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The popularity of American soap operas has become closely linked to the present situation of learning and teaching English to the extent that it has become a social phenomenon. It would therefore be a timely step to look into the characteristics and effects of soap operas and movies, and to search for methods from which English learners could benefit from watching them. The goal of this study is to compare American soap operas and movies in order to grasp the characteristics and differences between these visual media. It will also offer guidelines for English students and teachers in using these media. Three movies and three American soap operas with similar themes were sampled randomly. Five students of the English language decided their own criteria for analysis such as use of nouns, verbs, vocabulary related to culture, routines. The conversational situation, functions, topics and pairs in both movies and soap operas were analyzed. Then the five students reported their feelings and thoughts. Based on the discourse analysis and student comments, this study concludes that the soap operas have more linguistic items such as nouns, verbs, routines, and conversational pairs. It was also found that students prefer to study using American soap operas rather than movies. |
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