Subtitled authentic videos and incidental vocabulary learning a study among efl high school students in thanh hoa

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THANH HUYEN SUBTITLED AUTHENTIC VIDEOS AND INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING: A STUDY AMONG EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THANH

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI THANH HUYEN

SUBTITLED AUTHENTIC VIDEOS AND INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING: A STUDY AMONG EFL HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THANH HOA

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHỆ AN- 2017

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI THANH HUYEN

SUBTITLED AUTHENTIC VIDEOS AND INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING: A STUDY AMONG EFL HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THANH HOA

Field: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages(TESOL)

Code: 60.14.01.11

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen

Nghệ An, 2017

ABSTRACT

This study was set out to determine if the use of subtitled English videos enhances EFL high school students’ incidental vocabulary learning The students participating in the experiment aged around 16 years old and were divided into three groups, one being the control group and the other two the experimental groups During the treatment time, each experimental group was asked to watch short video clips, either with English subtitles or dual subtitles A vocabulary level test was used as the pre- and post-treatment test

to determine whether watching these videos played a role in the participants’ vocabulary learning The data revealed that the three groups did better in the post-test, but there was a significant difference between the experimental groups and the control group It was also found that the two experimental groups did similarly well The data collected from the questionnaire showed that the use of subtitled authentic videos motivated EFL students’ vocabulary learning In addition, participants have positive attitudes toward learning from subtitled videos, both inside and outside schools’ boundaries The study suggested that subtitled videos can be used as an effective learning tool in the second language classroom

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr TRAN THI NGOC YEN, who I believe is the most wonderful supervisor, for her valuable time, suggestions, guidance, warm encouragement, and continuous support throughout this study Without her help, my study would not have been completed

I also wish to thank the students who participated in my study Without their help, this study could not have been successful

Finally, I would like to delicate this work to my colleagues and family, who have been always supporting me with love and sympathy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FINGERS vii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aim of study 1

1.3 Research questions 1

1.4 Scope of study 1

1.5 Thesis design 2

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Vocabulary 3

2.1.1 Definition 3

2.1.2 Word aspects 3

2.1.3 The role of vocabulary 4

2.1.4 Assessing EFL learners’ vocabulary level 5

2.2 Vocabulary learning and teaching 7

2.2.1 Methods and techniques to teach vocabulary 7

2.2.2 Principles for teaching vocabulary 8

2.2.3 Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition 9

2.2.3.1 The influence of NL 9

2.2.3.2 FL anxiety 12

2.2.3.3 Motivation and FL vocabulary learning 13

2.3 Literature on using subtitled videos for language learning 16

2.3.1 Defining ‘authentic video’ 16

2.3.2 Defining subtitles 16

2.3.2.1 Inter-lingual subtitles 17

2.3.2.2 Intra-lingual subtitles: 17

2.3.2.3 Reversed subtitles 18

2.3.2.4 Dual subtitles 18

2.4 Related theories of language learning 19

2.4.1 The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis 19

2.4.2 The Affective Filter Hypothesis 20

2.4.3 Incidental Learning 20

2.5 Vocabulary learning through subtitled videos 21

2.5.1 Intra-lingual subtitle videos 21

2.5.2 Dual subtitle videos 22

2.5.3 The effects of subtitled videos on second language learning 23

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Introduction 26

3.2 Participants 27

3.3 Materials 28

3.3.1 The video clip and selection criteria 28

3.3.2 The Vocabulary Level Test 29

3.3.3 Multiple-choice opinion survey 30

3.4 Data collection procedure 31

3.5 Coding schemes 32

3.5.1 The Vocabulary Level Test 32

3.5.2 Opinion survey 32

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 Results 33

4.1.1 General English test results 33

4.1.2 The VLT results 35

4.1.2.1 Experimental groups’ results 35

4.1.2.2 Control groups’ results 39

4.1.3 The improvement compared between control group and the two experimental groups in VLT scores 42

4.2 Attitudes about Learning from Subtitles 43

4.2.1 Part one: Discover the respondents' English language video viewing habits 43

4.2.2 Part Two: Subtitles preference 43

4.2.3 Part three: Subtitled video and autonomous learning 44

4.3 Discussion 45

4.3.1 The effect of using subtitled video clips on vocabulary acquisition 45

4.3.1.1 Vocabulary Level Test( VLT) results 45

4.3.1.2 The role of the audio-visual materials 49

4.3.1.3 Possible factors related to the input 50

4.3.2 Participants’ attitudes towards learning from subtitled videos: 51

4.3.2.1 The questionnaire survey results 51

4.3.2.1.1 General attitudes towards learning from subtitled videos 51

4.3.2.1.2 Subtitle Preference 55

4.3.2.2 Subtitled video and autonomous learning 56

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 59

5.1 Summary of the study 59

5.2 Limitations of the study 61

5.3 Suggestions for the study 62

5.4 Implications for future research 63

REFERENCES 64

APPENDIX A 68

APPENDIX B: 72

APPENDIX C 74

APPENDIX D 76

Questionnaire survey( English version) 76

APPENDIX E 77

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4 1: Scores on the general English test for all participants: The control group and The experimental groups 33 Table 4 2 The average total scores and standard deviations of general English test

in the experimental group and the control group 34 Table 4.3 Pre- and post-scores on the Vocabulary Level Test for the English subtitle

LIST OF FINGERS

Figure 1 Intra-lingual subtitles 18

Figure 2 Dual subtitles 19

Figure 3 Score rate on the general test for the English subtitle group 34

Figure 4 Score rate on the general test for the Dual subtitle group 35

Figure 5 Score rate on the general test for the Control group 35

Figure 6 Score rate on the pre treatment test for the English subtitle group 37

Figure 7 Score rate on the pre treatment test for the Dual subtitle group 37

Figure 8 Score rate on the post treatment test for the English subtitle group 39

Figure 9 Score rate on the post treatment test for the Dual subtitle group 39

Figure 10 Score rate on the pre treatment test for the control group 41

Figure 11 Score rate on the post treatment test for the control group 41

Figure 12 VLT Gain by All the Three Groups 42

Figure 13 The respondent’s English Language Video Viewing Habit 43

Figure 14 Preferring Vocabulary Learning from Subtitled Video 44

Figure 15 The Effectiveness of Subtitles 44

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

As an English teacher, I am fortunate to have access to multimedia technology for both in my teaching and searching I have made a great effort to keep abreast with these developments by using technology to create and exploit learning opportunities for my students

I would like to encourage students’ interest in subtitled authentic videos and make them feel confident when using such videos as learning tools It’s the teacher’s duty

to put students in a position where they are capable of increasing their knowledge of vocabulary independently of the teacher by looking at the subtitled words in meaningful and stimulating circumstances

I decided to carry out the current study to determine whether subtitled authentic videos could be effective vocabulary learning tools for Thanh Hoa EFL high school students

1.2 Aim of study

This study aimed to demonstrate that watching the English subtitled videos will improve EFL high school students’ knowledge of English vocabulary and to determine whether the participants felt that the subtitles accompanying the treatment video motivate them

1.3 Research questions

This research aims to answer the following questions:

- How does the use of English subtitled videos affect EFL high school students’ vocabulary learning?

