Assignment 3: Research Proposal CALL
How Subtitle Assists The Second Language
Learner In Listening Skill And Acquisition Of Vocabulary?
INTRODUCTION
In Malaysia, the wide use of English
language is a common fact as it does not only serves the function as second
language among Malaysians, but also secures a position as one of the means of
communication in this multiracial country. Majority of Malaysians adapt English
language as second language regardless of what their races are. It is used in
governmental affairs as well. English is also one of the medium languages in
commerce and one of common languages of communication apart from other
languages in Malaysia. English Language is not only taught and learnt in the primary
and secondary level but also in the higher educational institution. Other than
that, even people in the working sector also realise the important of English
Language in Malaysia. So, the teaching and learning process of English Language
must be interactive and interesting as people from different ages are now
learning English as their second or third language in Malaysia since English
has become a very crucial language in communication between people worldwide.
The use of technology in this modern
era is very common and there are many software and website which made the
learning of English Language much easier especially for the second language
learners as well as the teachers. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)
came into existence to help teachers and learners to learn language through the
use of internet and computer. Recently, people use several approaches to make
sure the teaching process is interesting yet it also helps the learner to
understand it better and easier. Some of the approaches are by using the
videos, podcast and software.
1.1 Purpose
of Study
This
paper aims to see how the use of subtitle in documentary films helps second
language intermediate adult learners in acquiring the vocabulary, and enhancing
their listening. Subtitled documentary is an approach to attract the attention
of the learners. This research aims to show how subtitled documentary benefit
or destroy second language learner and how it gives impact to the acquisition
of new vocabulary and listening skills of the learners.
1.2 Significant of Study
This
research is important to see the variance of teaching tool for the adult learners
since there are not much websites and software that can help the acquisition of
English Language among the adult learner. It is also significant to see how the
use of video with or without subtitle enhances the listening skill, and
vocabulary building of the adult’s second language learners. The use of
computer as a tool in assisting language learning is believed that it will give
more stimuli for the learners to participate in class activity.
1.3 Statement of Problem
As English majors, the
students must acquire great number of vocabulary to enhance their comprehension
especially through listening. However, the teachers are in doubt about the
usage of subtitles in enhancing the acquisition of vocabulary among the
students whether it can help or destroy language acquisition and learning
skills of Benl students.
1.4 Research Question
1) How video or movie with or without subtitle helps in vocabulary
acquisition and listening skills?
2) How frequent the learners use subtitle to understand certain words?
3) Which type of video is preferred by the learners, either the
subtitled or non-subtitle video and why?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Subtitled
Television programs, videos and documentary provide a rich context of foreign
language acquisition. Many viewers are motivated to understand what is shown in
television with the help of the subtitles. According to the previous
researches, subtitles may distract the learning skills and language acquisition
of the second language learner. Yet, according to Koolstra & Beentjes
(1999), “word recognition in non subtitled condition was not superior to word
cognition in subtitled condition”. That means, when watching both the subtitled
and non subtitled program, the children do not get distracted and they learned
second language words through watching the television program. In addition,
they also stated that children who watch television program with subtitle
acquire more words than the children that watch their own language program. In
their study, the best way for the children to acquire language is through the
use of both English spoken and subtitled television program but the children
own mother tongue television program. This is because, the children acquire
both reading and listening skills as they are watching, they read the subtitle
and they listen the spoken form of English Language. Therefore, through the
subtitle approach of learning, the learners learn the authentic use of the
language by the native speaker of the language.
Subsequently,
according to another research by Grgurović
and Hegelheimer (2007), it is believed that with the aid from subtitle and
transcript, students will perform better in their way to comprehend all the
information provided through listening activity. The results indicate that
participants interacted with the subtitles more frequently and for longer
periods of time than with the transcript. The subtitles were also the preferred
help option before and after the activity, and it appears that the participants
picked the help option they were predisposed to in daily life. The higher
proficiency group also used subtitles more frequently and for longer amounts of
time than the lower proficiency group although both groups exhibited very
similar behaviour on the transcript. In short, it can be concluded that the use
of subtitle helps a lot in students’ process of learning and comprehending
knowledge. The results of this study about the use of subtitles and transcripts
as help options in cases of listening comprehension breakdowns showed that the
participants used the subtitles more frequently and for longer periods of time
than the transcript. The subtitles were also the preferred help option before
and after the activity, and it appears that the participants picked the help
option they were predisposed to in daily life.
In another research,Markham (1989) investigated the
effects of subtitle on all level of English learners where he showed two
subtitled videos on the topic that the students do not know. After measuring
the results, it was stated that the students that viewed videos with subtitles
performed significantly better than the group that watched the same video
without subtitle. They can also improve their listening and reading skills by
watching video with subtitle, according to the result. Apart from that, a few
other studies also came out with the same result where the researchers can
conclude from the result that learners perform better and understand better by
watching videos that include the subtitle. Danan, (1992) for example,
investigate the effect of subtitle on vocabulary recall. By watching videos
with subtitles, students can distinguish between known and unknown words and at
the same time solve the problem with segmentation (Danan, p. 521). With the
advancement of technology nowadays, it is helpful for the teachers of second
language learning to make use of the audio-visual materials to teach foreign
language. The usage of the materials enables learners to make use of visual
information to enhance comprehension through listening.
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Sample/Participants
45 BENL students are chosen from different levels of
study in which 15 participants for each level of study from year 1 till year 3.
Then, the students are divided into 3 groups in which the groups will be
containing 5 students from each year of studies. So, the number of students in
each group is 15.
3.2 Method of Data Collection
A Documentary Film: An English film on ‘natural
disasters’ with authentic and contemporary language called ‘Wild Weather’ is
prepared to be used for the study. The four-part series Wild Weather looks at
the extremes of the earth’s climate and how man lives with it and ultimately
affects the man living the weather. The total film is approximately 180 minutes
long. There are four episodes, each one of which contained 10 parts. Two episodes
were selected as the main source of the experiment. Out of these two episodes,
only three parts (each approximately 30 minutes long) were chosen to be viewed
to the students. The parts are:
Part 1: Jungle (30 minutes)
Part 3: Desert (30 minutes)
Part 5: Ice storm (30 minutes)
A subject was given 1 point for each correct answer, with
the highest possible score
being 10 and the lowest possible score being 0. The score
will be evaluated and from the result, the researchers will know which film is
more effective in developing listening comprehension and improve the students
in their vocabulary.
3.3 Framework for Data Analysis
The framework of this research is the development of
listening skills and the enhancement of vocabulary acquisition by the use of
subtitled documentary video. This research will see their comprehension on what
they had listened and watched from the video. Video
acts as medium that can teach and learn by anyone especially students. Video
and subtitle is not foreign to anyone nowadays and students are well adapting
to the use of this multimedia. Students will be evaluated based on their
listening skill and vocabulary acquisition from the subtitled video.
3.4 Instruments
3
types of Videos which are English subtitle video, Malay subtitle video and
video without subtitle. Then the test is divided into 2 which are the pre-test
and the post test. The pre-test consists of 70 questions of proficiency test
and the post test is the listening comprehension test.
3.5 Procedure (Duration)
The experiment, lasting for a week, is conducted at the
language laboratory of
International Islamic University Malaysia. The following
three steps were taken in
this study:
Step 1: After drawing out 45 junior and senior students
from the English department, a proficiency test with 70 questions is
administered. The allotted time for answering the questions is 50 minutes.
After correcting the papers, 45 students whose scores fell between 26 and 48
out of 70 are selected as the intermediate group.
Step 2: Based on their score in language proficiency
test, the participants will be
assigned to three groups, that is, English Subtitle Group
(ESG), Malay Subtitle
Group (MSG) and Without Subtitle Group (WSG).
Step 3: At this stage, all three groups are asked to
watch one part of the episode on the same day, and in order to increase the
reliability of the study, each group will watch the same segment with the
assigned condition, namely ESG, MSG or WSG. By the end of each session,
immediately after watching the film, a multiple-choice comprehension test is
administered in order to evaluate their listening comprehension and provide
grounds for comparison.
Step 4: After the final test, the students in each group
were asked to write their viewpoints
about the effect of subtitled and/or unsubtitled films.
To make it easier and
stress-free for the students, they are allowed to give
their comments in their first
language. Finally, the result are then calculated.
