Designing an Effective Collocational Syllabus Using Movies

Jee, Hee Sung

Article

Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media 2005;6(1):3-17.
Published online June 30, 2005.

Designing an Effective Collocational Syllabus Using Movies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show an example of English collocational syllabus which can be used in a Screen English class. Collocations are recurrent combinations of two or more words which have a strong tendency to co-occur. A great number of collocations can be found in a real-life situation. Many scholars have implied that the acquisition of collocations is a key to native-like fluency. The significance of collocations in second language acquisition is well documented in the work of second language researchers. Therefore, collocations worth learning and teaching in an EFL classroom. Movies can be good teaching materials for students who are rarely exposed to a natural English conversational environment. Using movies for strengthening students' English collocations can be very helpful for students to acquire English language fluency. Designing an effective collocational syllabus for a Screen English course will help students strengthen their English collocations. In order to design an effective collocational syllabus, teachers need to analyze students' needs and motivations. The movie sequences as teaching materials need to be carefully chosen based on the educational aims and students' needs and motivations. They must be suitable for various activities to help students to attain collocational knowledge. A collocational syllabus can be mixed with a skill-based syllabus or a task-based syllabus. Activities should be carefully selected so that students can deal with them.

Key Words: collocational syllabus;English collocations