Effects of Captions on Listening Comprehension and Strategy Use by Taiwanese EFL Freshmen: A Case Study

• Main Authors: Ming-ying Yang, 楊明螢
• Other Authors: Yu-gi Chao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/09796883465002294727

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 93 === English movies provide rich authentic language input for learners, such as spoken linguistics, paralinguistic information, etc. However, the authentic audio-visual materials tend to increase the difficulty of comprehension due to its rate of speech, accent, etc. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of captions on listening comprehension and the listening strategy use by Taiwanese EFL freshmen while watching the English DVD movies with and without captions. In this study, the subjects of the study were 228 freshmen from a university in central Taiwan. The subjects’ listening comprehension of the movie was tested through the immediate oral recall protocol. An English listening strategy questionnaire was used to elicit the listening strategy use under both the captioned condition and the uncaptioned one. In order to triangulate and complement the quantitative results, a one-on-one interview technique was used to collect the in-depth qualitative data from the twenty-four interviewees. The results showed that the captions facilitated students’ listening comprehension and increased listening strategy use in general. The captioned group applied the metacognitive strategy more frequently than the uncaptioned group did. Besides, there was significant difference between the high-achieving and the low-achieving listeners in strategy use in the captioned group. In the uncaptioned group, only a slight significant difference between the high-achieving and the low-achieving listeners was found in the cognitive strategy. Additionally, nine strategies of using captions were induced from the interviews of the captioned group, such as writing down the spellings, confirming the spellings of the unknown words, etc. Based on the results of the present study, a number of pedagogical implications were provided: teachers may provide with the captioned movie to develop listening skills and comprehension; teachers may also take into account the speed of speaking; in addition, teachers may provide with the English movie with and without captions alternatively according to the teaching goals.