The Effect of Using TV Advertisements on Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Acquisition and Listening Comprehension

Year 2020, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 108 - 122, 06.08.2020

Mahsa Fathiyousefabad , Hajar Farnoudkia

Abstract

In English classrooms, teachers face different problems in teaching vocabulary items and finding a way to improve listening comprehension. The purpose of this study is to find a more practical way to make vocabulary learning and listening comprehension easier. This study aims to investigate the effect of using TV advertisements on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and improvement of listening comprehension. So, a quasi-experimental design was adopted to implement the study. Therefore, 46 upper-intermediate level students participated in this study which proceeded throughout an academic term. To see the effect of the proposed method, a paired t-test was implemented on data by R programming as well as a two samples t-test to investigate if there was any difference between male and female learners’ acquisition and comprehension. As a result, the use of TV advertisements had a positive influence on the learners’ vocabulary acquisition and improvement of listening comprehension regardless of the learners’ gender.

Keywords

EFL learner, TV advertisement, Vocabulary acquisition, Listening comprehension

References

• Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). The design and conduct of true experiments and quasi-experiments in field settings. In Reproduced in part in Research in Organizations: Issues and Controversies. Goodyear Publishing Company.
• Davis, R. (1997). TV commercial messages: An untapped video resource for content-based classes. The Language Teacher. 21. (3), 13-15. Retrieved from the web July 29, 2005, from http://www.esl-lab.com/research/cms.htm
• Ehsanzadeh, S. J. (2012). Depth versus breadth of lexical repertoire: Assessing their roles in EFL students’ incidental vocabulary acquisition. TESL Canada, 29(2), 24-41.
• Erkaya, O.R. (2005). TV Commercials as Authentic Tools to Teach Communication, Culture, and Critical Thinking. MexTESOL Journal. 29(1).
• Folse, K. (2008). Six vocabulary activities for the English Language Classroom. English Teaching Forum, 3, 12 – 21.
• Fromkin, V. R., & Rodman, R. (1998). R. (1974) An Introduction to Language.
• Goh, C. (2000). A cognitive perspective on language learners’ listening comprehension problems. System, 28, 55-75.
• Goldthorpe, J. (1993). Talking Back to TV: Media Literacy and Writing.
• Katchen, J. E. (1993). Using STAR-TV in the Classroom: A Potpourri of Ideas.
• Llyod-Jones, G., & Binch, C. (2012). A case study of evaluation of the English language progress of Chinese students on two UK postgraduate engineering courses. IELTS Research Reports, 13, 3-56.
• Matthews, J., & Cheng, J. (2015). Recognition of high-frequency words from speech as a predictor of listening comprehension. System, 52, 1-13.
• Mendelsohn, D. J. (2008). Teaching-learning strategies: Not a passing fad-simply good pedagogy. In G. Crane (Ed.), Strategies in language learning and teaching (pp. 55-67). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
• Pikulski, J. J., Templeton, S. (2004). Teaching and developing vocabulary: key long –term Reading Success. Houghton Mifflin Reading.
• Qian, D. D. (2002). Investigating the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic reading performance: An assessment perspective. Language Learning, 52(3), 513-536.
• Richards, J.C. & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Shoebottom, P. (2013). The importance of vocabulary. http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/vocab.htm
• Smith, A., & Rawley, L. A. (1997). Using TV commercials to teach listening and critical thinking. Coreil, Clyde, Ed.; Napoliello, Mihri, Ed. The Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning, 1997. Jersey City State Coll., NJ. Center for the Imagination in, 103.
• Stæhr, L. S. (2008). Vocabulary size and the skills of listening, reading, and writing. The Language Learning Journal, 36(2), 139-152.
• Teng, F. (2014a). Assessing the depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge with listening comprehension. PASAA: A Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 48(2), 29-56.
• Thornbury, S. (2000). How to teach vocabulary. Harlow: Person Longman Education.
• Wilkins, D. (1972). Grammatical, situational, and notional syllabuses. In Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliqueé (Ed.). Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress of Applied Linguistics. Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag. Reprinted in Brumfit & Johnson (eds.) (1979). 82-90.
• Yongqi Gu, P.(2003). Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language: Person, Task, Context, and Strategies. TESL / EJ. Vol 7. N2 pp 1-26.
• Zahedi, Y., Abdi, M. (2012). The effect of semantic mapping strategy on EFL learners` vocabulary learning. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences 69: 2273-2280.