Abstract:

The use of audio-visual materials has a long and well-established tradition in English Language Teaching (ELT): video-clips, trailers, movies, TV spots, cartoons, and the like have been successfully used in every educational level, from preschool to higher education. If, in the early 80’s, the use of video on a regular basis in English classes was an innovative way to open a window to the world outside the classroom, today’s information society is everywhere and knowledge can be easily accessed with the click of a mouse. In this new and complex environment, teaching and learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) poses some additional challenges to ELT in general; i.e. students learn the language as a means to an end, the content instruction being a “must” and the linguistic component being slightly behind. In addition, English -a language spoken by more than 750 million native speakers, while maintaining its status as lingua franca- has grown to become what is known as “World Englishes” or “Global Englishes”. The term “global Englishes” describes the wide range and varieties of English used by global users in the multicultural society we live in today. This multicultural society, therefore, requires an intercultural approach to teaching and learning.

This paper presents a pilot project conducted with a group of English language learners of 2nd year of Tourism degree at the Faculty of Economics (University of Valencia). The project had a twofold objective: to improve students’ learning skills and to develop their intercultural awareness through movies. The film chosen was “The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold” (Johan Madden, 2011) where British and Indian cultures meet and whose characters show instances of cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Students were divided into two groups: Group A (a focus group, with volunteer students ready to do some preparatory work prior to watching the film –reading a dossier on language, culture, customs and etiquette on India) and Group B (the rest of the students in the class who watched the film without any prior knowledge). To assess the level of intercultural awareness, a questionnaire was performed before and after watching the film; in addition, a worksheet based on the movie was designed to enhance an “active viewing” of the film and to assess the learner’s comprehension and understanding of the plot and the linguistic content.

Preliminary findings show that Group A students were satisfied with the experience, appreciated the dossier provided as it improved their comprehension and enjoyment of the film; besides they confirmed to be willing to continue watching films in their spare time. In conclusion, having a dossier and doing pre-, while- and post-viewing activities was a pull factor that enhanced their motivation to learn English and to develop intercultural awareness in this group of ESP learners.

Keywords:

Intercultural awareness, film-induced learning, ESP, Tourism.