- Will the use of English subtitled videos help to motivate EFL high school students

to learn English?

1.4 Scope of study

This research focuses on the effect of using English subtitled videos as vocabulary learning tools for Thanh Hoa EFL high school students The study is to determine which subtitled video( English subtitled video or English and Vietnamese subtitled

video) is more effective and whether it motivates EFL high school students’ learning The study was conducted among thirty 10th grade students at Duong Dinh Nghe high school in Thieu Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province

1.5 Thesis design

The thesis consists of five chapters Chapter 1, Introduction, includes rationale for the study, the aims, methods, scope, and design of the study Chapter 2 comes the second, in which a literature review was presented Chapter 3, the study comes next with the responsibility for specifying the factors for the researcher to collect and process the study data Chapter 4 consists of findings and discussion, in which the data was described and discussed Chapter 5 comes last A summary of the study, the limitations of the study, and suggestions and implications for further research are also mentioned in the last chapter

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Vocabulary

2.1.1 Definition

Vocabulary is the words of a language But what is a word? Although it seems likely that “everyone knows what a word is” (Carter & Mc Carthy, 1988, p.4), for academic research purposes, at least, sometimes the meaning is so clear

Words are recognitions of lexemes (Carter, 1998) A lexeme is the basic form of a word that is listed in the dictionary, and is the root of all the variations of that word The lexeme DO, for example, comprises all of the grammatical conjugations of that verb in terms of person (does, do) and tense (do, doing, did, done) Lexemes can also be” prefabricated chunks” of language, i.e multi-word items that are stored and recalled in a grammatically unanalyzed form (Schmitt & McCarthy 1997)

In the current paper, when talking of “increases to English vocabulary knowledge”,

by “vocabulary” I mean “words” and by “words”, I mean the realizations of lexemes The focus of the current research is on single words (as opposed to

“prefabricated chunks” in this sense

2.1.2 Word aspects

According to vocabulary acquisition literature, “knowing” a word implies more than just meaning identification and form familiar (Johnson & Pearson, 1984; Nagy & Scott, 2000, Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997) The nature of word knowledge can be described as multi-fated, multi-demensional, incremental and having a receptive/ productive duality That is, word knowledge is gained incrementally, as each encounter with a word contributes to the depth of knowledge of the multi-dimensional aspects For examples, often one can understand or recognise a word encountered in speech or in written text, but are unable to use it in our own production of the language (Schmitt, 2001) This situation indicates that word knowledge has various scopes; understanding and recognising a word when reading

or listening to spoken language is known as ‘receptive knowledge’, whereas being

able to use a word in discourse is ‘productive knowledge’ Different aspects of the word knowledge have been identified (Schmitt, 2001), including:

- The meaning(s) of the word

- The written form of the word

- The spoken form of the word

- The grammatical behaviour of the word

- The collocations of the word

- The register of the word

- The associations of the word

- The frequency of the word

Richard (1976), adds further dimensions, such as:

- The limitations of use of the word

- The place of the word in a network of association

An understanding of most of the above aspects of words is required by learners in order for them to be competent with the use of a word across a wide range of language use situations It is worth noting that different types of word knowledge are not necessarily acquired simultaneously That is, often, a learner may know the pronunciation of a word but is unable to spell it correctly This, again, reinforces the incremental nature of word knowledge, as types of word knowledge are acquired gradually, at variable rates, however, the test used in this study does not cover all of the aforementioned aspects of vocabulary knowledge The focus of this study is uncovering participants’ knowledge of the syntactic behaviour of a word, as well as their knowledge of the meanings of words Participants’ knowledge of the meanings

of words can be indicated either by a synonym or the Arabic equivalent, due to an acceptance of the claim made by Ellis(1997:133) that “ the acquisition of L2 words usually involves a mapping of the new word from onto pre-existing conceptual meanings or onto L1 translation equivalents as approximation”

2.1.3 The role of vocabulary

The area of vocabulary learning is giving significant attention within second language teaching discourses Vocabulary plays a fundamental role in language

learning, as is dedicated in the commonly cited quote, “without grammar little can

be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Wilkin, 1972: 11) For

a long time, the emphasis in the second language classrooms was on teaching grammar, whereas vocabulary was neglected However, there has been increased emphasis on the need to equip learners with adequate lexical tools to facilitate their performance of receptive( reading or listening) and productive skills (speaking and writing) (Schmitt, 2008) For example, in terms of receptive skills, without sufficient vocabulary knowledge, learners may face difficulties in reading comprehension (Laufer 1998; Coady et al., 1993) Additionally, with regard to productive skills, without a satisfactory vocabulary repertoire, learners may be unable to perform communicative tasks where they have to speak in the language in

an interaction Furthermore, a correlation has been identified between vocabulary size and writing quality (Astika, 1993; Laufer & Nation, 1995) Ellis (2012) also points out that, for beginner learners with a low proficiency level, input–based tasks where learners are exposed to and learn vocabulary and other linguistic features are more beneficial than output-based tasks

Moreover, the importance of vocabulary learning is underpinned by the lexical approach to vocabulary learning, as proposed by Lewis (1993) In this approach, Lewis argues that second language learners must learn to identify frequent lexical chunks of language when they are exposed to authentic second language input Lewis’ view is derived from what is perceived to be the fundamental role played by vocabulary, as encapsulated in the quote, “grammaticalised lexis not lexicalised grammar” Here Lewis argues that mastering a language requires not only a knowledge of grammar and isolated vocabulary, but also competence in “multi-word prefabricated chunks: (1997:3) The lexical approach helps learners to acquire

a rich and diverse vocabulary, which may lead to fluent and accurate production of sentences (Boers et al., 2006) However, it can be argued that films and movies are also rich resources for chunk expressions of language due to introducing authentic use of language

2.1.4 Assessing EFL learners’ vocabulary level

Ever since vocabulary came into the focus of foreign language learning studies, assessment of word knowledge has been perceived as a fundamental issue in the research of this domain This part provides an insight into how vocabulary is assessed and what types of validated and reliable instruments exist in the literature

