来培养学生的跨文化意识以及跨文化交际能力。【关键词】 西方电影；跨文化意识；跨文化交际能力；学习策略1. introductionin our long-term training in the learning of english, reading and writing skills are the main direction of english learning. however, with the advent of the new century and the increasing exchange between china and western countries, more and more people come to realize the importance of oral communication. learning through communication is the consensus of most english learners. gradually, teaching language begins to change from chinese to english. at the same time, students become the center of the classroom. therefore, nowadays more and more school teachers try to use film appreciation to cultivate students interest in english and their ability in oral communication. western films have effects on english teaching and learning in terms of gaining interest and cultivating culture consciousness. the effects of western films in english teachinggenerally speaking, western english film appreciation has specific benefits as follows:2.1 gaining interest films are natural integration of the subtitle, voice, images and a variety of information and communication .they can reproduce the real life in the scene across time and space with authentic language which comes from life. in the films, the filmmakers use refined and processed dialogue to reflect the dialogue background and characters attitude, thus giving audiences a kind of immersive visual experience. if teachers utilize western films as teaching materials in english teaching, they are putting learners in vivid language environment, thus creating easy english learning atmosphere, eventually, this effective and relaxed teaching approach may stimulate interest in learning. (dong, 2007:2)2.2 culture consciousnesses culture is an important part that can not allow to be ignored in foreign language teaching and learning. film culture is a mass culture combined with social culture and social values. it reflects and spreads native culture to other peoples.through the learning activities of scripts, students are able to understand the different habits, behavior of people under various cultural backgrounds. while observing how people use gesture, eye contact、and other body language in communication under different circumstances, how they use space and time factor in expressing their thought and maintain social relations, learners can enrich their learning style and widen their vision. this is conducive not only to cultivate students communicative abilities but also to cultivate students concept of the world. western films are windows from which english learners can take a view on the character of western people and their history (wang, zhao, 2008:85). the following are main characteristics of western people viewed from films.2.2.1 self-centered ideas westerners are strongly self-centered (cheng, 1994:1). they think that everyone should depend on himself or herself but should not rely on others, and that everyone should be responsible for himself or herself but not others. in their mind, peoples life style and the level of life depends on the individual ability completely. they always put themselves in the center position, and ignore other peoples influence or interference. even though when westerners are faced with despair, they also will not beg others for help. because they think it will shake their center position. therefore to face and overcome all difficulties are their consistent style. such as the genius mathematician in a beautiful mind no matter how many people say he is crazy or is suffering mental problem, he always concentrates on doing what he holds to be important.2.2.2 spirit of adventureas the united states has been confronted with arduous pioneering movement, the first generation of americans escaped to the new world with the reason that they were dissatisfied with the old world or were to be extirpated. during their early life here, everyone fought against the harsh natural environment and built homes with their own hands. however, they cultivated a valuable spirit of adventure during the construction of new homes. whats more, another hard movementwestward movement helped to mix the spirit of adventure into the national spirit. there is an old saying which reflects this valuable spirit“no one stands still. if you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind.” britain had been a feudal empire. but after the industrial revolution, the british people began to exploit natural resources unceasingly in order to create wealth. this spirit of adventure is the reason that britain swiftly becomes prosperous in the modern age. there are specific reflections of the spirit in movies, such as harry potter, the final fantasy, tomb raider, the lord of the rings and so forth.2.2.3 cheerful attitude towards lifemany westerners keep a sense of humor even in some important occasions. for example, in the film a beautiful mind, the charactertrapped in the nazi concentration camp, still keeps optimistic, cheerful attitude towards life. he tells his son that they earn points in the game while they are actually facing death. but for this cheerful attitude, he would never manage to save his family members; but for this spirit, the struggle against fascism would never gain victory.2.2.4 competition consciousnesswesterners are characterized by strong sense of competition. they never think themselves are worse