Have learners repeatedly watch authentic English video series, selected for recurring characters and culturally appropriate standard dialogue¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (2 causal), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends exposing learners to authentic recorded models: "Educators can request their students to watch English TV programs as repeatedly as possible", and English institutions can have students "watch unique videos together in the class". The study operationalised this with a popular series chosen because the same characters recur across episodes, letting learners form emotional connections that make watching easier and less stressful, and because contemporary material keeps the language current.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Four raters verified the dialogues were standard English and culturally proper for Iranian adult learners
• Content should be up-to-date so the language does not become dated

Constraints¶

• Validated for Iranian adult intermediate learners; the article does not claim generalisation beyond this population

Target Learners¶

• Intermediate EFL learners in foreign-language institutes

Target Learning Goals¶

• Prosodic ability: intonation, stress, pause, juncture, and pronunciation of speech sounds

Claims¶

• Authentic-video instruction produced significantly higher post-test prosodic ability than traditional instruction for Iranian intermediate EFL learners [+M]
• Gains were largest in stress and pronunciation, smallest in speech-sound articulation, and about 10% of experimental students showed no progress [+M]
• Experimental-group mean prosodic scores rose from 58.2 to 70.6 while control-group means rose only from 59.85 to 61.1 [+M]
• Within the experimental group, pre-to-post gains in prosodic ability were significant, while the control group's pre-to-post change was not [+M]
• Two students found the sitcom characters' speech too fast and some suggested showing short episodes, which the authors read as support for short subtitled video segments to avoid overload [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Use movies or TV series clips so learners notice how formulaic sequences are used among speakers

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Namaziandost, E., Esfahani, F. R., & Hashemifarnia, A. (2018). The Impact of Using Authentic Videos on Prosodic Ability among Foreign Language Learners. International Journal of Instruction, 11(4), 375-390. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1191678