The Receptive Vocabulary Levels Test is simply referred in the literature to

as Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) It operates with a discrete point measure It requires meaning recognition The test was developed by Nation (1990) and it was validated by Schmitt, Schmitt and Clapham (2001) Words are selected from such corpora as British National Corpus (Kilgarriff, 1997) and the CANCODE (Cambridge and Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English) up to five levels: the first 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 most frequent words These levels bear importance from a research-based perspective The 2,000-3,000 levels contain high-frequency words whose knowledge is necessary for everyday communication The 5,000 level is the minimal size which learners can conceive authentic texts The 10,000 level, contains the most common low-frequency words (Webb, 2010) The fifth level is not grounded on any corpus but includes items from the University Word List (Xue & Nation, 1984) The test-taker sees six words on the left-hand side and three definitions or synonyms on the right-hand side They are expected to match the right-hand side items with three of the six words on the left-hand side This means that the task contains three distractors In the entire test each level comprises six clusters of six words Since the test gives estimates of vocabulary size

at 5 levels, it can be applied for placement purposes and for diagnosis of vocabulary gaps Four parallel test versions were developed The criterion of the development

of the test was that the definitions are succinct; the test could be completed in the fastest possible time and with the appropriate arrangement of the possibility of blind guesses could be diminished In the online version of the VLT the test-taker is expected to write the listed six words next to the three definitions The evaluation of the test is automatically completed With the modified version of the online test, Vocabulary Online Recognition Speed Test (VORST) the speed of word recognition can also be examined (Laufer & Nation, 2001, p.21)

2.2 Vocabulary learning and teaching

2.2.1 Methods and techniques to teach vocabulary

Nowadays methodologists and linguists suggest that teachers can decide and select the words to be taught on the basis of how frequently they are used by speakers of the language Carter – McCarthy(1991) rightly points out, “Knowing a word involves knowing its spoken and written context of use; its patterns with words of related meaning as well as with its collocation partners; its syntactic, pragmatic and discourse patterns; It means knowing it actively and productively as well as receptively.”: Richards (1976) list the different things teaching need to know about

a word before we can say that they have taught it.These include:

- The meaning(s) of the word

- Its spoken and written forms

- What “word parts” it has (e.g., any prefix, suffix, and “root” form)

- Its grammatical behavior (e.g., its word class, typical grammatical patterns it occurs in)

- Its collocations

- Its register

- What associations it has (e.g., words that are similar or opposite in meaning)

- What connotations it has

- Its frequency

2.2.1.1 Teaching words in the context

Most people agree that vocabulary ought to be taught in context (Nilsen 1976; Chastain 1976; Rivers 1968) Words taught in isolation are generally not retained

In addition, in order to grasp the full meaning of a word or phrase, students must be aware of the linguistic environment in which the word or phrase appears Setting a good context which is interesting, plausible, vivid and has relevance to the lives of the learners, is an essential prerequisite for vocabulary teaching as it helps in both engaging the attention of the learners and naturally generating the target vocabulary Maintaining the context and making sure the language surrounding the context is easy to comprehend, the teacher should start eliciting the target vocabulary

Therefore, in selection of vocabulary, the teacher must be sure that the words or phrases chosen can be immediately incorporated into the students' linguistic range Stahl (2005) stated, “Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world.”

2.2.1.2 Use video to produce of target vocabulary

Select a video segment that contains a series of actions or visual detail Provide the learners with a list of target vocabulary words and ask them to construct a paragraph that incorporates as many of the words as possible This activity is best done after the learners have seen the video As they learn how to use more vocabulary properly, you will see an improvement in their writing and speaking Teacher can also show a short film without sound and asking pupils to discuss what dialogue they would expect to hear Showing a scene from a film without sound and asking pupils to use the facial expression to determine emotion

2.2.2 Principles for teaching vocabulary

However many theories about vocabulary learning process were written , it still remains the matter of memory Thus, there are several general principles for successful teaching , which are valid for any method According to Wallace, 1988 the principles are:

- Aim – what is to be taught, which words, how many

- Need – target vocabulary should respond students’ real needs and interests

- Frequent exposure and repetition

- Meaningful presentation – clear and unambiguous denotation or reference should

- Meaning, i.e relate the word to an appropriate object or context

- Usage, i.e knowledge of its collocations, metaphors and idioms, as well as style and register (the appropriate level of formality), to be aware of any connotations and associations the word might have

- Word formation, i.e ability to spell and pronounce the word correctly, to know any derivations (acceptable prefixes and suffixes),

- Grammar, i.e to use it in the appropriate grammatical form

2.2.3 Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition

More than 40 years ago, the question was raised by Gardner and Lambert (1972, p 131) as to how it was possible that some learners learned easily and for some it was

an impossible adventure to learn a foreign language (FL) under similar circumstances Since then the question has been asked several times and now it appears obvious that every learner is able to learn a FL but with regard to pace and simplicity there are huge differences The conclusion has been drawn that knowing

a FL is not only the result of direct teaching but learners’ achievements depend on many factors Individual differences in the field of FL learning have been elaborated

on by Dörnyei (2009), Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991), Ligthbown and Spada (2006), Skehan (1989) As regards vocabulary, factors influencing its learning is explored in the subsequent sections and an attempt is made to model vocabulary learning by using the most applicable second language acquisition (SLA) model for this construct (EFL vocabulary learning)

2.2.3.1 The influence of NL

An issue that has been in focus concerning FL learning is the role played by native language (NL) It has been stated that the adequate development of NL abilities determine the success of FL learning (Birdsong, 2006, p 28; Dörnyei & Skehan,

2003, p.592) The similarities of FL learning to the shifts that children experience in the NL learning process has also been researched The obvious is noted by Kersten (2010) that the FL lexicon is generally smaller than the NL lexicon, therefore, learners do not have the same associations and connections between words Singleton (1999, p 518) describes four stages in the developmental process of learning NL words up to the age of 24 months: (1) cooing at the age of one-four

months, (2) babbling that is a combination of vowel-like and consonant-like sounds from eight months, (3) one-word-utterance stage when meaningful one-word utterances are formed at the beginning of two years of age, (4) at the age of 18-24 months the child is capable of producing two-word utterances FL vocabulary learning is considered as a slow process that stretches over a lifespan (Augustin Llach, 2011; Bordag, Kirschenbaum, Opitz & Tschirner, 2014; Clark, 2009; Meara, 1987) In this process of FL lexical learning new forms are learned in the midst of association with new meanings According to Singleton (1999, p 28) the FL learner learns new words to refer to old concepts notwithstanding the new concepts that lack in the NL also must be learned and already existing concepts need to be constantly modified Whereas Singleton (1999, p 98) describes NL word learning processes, Levelt (1989, p 28) determines how FL words are learned through the knowledge of NL words Levelt (1989, p 44) proposes a model that constitutes three stages in the process of FL word learning with the aid of NL words: (1) formal stage when the formal characteristics of the NL word is grounded, (2) NL lemma mediation stage when the NL lemma is copied onto the FL entry, and (3) FL integration stage when the FL semantic, syntactic and morphological characteristics are juxtaposed onto the FL lexical entry An extensively detailed analysis of this briefly described process is given in Jiang (2000) Four German YLs in a naturalistic setting were investigated (Wode, Rhode, Gassen, Weiss, Jekat, & Jung, 1992) Several differences were pointed out between NL and FL vocabulary learning NL vocabulary growth is rather slow until the first 50 words then there is acceleration in the process contrary to FL vocabulary development which is considerably rapid initially but it loses speed and is usually slow after the first 2,000 words Another focus of research is the case of false cognates, i.e., lexical items that have overlapping orthographic/phonological traits but no semantic overlap Janke and Kolokonte (2015, p 146) came to the conclusion that the French participants learning English in their study had extreme difficulty in identifying correct meaning This finding gives support to the assumption that the NL might negatively influence FL vocabulary learning Nakai, Lindsay and Ota (2015, p 48)

had similar findings with Greek and Japanese speakers of English when they investigated homophone effects in FL spoken-word recognition If this fossilization

of inter-language is inevitable, the question arises as to whether the exclusive use of the target language dictated by the principles of communicative language teaching facilitate or hinder vocabulary learning Intra-lingual methods involve explanation

of target words in FL, exploiting linguistic context, giving synonyms and definitions whereas inter-lingual methods involve the use of translations and definitions given in NL Notwithstanding the goal of communicative language teaching to use the target language, the NL is present in the learners’ minds no matter whether teachers accept that or not (Liu, 2008, p 65) It is also posited by Liu (2008, p.67) that “adult FL learners often do not have as much contextualized input as children do, which makes the extraction and integration of lexical meanings difficult.” He further claims that there is hardly any necessity to learn new meanings whilst learning FL words He argues that the presence of an existing NL system renders adult vocabulary learning different from NL vocabulary learning When children learn their NL they learn the concepts at the same time So meaning and concept are inseparable NL word recall is spontaneous and effortless as opposed to FL word learning which little semantic or conceptual development accompanies This is congruence with what Clark (2004, p 472) sheds light on, namely ”when children learn a first language, they build on what they know – conceptual information that discriminates and helps conceive categories for the objects, relations and events they experience.” Thus when first conceptual information is established by children, then linguistic representations are added This is likely to take place in the process of vocabulary learning When learners encounter with a new FL word they set up conceptual information before they add linguistic representations Similar to the learning of grammar, the assertion might

be made that lexical forms are also fossilized Jiang contends (2000, p 58) vocabulary learning constitutes three stages: (1) the formal stage; (2) the NL lemma mediation stage; and (3) the FL integration stage In the first stage, the formal stage, only a lexical entry is established In the second stage, the NL lemma mediation

stage, both the lemma information the word’s NL counterpart and the FL lexeme information are taken on by the FL word In the final stage, the FL integration stage, the integration of FL information (i.e., semantic, syntactic, morphological specifications) into the lexical entry takes place

2.2.3.2 FL anxiety

Besides cognitive factors, listed in the previous section, other factors such as affective factors, might also exert an influence on vocabulary learning Anxiety, for example, is a widely researched construct which is hypothesized to correlate negatively with lexical pickup rate Horwitz and Cope (1986, p 128) assert that FL anxiety is a special type of anxiety According to MacIntyre (1999, p 24) FL anxiety is a negative emotional reaction during the learning of an FL FL anxiety is experienced when the non-native speakers face the need of using an FL FL anxiety

is not a general anxiety coming from the personality, but it is related to FL learning and FL use contexts Two types of FL learning anxiety are discerned that are labelled as anxiety-transfer and special anxiety in the literature (MacIntyre, 1999)

FL anxiety-transfer means the transfer of the perceivable anxieties into the FL learning context (Spilberger, 1983) whereas the special FL anxiety MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) can only be in conjunction with the context of FL learning In spite

of the fact that FL learning anxiety is a broadly researched domain of SLA research,

a considerably small number of studies have been published as regards Learners (Bacsa, 2014) The relationship between language aptitude and FL learning anxiety was investigated by Robinson (2001) and the main finding of the study was that a lower language aptitude resulted in higher FL learning anxiety Csizér and Dörnyei (2005) assert that a higher FL language anxiety might have a negative influence on language learning in the long run This means that higher anxiety is likely to negatively affect FL vocabulary learning Khan (2010, p 202) investigated the negative effects of language anxiety on vocabulary learning In a control group experiment where the groups were exposed to different amount of anxiety it was discovered that the treatment groups that were under a great deal of anxiety (being recorded by a camera) suffered huge deficits in vocabulary learning compared to the

control group that did not experience any type of anxiety Weak but significant negative correlation was found by Mihaljevic Djigunovic (2010) with Croatian Learners’ English proficiency and anxiety Three age groups, 7-10-year-olds, 11-14-year-olds and 15-18-year-olds were involved in the study Ensuing an in-depth analysis of the results, the researcher revealed that the youngest group had a fear from making mistakes and saying words incorrectly during class The teachers were also named as a source of anxiety due to the fact that they were too strict or ironic

It could be concluded that the teacher’s strictness definitely does not positively contribute to word learning These findings are in line with those of Nikolov (2003) who highlighted that teachers would have a major role in neutralizing the processes eliciting anxiety

To sum up this section, it can be stated that FL learning anxiety is a special type of anxiety It is related to the special fields of FL learning FL vocabulary learning FL learning anxiety can only be interpreted with respect to the interactions of the different variables; thus its effect is worth examining with careful consideration