than others. therefore, everyone tends to give themselves the courage and opportunity to compete with other people. as a result, they get up early in the morning and come home late, keeping busy all day long and are ready to compete with others on every aspect. on the other hand, they stubbornly believe other people hold the same attitude. because of this, westerners, especially americans and british people, would rather pay more attention to work rather than to food. mcdonalds, kfc, and fast food, therefore, become popular among westerners. in contrast, chinese people spend a lot of time on food. actually, this phenomenon reflects not only the contrast between chinese and western diet culture, but also the significant competition consciousness of westerners. more often, there are films revealing historical events of a country, which allow people to revisit and reflect with a relaxed mood.2.2.5 westerners informalityusually in western films, during class, there is similar picturestudents sit casually with desks in no order, some whispering in discussion, some even holding a cup of coffee. however, the teacher still talks with great passion and enthusiasm.in western countries, not only in the classroom, but also in the office, staff dresses casually. between the staff and workers, they often crack a joke. all these things would be regarded as strange behavior in china as chinese classroom are featured by formality. etiquette is regarded as a virtue in china by tradition, while westerners pay less attention to etiquettethey behave more casually.2.3 histories of western countries from some famous and classic films, people get to know the histories and civilization of western countries, which helps them to form a deep understanding about the language they learn and widen their knowledge about the world, such as forrest gumpa film that has deeply influenced both the american people and the chinese people.it is a film not just about life but also about history. this film runs through forrest gumps whole life as a revolving door-style display of the history of three decades of u.s. post-war situation, kennedy, johnson, nixon, elvis and john lennon, etc. many famous people who have a profound impact on the u.s. post-war history appear, performing on the same stage with forrest gump. (zhu, 2007:41) the following are some famous historical events and related people in the film. 2.3.1 alabama riotthe civil rights movement, developed rapidly after world war ii, was an important one in american history. in this film, there are a few shots showing this historical event.at that time on june 11, 1963, at the university of alabama, alabama governor george wallace read a statement of symbolic threat, attempting to prevent two black students from admission to the university of alabama. (du, 2005:49) he openly resisted federal troops of john kennedy and resisted the federal governments dismissal of his duties. furthermore, he said alabama would never give in in the aspects of desegregation problem of education, thus causing the riots. during the tosca riots in alabama, forrest gump runs into the historical scene to help black students pick up the books from the ground.2.3.2 president kennedys assassinationkennedys assassination took place in november 22, 1963 12:30 pm. the 35th u.s. president john fitzgerald kennedy accompanied by mrs. jacqueline kennedy and texas governor john connally, was assassinated when he took the open-top car passing the dealey plaza in dallas, texas, and died half an hour later in hospital. in the film, president kennedy meets with the college students in the football team at the white house; forrest gump is a member of this team. after that, the film shows the scene of the assassination.2.3.3 vietnam warin may 1961 the united states sent troops to station in vietnam, beginning to meddle in the civil war of vietnam. in 1969 president nixon was forced to announce the start of troop withdrawal as a result of the heavy casualties of war and the domestic anti-war voices. the u.s. troops withdrew in 1975, which marked the end of vietnam war. vietnam war is the longest war during the 20th century. during about twelve years, vietnam, the patriots armed with primitive weapons have defeated two powerful capitalist industrial countriesfrance and america.in the film forrest gump, because of his rescue of injured soldiers in the vietnam war, forrest gump is invited to the white house for the second time where president johnson personally awards him the congressional medal.2.3.4 ping pong diplomacyapril 10, 1971, the u.s. ping pong team and a small group of american journalists arrived in beijing, thus becoming the first americans allowed into china since 1949. because of the superb skill in ping pong, forrest gump becomes one member of the american table-tennis team, and they have an epoch-making competition with china. this is the famous ping pong diplomacy in the film. this trip of forrest gumps crew to china contributes to the ending of the cold war between the two countries.2.3.5 watergatewatergate scandal is one of the most infamous political scandals in american history. it has long-term impact on american history and international media. in order to get the information of campaign strategy of democratic party, chief security adviser of campaign supporters of nixonjames w. mccord, led 5 people to break into the