Short Films: A New Way of Teaching and Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) On Digital Platforms

Abstract

With the growing emphasis on developing 21st century skills among today’s youth, the increasing access to networked technologies for encouraging them to become involved in online learning has become a major factor. Even during a global emergency, learning on digital platforms assumed a central role in the world’s educational process. Lack of motivation, engagement, and interaction are the major challenges that teachers and learners encounter in online teaching-learning environments. This study presents a guide for English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ interactions with learners using networked technologies. Thereby, the current study portrays short films as a new method of teaching and learning ESL on digital platforms. Semi-structured interviews with twenty ESL learners (aged 10 -17) and five teachers (both government and nongovernment) were conducted, as well as observations of five zoom classes were used to investigate perceptions of the use of short films in teaching and learning ESL on digital platforms, and to determine the best way to integrate short films into ESL remote teaching. The findings of the study indicated that the integration of short films in teaching and learning ESL had positive effects on both the teachers and learners. Further, the results demonstrated that short films can be used to foster not only linguistic competence but also interactional competence of learners. The study offers pedagogical implications for ESL educators to integrate short films in their remote teaching to improve the learners’ language skills.