VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** TRẦN THỊ HIỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING VIDEOS WITH SUBTITLES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT THAI BINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE Điều tra mức độ hiệu việc sử dụng video có phụ đề để dạy kỹ nghe cho sinh viên chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất, trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Thái Bình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** TRẦN THỊ HIỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING VIDEOS WITH SUBTITLES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT THAI BINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE Điều tra mức độ hiệu việc sử dụng video có phụ đề để dạy kỹ nghe cho sinh viên chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất, trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Thái Bình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Hoàng Thị Hạnh HANOI – 2017 DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis entitled “An investigation into the effectiveness of using videos with subtitles in teaching listening skills to the first-year English majored students at Thai Binh Teacher Training College” is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution Hanoi, 2017 Signature Trầ n Thi Hiề ̣ n i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor Ms Hoang Thi Hanh, PhD for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement she gave me while I was doing this research I am truly grateful to her for her advice, suggestions and useful materials right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage I would also like to send my sincere thanks to my colleagues at the Foreign Language Department, Thai Binh Teacher Training College, especially Ms Ha Thi Lan – the Dean and Ms Ha Thu Nguyet – the Vice Dean, for their helps and advice when I this work Additional thanks go to the students who actively participated in this study and willingly shared their experiences with me Special thanks go to all the lecturers who taught me throughout the MA Program, whose lectures were useful for my thesis and sources of my professional development Last, but by no means least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the members of my family: my parents, my husband, my sons and my elder brothers as well as my sisters-in-law who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to accomplish the thesis ii ABSTRACT This action research examines the effectiveness of using subtitled/captioned videos in teaching listening skill to elementary students and explores the students‟ attitudes towards this kind of listening activity The study was conducted at Thai Binh Teacher Training College in 2016 within nine weeks Ten first-year students in one class were involved in the study Different data sources, viz pre-tests, post-tests, progress tests, journal writing; and interviews were analyzed in triangulation with one another The findings reveal that using subtitled/captioned videos potentially has positive effects on listening in terms of listening comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, especially of the students who took notes while watching videos, and fostering students‟ interests and motivation However, sometimes subtitles/captions make students feel distracted because they had to watch the videos, listen to the sound and read the subtitles at the same time Accordingly, implications for appropriate video selection, and process and procedure of using videos with subtitles are proposed iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Significance of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Listening and listening comprehension process 1.2 Multimedia language learning 1.3 Input from visual and auditory modalities 12 1.4 Using videos with subtitles (captions) in teaching listening 14 1.4.1 Definition 14 1.4.2 Listening comprehension benefits from captioned videos 15 1.5 Summary 19 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 Research design 20 2.2 Research questions 21 2.3 Data collection instruments 22 2.3.1 Pre-test and post-test 22 iv 2.3.2 Listening progress test 22 2.3.3 Students’ journals 23 2.3.4 Interviews 23 2.4 Situational analysis 23 2.4.1 The setting of the study 23 2.4.2 The first-year listening program 25 2.4.3 The course aims 25 2.4.4 The teaching material 26 2.4.5 The teaching and learning approach 26 2.4.6 The participants 26 2.5 Action research procedure 27 2.5.1 Identifying a problem and collecting data 27 2.5.2 Analyzing data and generating hypothesis 28 2.5.3 Planning action and implementing the action plan 28 2.5.4 Collecting data to monitor change 30 2.5.5 Analyzing data and evaluating the change 30 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 31 3.1 The students‟ listening comprehension 31 3.2 Students‟ attitudes towards the teacher‟s using videos with subtitles (captions) in teaching listening skills 34 3.3 Discussion 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 43 Concluding remarks 43 Implications 45 Limitations and suggestions for further study 46 REFERENCES 47 APPENDIXES I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ALTE: Association of Language Testers in Europe CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference for languages FLD: Foreign Language Department