Hollywood goes to classroom : the prospects of using movies as authentic materials to teach English between educational benefits and cultural menace

الملخص EN

The present study aims at exploring the detrimental effect of the unguided use of Hollywood movies to teach English as a foreign language.

Movies have been praised not only as an effective linguistic communication medium, but also as a rapid linguistic, cultural and epistemological enriching mechanisms for students.

Nonetheless, the invisible ideological downside of movies is beyond measure as it alters, dominates and vanquishes the cultural identity of learners and stimulate feelings of xenocentrism.

The study is based on triangulation of data to raise legitimate concerns and challenge the long-standing attitude of using of movies as authentic materials.

Thus, while the deep exploration of literature proved shows that Hollywood has been ideologically and culturally vigorous in marketing American culture and values to the world, the data gathered through a survey questionnaire, administered to EFL students at Khenchela University from five levels using probability sampling and interviews conducted with their teachers in that regard have exposed, not only a modification of the students'' cultural identity, but also the presence of new American-origin cultural values and norms and a possible unhealthy attachment to American model of culture and ideology