watergate building, democratic national committee office in washington on june 17, 1972. (du, 2005:49) but they got arrested while they were installing listening devices and photographing documents. as a result, nixon announced the resignation as a result of this scandal, thus becoming the first president that resigned in the history of the us. in this film, forrest gump represents the united states to visit china，and is invited to meet with the president after his return and is arranged to live in a modern, luxurious hotelthe watergate building. he inadvertently makes the thieves that sneaked into the watergate building get arrested and eventually leads to president nixons downfall.the movie “forrest gump” is a cultural and historical perspective with the original picture which insinuates the winding ups and downs of american history and culture through the experience of an ordinary person. the theme of the film is to let americans recall their own history, to re-examine it. the audience may come to realize the true meaning of life more easily if they follow forrest gumps way of thinking, without any bias.3 effects on cultural communicative competencesappropriate use of western films is helpful in improving students english listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.3.1 gaining language senseby imitation of movie characters in pronunciation, breathing and intonation, english learners are capable of correcting some pronunciation errors. original western films are contextually rich and culturally pertinent. they provide a deep understanding of context, flexible use of the target language and then create a favorable language environment, enhancing students language sense.3.2 improving listening level chinese people begin english learning first with written english. textbooks and tapes are made for chinese learners taste and reaction speed. as a result, chinese people seldom have any contact with real spoken english. therefore, in middle school english teaching, teachers should lead students to start from listening in the initial stage. movie english are authentic english spoken with temperament, emotion, and native accent. they can be easily understood and remembered by foreign learners. western film appreciation is the most direct and efficient method to cultivate students abilities of listening.3.3 improving oral communication abilitythe impressive dialogue and authentic english environment of western films provide us with a precious opportunity to exercise listening and speaking. in some of the classic films, such as gone with the wind, waterloo bridge, roman holiday, the sound of music, etc, the leading actors speak authentic english clearly with a lot of humor, which command appreciation and affection among audiences.practice has proved that middle school students can quickly adapt themselves to the velocity and different pronunciation and intonation of modern english with the help of the annotation in screenplay. (liu, 2009:41)what kind of film is suitable for students to choose? as different people have different tastes and the choice should be made in accordance with their interests and language levels. students who do not have a good foundation may choose such films as mickey mouse, cinderella, 101 stain dog, etc. these films have simple language, clear voice and slow speed. students will find it easy to accept them. we also choose classic american films with authentic language and complete sentences. the key of film choice is to stimulate the interest of students and arouse their enthusiasm to the maximum.here are some introductions of film learning steps in english learning.4 english teaching strategyoriginal films should be combined with textbooks. middle schools now begin to emphasize students ability of reading and writing. therefore selections had better be made among those films that have close relation with the textbooks, in order to complement each other and promote each other. films that have been awarded many oscar awards will be a good choice, such as gone with the wind.4.1 preparationteachers choose films in accordance to syllabus. after that, teachers must make a teaching plan which includes preparation before the movie show, introduction of the main characters and their relationship. after the movie show, there should be some teaching activities such as dubbing, role playing and culture comparison which help to strengthen students communication skill. (zhang, 2007:2)4.2 teaching arrangementfilm play length depends on students english levels. for students with the basic level, the suitable movie broadcast length is 5-10 minutes; for those with secondary level, 10-25 minutes; for high level students, 25-45minutes. (chen, 2008:134)also it will be a good idea if the teacher utilizes scripts as teaching materials and guides students to watch the film before they have the chance to see the script. teachers should guide students to use their own life experience in the discussion of the theme of the film, the character, cultural background, even film music and social etiquette, thus deepening the theme and improving students understanding and appreciation ability. 4.3 emphasis on the slang, proverbsteachers can also focus on aspects of spoken and written language in class teaching activities, identifying the typical presentation and slang and proverbs as students practice vocabulary and