The effects of movie subtitles on phrasal verb recognition / Nurul Amalina Mohd Rodzuan

Nurul Amalina, Mohd Rodzuan (2017) The effects of movie subtitles on phrasal verb recognition / Nurul Amalina Mohd Rodzuan. Masters thesis, University of Malaya.

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Abstract

Learning how to comprehend and use phrasal verbs (PVs) are challenging for many ESL learners. This is because the attainment of PV requires comprehension of meaning in contexts (Pasban, Forghani & Nouri, 2015). Bearing this in mind, the current study aims to examine the effects of movie with subtitles and its effect on PV recognition among 13 year old lower secondary school learners in Malaysia. A total of 30 participants were recruited and then classified into three homogenous groups: two experimental groups and one control group. Each group underwent a pre-test task and was given 30 minutes to watch the English movie which was offered separately to the three groups: experimental group A - English subtitled tracks, experimental group B - Malay subtitled tracks and control group C - no subtitles. A discussion (discussion one) was also conducted after the movie. A post-test was then conducted immediately after the discussion (discussion one). Following the post-test, discussion two was conducted to gather some feedback from participants. SPSS was then conducted on the pre and post test results to derive at the scores. The mean scores between and within each group were compared by using t-test analyses. In order to find out whether or not the gains among the three groups were significantly different, a One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. The analysis was then followed by the Scheffe Post Hoc Test to find out specifically, how each group was different from the other. All the quantitative data were further substantiated with qualitative data derived from the observation and discussions. The findings revealed that all the three groups showed significant improvement in the post-test, but there was a highly significant difference between the mean scores of the participants in the two experimental groups and the control group. This ascertained that the presence of subtitled tracks was effective in facilitating learners recognition of phrasal verbs. The result was also substantiated by a significant improvement in the gain marks of the learners in the post-tests of both experimental groups. There was no significant variance in the gain between both experimental groups, but in terms of mean difference, there was some variance. This indicates that with this group of samples, they had improved the most in their phrasal verb test after watching the English movie with Malay subtitled tracks. Of the phrasal verbs noted, it was discovered that idiomatic phrasal verbs were more difficult for learners as compared to literal and aspectual phrasal verbs.

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