2.2.3.3 Motivation and FL vocabulary learning

FL learning motivation is a driving force to learn a new language which is in conjunction with the desire for the knowledge of the new language, a positive attitude towards the new language, and an effort (Gardner, 1985) Even though motivation has cognitive component such as goal setting, I consider motivation in the context of my research an affective variable Motivational orientation can be defined as the combination of reasons that contribute to learning a language (Noels, Pelletier, Clément, & Vallerand, 2000) Several conditions are necessary for the successful learning of a new language: a learning opportunity, language aptitude, a good teacher, and learning strategies As vocabulary is part of the communicative competence, all these listed factors relate to vocabulary The research of FL learning motivation is an autonomous research field; nevertheless it has developed

in the past 30 years by ensuing and integrating the main line of motivational psychology Four main stages of FL learning motivation were identified (Ushioda & Dörnyei, 2012): (1) the socio-psychological period (1959-1990) that is hallmarked

by Gardner who posited that FL learning motivation had social and psychological dimensions By the 1990s new perspectives into FL motivation opened up and new light was shed on further research (Skehan, 1989), (2) the cognitive situative-period (1990s) which can be described through two main trends On the one hand cognitive theories served as the underpinnings of FL motivation studies, on the other hand a new research direction was taken from the macro-perspective of learners’ general language learning towards specific situation-dependent language learning contexts (Williams & Burden, 1997), (3) the process oriented period (at the turn of the millennium) whose studies differ from the period prior to this in that a new emphasis was laid on the time-perspective, the shifting of motivation Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) process-model is classified into three stages: pre-actional, actional, and post-actional stage, (4) the present, ongoing period, the socio-dynamic period that emphasizes the cyclical and dynamic trait of FL learning motivation By integrating two significant theoretical approaches outlined in research focusing on the self, Dörnyei (2005) tries to conceptualize a new model of FL learning motivation: the possible selves theory of Markus and Nurius (1986) and self-concept (ideal and ought-to self) model of Higgins (1987) This theory can be totally related to FL vocabulary learning as vocabulary is part of general language knowledge According to Dörnyei’s (2005) theory, three factors enhance the motivation of FL learning: (1) the ideal L2 self of the learners that concerns how the learner sees themselves as a language learner in the future, (2) the ought-to L2 self that is in conjunction with what the learner thinks of the expectations of their environment, and (3) L2 learning experiences As for FL vocabulary learning motivation, Tseng and Schmitt (2008) made an attempt to outline a model of motivated vocabulary learning They drew on work undertaken by Dörnyei (2005)

on the stages of motivation Tseng and Schmitt (2008) involved six components into the model: (1) initial appraisal of vocabulary learning experience, (2) self-regulating capacity in vocabulary learning, (3) strategic vocabulary learning involvement, (4) mastery of vocabulary learning tactics; (5) vocabulary knowledge, and (6) post-appraisal of vocabulary learning tactics Without elaborating on how

these factors are defined, I wish to emphasize that Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) model

is efficiently applicable for the conceptualization of the construct of FL learning motivation from the perspective of Learners Learners’ vocabulary learning motivation goes through the stages Dörnyei and Ottó (1998) sectioned motivational processes into: pre-actional, actional, and post-actional In an ideal case, EFL Learners’ first set goals and enact the intention of learning a word then they appraise their own progress with the learning of the words and in the final stage they look for feedback and elaborate on strategies and standards to retain the word

As for empirical studies on the correlation between motivation and FL word learning, two instances can be cited Wood and Attfield (2005, p 22) assert that games and play can positively empower vocabulary enhancement They highlight the principle that playful activities in the language classroom influence attitudes of children towards learning Motivation and its correlations with vocabulary learning amongst Learners was also explored by Chou (2014) in Taiwan A query was made

as to what degree motivating teaching techniques (use of songs, games and stories) fostered the uptake of EFL vocabulary of primary school participants (n=72) of ages ten and twelve years old According to the findings of the study, games, songs and stories motivate vocabulary learning of Learners Fontecha (2014) investigated the correlation between Learners’ receptive EFL word knowledge and motivation The participants were a group of 183 Spanish-speaking learners in their 2nd grade of Spanish secondary education (aged around 13-14 years old) and a group of 55 Spanish-speaking EFL learners in their 5th grade of primary education (aged around 10-11 years old) The main objective of this research is to determine whether there exists any kind of relationship between the number of words learners know receptively and their motivation towards English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

To sum it up, a multitude of factors play a role in the enhancement of FL vocabulary Such cognitive variables as language aptitude, inductive reasoning ability, general language proficiency (vocabulary being part of it) and NL vocabulary affect the success of uptake of words Affective variables have also been highlighted as factors influencing FL word learning: motivation and anxiety

2.3 Literature on using subtitled videos for language learning

2.3.1 Defining ‘authentic video’

Authentic videos include “feature films, documentaries, commercials, game shows” (Sherman, 2003) and many other kinds of videos that have not been made specially for learners of English Authentic videos are those that have been made for the enjoyment or education of native speakers of the language in which the videos were produced As such, they tend to feature dense and upgraded language, and may relate to topics that do not specially cater to the interests of learners of English as a foreign language (Stempleski, 1992)

Authentic videos are said to present ‘real’ language, not in the sense that it is unscripted, but in the sense that it is meant for native speakers of the language (Stempleski, 1992) Some go further and suggest that authentic videos provide

‘slices of living language’ in the sense that the amount of realism encoded in video media is greater than that to be found in either written or audio media (Allan, 1985)

Non-authentic videos, on the other hand, such as the well-known Family Album

USA (Kelty, Cooperman, & Lefferts, 1991) tend to feature graded language, and a

slower than average speed of speech They often focus on educating the viewer about aspects of the target culture, such as life in America

This distinction between authentic and non-authentic videos has been disputed, however Hambrook (1992) argues that even ‘authentic’ videos exert control over reality in terms of editing sound and video footage, ‘setting up’ events in order to document them (Hambrook, 1992, p 164) Additionally, both authentic and non-authentic videos tend to be ‘artificially’ supported by other teaching materials and activities when used in the classroom (Hambrook, 1992)

2.3.2 Defining subtitles

Subtitles are captions displayed at the bottom of a cinema or television screen, and translate or transcribe the dialogue or narrative (Online Oxford Dictionary, 2014) The terms ‘subtitles’ and ‘captions’ are sometimes used interchangeably, although there is a slight difference between the two Technically, subtitles tend to be associated with a translation of the audio track in

written text at the bottom of the screen, whereas captions are usually linked to the original audio transcription and displayed in written text From the language learning literature on the use of video, four types of subtitles can be identified: reversed subtitles, Inter-lingual subtitles, intralingua subtitles and dual subtitles The definitions of these types are as follows:

2.3.2.1 Inter-lingual subtitles

These subtitles are also known as ‘standard subtitles’ or ‘L1 subtitles’ In this type of subtitles, the audio track is in the target language, or the original language of the film or video, and the accompanying textual display is a translation into the viewer’s native language Creating Inter-lingual subtitles should be carried out with careful consideration, as it crucial to enable accurate understanding Ivarsson & Carroll (1998) in ‘Code of Good Subtitling Practice’, have proposed certain criteria that should be taken into account when creating subtitles, which are as follows:

- Accurate at a grammatical and lexical level

- Considers the cultural and idiomatic differences of the original source

- Use appropriate register of language

- Written in easily understandable grammatical text

This is the mode of subtitles used in the present study; the following image represents how these subtitles are used in this research

