Cinema is a blessing to students struggling to understand the British ascents. Three Ukrainians getting used to Yorkshire explain the significant benefits of light entertainment.
Tanya Driver says, ‘That’s my favorite moment,” as she points to the large screen in front of her students. Students at Keighley College laugh along to Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean antics, especially the scene where he visits the dentist. The student’s favorite part of the activity is when Tanya questions and writes on the board that Mr. Bean’s chair is “reclining” while they write down the term.
In this entry-level two English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class at Keighley College in West Yorkshire, Drive, an English teacher of 22 years, shows her students five or six different types of TV and films each academic year; in addition to Mr. Bean, these include, No 9 and the 988 Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy Twins. This time, the Mr. Bean episode is followed by a group discussion about the various verbs and phrases used, as Driver asks students to describe the bizarre scenarios in which Mr. Bean finds himself.
There are many ESOL lessons like this; government records revealed that 144560 students signed up for one in England last year.
Notably, the college welcomed many Ukrainian students after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including three students who shared the name Iryna: Iryna Baltiuk, Iryna a deZhydetska, and Iryna Bielikova. They are just a few students who attended the college, which, according to Driver, has “a nice mixture of nationalities,” including those from Syria, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Like her other Ukrainian students, 65-year-old Iryna Zhydetska has been a resident of England for the past two years since the invasion. Zhydetska claims that although she had studied when she was younger, it gradually faded. She believes that using television in the classroom is a helpful way to support language development. “It’s good practice because I didn’t understand what the people around me were discussing when I first came. Nothing, but now I understand some words and sentences. Not all, but some.” She is also a fan of TV gardening and reads the subtitles to aid her understanding. “I listen to the show, and if I don’t understand what they say, I read and translate.”
Similarly, Iryna Bielikova, 39, has struggled to speak more English as she adjusts to her new environment. “Sometimes I make mistakes, but I understand I need time and a little more practice.” She recently went to the movies with her children to see Inside Out 2. The 39-year-old Iryna Balitiuk, who studied at her school in Ukraine, was ill-prepared for her life in England. She claims that watching British reality shows like I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! It is very helpful, particularly for acclimating to the numerous accents spoken in the UK.
This relates to a typical challenge that Driver has faced, which has led her to include TV and films in her lessons; she claims that many students come in with a strong foundation in reading and writing but frequently struggle with comprehending people talking. “Students often have strong literacy skills but don’t understand native speakers, such as the Yorkshire accent. That’s where they are stuck: you can say something, but when someone speaks back, you don’t understand, so the conversation is over. The main benefit of watching movies is to train their ear to understand more.”
According to John Gray, a professor of applied linguistics and education at UCL, Language learners often find it straightforward to get to a certain level of English proficiency, but beyond that, it becomes gradually difficult. “I would say film is potentially a very useful tool for use in the second-language classroom, without a doubt. The reason is that it’s what we would call a very rich source of input because to learn a language, you have to have exposure to masses of input.
“There is the opportunity to eavesdrop on conversations in the language. And then if the film is well chosen it can also be extremely motivating for the students that you are working with.”
Local organizations are pleased to meet the demand for movies for individuals learning English as a second language. According to Chris Fell, the November Leeds Film Festival director, feedback forms indicate that many viewers use movies to supplement their language learning. “A lot of people commented they love hearing languages that they might not have heard before. And many were seeing films in a language that they were learning, to supplement what they were already doing.”
