The use of short films in developing German language skills

This study focuses on short films aimed at improving reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in German. The aim of this study is to facilitate the improvement of German language teacher candidates' proficiency in the four basic skills of German: reading, writing, speaking, and listening, by utilizing short films and highlighting the advantages they offer. For this reason, short films were prepared to improve the German reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills of German language teacher candidates. The study utilized a descriptive survey model and aimed to answer the questions, "Is it possible to prepare activities with short films to improve the four basic language skills?" and "What kind of a curriculum be presented with activities that will improve the four basic skills using short films?" The study is limited to second-year students (n = 45) of German Language Teaching at Trakya University for the academic year 2023-2024. A semi-structured form consisting of 31 questions was implemented to obtain the students' attitudes and opinions regarding short films. After the implementation of the pre-test and post-test using the semi-structured form model, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the participants regarding the four basic skills for each short film. In the study, it was concluded that short films contribute to the four basic skills of German in many ways in the foreign language education process. The use of short films in German language teaching is to provide a fun learning environment, to motivate students in terms of motivation and attention, to contribute to the development of German Language Skills, to determine that short films are advantageous as teaching materials, to convey culture and language and to develop applied language skills. The findings revealed that the prepared short films are effective in enhancing the four basic skills of German language during foreign language education process. They also provide students with both motivation and an enjoyable learning environment throughout the process of German language teaching. Keywords: Short film, Foreign Language Teaching, Four baisc foreign language skills, Teaching German as a Foreign Language