Using Movie Subtitles to Teach About Functions

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Using Movie Subtitles to Teach About Functions

• Kenji Kitao
• Doshisha University
• Kyoto, Japan

• S. Kathleen Kitao
• Doshisha Womens College
• Kyoto, Japan

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Introduction

• Movies
• information about context
• relationships among interlocutors
• nonverbal cues
• many dialogs
• Good to teach English
• Analyzing functions
• E.g. requests, apologies, etc.

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Dialogues

• Scanning subtitles from DVD
• Finding scripts on the Internet

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Copying DVD files to Hard Disk

• DVD Decrypter
• http//www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/
• Download
• Explanation

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DVD Decrypter
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Scanning Subtitles

• SubRip
• http//www.divx-digest.com/software/subrip.html

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SubRip
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SubRip
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SubRip
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Scripts or transcripts available online

• Drews Script-o-Rama
• http//www.script-o-rama.com/oldindex.shtml
• Movie Scripts and Screenplays
• http//www.moviescriptsandscreenplays.com/
• Scripts
• http//www.movie-page.com/movie_scripts.htm
• Original scripts

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• Simply Scriptshttp//www.simplyscripts.com/Note
  Some sites have the original scripts, or early
  drafts of scripts, which may be different from
  the movie. Transcripts are taken down from the
  movie itself.

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Analyzing Youve Got Mail
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• Youve Got Mail
• 1998 movie
• Starring
• Tom Hanks
• Joe Fox whose family owns a large bookstore chain
• Meg Ryan
• Kathleen, who owns a small, independent
  childrens bookstore

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• Reasons for choosing this movie
• Students interest
• Natural, everyday dialogue
• Involves both men and women
• A variety of speech acts
• Same functions in a variety of situations

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Procedure

• Ripped subtitles from DVD
• Put each sentence on one line on Excel
• Added information about
• Who the speaker was
• Sex of the speaker
• Whether the sentence is dialogue, voiceover, etc.
• Function(s)

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• Statistics
• 1 hour and 54 minutes
• 10, 949 words (8,512 words of dialogue)
• 1,894 sentences (1,578 in dialogue)
• Other
• Email, Voiceovers, Song lyrics, TV

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• 5.39 words per sentence
• Level of difficulty 2.73 (3rd grade level)

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Vocabulary Level

• Using the JACET 8000 word levels
• About 96 of the words are within the first 5000
  words, that is, within Japanese college students
  vocabulary
• Can get a list of words at each level

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Key Words in Context
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Looking at functions

• Seeing how one function is used in different
  situations, speaking to different interlocutors
• Comparing males and females, younger and older
  speakers, etc.

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Looking at requests

• Conventional forms (56 cases)
• Imperative 23 (close people very small requests
  adult to child intentional rudeness due to
  annoyance)
• Please / , please. 8 (between customers and
  service people used by itself to emphasize a
  request)
• Could you/someone 3 (boss to employee customer
  to service person)

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• (naming what one wants) 3 (between customers and
  service people)
• Lets 2 (caretaker to child boss to employee)
• Will you 2 (boyfriend/girlfriend)
• I/Well take 2 (customers to clerks)
• Would you 1 (between friends)
• (Do you) want to 1 (caretaker to child)
• I want 1 (child to caretaker)
• Will you 1 (boyfriend/girlfriend)
• I ask you to 1 (clerk to customer)
• You can 1 (customer to clerk)

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• So already! 1 (customer to customer
  intentionally rude)
• Do you think 1
• Can we 1 (speaker to protesters)
• You are (not) 1 (acquaintances)
• I beg you. 1 (acquaintances, emotional situation)
• Do you mind 1 (strangers sarcastic intonation)
• I would appreciate it if you would 1
  (acquaintances)

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• Non-conventional forms (6 cases)
• Is there anything you can do? 1 (customer to
  clerk)
• Its your turn to 1 (customer to clerk)
• Orange (Arent) you going to 1 (customer to
  clerk, as part of a joke)
• There you go 1 (customer to clerk)
• If you dont 1 (customer to service person
  angry threat)
• Zip, zip. 1 (customer to clerk)

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• Data-driven learning
• Have students
• Identify and analyze functions, find examples
• Compare male and female language
• Compare language of older and younger characters

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• Example of Brown and Levinsons positive and
  negative politeness
• 1. Bald on record make a request directly
• 2. Positive politeness meet Hs need to be
  liked and to feel included in the same group,
  e.g., through showing interest in H, using
  in-group identity markers, joking

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• 3. Negative politeness a show of respect for H
  and Hs wishes and desire to be unimposed upon,
  e.g., by expressing request as a question,
  apologizing
• 4. Off-record make the request in a way that
  can be interpreted in more than one way, e.g., by
  hinting

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• Kathleen is shopping and a cashier has just
  finished adding up her purchases.
• Cashier 72.27. (The cashier requests the
  amount by stating it. Bald on record.
  task-oriented)
• (Kathleen holds out a credit card.)
• Cashier This is a cash-only line. Cash only.
  (The cashier refuses by stating a general
  principle.)

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• Kathleen Oh, my God. I just have a credit card.
  I'm sorry. Is that okay? (Negative politeness
  strategies. Apologize, ask permission not
  assuming)
• Customer No, it's not okay. There's a sign.
• Kathleen I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. I never do
  this. But I ask you to make an exception in this
  one case. (Negative politeness strategies
  Apologize Indicate reluctance I never do
  this. Minimize imposition in this one case)

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• Customer 1 You have no cash? She has no cash.
• Customer 2 No, she has no cash.
• Customer 3 Get on another line, lady. (Bald on
  record annoyed and intentionally rude)
• Kathleen I have a dollar. That's all I have. I
  have a dollar. One dollar. Is there anything you
  can do? (Negative politeness strategies Give
  overwhelming reasons not assuming)

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• Joe, an acquaintance of Kathleens, comes up to
  her. He offers her cash, but when she refuses, he
  turns to the cashier.
• Joe Rose. That is a great name. Rose. This is
  Kathleen. I'm Joe. This is a credit card machine.
  Happy Thanksgiving. It's your turn to say Happy
  Thanksgiving back. (Positive politeness
  strategies Claim common ground notice and
  attend to H exaggerate interest in H Use
  in-group identity markers first names
  Complimenting)

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• Cashier Happy Thanksgiving back.
• Joe Knock, knock.
• Cashier Who's there?
• Joe Orange.
• Cashier Orange who?

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• Joe Orange you going to give us a break by
  zipping this credit card through the credit card
  machine? Come on. You can do it. Zip, zip. There
  you go. (Positive politeness strategies Being
  optimistic Come on. You can do it. Zip zip.
  joking involving both S and H in the activity
  though the joke)
• (The clerk runs Kathleens credit card.)

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• The End
•