The Impact of Using Films to Enhance EFL Learners Understanding of Metaphor and Simile

Abstract

Metaphor and simile have received great attention from many researchers in different disciplines in recent years. The use of ICT tools has become dominant in different domains especially in the educational settings. In contrast to the previous studies that focused on the production of both metaphor and simile in speech and writing, this comparative study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using films, an audio-visual aid, on enhancing EFL learners’ understanding of metaphor and simile. It is here hypothesized that using short films to teach metaphor and simile will enhance EFL learners’ understanding of the two tropes. The researchers opted for a quasi-experimental design conducted on one group of participants of first year and second year students at department of English at Mohamed Seddik Ben Yahia University. The data gathered at the end of the experiment revealed a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test results in which the level of the learners was highly increased and enhanced which proves that the technique adapted is efficient, as well as confirming the posited hypothesis, and showing a marked development in the students’ understanding, emphasizing thus the effectiveness of using short film clips to teach metaphor and simile.