Compiling a Corpus of Audiovisual Materials for EFL Learning: Selection, Analysis, and Exploitation

Abstract

Films and series are usually consumed in leisure moments, but they can be included in the English as a foreign language classroom as they offer real-life language in context, which can help develop learners’ communicative competence. This paper examines how audiovisual materials can promote English acquisition in secondary education and proposes a corpus of films and series for this purpose. Two surveys will be presented, one for compiling fragments, and the other regarding students’ viewing habits. The fragment selection process will be explained, and some illustrations of the fragments’ exploitation will be described. This medium’s language learning benefits will be discussed, and it will be argued that using this corpus can have a positive influence on students’ communicative competence development.