The use of subtitled english movies and its effects on EFL high school students’ speaking ability

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRINH THI LOAN THE USE OF SUBTITLED ENGLISH MOVIES AND ITS EFFECTS ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghệ An, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRINH THI LOAN THE USE OF SUBTITLED ENGLISH MOVIES AND ITS EFFECTS ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen Nghệ An, 2017 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the thesis entitled “The use of subtitled English movies and its effects on EFL high school students’ speaking ability” is the result of my own work The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission, and have not been submitted to any university or institution Vinh, August 2017 Author’s signature Trinh Thi Loan i ABSTRACT The main goal in this study is to find out if there is any effect on EFL learners’ speaking competence through the use of English subtitled movies In order to achieve the mentioned goal, the study was carried out among 30 students at Thieu Hoa high school The participants did a general English test and 30 students were divided into two groups: control group and treatment group Both groups were asked to complete a pre-test before exposed to English subtitled movies and a post-test after taking part in the treatment sessions which aimed to see how many correct words per minute can they speak The data were mainly collected through sixteen lesson plans for both groups Their speaking competence was assessed and their achievements were recorded Three comparisons were made: the comparison between the average total score of eight sessions for both groups, the comparison between the average total score of the last session and the average total score of the first session and the comparison between the average of the pre-test and the average of the post -test in term of means and standard deviations The research findings indicated that the students’ speaking fluency and accuracy are expectation of the course In addition, the results from the study also revealed the improvements of the application of English subtitled movies From detailed findings, some implications for teaching speaking skill were proposed Limitations of the study were pointed out and further research was suggested ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, who directly supported and encouraged me during the preparation of this study I am truly grateful to her for her professional advice, invaluable support and guidance she offered to help me carry out the study I am also grateful to my colleagues and students of the two classes at Thieu Hoa high school who helped me to gather data for my study I would also like to thank my friends for their friendship and proofreading in the preparation of my thesis Last but not least, I owe special heartfelt appreciation to my family Without whose unceasing support, patience and understanding, I could not have been able to complete my study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT ii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale………… .1 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The speaking skill 2.1.1 Nature of speaking .4 2.1.2 Speaking in foreign language learning .5 2.1.3 Assessing speaking ability 2.2.1 Indicators of speaking ability 10 2.2.2 Fluency, accuracy and complexity 11 2.2.3 Methods to assess speaking ability 13 2.3 Teaching the speaking skill 16 2.3.1 Factors affecting EFL learners’ speaking ability 16 2.3.2 Difficulties EFL learners have when learning speaking 18 2.3.3 Principles for teaching EFL speaking 19 2.3.4 Techniques for teaching EFL speaking 21 2.4 Multimedia and second language acquisition .23 2.4.1 Theories about multimedia .23 2.4.2 Influence of multimedia on second language acquisition 25 2.4.3 Krashen’s Input Hypothesis .27 2.4.4 Correlation between input and output 29 iv 2.5 Subtitled English movies 32 2.5.1 Definition 32 2.5.3 The importance of using subtitled English movies 33 2.5.4 Principles for choosing subtitled English movies 37 2.5.5 The use of subtitled English movies in language teaching 41 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 48 3.1 Research questions 48 3.2 Participants 48 3.2.1 The Control Group 48 3.2.2 The experimental Group 49 3.3 Instruments 50 3.3.1 General English test 52 3.3.2 Pre-test and post-test 53 3.4 Procedure 53 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION……… …………….56 4.1 Results from the experiment .56 4.1.1 General English test 56 4.1.2 Pre-test results 59 4.1.3 Post-test results .62 4.1.4 The improvement that the two groups made 64 4.1.4.1 The improvement of fluency that the two groups made .64 4.1.4.2 The improvement of accuracy that the two groups made .64 4.2 Discussion of the main findings 73 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 78 5.1 Conclusion 78 5.2 Implications of the Study 79 5.3 Limitations 80 5.4 Suggestions for further research 80 REFERENCES 