IAAL: International Association of Applied Linguistics L1: First Language L2: Second Language KET: Key English Test TBTTC: Thai Binh Teacher Training College vi LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Students‟ listening comprehension scores each week during the intervention 33 Table 2: Reported perceptions of listening to subtitled/captioned videos activity 35 Figure 1: Mayer‟s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning 10 Figure 2: A generative model of Multimedia Learning 11 Figure 3: Action research cycle 20 Chart 1: The difference in the students‟ listening comprehension scores 32 Chart 2: The average percentage of listening comprehension scores 32 Chart 3: Changes in listening comprehension of the whole class during the intervention 34 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Along with other skills, listening has been of great importance as Brett (1997, p 39) stated that „listening is a key language skill, it has a vital role in the language acquisition process‟ Listening is an efficient channel to provide comprehensible input for students, consequently, improving listening ability helps to widen students‟ input However, listening seems to get less attention by a number of learners as they suppose that listening is the most difficult skill among four skills At Thai Binh Teacher Training College (TBTTC), listening is a great challenge for many first year students, even the English majored students Almost all students at TBTTC graduated from high schools in rural areas of Thai Binh province where they rarely had opportunities to learn and practice English generally and listening skills particularly As a result, they not only lack necessary strategies to fulfill the listening tasks but also have difficulties in catching the meaning from the tape because of lacking vocabulary and having troubles with pronunciation That they have numerous challenges in listening makes them be frustrated and no longer want to learn it worsens their learning listening Therefore, it is essential to create and maintain the students‟ interest in the lessons and avoid boredom in learning listening Thus, in order to support students‟ input as well as motivate them in learning listening then improve their language acquisition, it is essential for teachers to find out an effective method of teaching listening When studying and doing research, I realized that using multimedia (subtitled or captioned videos) may help me to give much more support for my students and help students‟ English proficiency should be taken into consideration when subtitled/captioned videos are selected The materials should not be too easy or too hard so that students at this proficiency would feel confident and motivated in listening Limitations and suggestions for further study This study has obtained some noticeable results in the use of subtitled/captioned videos in teaching listening skills to the first-year English majored students at TBTTC However, limitations are inevitable First of all, as mentioned above, it cannot be simplistically concluded that the significant results of this study are based only on the listening activity with the support of subtitled/captioned videos because it was conducted only in five weeks on a small group and there was no control group Therefore, future study can investigate more about the effect of subtitled/captioned videos in teaching listening skills with more participants in a longer time Secondly, it is noticed that students who took notes while watching videos had higher listening comprehension scores Note taking is only one of listening strategies and in this study, the researcher did not intend to require the students to take notes while watching videos Therefore, future research can be conducted to have a deeper investigation into the effectiveness of this strategy and other listening strategies trained for listening with the support of subtitled/captioned videos 46 REFERENCES Al-Seghayer, K (2001) The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 202-232 Baltova, I (1994) The impact of video on comprehension skills of core French students Canadian Modern 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Test-taker viewing behavior during an a L2 video listening test‟, Language Learning and Technology, 11(1), 67-86 47 Winke, P., Gass, S., and T Sydorenko (2010) The effect of captioning videos used for foreign language listening activities Language Learning and Technology, 4(1), 65-86 51 APPENDIXES APPENDIX A: SAMPLE PRE-TEST/ POST-TEST PART QUESTIONS 1-5 You will hear five short conversations You will hear each conversation twice There is one question for each conversation For questions 1-5, put a tick (√) under the right answer - What are they going to buy for Pam? - When is the man's appointment? - Which is the aunt's postcard? I - What time will the plane to Milan leave? - What does Joe's father do? PART QUESTIONS 6-10 Listen to Sarah and Matthew talking about the people they met at a party What they say about each person? For questions 6-10, write a letter A-H next to each person You will hear the conversation twice - John: A Blonde - Mary: B Famous - Bob: C Friendly - David: D Interesting 10 - Sally: E Quiet II F Short G Tall H Young PART QUESTIONS 11-15 Listen to Anne asking her friend about going to a shopping centre For questions 11-15, tick (√) A, B or C You