The effects of using english movies on the development of listening skills and vocabulary acquisition of EFL students

Abstract

Learning vocabulary and acquiring listening proficiency seems to be challenging for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) today because teachers and students have neglected those areas of the English language during the learning process. Unfortunately, traditional and ineffective methodologies do not help students master their language skills to communicate effectively. For this reason, this research synthesis aims to analyze the effects of using English movies with or without subtitles on the development of listening skills and vocabulary acquisition of EFL learners. For this purpose, 15 research papers with quantitative, qualitative, quasi-experimental, and mixed-method approaches were selected and analyzed to determine whether the impact of watching English movies in the classroom is positive or negative for learners. Findings reveal that (1) watching English movies with or without subtitles greatly contributes to the development of listening skills, (2) bimodal modality (English soundtrack and English subtitles) is considered the most appropriate to improve the listening skills of students, and (3) to help learners increase their knowledge of English vocabulary, watching movies with subtitles (either bimodal or standard) is more effective than watching movies without subtitles.