Improving Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Knowledge through Watching Video Clips with English Subtitles

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the improvement of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ vocabulary knowledge through watching video clips with English Subtitles. To achieve this goal, 40 male and female intermediate learners who were studying English as a foreign language (EFL) in Pardis Memar Institiute in Bandar Abbas, Iran, were selected as the main participants of the study through administering an Oxford Placement Test to ensure the homogeneity of the learners. They were randomly assigned in to two groups, namely: the experimental group with English subtitle (N=20) and the control group with no subtitle (N=20). The experimental group watched 10 video clips with English subtitles and the control group watched 10 video clips with no subtitles during ten sessions. Both groups received the same pre-test containing 50 new words drawn from the clips. After 10 treatment sessions, the post-test, which was the parallel form of the pretest, was administered. The result showed that the participants in the bimodal subtitling group outperformed and learned more new vocabulary items. The performance of the participants in no subtitle group, revealed to be less effective than the group with subtitles. The findings showed that watching video clips with subtitles can improve the EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge.