Using Movies to Teach English Phrasal Verbs: A Case Study of the Movie Grease

David, Byung Chul Kim

Article

Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media 2009;10(1):3-25.
Published online June 30, 2009.

Using Movies to Teach English Phrasal Verbs: A Case Study of the Movie Grease

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to show how movies can be used to teach English phrasal verbs. The application of movie musical Grease toward the teaching of phrasal verbs is clearly outlined through three practical exercises that could readily be adopted for a classroom teaching. This study also shows how metacognitive/cognitive and social/affective strategies can be incorporated into pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening activities. The activities suggested for these three stages of listening to the texts from Grease were chosen with their suitability (for a movie musical) as the most important factor. This study concludes that since the words in songs are spoken at a faster pace the need for 'pronunciation teaching' is especially imperative when it comes to the pedagogical goal of teaching English phrasal verbs through listening activities using a movie musical. Teaching of basic pronunciation knowledge should precede any listening activities which involve songs. Therefore, due to the nature of a movie musical, any future studies which make a use of it to teach a particular grammatical item through listening must incorporate a 'pronunciation guide' related to that particular grammatical item in a pre-teaching lesson.

Key Words: movie;musical;listening;phrasal verbs