Using Film Clips to Develop Communicative Competence

Using video presentations at lessons should be considered an essential tool a teacher should make use of during the process of teaching a foreign language. This is a way of increasing students’ motivation and to facilitate the process of foreign language learning. The combination of sounds and images offers the possibility not only to understand better the target language but also to help identify and correctly apply culturally specific communicative strategies. Students have the opportunity to see and hear the way in which native speakers interact. This is supposed to enhance their communicative competence. In addition, they have the possibility to observe the non-verbal aspect of communication and later on correctly apply it in a conversation of their own. The present article aims at analyzing the way in which clips from modern American films help students learn the English language. The author will try to offer some methodological tips in selecting and adjusting a video presentation at the lesson of English so that it helps develop the students’ four basic skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.