FILMS AS MEDIA TO LEARN ENGLISH
Septita Seristyana
Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University
[email protected]
Abstract: The rapid progress of technology has shown its influence to educational field in the recent years. Students become more exposed to technology and there is an easy access for them to any kinds of media. Hence, students lack of interest to the traditional teaching relying on textbooks. This teaching method has sifted to the use of modern media which will be more engaging. One possible medium providing this feature is film. This study investigates the use of film in learning English, especially narrative text. The qualitative research was applied. The participant was one class of grade IX SMPN 1 Majenang. The researcher conducted an observation on the activities which had been arranged from the beginning to the last. The findings point out that the students showed interest and motivation in following the whole activities including film viewing, retelling and listing the vocabulary. Finally, the researcher gave somequestions to learn the student's perception about using film in learning English.
Keywords : film, narrative, engaging, learning English
Introduction
English now has become more necessary to learn. It because the globalization has been growing rapidly and it brings a big challenge for the future generation. They have to be able to compete in the more challenging world with international rivals. Therefore, being proficient at English is highly needed as English is commonly spoken in international communication. That is why teaching English at school should find its best way, so students can have good English ability since they will be the competitors of the future world. However, in practice, there may still exist some conventional techniques conducted by teachers to which students feel boring, have no interest, or even hate English lesson. Perhaps some regard this as a scary subject and difficult thing they have to learn. As the educational agents who are responsible for their students' achievement, teachers should be responsive of these challenges as worn-out things that need to be renewed. It means that teachers should find something which is intriguing, can catch the students' attention and attract them to be effectively engaged in the learning process. To do so, teachers can adopt any kind of supporting media in the classroom. It is obvious that the teacher has to use all the possibilities that are offered by different media (Lundahl in Fjällström, 2010). This is also expressed in the National Agency of Education where it is stated that the teacher has to adapt and take advantage of the benefits that are offered by the new ways of communication in the teaching of English (Fjällström, 2010). Since nowadays students are being more exposed to any kinds of media, teachers may see this as a beneficial condition which later on they can make it as a pattern to arrange their teaching strategy. One of potential media that can be used to support this is film or often also called as movie. Film is a comfortable, familiar medium to contemporary students that can keep students' interest (Champoux, 1999). Through its visual image, sound, and story film consigns a special power which influence the viewers. For this reason, teachers can take advantage of film as a teaching aid in the classroom. This is an interesting matter to be investigated.
Theoritical Review
Film
A film is a motion picture, often referred to as a movie. Film is a sequence of pictures in frame in which the sequence is presented through LCD. As a result we can see that the sequence of picture is alive and move (Arsyad, 2003: 49). According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary film is a kind of story that is recorded as a set of moving picture to be shown on the television or at the cinema. From these definitions, it can be concluded that film is a set of moving picture that forms a story which is shown through LCD or in the TV or at the cinema or movie theater.
A unique property of film is its ability to] ". . . make one see and grasp things which only the cinema is privileged to communicate" (Kracauer in Champoux, 1999). Furthermore, he explains that the unique characteristics of film making add to its communication power. Focusing techniques, editing, framing of shots, camera angles, sound, and the like, help a director make a powerful statement of a subject. These techniques also let a director create an experience that often goes beyond what we can experience in reality. Viewers are not passive observers. Their responses add to the power of film. Cinema's ability to create a unique experience gives it unbeatable power as a teaching tool.
The Use of Films for Educational Purpose in Classroom
Some previous studies have been conducted on the use of film in EFL teaching. For instance, Champoux (1999) has studied the use of films as teaching resource, Fjällström (2010), Ismaili (2010), Allan (1985), Stoller (1988), Katchen (2003) and Sufen (2006) have analysed the use of films and videotapes concerning particularly EFL or ESL teaching. All prove that film can be an alternative to teach English. Movies are versatile tool for foreign language teaching and they can be used in several different ways when teaching the different aspects of foreign language, such as teaching oral communication, teaching writing, teaching vocabulary, teaching grammar and teaching culture (Ruusunen, 2011).
