Page 37 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464
P. 37

RESOURCES

        develop their skills – if you choose the right
        video to work with. I hope the above five
        tips provide some inspiration for using this   Succeeding with subtitles
        powerful resource for language learning, even
        with lower level students.              An experiment with Spanish students of   programme they saw, a one hour episode
          Now for some homework that I hope you’ll   English at B2 Level, previously reported   of Downton Abbey, used too many low
        enjoy: Choose a short TED Talk, or part of   in the Gazette, showed that watching   frequency words.
        one, preferably one with something visually   movies with subtitles in English improved   And don’t expect the students to
        interesting in it. it . Here are some suggestions   listening skills by 17 per cent on a listening   understand the story. Only students who
        to get you started:                     test, compared to 7 per cent for those   watched the programme with Spanish
          Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold   who watched the film without subtitles.   subtitles did well on the comprehension test!
        water                                   Students who watched the same film with   Given this, is it worth doing? Of
          Daria van den Bercken: Why I take the piano   Spanish subtitles actually scored slightly   course! But consider letting students
        on the road … and in the air            worse on the post-test than they did on the   watch L1 subtitles first, perhaps as
          Munir Virani: Why I love vultures     same test taken before they saw it.  homework, so they understand the
          Camille Seaman: Haunting photos of      So, is it a good idea to get students to   story. Or choose a film or programme
        polar ice                               watch video with English subtitles? The   the students are very familiar with.
          Derek Sivers: How to start a movement  answer is yes, if you want to improve their   For millennials, something from Harry
                                                phonological perception and help them   Potter or an episode of Friends is a good
                                                learn to link sounds and written spelling,   bet. And go for non-verbatim subtitles,
                                                according to authors Birulés-Muntané and   those that don’t translate every word, if
                          Lewis Lansford has
                          contributed to a      Soto-Faraco. It can also help advanced   you want to improve comprehension.
                          number of awarding    learners decode unfamiliar accents,
                          language courses      something that L1 speakers do naturally.  ■ Watching Subtitled Films Can
                          featuring TED Talks.    But they may not learn much    Help Learning Foreign Languages,
                          He’s currently        vocabulary. In this study, students’   J. Birulés-Muntané, S. Soto-Faraco
                          developing an online
                          course with TEFL      lexis improved very little, regardless of   https://journals.plos.org/plosone/
                          Equity Academy due    whether or not subtitles were used. The   article?id=10.1371/journal.
                          to launch in April, 2019.  authors argued this might be because the   pone.0158409





















































        editorial@elgazette.com                                                                                37
   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42