LEARNING SLANG AT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES AT A LINGUISTIC UNIVERSITY BY MEANS OF VIDEO (BASED ON THE TV SERIES «GILMORE GIRLS»)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the usage of video materials as an innovative way of learning and teaching contemporary foreign language, particularly slang. The article is aimed at studying and defining the ways to use films and series at the English language lessons effectively for the purpose of enlarging students’ vocabulary with the words and phrases of colloquial speech. The article is based on various works on this issue, for example the works of L.V. Sadovina, N.S. Savitskaya, D.M. Chun, J. Sherman and others. It dwells on the prerequisites of involving video into the studying process, defines the advantages of learning by means of films and series, specifies the criteria of film selection and the stages of the studying process involving films and series. The problem of the absence of slang words in textbooks is discussed and the necessity of including slang into language learning is highlighted. Films and series are viewed as the unique authentic materials in which slang is widely represented. The importance of comparing neutral words and synonymous slang is emphasized. The peculiarities of the work at each stage are exemplified by the tasks to the TV series «Gilmore Girls». As a result of the research we can conclude that a film is an effective and entertaining way of learning contemporary spoken speech. The scientific novelty of the research is manifested in focusing on slang as a feature of the modern English language and also on video as the means of learning slang and thus increasing students’ vocabulary, quality of comprehension, the ability to differentiate styles and usage peculiarities. The article is of particular interest to the teachers of foreign language at higher educational establishments or high school.