Investigating a Popular Belief: TV Series’ Roles in L2 Learners’ Speaking Fluency

Abstract

One of the most popular beliefs among English L2 learners is that watching English TV series can help them speak English language fluently. While it is seemingly genuine, as supported by many English learning websites and successful English L2 learners, further investigations on this subject matter have been minimal. Therefore, this research aims to find out the roles of TV series in improving English L2 learners’ fluency in English. In this qualitative research, in-depth interviews were conducted on two English L2 learners who claimed to have attained a certain level of fluency through intensive and independent watching of TV series. The results found that although TV series were not the primary strategy to obtain fluency in English, they had helped English L2 learners improve their fluency in speaking English in several ways. TV series also played a significant role as a plausible fluency enhancer for English L2 learners by providing learning motivation and exposure, acting as a role model of natural English, supporting linguistic features acquisition, and boosting the learner’s confidence to speak English. These aspects are not typically found while learning English in informal settings such as schools or English courses. These results add insights on how TV series could be a crucial supplementary material for L2 learning. Further research is recommended to determine the extent of TV series features in improving English L2 learners’ fluency in English.