Audiovisual Translation in Second Language Learning Classrooms: Using Films and Subtitling to Improve EFL Students’ Listening Skill

Abstract

This study tries to investigate the impact of using the audio-visual translation on EFL learners’ listening comprehension. For so doing, 48 EFL learners were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The students in the two classes were taught under two conditions. In the first condition, the students in the experimental group watched subtitled films vs. those in the control group watched non-subtitled films. In the second condition, the students in the control group watched English-subtitled videos vs. those in the experimental group watched Persian-subtitled ones. The students in the control and experimental groups were taught during a semester and their performance was compared. The data were analyzed using independent sample T-test. The obtained results revealed that the experimental group in both conditions outperformed the control one. This means that the students watching subtitled films and those watching films with Persian subtitles had significantly better performance in the listening comprehension tests.