Movies show the play with authentic and natural language, and real setting as the reflection of the real world, so the conversation within the movies also reflect the reality. In line with this, Kusumarasdyati (2004) states that movies provide exposures to "real language," used in authentic settings and in the cultural context which the foreign language is spoken. Thus, it can be said that movies expose the students to real spoken language that a textbook cannot present. In movies, sometimes there are utterances related to the context of situation, concept and pragmatic expression that a textbook cannot illustrate. Therefore, this makes it possible for them to pick up for instance phrases or expressions that they could actually use in an English-speaking environment (Ruusunen, 2011), so that they can enhance their communicative skill. By watching movies, students can learn how to talk in a native-like manner. Considering these advantages, movies can be considered as authentic material in teaching English since they provide the learners with genuine input (Mishan, 2004:216).
In addition, movies make the learning process more entertaining, more enjoyable and possibly even somewhat easier (Ruusunen, 2011). It can motivate both the students and the teacher in the teaching learning process, because they get fun and the more comfortable atmosphere in the classroom. This is like what Kusumarasdyati (2004) point out that movies catch the learners' interest and it can positively affect their motivation to learn.
The Challenges of Using Film in Classroom
The benefit that can be acquired from using movies is immense indeed, but unfortunately it cannot be implemented at every school in Indonesia. Not all of Indonesian schools facilitated by the equipments which support, such as laptop, LCD, DVD player, and television, especially the schools located in the remote area. Besides, there sometimes happens a technical problem, so the teacher has to anticipate it. Watching films will only be time consuming and time filler if the teacher cannot manage the students well and make a good preparation for classroom activities accompanying the film viewing.
Consideration of Using Film in the Classroom
Although film can be a valuable tool to teach English in the classroom, it does not mean that the teacher can show any films without selecting them. There should be some considerations that must be taken into account in choosing films for classroom study as stated by Alberta Learning (2003), for examples how well the film will help students meet the outcomes, the quality of the film, appeal and appropriateness for students, community standards, copyright concerns, cost and availability.
Since in Indonesia courtesy is highly respected, the movie which is going to be shown in the classroom should not contain any inappropriate and vulgar scene, harshness or sadism and rude words. The movie will not cause the bad effects for students. Conversely, the good effects obtained from the good message conveyed by the film is expected to be the result.
Teaching Narrative Genre by Using Film
Alberta Learning (2003) stated that Hollywood Style and its conventions subordinate narrative technique to keep the audience focused on character and story. Most films are structured as three-act "plays," divided into exposition, development of conflict, and resolution of conflict. This characteristic opens the opportunity for teachers in Indonesia to bring films into classroom since the current curriculum (Curriculum 2013) emphasizes on genre-based texts as English subject material. One of them is narrative genre. Narrative text consists of three elements, namely orientation, complication and resolution. Orientation sets the scene and introduces the characters and what happened to them, while complication tells the crisis that arises. It starts by telling when the problem begins, increases and finally reaches the climax. The last staging, resolution, tells the crisis that is resolved for better or worse.
Film enables students to analyze every staging of a narrative text. This activity then can be continued by the other activities such as retelling the story through speaking and writing, or, in addition enriching the students' vocabulary. Meanwhile, the process of movie viewing itself has already to do with listening and reading activities (reading subtitles). Hence, watching film yields a number of benefits in the sense that it covers the learning of all language skills.
Research Method
In this research, qualitative method was applied. The researcher conducted an observation toward the class.
The researcher showed an animation film "Epic" to the students of SMPN 1 Majenang grade IX, because it represents narrative genre as one of the English material taught at junior high school. Besides, this film was chosen, because it fulfills the considerations of selecting movies as mentioned above. The film does not performs inappropriate scenes and dialog which are not suitable for young ages. It also delivers a good message related to the environmental issue that we have to keep forest preservation for the continuity of life.
