USING ENGLISH MOVIES AND TV PROGRAMS FOR DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS OF EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

The skill of listening has always been regarded as one of the primary skills in foreign language teaching. The article attempts to investigate the effects of employing ICT, namely extensive viewing of movies and TV programs, on listening skills of EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. A total of 18 students of Teaching English Language and Literature study program were targeted for this preliminary study. Based on the data acquired by a questionnaire, they were divided into three groups: those who watch movies and TV programs in the original in English on a daily basis 1 hour a day, 2 hours a day, and 3 and more hours a day. Afterwards, all the participants took a listening test, and the obtained data were subsequently analyzed using the Friedman ANOVA non-parametric statistical test and a post-hoc test. The preliminary results illustrate that despite the fact that some differences in the mean scores were observed, no statistically significant difference was detected in the listening test scores between the three groups (p = 0.31). In a similar way, the post-hoc test yielded the same results (p = 0.68; p = 0.22; p = 0.22). Thus, the amount of daily exposure to watching English movies and TV programs in the original did not seem to occupy a substantial role in relation to listening skills of EFL learners. It is vital that further research, on a larger sample of respondents, be conducted, also due to the fact that the exploration of this field of English language teaching and learning is still in its infancy. Extensive listening (extensive viewing) represents a useful and popular way of improving listening skills, which requires attention of teachers and students, and this preliminary study explores whether higher exposure to viewing movies and TV programs results in better listening skills of EFL learners.