English Subtitle Viewing Tasks: Enhancing EFL University Students' Listening Comprehension and Learning Perceptions
Keywords:
English subtitle, listening comprehension, EFL higher education, subtitle assisted learning, perceptionAbstract
Listening comprehension remains one of the most challenging skills for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly in higher education where students are expected to comprehend authentic spoken English. Although previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of subtitles for language learning, limited research has examined English subtitle viewing tasks as structured classroom activities while simultaneously investigating students' listening achievement and learning perceptions. This study therefore aimed to examine the effect of English subtitle viewing tasks on students' listening comprehension and to explore their perceptions of the instructional approach. A quantitative pre-experimental study employing a one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with 24 third-semester undergraduate students in an English Education program at a private university in Indonesia. Data were collected using a listening comprehension test and a four-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed through descriptive statistics, a paired-samples t-test, and normalized gain (N-Gain) analysis. The findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in students' listening comprehension, with the mean score increasing from 77.54 to 84.29 (t = 12.597, p < .001), while the mean N-Gain score (0.308) indicated a moderate level of learning improvement. Students also reported highly positive perceptions of the instructional approach, with an overall mean score of 3.82 across five measured dimensions. These findings suggest that English subtitle viewing tasks provide meaningful support for listening comprehension while fostering positive learning experiences. The study offers empirical evidence for the effective integration of subtitle-assisted learning into university EFL listening instruction.
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