EXPECTED FINDINGS
At the end of the research, the results is expected to
answer the following question:-
1) How video or movie with or without
subtitle helps in vocabulary acquisition and listening skills
When listening to the audio, the learners
are expected to understand the native language used in the video. The use of
subtitle will help the learners to understand it more as the pronunciation of
each word maybe different from the Malay pronunciation. When watching the video,
the learners may be familiarized with new terms that usually used in such
video. So, they may learn new words from that and add their existing
vocabulary. For the ESG, they may get higher marks for the comprehension test
as they were expected to understand the documentary much better than the other
two groups. Then, MSG may have slightly lower marks as the test will also include
some English terms that they may not know. Lastly, the WSG may have the lowest
marks as they only dependent on the video and audio. They will have less
understanding on the video shown without the help of the subtitle.
2) How frequent the learners use subtitle to understand certain words?
For the control group 1, the students with
English subtitle (ESG), they may look at the subtitle more frequent than the
other group because, if they do not understand the spoken form of it, they may
easily identify the word from the subtitle given and they can easily refer to
the video of they do not understand any of English words that are new for them.
For the second group with Malay subtitle, they may see the subtitle as frequent
as the first group but they may not know certain vocabulary as they referred to
their own language. They can only depend on the video without knowing the real
English word for certain things in the video.
3) Which type of video is preferred by the learners either the subtitled or non-subtitle video and why?
Learners preferred both English and Malay
subtitle videos but not the non-subtitle video as the subtitle video will make
people more understand of what have been said in the video. They may not be
familiar with certain words pronounce by the native speaker but in the process
of learning, they can refer to the subtitle and acquire new words. The use of
subtitle also gives better understanding of what the learners are watching.
APPENDIX
Literature Review 1
Children’s vocabulary acquisition in a foreign language through watching
subtitled television programs at home
Purpose of Study
To investigate how Dutch Children in grade 4 and 6 learn English words
through the watching television programs
Significant Of Study
To see how children acquire their
vocabulary and how they differentiate separate words that been used in the program
Statement of Problem
Reading the subtitle may distract
the children yet how subtitle helps the children to acquire the words and if
subtitle is not available, how it affects the spoken acquisition of English
language.
Research Question
1) Do Dutch children learn English words from the subtitled English
language television program?
2) Which level of students acquires more English words in the using of
subtitle learning?
3) How frequent the children see the subtitle while watching the
program?
Methodology
Participants: 125 boys and 121 girls from grade 4 and 6 from three
primary schools in the urban district of Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Procedure
- Before the experiment was conducted, the children were asked to
complete an English vocabulary test. They were asked to watch a video and they
were told to “just watch” the video to make sure that they do not pay attention
to the subtitle. Then, the vocabulary test was given to them. They were also
experimented through the word recognition test. At the end of the session
children were asked how frequent they watch subtitled program at home.
- For the vocabulary acquisition test, children were grouped based on
their vocabulary test result. Then they were grouped into:-
1) Watch English tv program with Dutch subtitle, 2) Watch the without
subtitle, 3) Watch the Dutch tv program.
- For the test, they were given multiple choice questions asking 35
Dutch translation words. All the English translation form has been spoken in
the video and appeared in the subtitle. The score was taken and compared.
- As for the vocabulary matching test, the children were given and it
only divided into two groups which are the subtitle vs non-subtitle group.
Then, they were given 30 auditory items in which 20 of them are in the subtitle
and soundtrack and the other 10 are nor.
Findings
- Children that watch program with subtitle have higher vocabulary score
than the only Dutch TV program
- Word recognition in the no subtitle condition was not superior to word
recognition in the subtitle condition
- Reading subtitle did not distract children from hearing the English
words
- Grade 6 children have higher proficiency than grade 4 children as they
started learning English earlier.
- Dutch children use more than half of their viewing time watching
subtitled TV program
Literature Review 2
Title: Help Options And Multimedia Listening: Students’ Use Of
Subtitles And The Transcript
Statement Of
Problem
Students are
facing difficulties and problems in comprehending input. At some point of
studying, some students undergoes comprehension breakdown as a result of
inability to acquire the knowledge given by the lecturers. It is believed that
with the aid from subtitle and transcript, students will perform better in
their way to comprehend all the informations provided through listening
activity.
Purpose Of
Study
- This
empirical study was designed to provide evidence about one such issue: whether
subtitles or transcripts are more effective in providing modified input to
learners.
- This paper
offers suggestions on the design and implementation of software help options
(L2 subtitles and L2 transcript) in a multimedia listening activity.
