Movie subtitles and the improvement of listening comprehension ability: Does it help?

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to capture the possible effects of subtitles and captions on the improvement of listening comprehension. To carry out the study, 36 intermediate language learners who had registered for summer English classes were singled out and randomly assigned into three groups; Bimodal Subtitles Group (BSG), Standard Subtitles Group (SSG) and No Subtitles Group (NSG). All groups attended English classes for one month (4weeks) and 4 sessions a week. The subjects were pre and post tested by two different IELTS tests (Listening sections only). During the course, each group was working on fifteen 2-minute sections of a movie named ‘Alvin and Chipmunks’. Every session a 2-minute part of the movie was displayed and the general theme, new words and idiomatic expressions were worked on. At the end of each session a Multiple Choice Comprehension test was given to the learners to measure their comprehension level. And finally, at the last session, all participants sat on an IELTS test as post test. The results of data analysis revealed that for MC comprehension tests the subtitles groups (Bimodal or Standard) performed significantly better than the No Subtitles Group and Standard Subtitles Group outperformed Bimodal Subtitles Group; however, on the IELTS test there was a significant difference between the No Subtitles Group and Standard Subtitles Group in favor of No Subtitles Group, and there was no meaningful difference between No Subtitles Group and Bimodal Subtitles Group. Meanwhile, the analysis of mean performance of the groups revealed a better mean score for the NSG compared to both groups.