Before showing the film, the researcher divided the class into three groups. As the class consists of 36 students, one group has 12 members. Then, each groups were assigned to do the instruction which was different from the others. The first group had to retell the story by speaking. The second group had the same task as group 1, but they did it by writing. Meanwhile, group 3 had to do with listing the English vocabulary that can probably be used in daily talk. Having done the division, the researcher introduced the characters in the film to avoid confusion in mentioning their names. The last was giving some keywords that may be helpful in retelling the story. Due to the limited time, the film was only played in 30 minutes, but it was enough to reach the orientation and complication part. After all those preliminary activities were completed, the film viewing began. It was played on LCD screen. Here, English subtitle was used to let the students know what the characters are saying in authentic language. Borras an Lafayette (1994) suggested not to show the subtitle in students' mother language, because it can distract and slow down learners' listening ability and will impact to their speaking ability.
Findings and Discussion
From the observation, it was found that films can be employed in English teaching and learning. In this study, the film was particularly implemented to learn narrative genre. It could be seen that students paid a deep attention to the film. They looked enjoy and focused on the storyline. They were also not reluctant to do the task in group after the film viewing. They discussed the task together and shared what they captured from the film to be set out in retelling activities and vocabulary listing.
The representative of group 1 performed well when he was retelling the story. He could describe what happened in the film from orientation stage to complication. It did not deviate from what the film actully tells about. Some keywords given in the preliminary activities were used to help him frame the major tracks of the story.
Meanwhile, group 2 could also do well their task, that was writing the story of the film they have seen. Apparently, the visual feature aid them understand the content of the film clearly, so they could retell the film in the written form with the right sequence. The last, group 3 succeeded in listing the vocabulary even though there are not many vocabulary they jotted down. At least it indicated that they paid attention to the film, especially the subtitle and they learn from this. Afterwards, they can try to say the words they got for daily talk in the real setting.
Further, below are the findings and interpretation based on the questions asked to the students after completing the instructed activities. They reflect the students' perception toward the use of film in learning English.
Do you like watching film?
Most of the students said that they like watching film, because it is entertaining and gives fun to them. Films can also be "medicine" when they feel bored due to a lot of brain draining activities at school. They need some kind of refreshment and films can play that role.
What kind of film do you like?
When the students were asked this question, mostly answered that they like animation film. It probably because they are still young, so they prefer easy films rather than the heavy ones. However, some others like comedy and a few students prefer action film. It can be concluded that young students like films which serve them with amusement better than films that demand them to understand a hard concept.
Do you think you can learn English through film?
Toward this question, most of the students agreed that film can help them learn English. Films provide subtitle by which they can learn English, especially the language spoken in the real life. As the result, their communicative or speaking skill and vocabulary mastery will improve. Moreover, they can enhance their listening skill if watching film is continuously undertaken, because it is likely that they will hear the same words in the other different films. Additionally, they can learn cultural context in which the language is uttered.
Do you enjoy learning English through film?
All of them said "yes" they enjoy it. They showed positive responses on the use of film in learning English. The power of films in entertaining people motivated the students to get engaged in the learning activities. They came into the relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere as they were learning, so their anxiety were lessened. Films educate and entertain them at once.
Does your favorite film influence you to learn English eagerly?
Most of the students answered it is true that the favorite film will influence their will to learn English. It means that film preference affects their learning motivation. As long as they like the film, they can follow the learning activities. It could be a challenge for the teacher to accomodate their interest.
What subtitle language do you prefer to learn English?
When this question was asked, they answered that they prefer Indonesian subtitle. They commented they would understand more the story if it was Indonesian subtitle which was presented. They could not translate the English subtitles because they changed quickly.
Does subtitle really help you in learning English through film?
Most of the students believe that subtitle is really helpful for them. It tends to be impossible for only listening to the dialog without the subtitle assistance, because the original utterances most of the time sound unclear for them. Subtitle ease the students to know what the characters are saying and help them comprehend the content of the story.
In your opinion, what is supposed to be an obstacle in learning English through film?
According to the students, a primary obstacle in learning English through film is high speed of talk. The characters spoke too fast that they could not follow the talk comprehensively.
Conclusion
The findings of the present study reveals that films can be employed as a media to learn English, particularly narrative genre. Films arise students' motivation to get involved in the learning activities since films serve them with the relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. It is entertaining as well as educating. The students also showed positive responses toward the use of film in the classroom. They paid a deep attention to the film viewing and did the instructed task in a fun way.
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