Movie Genre Preference and Culture

Language Developers have always been concerned with progression of langue skills through incorporating appropriate and authentic materials. Among these materials which have been recently introduced to the realm of English Language Teaching, foreign feature films have gained popularity due to their numerous advantages. On the other hand, appropriate and creative exploitation of activities and techniques related to utilizing movies in English Language classrooms reveal their potentials in fostering the acquisition of English language and, therefore, are considered as essential concepts for ensuring optimum results and learning. In this regard, some researchers have investigated the effect of movie genres on learning English, and the results have been promising enough to pave the way for the present study which aims to focus on the role of culture when considering learners’ movie genre preference for first and foreign language. The present study aims to investigate the role of cultural points on the learners’ preferences when exposed to target and foreign culture. The results indicated that considering learners’ movie genre preference cannot always result in better performance; when cultural literacy is required, their preference might shift to more comprehensible contexts/movies.