Teaching Culture through Films in the English Classroom

Abstract

[eng] The present research focuses on the teaching of culture through film in the EFL classroom. Its purpose is to show that films can be exploited in the classroom as a didactic tool to teach culture. Teaching a culture is not an easy task, and it becomes even more difficult when it is not your own culture. For this reason, finding out effective methods such as films to integrate culture in the English classroom is essential. The use of films in education is not a novelty, but sometimes, and due to the fact that films are mostly seen as entertainment tools, their value in educational contexts tends to be underrated. This research aims to shed light into this issue by explaining why culture should be more present in the Secondary Education curriculum; giving theoretical evidence of the advantages of using film in the EFL classroom in general and, in particular, as a tool to teach culture; and providing a didactic proposal in which it can be seen how films can actually be used as a mean for students to learn about other cultures.