The effects of teaching English through American soap operas on college students' listening competence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of American soap operas on college students` listening ability. This research was conducted over a 12-week period with college students: two classes consisting of 27 and 26 students each. The classes were divided into an experimental group, which studied English through American soap operas, and a control group, which studied English using a typical listening text. Fifty three students in two classes were surveyed to investigate their previous learning experience and backgrounds. They were asked to take a pre-listening test to evaluate their listening proficiency. Their progress was assessed on the basis of a post-listening test. Finally, twenty seven students in the experimental group were administered to fill out a post-questionnaire in order to measure their perceptions and attitudes toward their learning experience. The findings of this study indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group with respect to their post-test scores. However, there was no statistically significant difference not only between the highly proficient students in two groups but also between the students of low proficiency in two groups. The results of this study were discussed and pedagogical implication were suggested.