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Enhancement of Vocabulary Skills through Movie Watching

Dr. Barbara Elena M. Lagosa,
Mon Charlo Salmasanb, Jenelyn Felipeb,
Marjorie Fernandezb, Jasmin Jennifer Figuerresb,
Jemalyn Galapb
Saint Louis University, Baguio City

Abstract
English is known to be the lingua franca used in all over the globe as means of using it in
communications with different cultures. At this present generation, having a good grasp of a
second language makes one more competent and is beneficial for it enriches ones skills that are
needed in a competitive world. The purpose of this study is to see how the vocabulary skills of
students are enhanced after watching movies. Thus, this enrichment of the vocabulary skills will
help students to be more competitive especially that English language is widely used as a means
of communication. After computing the data gathered, the results of the study revealed that
movie viewing can help enhance the vocabulary skills of students with English language as their
field of specialization. Not only that, it contributed to students’ development of their macro
skills.English movies as a tool for learning may not get students’ motivation and interest but their
vocabulary skills are enhanced. Likewise, their reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills are
also improved. With the help of these movies, the students are now capable of using English
language as their second language.
Keywords: English movies, vocabulary skill enhancement
Introduction
Currently, Modern English is sometimes described as the first global lingua franca
(Jenkins, 2000, 2006; and Seidlhofer, 2001, 2004). It is the dominant international language in
communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio, diplomacy, and education.
Present and future generations must develop intercultural competence in order to meet new
social and economic challenges (Davies, 2008). English language is taught in almost every
country in the world and more people can understand English language than any other
languages. English as medium of instruction today helps a lot and the importance of the English
language cannot be overemphasized. All over the planet people know many English language
words as well as their pronunciation and meaning. According to statistics, English language is
the world's second largest native language and the official language in 70 countries. English
language has become a World Englishes, and it “belong[s] to everyone who speaks it, but it is
nobody’s mother tongue” (Rajagopalan, 2004, p. 111). English language is truly universal and
that the language has become “a heterogeneous language with multiple norms and grammars”

