A Study of the Conditions of Meaningful Communication in the Movie E.T.

Ja, won Lee; Young, Park

Article

Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media 2011;12(2):51-74.
Published online December 30, 2011.

A Study of the Conditions of Meaningful Communication in the Movie E.T.

Abstract

This paper deals with the conditions of meaningful communication. Teachers, scholars, and language specialists, have made a lot of effort to provide second language learners with meaningful activities. However, learners tend to focus on language aspects, even when they participate in meaningful communication. In order to understand this, we need to look at real world communication which has more than a language focus. For this, the script of the movie, E.T. (1983) was used. ET's language learning process follows the process of learning a second language. In the movie there are five stages that proceed through first encounter, the start of the relationship between Eliott and ET, the beginning of interaction through language and non-verbal communication, distinguishing the phonetic sounds of English, speaking, and finally the completion of ET's language development. The findings indicate that ET's success in acquiring English was a direct result of socialization with its human focus rather than a language focus. So a clear process was identified that lead from socialization to communication and ended with language learning. Communication occurs through socialization and language learning occurs through communication.

Key Words: socialization;meaningful communication;encounter