- Also, it
investigates the learner’s use of multimedia listening software with a
particular focus onlearner interaction with subtitles and transcripts in cases
of comprehension breakdowns.
- The paper
also examines if and how learners take advantage of help options available to
them.
Significant Of
Study
To find the
most appropriate and suitable method of study to help students acquire the
highest number of input in reading comprehension based on their listening
skills with the help of subtitles or transcripts.
Research Questions
1.
How frequently
and for how long do participants use two help options (subtitles and the
transcript) offered in a multimedia activity?
2.
Are there
patterns of participants’ behavior that suggest differences in how they
approach help, and if so, how could those patterns be explained?
3.
Are there
differences in the use of help options between participants at different
proficiency levels?
4. What are participants’ attitudes towards two help options before
and after the activity
Methodology
-
A multimedia
listening activity containing a video of an academic lecture was designed
tooffer help in the form of target language subtitles (captions) and lecture
transcripts in casesof comprehension breakdowns.
-
Eighteen
intermediate ESL students enrolled in anacademic listening class at a research
university participated in the study.
-
Two
tests(initial listeningcomprehension and delayed recall), andquestionnaires (pre and post-listening),
in addition to screen recordings were used to analyze students' performanceon
the activity and their use of help.
-
The
participants were divided into two groups: higher intermediate (10 students)
and lower intermediate (8students) based on:
a) the instructor’s opinion of their listening ability
b) their present grade in the course
c) a self-evaluation of listening proficiency
d) scores on an initial academic listening test
e) selfreported TOEFL scores
- The video
segments could be played only once to make the delivery of input similar to
delivery in a lecture hall where students usually don’t hear the same lecture twice.
Findings Of
Research
-
The results
indicate that participants interacted with the subtitles more frequently and
forlonger periods of time than with the transcript.
-
The study
identified four patterns oflearner interaction with the help options.
-
Overall, the
participants interacted withhelp less than half of the time they opened help
pages, an important challenge ininvestigating help options lies in finding ways
to promote the use of help
-
The subtitles
were also the preferred help option before and after theactivity, and it
appears that the participants picked the help option they were predisposed to
in daily life
-
The higher
proficiency group also used subtitles more frequently and for longer amounts of
time than thelower proficiency group although both groups exhibited very
similar behavior on the transcript.
LITERATURE
REVEW 3
Title: The Effect Of Films With And Without Subtitles On Listening
Comprehension Of Efl Learners
Purpose
of the study:
To examine the efficacy of subtitled movie on listening comprehension of
intermediate English as a Foreign Language students.
Significance:
With the increasing access to TV, video equipment and more recently, the
computers,
teachers have found more opportunities to use audio-visual materials at all
levels of
foreign language teaching, and they have frequently used them effectively
in language
classes
Statement of the problems:
Teachers of English are sometimes in a dilemma whether they should show a
film with or without subtitles and in what language and, above all, which way
will benefit their students most in relation to listening comprehension.
Research
question:
1. Do films with English subtitles help EFL students improve their
listening comprehension
more than films with Persian subtitles or without subtitles?
2. Do films with Persian subtitles help EFL students improve their
listening comprehension
more than films with English subtitles or without subtitles?
3. Do films without subtitles help EFL students improve their listening
comprehension
more
than films with Persian or English subtitles?
Methodology:
The sample was taken from out of a total of 200 intermediate students,
90were picked based on a proficiency test. The material consisted of six episodes
(approximately 5 minutes each) of a DVD entitled ‘Wild Weather’. The students
viewed only one of the three treatment conditions:
English subtitles, Persian subtitles, no subtitles. After each viewing
session, six sets of multiple-choice testswere administered to examine
listening
Findings:
The results revealed that the English subtitles group performed at a
considerably higher level than the Persian subtitles group, which in turn
performed at a substantially higher level than the no subtitle group on the
listening test.
REFERENCES
Abdolmajid Hayati, F. M.
(2011). The effect of films with and without subtitles on listening comprehension of EFL learners. British
Journal of Educational Technology , 42 (1), pp. 181-192.
Grgurović, M. H. (2007). Help options and multimedia listening: Students' use of subtitle and the trascript . Language Learning & Technology , 11 (1), pp. 45-66.
Koolstra, C. B. (1999). Children's vocabulary acquisition in a foreign language through watching subtitled television programs at home. Educational Technology Research and Development , 47 (1), pp. 51-60.