82 v APPENDIX A 83 APPENDIX B 87 APPENDIX C 88 APPENDIX D 89 APPENDIX E 90 APPENDIX F 90 APPENDIX G 90 APPENDIX H 90 vi LISTS OF TABLES Table 3.1: The control group’s background information 49 Table 3.2: The experimental group’s background information 49 Table 3.3: Topics of speaking in English 12 50 Table 4.1 The experimental and control group’s score in general English test 56 Table 4.2 The average total scores and standard deviations of general English test in the experimental group and the control group 59 Table 4.3 The experimental and control group’s score in pre- test 59 Table 4.4 The average total scores and standard deviations of pre- test in the experimental group and the control group 60 Table 4.5 The experimental and control group’s score in post- test 62 Table 4.6 The average total scores and standard deviations of post- test in the experimental group and the control group 63 Table 4.7The increase difference of fluency between the pre-test scores and the post test scores by all participants (p) in both groups 67 Table 4.8 Summary of the increase levels of all participants for both groups 68 Table 4.9 Means and standard deviations of speaking accuracy of the pre-test and the post-test of both groups .69 vii LISTS OF FIGURES Figure1 Simplified version of Grass’s model of IIO, applied to multimedia Error! Bookmark not defined Figure 4.1a: The general test scores of the control group 57 Figure 4.1b: The general test scores of the experimental group 58 Figure 4.2a: The pre- test scores of the control group 60 Figure 4.2b: The pre- test scores of the experimental group 61 Figure 4.3a: The post test scores of the control group .64 Figure 4.3b: The post test scores of the experimental group 65 Figure 4.4 The pre-test and the post test mean's score of fluency for both groups 66 Figure 4.5 The pre-test and post-test mean’s score of accuracy for both groups 70 Figure 6: Control group’s score type distribution 71 Figure 4.7: Experimental group’s score type distribution 72 viii APPENDIX B PRE-TEST (3-5 mins) Topics for speaking Talk about your school Talk about your favorite artist 87 APPENDIX C POST-TEST (3-5 mins) Topics for speaking Talk about your hometown Talk about the movies you like 88 APPENDIX D THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE OF ACCURACY IN THE PRETEST P Experiment group P Control group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 89 APPENDIX E THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE OF FLUENCY IN THE PRETEST P Experiment group P Control group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 90 APPENDIX F THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE OF ACCURACY IN THE POST TEST P Experiment group P Control group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 91 APPENDIX G THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP’S SCORE OF FLUENCY IN THE POST TEST P Experiment group P Control group A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4 A5 B5 A6 B6 A7 B7 A8 B8 A9 B9 A10 B10 A11 B11 A12 B12 A13 B13 A14 B14 A15 B15 92 APPENDIX H: LESSONPLAN UNIT 6: FUTURE JOB Grade 12 Lesson B: Speaking Talking about jobs and occupations Participants: 42 students- class 12B- Thieu Hoa high school Language level: low level Time: 45 minutes Topic: Jobs and occupations Language: Vocabulary related jobs and occupations Materials: “Extra English”- Episode 4- part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXay9738x4E A Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - talk about some different kinds of job - express their opinion about the job of their choice - pronounce some topic related vocabularies correctly as well as produce appropriate intonation to express their preference about their future jobs B Language Focus * Key terms/ Vocabulary: Cook, film extra, stunt man, launderette assistant, waiter, job vacancies, promotion * Key grammatical structure(s): The present continuous with future meaning, the “going to” and “will” futures C Procedure I Opening Activities Greeting Teacher greets the students Checking attendance Teacher checks the students’ attendance 93 Preparing class condition Teacher prepares the class condition Lead in Teacher gives the students a game “what’s my job?” - Divides class in to groups - Reads sentences that farmers, doctors, teachers often say (Appendix 1) - Tells students listen and guess the job - The first group to speak out the name of the job - The group with more points is the winner Teacher leads in “today we are going to talk and give opinons about jobs and we are going to see a comedy sitcom” Teacher introduces briefly the comedy movie “Extra English” (its characters, the setting and the content) as well as provides students with information of the episode part II Pre- watching activities Activity 1: Predict what happens in the movie (Appendix 2) - Gets student involved the movies and guessing the content of the movies by asking them to predict what people say in the following sentences Bridget: Have you seen Carina’s dress in the magazine? a I’d love to have a dress like that b I’d hate to have a dress like that Annie: Me too! a I would look terrible in it! b It would really suit me Hector: I want to give you some money so I am going to a telephone my father b look for a job Nick: I got the job on the internet Well, nearly Annie: a how boring! 