will hear the conversation twice 11 At the moment, the shopping centre sells A clothes B books C food 12 You can take a coach to the shopping centre on A Mondays B Tuesdays C Saturdays 13 Anne‟s coach ticket will cost A £2.50 B £5.60 C £10.80 14 The nearest coach stop to Anne‟s house is A in the bus station B in the market square C outside the museum 15 The coach journey takes A 10 minutes B 20 minutes C 40 minutes PART QUESTIONS 16-20 You will hear a telephone conversation about a journey to New York Listen and complete questions 16-20 III You will hear the conversation twice JOHN LOCKE TRAVEL Travelling to: New York Name: (16) …………… Will leave on: (17)……………… Will return on: (18)……………… Price: (19)……… pounds Travel to airport by: (20) …………… PART QUESTIONS 21-25 You will hear Susanna leaving a phone message for her mother Listen and complete questions 21-25 You will hear the information twice Message From: Susanna Buy: (21) a white ………………… Name of shop: (22) ………………………… In High Street, next to: (23) ………………………… Size: (24) ………………………… Price: (25) £………………………… IV APPENDIX B: SAMPLE PROGRESS TEST WITH “YOU’VE GOT MAIL” Choose the best answer for the following questions Underline or circle the best answer Choose only one answer Kathleen‟s e-mail friend says he‟s in the middle of a project that needs tweaking What you think tweaking means? A money B assistance C clarification D modification When Kathleen asks her keypal if he‟s married, how does he answer her? A He says yes B He says no C He doesn‟t answer the question When Joe asks, “What‟s his handle?” what does he mean? A What kind of car does he drive? B What‟s his e-mail name? C How many e-mail names does he have? D There‟s a mosquito near your face How many suggestions about the meaning of 152 they give? A B C D 152 One of the suggestions about the meaning of 152 is correct A True B False Which of these things is something Kathleen says she couldn‟t tolerate about her keypal? A if he was divorced B if he‟d spent time in jail C if he was fat D all of the above What kind of work is Kathleen doing now? A Writing a children‟s book B Editing a children‟s book C Writing letters D Nothing Who does Kathleen say started her on her current work? A Joe Fox B Her keypal C an editor V D children When is Kathleen going to meet her keypal? A Saturday at noon B Saturday at lunchtime C Saturday at p.m D Tomorrow 10 Where is Kathleen going to meet her keypal? A At Riverside Park B At 91st Street C In a garden D All of the above VI APPENDIX C: SAMPLE JOURNALS I find the lesson today more interesting and I like it When I watch subtitled videos, I read the subtitles and watch the images as well as listen to the sound Subtitled videos make it easier for me to understand the content of listening While I was listening and watching the video, I paid more attention to the subtitles The lesson today is quite interesting I like the lesson today Before watching the video with subtitles, I read the questions to know what the video was about Then, I paid attention to watch the video for the first time and took notes the key words on the paper; VII in the second time, I answered the questions while watching I think that it was easier for me to follow and understand the content of the video when subtitles were on; therefore, I would the listening tasks more easily However, I mainly paid attention to read the subtitles at the bottom rather than to listen I could not combine the sound and the subtitles at the same time VIII APPENDIX D: SAMPLE INTERVIEW Teacher: What is your opinion about the teacher’s using videos with subtitle? Student: I think the teacher’s using videos with subtitles helps us more in practicing listening Teacher: Does it make you more/less interested in listening? Student: Yes, I find the lessons more interesting which makes me feel more interested in listening Normally, if there are not subtitles, I cannot understand the content of listening, which makes me frustrated I not want to listen any more However, when there are subtitles, I like listening more Teacher: How you feel about listening and watching the video at the same time? Describe your feeling, reactions Student: When watching subtitled videos, I usually concentrated on the subtitles rather than to listen because they made me understand the content more However, I also watched the image to see the speakers’ gestures or facial expressions; and listened to their voice This sometimes made me distracted Teacher: Can you make any suggestions for the next lesson? Student: I think you should let us watch the video without the subtitles and the listening tasks first; then let us watch subtitles to check our answers I think the result will be better IX ... USING VIDEOS WITH SUBTITLES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT THAI BINH TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE Điều tra mức độ hiệu việc sử dụng video có phụ đề để dạy kỹ. .. Điều tra mức độ hiệu việc sử dụng video có phụ đề để dạy kỹ nghe cho sinh viên chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất, trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Thái Bình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching... subtitled/captioned videos From week four to eight, the researcher applied using subtitled/captioned videos in teaching listening The videos were the series of Extra English on the website englishcoursevideo.com