2.3.2.2 Intra-lingual subtitles:

These kinds of subtitles are also known as ‘bimodal subtitles’ or ‘L2 subtitles’, and refer to the display of a transcription of the sound track in the form of captions This type of subtitle is also investigated in this research, and figure 2 below represents their usage:

Figure 1 Intra-lingual subtitles

2.3.2.3 Reversed subtitles

This type of subtitle refers to target language textual display of a sound track in the viewer’s native language However, this mode of subtitle is not used in the current study

2.3.2.4 Dual subtitles

Dual subtitles refer to the simultaneous appearance of both viewers’ native language, or L1 subtitles, and target language, or L2 subtitles on the screen This type of subtitle is rarely available in mainstream media production, such as DVD; DVDs usually offer the option of adding just one subtitle mode on the screen

Figure 2 Dual subtitles

2.4 Related theories of language learning

2.4.1 The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis

The ‘Comprehensible Input Hypothesis' has been propounded by Krashen (1991) as part of his wider theory of foreign language acquisition Krashen (1991) argues that foreign languages are acquired when learners are exposed to comprehensible input The input can be in the form of either oral or written language In order to be effective, however, input must be at a level of ‘i+1’, where ‘i’ is the learner’s current level of ability in the target language In other words, the input material must be at a slightly higher level than the learner’s current level Krashen (1991) argues that exposure to comprehensible input of the target language at ‘i+1’ is both necessary and sufficient to cause acquisition of the language Adding subtitles (either interlingual, intralingual, or dual) to a video meant for native English speakers would appear to increase the chances that non-native English speakers

will be able to comprehend the content of the video, thus making the video a source

of comprehensible input, and leading to foreign language acquisition Neuman and Koskinen (1992) have suggested that captioned (intralingually subtitled) television

is a valid form of comprehensible input, and increases the second language vocabulary knowledge of its viewers more effectively than non-captioned television

2.4.2 The Affective Filter Hypothesis

The 'Affective Filter Hypothesis' was developed by Krashen (1982) in conjunction with 'Comprehensible Input Hypothesis', already discussed above (2.5.1) According to Krashen (1982), the affective filter acts as a barrier between 'input', i.e the language a learner is exposed to, and 'acquisition', i.e the ability to process and permanently store the language for later receptive or productive use The three main factors that contribute to the affective filter are motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety A student with high motivation, high self-confidence and low anxiety will have a low affective filter, and will be able to take full advantage of the input they are exposed to, as well as proactively seeking out additional input opportunities A student with low motivation, low self-confidence and high anxiety will have a high affective filter, and will not be able to effectively process the input they are exposed to, even if it is 'comprehensible' Krashen (1982) therefore argues that language teachers should aim to foster learning situations that encourage a low-affective filter Authentic videos have been suggested to be strongly motivational for learners of English (Sherman, 2003; Stempleski, 1992), and to lower the affective filter of foreign language learners (Neuman & Koskinen, 1992)

2.4.3 Incidental Learning

Incidental learning is the process by which something – in this case, foreign language vocabulary is learnt without the individual concerned directing their attention specifically toward the act of learning it Incidental learning is synonymous with 'implicit' learning, and the anti thesis of 'explicit' or 'intentional' learning

Brown(2007) suggests that the real question is not which of these processes is better than the other, but" under what conditions, and for which learners, and for what linguistic elements is one approach, as opposed to the other, advantageous for [second language acquisition]?" (Brown, 2007, p.292)

The 'linguistic element 'under investigation in the current research is vocabulary, and the 'condition' is viewing a subtitled authentic English language video Existing research supports the proposition that the learning of vocabulary can occur incidentally through exposure to subtitled L2 videos

In Neuman and Koskinen's (1992) study for example, it was found that young learners of English were able to incidentally learn vocabulary from watching captioned English language videos Similarly, in d'Ydewalle & Van de Poel's (1999) study, young learners of French and Danish were able to learn vocabulary from subtitled videos where no attention was drawn to the language before or during the video viewing In a study conducted by Koolstra & Beentjes (1999), children told to ‘just watch’authentic videos were still able to acquire new foreign

language vocabulary, even when the videos did not have subtitles

2.5 Vocabulary learning through subtitled videos

There are several empirical studies that examine the relationship between watching subtitled video and vocabulary development These studies have diverse content, either regarding the type of subtitles or the vocabulary test format In terms of subtitle types, studies investigate the effect of various subtitles treatments, such

as inter-lingual, intra-lingual, and reversed subtitles In terms of assessing vocabulary improvement, studies use different vocabulary test formats, such as multiple choice tests, ‘fill in the blank’, matching target words with their equivalents in the native language, and finally a ‘vocabulary knowledge scale’, which is the test used by this investigation In the following section, studies will be reported in accordance to subtitle type

2.5.1 Intra-lingual subtitle videos

A study conducted by Zarei (2009), involving college-level Iranian students, aimed

to measure the effect on vocabulary recognition and vocabulary recall of authentic

video subtitled in three different modes: interlingual, intralingual and ‘reversed subtitling’, i.e the subtitling of a video in the viewers L2 (English) with the audio in the viewer’s L1(Vietnamese) He found that the differences in vocabulary recognition between the intralingual and interlingual subtitle groups were statistically in significant, but the participants of both groups performed better than the participants of the ‘reversed subtitle’ group Additionally, participants of the

‘intralingual subtitle’ group performed significantly better at vocabulary recall tasks than participants of the ‘interlingual subtitle’ group, which inturn performed better than the ‘reversed subtitle’ group (Zarei,2009) Further research by the same author (Zarei, 2011) suggests the superiority of intralingual subtitles to interlingual subtitles in gains to vocabulary production, but fails to show a statistically significant difference in gains to vocabulary comprehension between the same groups In another study, respondents claimed to be able to learn new vocabulary from watching intralingual subtitled videos as they were “able to both hear the words and see them written” (Stewart & Pertusa, 2004), although in this study actual gains in the vocabulary recognition of participants who watched intralingual subtitled videos compared to those who watched interlingual subtitled videos were statistically insignificant Gains to vocabulary were also shown to be greater for Iranian college students who were exposed to an intralingual subtitled video than those who were exposed to a non-subtitled version of the same video (Harji,

Woods, &Alavi, 2010)

