From what is known about language acquisition in the explanations above, it can be concluded that 1 acquisition is more important than learning, 2 people
acquire language by receiving a comprehensible input and with optimal attitudes, and 3 the inputs can be provided primarily by listening to other people‘s speech,
either directly or through media like television programs, songs, movies, etc. This section will briefly discuss how other factors can affect language
acquisition. There are four factors, namely language teaching, exposure, age, and acculturation.
a Language teaching in the classroom can help acquisition as long as
comprehensible input is provided and the condition allows optimal attitudes. b
Exposure does not necessarily mean acquisition. Trying to expose oneself to a language does not guarantee the person acquisition if the input is not
comprehensible. It should be noted, however, that the higher amount of exposure grants more chance of comprehensible input to be available.
c The younger is not always the better. Children seem to acquire faster than
adults because the inputs that they receive are relatively simpler, hence more comprehensible.
d Acculturation may allow people to adapt to the language community and get
comprehensible input. A good relationship between the learner and the community may also provide low affective filter.
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C. Movie-watching Activity
1. General Views on Movies
According to Barsam and Monahan, a movie is a story, captured in a set of celluloid stripsfilms, which are shown on a screen with certain speed to give the
impression of moving.
33
Lately a lot of moviemakers have been shooting their movies digitally, but the main characteristic of movies remains the same; a movie
or a film is a ‗motion picture‘. Movies have been a big part of human life. Barsam
32
Ibid., pp. 32 – 49.
33
Richard Barsam and Dave Monahan, Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film, New York: W.W. Norton Company, 2010, 3
rd
edition, pp. 2 – 3.
and Monahan even stated that calling movie as ―the most popular art form‖ is an
understatement. That is how influential movies are. As a form of art, movies are on a par with other artistic forms. Boggs and
Petrie acknowledge this fact by stating that: Like painting and photography, film exploits the subtle interplay of light
and shadow. Like sculpture, film manipulates three-dimensional space. But, like pantomime, film focuses on moving images, and as in dance, the
moving images in film have rhythm. The complex rhythms of film resemble those of music and poetry, and like poetry in particular, film
communicates through imagery, metaphor, and symbol. Like the drama, film communicates visually and verbally: visually, through action and
gesture; verbally, through dialogue. Finally, like the novel, film expands or compresses time and space, traveling back and forth freely within their
wide borders.
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Despite those similarities, movies also have distinctive qualities: The continuous interplay of sight, sound, and motion allows film to
transcend the static limitations of painting and sculpture-in the complexity of its sensual appeal as well as in its ability to communicate
simultaneously on several levels. Film even surpasses drama in its unique capacity for revealing various points of view, portraying action,
manipulating time, and conveying a boundless sense of space. Unlike the stage play, film can provide a continuous, unbroken flow, which blurs and
minimizes transitions without compromising the storys unity. Unlike the novel and the poem, film communicates directly, not through abstract
symbols like words on a page but through concrete images and sounds. Whats more, film can treat an almost infinite array of subjects.
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An example to illustrate the points above is when people see a play on a stage; they can only see what their seating position allows them to. If a stage
performer holds something, say a bracelet, even the audience who sits on the front row can hardly see it. With movies, on the other hand, every viewer can explore
the story with the same size. The moviemaker can use special characteristics of movie to show the bracelet, then the character face to build emotional relationship
with viewers, and probably a flashback to three years before the scene to show
34
Joseph M. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie, The Art of Watching Films, New York: McGraw Hill, 2008, 7
th
edition, p. 3.
35
Ibid.
