The modern globalized world offers multiple opportunities for cooperation and interaction between representatives of various cultures and regions. Under these conditions, language, as a central communication tool, acquires the top priority. Multilingualism increases an individual’s chances for successful interaction, career building, and collaboration. That is why different methodologies to get this skill to become more popular and are used to assist people in mastering a new language. However, the effectiveness of some methods might be doubted as they lack theoretical background. The given proposal is devoted to the investigation of watching movies as the method to become multilingual and practice language skills needed for successful interaction with native speakers in different contexts.
In general, the proposed approach is a popular method to improve knowledge and become multilingual. One of its advantages is the opportunity to listen to the sounds of a foreign language, expand vocabulary, and improve listening and understanding skills. At the same time, there are still some doubts that watching movies or TV shows with subtitles might help to become multilingual as some critical areas, such as grammar, remain untouched. In this regard, the following research questions are formulated:
- What effects does watching subtitled foreign movies have on language learners?
- How can watch subtitled foreign movies be used as a method to promote multilingualism?
The following questions will help to investigate the problem from different perspectives and conclude about the effectiveness of various approaches, and their strong and weak aspects.
The topicality of the problem under investigation results in the emergence of a significant body of research devoted to the issue. For instance, Birules-Muntane and Soto-Faraco (2016) state that watching films in English with subtitles becomes extremely popular in different regions to master language skills. It is linked to the assumption that by listening to native speakers, a person improves perception and acquires a basic understanding of phonetics (Sharwood Smith, 2021).
It creates the basis for the following learning and promotes multilingualism. Additionally, Birules-Muntane and Soto-Faraco (2016) point out that this method can be combined with the traditional approaches, which will result in better outcomes as the existence of some background knowledge will improve understanding and make such sessions more effective. At the same time, some authors emphasize that watching movies alone cannot be effective enough to attain desired reference levels (Sharwood Smith, 2021). For this reason, there are various perspectives on the selected problem.
The research questions formulated above influence the choice of methodology. It is expected that a mixed, qualitative-quantitative approach will contribute to the better investigation of the research problem. First, using non-probability sampling, 20 participants should be selected for the study. They should have the experience of watching movies as a way to master foreign language skills. A survey should be used to collect their views on the method, its strong and weak aspects, and whether it promotes multilingualism. Second, listening and vocabulary test should be performed to evaluate their current level and conclude the effectiveness of the discussed approach. Data from tests combined with information acquired via surveys will help to discuss the question and make a conclusion.
Altogether, multilingualism becomes more topical nowadays because of globalization and increased demands on individuals. There are numerous methods available for learners to enhance their language skills. Watching subtitled movies is one of such approaches discussed by researchers and used in different environments. Moreover, the fast evolution of the film industry and the appearance of new shows and series make this method more popular. The proposed project focuses on the peculiarities of this method, its positive and negative aspects, and its role in promoting multilingualism in individuals from various regions.
References
Birules-Muntane, J., & Soto-Faraco, S. (2016) Watching subtitled films can help to learn foreign languages. PLoS ONE, 11(6), e0158409. Web.
Sharwood Smith, M. (2021). Internal context, language acquisition and multilingualism. Second Language Research, 37(1), 161–170. Web.