The Impact of Using English Subtitled Movies on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract

The present study attempts to investigate the impact of using English subtitled movies on EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. It explores learners’ attitudes towards pedagogical subtitled movies as an effective learning tool for the improvement of their vocabulary knowledge, drawing on the opinions of 82 participants from third year students in the department of English at University 08 May 1945, Guelma. All the participants from six groups were asked to watch three English subtitled movies; The Great Gatsby, Troy, and Avatar. These interesting movies have been selected to be viewed before answering the online questionnaire which was posted in third year students’ Facebook group and sent by email to other students for a period of 15 days. After viewing the movies, the participants answered 16 relevant multiple choices, agreement scale, open-ended and closed-ended questions. The finding results provide insight into the benefit that might be gained through watching authentic English subtitled movies which offer learners with a variety of vocabulary items and rich cultural background. Besides, the data collected from the online questionnaire reveals that participants have positive attitudes towards learning vocabulary from subtitled movies. The study suggests that English subtitled movies should be integrated into EFL classroom to enhance learners’ vocabulary acquisition.