The effects of subtitled animation movies on the listening skills of EFL students

This study was conducted in order to identify the effects of using subtitled animation movies on EFL students' listening skills and motivation. It was conducted throughout 10 weeks during the 2015-2016 Spring semesters at the School of Foreign Languages of Osmaniye Korkut Ata University. To this end, fifty-one elementary level learners were selected according to random cluster sampling method. These students were divided into two separate groups as experimental (25) and control groups (26). The experimental group was introduced to animation movies, and they got listening strategy training including four basic listening strategies which are 'note taking, listening for specific information, making inference, and activating background knowledge'. While the experimental group watched and made use of close-captioned animated movies during the research period, the control group went on their usual flow of listening courses. At the same time, the experimental group did pre-watch, while watching and post watch activities as well as listening strategy training for the target strategies both individually and as a group. The data collection instruments of this study consisted of an achievement test, a motivation questionnaire with Likert Scale, a listening strategy awareness questionnaire with Likert Scale, a retrospective interview, and participants' diaries. The achievement test taken from Big Picture Elementary and Pre-Intermediate Teachers' Books was used to track possible alterations in participants' listening proficiency levels. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS 22 statistical package. An independent Samples T-test and a Paired Samples T-test were used to analyze the data obtained from the pre- and post-tests. To determine the alteration in participants' motivation level, a motivation questionnaire with Likert scale adapted from Gardner's 'Attitude/Motivation Test Battery' was used in the study both as pre-questionnaire (at the beginning of the term) and post-questionnaire (at the end of the term). The data was analyzed with the help of SPSS 22 statistical package, and the results were compared by using an Independent Samples T-test and a Paired Samples T-test. In order to find out the variations in participants' listening strategy recognition and use before and after the study, a strategy awareness scale adapted from Vandergrift's (2006) Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire was used in accordance with the objectives of this study. The data was analyzed by using SPSS 22 statistical package, and comparisons of the results were made by the researcher. To perceive participants' perceptions about the use of 'subtitled animation movies' to improve their listening skills and strategies, a retrospective interview was conducted at the end of the study. At the same time, the participants were asked to keep a diary consisting of their feelings about the use of subtitled animation movies to improve their listening skills and strategies. For both interview and diary analysis, two different stages of coding systems as open coding and axial coding were applied and categories were created by using different themes. Finally, percentages and means were compared descriptively by the researcher. The findings of the study indicated that using subtitled animated movies in the classroom improved the motivation and achievement levels of the EFL students at the Preparatory Program of Osmaniye Korkut Ata University. Key Words: Subtitled animation movies, motivation, captioning, use of audio-visual materials, listening strategies.