Effects of English and Persian Subtitles on Oral Fluency and Accuracy of Intermediate Iranian EFL Learners

Fatemeh Khosh Ayand ,Sajad Shafiee

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.3p.133

Abstract

The present study attempted to explore the effects of employing English and Persian subtitles on the Iranian EFL learners' oral fluency and accuracy. From among 100 intermediate Iranian EFL learners in Donyaye Sokhan Language Institute in Isfahan, Iran, 60 were selected in the wake of administering the PET (Preliminary English Test) as the participants of the study, and were randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group. The control group was exposed to movies without any subtitles, while one of the experimental groups watched movies with English subtitles and the other watched movies with Persian subtitles. The format of pretest and posttest was semi-structured interview in which students answered several questions. Fluency scores were derived out of the formula suggested by Yuan and Ellis (2003), while accuracy was quantified through Foster and Skehan’s (1996) procedure. The analysis of the obtained data via SPSS indicated that (a) the successful performance of the participants in the experimental groups was shown to be attributable to using subtitles as a method for improving oral fluency and accuracy, (b) there were no significant differences between the two experimental groups, and (c) oral fluency and accuracy of the control group did not ameliorate significantly in the course of this experiment.

Highlights

Languages consist of four main skills: speaking, reading, writing, and listening
The analysis of the obtained data via SPSS indicated that (a) the successful performance of the participants in the experimental groups was shown to be attributable to using subtitles as a method for improving oral fluency and accuracy, (b) there were no significant differences between the two experimental groups, and (c) oral fluency and accuracy of the control group did not ameliorate significantly in the course of this experiment
As L2 speaking has a crucial roles in success of English learning, the aim of this study was finding out whether English and Persian subtitles used for teaching English could have any effects on oral accuracy and fluency of intermediate Iranian EFL learners, and if so, which one proved to be more effective than the other

Summary

Introduction

Languages consist of four main skills: speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Speaking is the ability to combine words together and create sentences in order to convey messages, thoughts, and ideas. Speaking English is very important for human interaction where people almost speak everywhere and every day through English. In this global era, many people use English as a medium of communication and it makes people who come from different countries communicate more (Efrizal, 2012). There are many factors which affect speaking proficiency. All of these factors (e.g. lexical knowledge, accuracy, intonation and accent, fluency, and pronunciation, just to name a few) play a significant role in building one’s speaking skills. Fluency is regarded as the ability of speaking or writing and gracefully. Accuracy refers to the ability of generating and using correct forms or language bases (Skehan, 1998)

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