Teaching screen English in over-crowded classrooms

Park, Young

Article

Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media 2007;8(2):1-25.
Published online December 30, 2007.

Teaching screen English in over-crowded classrooms

Young Park

대규모 교양강좌로서의 스크린영어 교수

박영

Abstract

In recent years, movies have been touted as an ideal material for teaching authentic English to college students. Under more favorable circumstances, teaching English through movies could invite enormous success. Unfortunately, many instructors teaching screen English on a collegiate level find themselves besieged by so many adversities. When Screen English is offered as part of a general education course, it is typically the case that a huge number of students with limited exposure to English sign up, thus making the instructor's job even more demanding. This paper takes a look at the aspects of teaching English through movies, a medium made without taking any non-native speakers of English into account. First and foremost, the importance of listening comprehension will be emphasized. Crucial points in English phonology and morphology will be introduced to the students in an effort to groom them as better listeners. Also, this paper calls for the need to encourage students to study more 'fixed expressions' in English. Without prior knowledge of these frequently-occurring 'chunks', comprehension of a movie through viewing would be rendered all but impossible given the limited amount of time a student usually has.

Key Words: lexical approach;listening comprehension;screen english