94 b how exciting! Activity 2: Pre teaching vocabulary and cultural reference Nouns Cook film extra job vacancies Gardener launderette assistant promotion Stunt man waiter Adjective Excited mature fascinating Secret good-looking serious Cultural reference SO last season (unfashionable) Harley-Davidson (is a heavy American motorcycle, designed for cruising and noted for their distinctive exhaust sound; made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Activity 3: Complete the definitions of the jobs - Asks students work in groups of - Handouts each group a card with a job written in (appendix 3) - Asks students in turns say as much about the job as possible Example: Student 1: a waiter is someone who serves food Student 2: a waiter serves food in the restaurant Student 3: a waiter wears uniform in the restaurant II While- viewing activities Activity 1: Watch the movies and answer the questions What is Nick doing on the internet? a He’s looking for a job b He’s looking for a girl friend Why does he change his age from 20 to 30? a Because 20 is a terrible age 95 b Because 30 is more mature Whose fault is it that the ages are ruins a Hector’s b Nick’s What is Bridge’s reaction? a She is angry with Nick and Hector b She is only angry with Nick Why are Annie, Nick and Hector worried about Bridget’s date with Howard? a Because he is too old b Because he isn’t nice to women Activity 2: Predict what happen next - Pauses at the movie at some time to provide students to predict happen next - Gives the guided question “what you think Nick, Hector and Annie to stop Bridget from meeting her boss Howard - Asks students to work in group of four to discuss - Checks the predictions from class - Lets students watch the next scenes Activity 3: Rearrange the pictures (appendix 4) - Give students a set of pictures appearing in the movie - Asks them to arrange them in the order they appear in the movie - Checks the arrangement from class Activity 4: Decide the following sentences are true or false Annie and Bridget try to find a job for Hector Bridget gets angry when Howard calls her Bridget’s boss Howard invites Bridget and her friends to dinner Nick agrees to cook dinner for Bridget, Annie and Howard Bridget and Howard are talking on the phone about a new job for Bridget 96 IV After – viewing activities Activities 1: Repeat it- focus on pronunciation and form - Divides class in to four groups - Assigns different roles for each group (Bridget, Nick, Annie and Hector) - Pauses the video after one line and have student repeat after line (may challenge the students to repeat the lines by only listening not watching it) Activities 2: Describe the scenes - Asks students work in pairs One student describes the scene while the other closes his eyes to imagine what happen in the movies - Pauses the movies from time to time for students to describe fully - Asks students to changes their roles Activities 3: Act out the scenes - Asks students to work in group of four - Provides students with a script of the scene with some missing information ( the movie is divided into scenes) - Assigns different scenes for each group to act it out - Asks 1or groups to act out their scene in front of class (encourage them to add or change the scene with their creativity) V Closing Activities Summarizing Teacher and the students summarize the lesson Reflection Teacher and the students a reflection Further guidance Teacher gives the students homework Leave taking Teacher ends the lesson Appendix 1: Sentences teacher reads 97 Take two tablets a day after meal You will have a test next week Here’s your key Room 245 We have a bumper crop this year Please fasten your seatbelt before the plane take off You have passed the red light You have to pay a fine It’s rather cold inside phong Nha cave so you should bring warm clothes What would you like to order? Appendix 2: Predict what happens in the movie 98 99 Appendix 3: Give definitions of the jobs A gardener A film extra A launderette assistant A stunt man A cook 100 A waiter Appendix 4: Rearrange the pictures 101 ... score of the last session and the average total score of the first session and the comparison between the average of the pre-test and the average of the post -test in term of means and standard... the above-mentioned reasons the researcher has decided to conduct the study entitled ? ?The use of subtitled English movies and its effects on EFL high school students’ speaking ability? ?? at her...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRINH THI LOAN THE USE OF SUBTITLED ENGLISH MOVIES AND ITS EFFECTS ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY Major: Teaching English to