Abstract

It is fundamentally essential for children to learn English from a young age in this rapidly globalizing world. The traditional English learning methods stress the importance of students mastering English pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar structure by reading textbooks and listening to tapes. However, the disadvantage of these English methods is that students lack the opportunity to practice. As an old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”, today, as technology continues to progress with lightening speed, the modern education media have greatly enriched the methods and the resources of English learning.
Watching English movies is one of the most influential ways to learn English after school, particularly watching the American English movies, which is proved to be quite effective. American English movies create a relaxing learning environment, as they revivify a vivid and tridimensional American life. What’s more, rich language materials will be conductive to improving the ability of language using.
Taking the fruits of scholars at home and abroad for reference, this thesis mainly discusses the application of English movies to extracurricular English learning for junior high school students. There are generally two ideas about taking advantage of English movies in extracurricular language learning abroad. One opinion emphasizes the use of movie clips while the other suggests using a complete movie. However, domestic researches start late but develop fast. They always focus on the advantages of watching American English movies in extracurricular English learning, which may create a high-quality language learning environment and increase the understanding of western culture. Using authentic materials in language learning activities not only provides more opportunities for students to contact in multiple languages environment with native English speakers, but also factually presents the alien culture and help students understand the differences between eastern culture and western culture.
The purpose of this thesis is to help students better understand the language and
develop their language skills under pure English environment after school. In this way, students are encouraged to use the authentic language to communicate with other people so as to improve the ability of cross-cultural competence.

Keywords: American movies; junior high students; extracurricular English learning; interest

摘要

在全球化深入发展的形势下，让孩子们从小学习英语是非常有必要的。在传统英语学习过程中，老师们着重强调学生应通过听磁带和朗读课文来熟练掌握英语的发音、词汇和语法。然而，这种学习方法的弊端之一就是缺少实践锻炼。正如一句中国古话所说：“熟能生巧。”当今世界，科技发展迅猛，现代科技的运用极大地丰富了英语学习的方法和资源。
通过观看英文电影，尤其是观看美国电影来学习语言是学生课外英语学习最有效的方法之一。美国电影为学生创造出了一种轻松自在的学习环境，同时清晰地展现出美国日常生活；此外，丰富的语言素材可以使学生灵活自如地运用语言。
本文借鉴了国内外的相关研究，主要探讨初中生如何利用美国电影进行课外英语学习。纵观国外研究，有两种观点明示了看电影学英语的好处：有的主张看电影片段，有的主张看一部完整的电影。而国内研究起步较晚，但发展迅速。其研究主要集中于该方法的优势，包括高品质语言环境的创造以及异域文化理解能力的提升。研究认为在语言学习过程中，真实的语言素材不仅在多语言环境下为学生们提供了原声英语的学习，而且有助于学生更好地理解东西方文化的差异。
总之，该论文的目的是为了让学生们在课外更好地巩固课堂英语知识，掌握纯正的英语。与此同时，我们应该鼓励学生们更多地运用真实的语言进行交流，从而更好地提高跨文化交际能力。

关键词：美国电影；初中生；课外英语学习；兴趣