2.5.2 Dual subtitle videos

No existing studies that provide evidence for the effectiveness of dual subtitles as a direct aid to vocabulary acquisition were able to be located Chang's (2003) research was the only research found that deals with the effect of dual subtitles on foreign language learning, and her research focused mainly on the effect of dual subtitles on general comprehension The results of Chang’s (2003) study, which exposed Chinese college students to both familiar and unfamiliar videos in three conditions (either interlingual subtitles, intralingual subtitles or dual subtitles), suggested that the participants in the‘dual subtitles’ condition were better able to understand the

content of the videos than participants in the other two conditions The participants were found not to have been" overwhelmed by the tri-modal input" (Vanderplank, 2010), despite previously hypothesized "limits of human attention" (Neuman & Koskinen, 1992) Despite the innovative nature of Chang’s (2003) research, and the some what ground breaking nature of her results, no studies that either replicate or follow on from her research have been located This is probably due to the lack of general availability of videos with dual subtitles Until the present study, therefore, the question of whether dual subtitles might be a more effective aid to vocabulary learning than either interlingual or intralingual subtitles has not been addressed or

investigated

2.5.3 The effects of subtitled videos on second language learning

Subtitled video has been broadly utilized in language classrooms, for various purposes There are three channels that contribute to conveying the content of subtitled video; the aural channel (soundtrack), the verbal visual channel (subtitles) and the non-verbal visual channel (the visual images) (Austad, 2013) Baltova (1999) points out that the simultaneous existence of these three channels reinforces learning more than un-subtitled video, or texts provided with accompanying images This challenges the previous assumption (Reese &Davie, 1987) that subtitles distract viewer attention and encourage laziness among viewers,

as they rely on the textual visual support of subtitles and ignore listening These assumptions have been further challenged by numerous empirical studies indicating the dual processes of the two channels, auditory and visual written text d’Yewalle and De Bruyker (2007) argue that reading standard subtitles is a compulsory behaviour with paying attention to visual clues In a widely quoted study, Bird and Williams (2002) add further emphasis; as well as arguing that although subtitles are automatically read, the soundtracks are also automatically processed by viewers Studies by Borras and Lafayette (1994) and Vanderplank (1988) also prove that reading and listening co-occur through processing subtitles However, there are some other factors affecting the processing of subtitles and the extent to which they may contribute to improving

the ability of language learners The first factor is the degree to which subtitles are familiar to the language learner; this factor is discussed extensively by Danan (2004), who claims that when learners are not familiar with subtitles, they may not be able to process them effectively so as to benefit from them A study conducted by Koolstra and Beentjes (1999) also confirms this perspective;

in this study, the researchers made a comparison between Dutch children of two different age groups The first group were aged between nine and ten, and received no formal second language instruction; the second group were aged between eleven and twelve and received formal instruction in the second language Both age groups were divided into two groups as one was exposed to subtitled film and the second to non-subtitled film The age and instruction variables had no effect on the results, but there was an observable difference in vocabulary gaining between those who watched the films with subtitles and those without in each age groups One of the interpretations of these findings is that familiarity with using subtitles has an important effect as children who are familiar with using subtitles while watching film at home, as subtitling is common in the Netherlands performed better that those who are not familiar The second factor is the language proficiency level of viewers; the results of research concentrating

on this area are mixed The findings of a study by Markham (1993) indicate that subtitles are helpful when the video content is complex and abstract For beginners,

or low proficiency learners, Guillory (1998) suggests that subtitles are effective and facilitative She further claims that key-word captions or subtitles are more helpful than whole sentence subtitles Additionally, Taylor (2005), compared two groups of Spanish learners; one group consisted of first year university Spanish learners, and the other of third and fourth year university Spanish learners Both of these groups were then allocated to a subtitle or non-subtitle group as they watched Spanish language film In a comprehension test, fourth year students in the subtitled group outperformed their first year counterparts However, learning level had no effect on the groups who were expose to video without subtitles From this, it can be proposed that learners must

already have a certain degree of competence in order to benefit from watching subtitled videos

Finally, subtitle type has also attracted the attention of researchers, and different perspectives exist regarding the type most conductive to learning Standard subtitles, or Inter-lingual, are found to be useful for those who have not yet established good reading or listening skills in regards to the target language, either due to their age or proficiency level (Bianchi & Ciabatt, 2008) Another important advantage of standard subtitles is that they prevent inaccurate inferences of words meaning (Miterer & MaQueen, 2009) In terms of intra-lingual subtitles, it is found that they are helpful for advanced learners with high level proficiency, have good listening skills, and an ability to read rapidly (Danan 2004 and Markham &Peter, 2003)

Additionally, they are found to facilitate comprehension, particularly when the video material is complex; Danan (2004) hereby refers to them as a ‘hearing-aid’ More importantly, intralingua subtitles can help learners link the aural form

of the word with the written form Overall, it can be said that inter-lingual subtitles is more helpful for low proficient learners while learners with high proficiency level can get more advantage from intralingua subtitles

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

For this research, two different methods are combined: experiment, and questionnaire survey According to Dörnyei (2007), using mixed methods for research serves various purposes, such as helping the researchers to investigate complex educational issues and enriching the researcher’s thoughts, enabling them

to draw conclusions Additionally, combining more than one strategy means that they are able to corroborate each other and hence increase the validity of the research In relation to following up the experiment with a quantitative data analysis method, as is the case for this study, Dörnyei points out that

“…Including a qualitative phase to explore the nature of such processes is a natural and potentially highly fruitful design that can greatly enhance the study’s validity” (2007: 173) It should also be noted that, in this research, the experiment stage was followed up with a survey containing both qualitative, open-ended questions and quantitative, close-ended questions

Regarding the experiment of this study , the norms and principles of experimental study were applied An experimental study can be characterised as a study in which the quantitative cause-effect relationship data is obtained in a scientific way (Dörnyei, 2007) Typically in experimental study design, participants are assigned to one of two groups, the experimental group, whose members are exposed to special treatment or certain condition, and the control group, who receives normal instruction or operate in standard conditions This distinction marks the point of departure for a comparison between the two groups, and to measure the effects of the intervention The effects of the intervention are typically measured using a pre and post-treatment test format In this research, the intervention is watching a video with two different subtitles types The participants were assigned to one of three groups as one was the control group and the other two groups were the experimental groups The control group was exposed to video clip without subtitles and each experimental group was exposed to a video

with a different subtitle mode The experimental groups were: an English subtitles group; and a dual subtitles group The truly experimental study design necessitates the random assignment of a sufficient number of participants, in order to make the average participants across the two groups comparable However, a truly and entirely experimental study for this research was not feasible, as the participants are not sufficient to easily establish an average, and so the researchers instead used a quasi-experimental design solution In this type of experiment, the participants are not randomly assigned, in order to avoid incomparable groups To this end, certain procedures were put in place; first, the class teacher was asked to evenly distribute students who have high level of English ability, based on their monthly exams, among the three groups; second, volunteer participation in the treatment groups was avoided; finally, all participants undertook a vocabulary level test for further assurance of groups homogeneity, as well as some other considerations

