Improve Student’s English Intonation by Dubbing English Movies

沈文燕

（上海师范大学外国语学院，中国 上海 200234）

Intonation is one of the most important segments of pronunciation.Different types of intonation can not only distinguish the grammatical difference between different types of sentence，but also express speaker’s current emotion，tone and attitude etc，and reflect the relationship between each other，and the social status，education，spirit of each other.

J.D.O’Connor believes that“Intonation is the tune，the melody，the music of speech.”①Roger Kingdon once said that，while pronunciation is the body of language，intonation is the soul of language.From their words，it’s easy to find out the importance of intonation.

As for English movies，firstly，English movies provide a real environment of a certain English-spoken country.From these movies，we can know vividly about their culture，humanity，geography，history and so on.Secondly，dubbing English movies can not only help us know more about it，but also help us to imply what we have learned to real situations.Thirdly，Movies has beautiful pictures，vivid plots，real situations and live language.It’s easy to attach students’attention and interest compared with those boring grammar or sentence structures.Especially when it’s interesting，students are eager to learn and imitate by themselves.Then，since movies have real scenes，we can know how to use words，phrases or sentences we have learned in these scenes，and imitate their tone when they speak.Last but not least，in order to dub English movies perfectly，we have to listen to them again and again.During this process our listening ability and speaking ability will be greatly improved，so is our vocabulary.

Dubbing English movies is so useful，how to choose proper movies?There are several factors to take into account.

To begin with，content.We should choose movies which represent positive attitudes，such as patriotic，optimistic，harmonious，etc.As when we educate students，we not only teach them knowledge，but also teach them how to be a person with high morality and form their values about life.And positive movies will set good models for them.And it’s better to choose movies which have some connections with the taught lessons so that it can arouse students interest and enthusiasm.Then，the content should not be too complicated.If it’s too complicated，students may pay most of their concerns on the plots rather than language itself.And the teaching effects will be greatly influenced.

Secondly，language level.The purpose of dubbing English movies is to improve students’English language abilities，so we must think twice about movies’language levels.Generally speaking，for those underleveled students，we should choose movies with clear pronunciation，low speed，stead intonation without too much professional words or dialect，such as The Lion King,Beauty and Beast,Shrek,The Sound of Music Forrest Gump,Titanic.These movies all have clear pronunciation，classic movie clips.They can easily attack students’attention，and they are suitable for them to practice listening and oral English.As for those advanced students，we can choose some which speak a little faster，with slangs and plenty cultural background，such as Gone with the Wind,Jane Eyre,Waterloo Bridge,Schindler List,Casablanca.After watching and dubbing these movies，students can not only learn native and idiomatic English，but also have a deeper understanding about their history，culture and custom.

Last but not least，captions.For beginners，it’s better to have Chinese caption or Chinese-English captions so that students can fully understand the content.For advanced students，they can watch movies with English caption or on caption at all to practice their listening and oral English.

Then，how to dubbing English movies?Firstly，students should watch the whole movies once and get a general understanding about the characters，plots and background.Then，watch again and choose movies clips.Time should be controlled within 10 minutes.Next，students should analyze the dialogue，about word-chosen，grammar，elision，emotion and so on.After careful analysis，they can start imitating the dialogue again and again.In this stage，students should pay special attention to the intonation and emotions about characters.Then，after careful preparation，the last step is to show in public.

In a word，intonation is very important in English learning，however，at present not enough emphasis has been put on it.Intonation is the lost jigsaw.And dubbing English movies is the key to find them.

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Annotation：

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