3.2 Participants

A total of 30 tenth-grade students at Duong Dinh Nghe high school agreed to take part in this study The participants were 13 girls and 17 boys, aged between 16 and 17 years old Their native language is Vietnamese, and so there was no need to exclude any participants As the participants are all under the age of 18, permission was needed from their careers, to satisfy ethical requirements Thus, a consent form was sent to the parents of the participants seeking permission for their daughters’ participation in the research

At this level, English is a compulsory subject, and students have been learning English for eight years; learners in this grade receive English instruction over three sessions per week The Vietnamese educational system generally tends to be quite traditional; among the traditional features of this system, firstly, is examination-oriented assessment, in which written exams are the only form of assessment Second, grammatical knowledge of language predominates classroom instruction Third, there is a heavy dependence on textbooks as the only teaching material used in the classroom The assigned textbook for this level is titled ‘English

for Vietnamese’, and is produced by the Vietnam educational ministry, in collaboration with foreign experts Generally, this book can be characterised

as a culturally-oriented book and tends to place a greater emphasis on developing the four key skills

The participants in the current research are referred to as follows:

- Control group ( no subtitle group)

- Dual subtitle group

- English subtitle group

3.3 Materials

To answer the research questions, the following resources were used:

3.3.1 The video clip and selection criteria

During the first phases of this research, the intention was to select a video clip extracted from a children’s cartoon film, in order that it would be culturally appropriate However, after a deep investigation, this type of films does not clearly demonstrate body language, such as facial expressions and gestures (Sherman, 2003) Therefore, an authentic young children’s film was chosen for the purposes of this research, for two main reasons; first, the film deals with a daily life so would stimulate students’ interest Second, as the film is aimed at young girls, it is culturally appropriate The name of the film is ‘The Extr@

English: Hector goes shopping’, produced by BBC in 2003-2004 available at

http://www youtube com/watch

Subtitles were inserted by a company that specializes in media services The Vietnamese subtitles were reviewed by both the researcher and an Vietnamese expert The general plotline of the film is about two beautiful girl named Bridget and Annie, who share a flat in London and the boys next door, Nick and his friend Hector from Argentina, who share a department

Regarding to the selection criteria, twenty-four-minute clip of the film described above was extracted However, certain criteria were considered in selecting the research clip The selection criteria were developed based on the proposed assessment criteria of previous researchers (Borras, 1993: King, 2002) for the

selection of audio-visual material, either films or video clips The selection criteria were as follows:

- High visual quality

- Supporting the dialogue with visual input or audio-visual correlation

- Delivering the speech at suitable speed

- Appropriate content

- Inherent interest within valuable content

- Matching cultural values

- Suitable length

3.3.2 The Vocabulary Level Test

In order to assess the influence of watching subtitled video on intentional vocabulary acquisition, a Vocabulary Level Test (VLT), developed by Paul Nation in the 1980s used as pre- and post-treatment test for all the two groups (see Appendix B) Originally, this scale was developed as an instrument for research into incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading The specific purpose of the VLT is to work well as an instrument for diagnosis, i.e identifying lexical weaknesses at a particular frequency level, and placement, i.e placing students quickly into ability groups based on their vocabulary knowledge (Schmitt et al., 2001; Huhta et al., 2011) (Wesche & Paribakht, 1996: 29)

A representative sample of 60 words was taken from each of five levels Because the words were a representative sample, a learner’s score at each level represens the proportion of all the words known at that level So, if a learner scores 15 out of 30

on the 2nd 1000 level, that means that 50% or 500 out of 1000 words are known at that level

The 60 words at each level were grouped into blocks of six words according to part

of speech

The word in each block were then checked to make sure that they were not similar

in form or related in meaning This was done so that the distractors in each block were not distracting That is, if the learners had partial knowledge of a word, they should be able to choose the correct answer The aim of the VLT is to get an

accurate as possible record of what the learners know even of the words that they have not yet fully learned

Three words in each block of six were randomly chosen as the words to be tested The other three in the block were the distractor

Definitions were made for the target words using words from the most frequent

1000 words of English for the 2nd 1000 words, and words from the 1st 1000 and 2nd

1000 words for all the remaining levels The definitions thus made use of words that were more frequent than the words being tested

3.3.3 Multiple-choice opinion survey

A multiple-choice opinion survey was developed in order to elicit the participants' views on the treatment video, as well as their attitudes towards, and habits in relation to, watching English language videos The opinion survey was divided into three parts The first part aimed to uncover the respondents' English language video viewing habits, and consisted of the following question:

“How often do you watch English language videos to improve your knowledge of English language vocabulary?”

The respondents were given five possible options for each question: 'Never', 'Hardly ever', 'Sometimes', 'Often' and' Don't know'

The second part of the questionnaire aimed to identify the respondents' views toward different modes of subtitling when watching English language videos for either enjoyment or English vocabulary learning purposes It consisted of the following question:

“When you watch English language videos to improve your knowledge of English language vocabulary, which type(s) of subtitles do you usually prefer?”

The respondents were given five possible answers: 'English', 'Simultaneous Vietnamese and English', 'No subtitles' and 'Don't know' Respondents were allowed

to select more than one response for each question

The final part of the questionnaire related specifically to the video the participants had been exposed to during the treatment phase of the research

Participants were asked to rank the strength of their agreement with the following three statements:

- I was able to improve my knowledge of English language vocabulary from watching the video

- Watching authentic subtitled videos encourage me to learn English language vocabulary

Each response was chosen from a Likert scale of five possible options: 'Strongly agree', 'Agree', 'Neither agree nor disagree', 'Disagree' and 'Strongly disagree' The whole questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese in an attempt to aid comprehension The English version is provided in Appendix D

3.4 Data collection procedure

The students participated in the research during their usual lesson time One of the groups, Group A was taught by myself Assistance was obtained from two other teachers in order that the students in groups: group B and group C were able to participate in the research

Prior to administering the treatment (the viewing of the video) the members of each group were asked to complete the vocabulary pre-treatment test( Appendix C/D) They were given a maximum of 10 minutes to complete this stage They were then

shown a DVD of the Extr@ English episode 2 Hector goes shopping, subtitled

according to the group the participants were in The video is approximately 24 minutes long, and was played twice in succession To ensure a condition of incidental learning, and following Koolstra and Beentjes (1999), the students were told to 'just watch 'the video, and not to make notes

The vocabulary post-treatment test was then administered (Appendix C/D), followed by the opinion survey (Appendix F/G) The whole process can be summarized as follows:

- VLT pre-treatment test (10mins)

- Video viewing (24mins)

- VLT post-treatment test (10mins)

- Opinion survey (10mins)