a
Faculty, School of Education
b
Student, School of Education
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(Canagarajah, 2006, p. 232). English language is utilized among scholars and educated people as
it is the world media language and the language of cinema, TV, pop music, and the computer
world.
In this generation, children at their early learning years learn how to speak, read, and
write in English language. The English language has developed into “the most widely taught,
read, and spoken language that the world has ever known” (Kachru & Nelson, 2001, p.9). This
practice of using the language improves any speakers’ conversational competence as it enhances
their knowledge about the English language. The communicative approach views language
primarily as a means of information exchange and embodies “communicative competence” as
what a [competent] speaker needs to know in order to be able to communicate appropriately
within a particular speech community” (Gumperz & Hymes, 1972, p. 7). Aside from learning
English language inside the school, there are factors that can be considered as variables in
learning the second language (L2). Psychological factors such as motivation is considered to
serve as a common frame of reference for understanding an individual’s intercultural
development (Alred, 2003) and also identified as the main reason for achieving the success in
learning the second or target language (Norris-Holt, 2007). English as an international language
has enabled many people in the global society to experience intercultural learning as a
consequence of communication and interaction with native speakers and the target language. In
learning English language, there will always be times where new words are encountered. One
good by-product of learning a second language is acquiring good vocabulary skills. Many
researchers working on vocabulary acquisition claim that acquiring a word requires numerous
encounters with the word in different forms (Horst, Cobb, & Meara, 1998; Nation, 1990;
Schmidt, 2001). Having a good grasp in foreign language does not only imply the acquisition of
grammar but also vocabulary. At present, technologies have contributed most in quick
accessibility in easy learning. Cohen (1999) as cited in Trier, (2002) reports that movies are
potentially more powerful and effective than printed texts in transferring the ideas and
knowledge while learning English language by watching movies is learning by input (Scott &
Golde, 2001). Movies are powerful teaching tool because they are considered a powerful form of
narrative. Movies can grab attention more viscerally and quickly than other media. Viewers
receive vocal inflections, facial expressions, sounds, and nonverbal cues to help tell stories.
Movies have been observed as facilitating the learning process among students in many
disciplines including political science, American studies, psychology, anthropology,
organizational management, and neuroscience (Boyatzis, 1994;Forbes & Smith, 2007;
Funderburk, 1978; Kranzdorf, 1980; Mallinger & Rossy, 2003; O’Meara, 1976; Roberts, 2003;
Ruby, 1976; Sanchez, 1976; Smith, 2009; Wiertelak, 2002). Movies provide a wonderful
opportunity for students to gain background understanding to combine with their own
understanding about a story or concept (Gambrell & Jawits, 1993). As it is an important critical
teaching method with the power to both give pleasure to the students and to develop the interest
in crucial social issues.
The essays of some students in Turkey regarding the use of movies conclude that movies
lead to develop an interest in the subjects they study and to write more critical papers using
English as the language (Department of Political Science, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey,
2010). In other words, one couldn’t argue that the movies help the students build critical
perspectives on the social aspect through interest development on socio-logical topics.
Additionally, through these movies, they have the chance to discuss certain theoretical
frameworks and concepts in relation to real life settings; hence, acquire a new meaning for these
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frameworks and practical terms through English language. Movies are motivating media for they
encompass various topics and are presented with both audio and visual stimuli (Lonergan, 1984;
Stempleski, 2003). Spoken language is different from book language where we learn how they
say these words. Spoken language through movies may improve pronunciation in addition to
grammar and vocabulary. Not only that, movies focusing on societal concerns is a useful tool in
improving students’ attention to the subjects taught in classes as well as to current sociological
events (Boyatsiz, 1994; Deighton, 1971, 12; Maynard, 1971; Roberts, 2003; Smith, 1973). It is
also argued that viewers are generally motivated to understand what is shown and said on
television when the captions are provided (Danan, 2004). Not only can sound and images be
adopted but for the subtitles of various languages are also called for assisting comprehension so
as to language learning (Markham, 1999). Watching English movies or DVD and watching
movies with captions or subtitles are then most highly recommended. Subtitles can also help
students’ to learn and improve their pronunciation and diction in every word that they heard
while watching movies.
According to Lommel, Laenen, d’Ydewalle (2006), watching a subtitled foreign movie
leads to considerable foreign language vocabulary acquisition. Captioned videos substantially
improved incidental reading vocabulary knowledge of adult non-native speakers (Koskinen et
al., 1985). This is the reason why viewers and researchers preferred subtitled movies for second
language learning. Subtitles are most beneficial for the recall of L2 vocabulary and of content
(Baltova, 1999). Vocabulary and listening comprehension are not the only skills improved by
watching films. Subtitles and closed captioning (dialogue and other sound information printed
across the bottom of the frame) can help students increase reading speed. Films can also serve as
the basis for writing assignments and oral presentations, especially when they are combined with
the diverse film resources now readily accessible on the internet (Stewart, 2006). Moreover,
current understanding of the vocabulary development holds the belief that acquiring a word
should be viewed on a continuum of knowledge level (Nation, 1990; Schmidt, 2001; Wesche &
Paribakht, 1996).
English movies are good materials to motivate students in learning because it gives
pleasure, entertainment, and indeed, important information; hence, this research will be focusing
on the vocabulary acquisition of students through movies using formal English language.

Conceptual Framework
The most influential theory associated in vocabulary acquisition through movies is Noam
Chomsky’s theory of imitation. Chomsky declared that language is too complex to be learned
simply through imitation. Children learn language simply by forming habits, by imitating what is
seen and heard. Based on the cone of experience, people remember 50% of what they hear and
see. The role of listening to conversation in English movies is very important to the auditory
memory.
By listening to native speakers, new vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, and
grammatical structures are improved. So, the audience will most likely imitate the lines
delivered. Movies give pleasure, information about the current situation, and they can learn a lot
such as pronunciation, vocabulary, style, and even intonation (Connor, 1967; 05, Hudoro
Sumeto, MBA 2003;35).
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Pronunciation is the way in which a language or particular words are pronounced (Quirk,
1987) and it is the way which language is spoken (Hornsby, 2005). Watching English movies
will be an affective medium to encourage the students in learning English language especially in
conservation with appropriate pronunciation.
The Input Hypothesis Theory by Stephen Krashen (1985) presents that learners make
progress in English language acquisition through exposure to comprehensible input. As students
are exposed to new words presented in comprehensible contexts they improve in English
language acquisition. Stephen Krashen (1981) provides an example that an English language
learner may understand the message “Put the paper in the garbage in your desk.” By slightly
changing the message to “Put the paper in the garbage” the speaker supports new information
that increases the learner’s language comprehension. Using Krashen’s (1985) Input Hypothesis
Theory, new vocabulary words used in movies will aid the students’ language comprehension,
while building on their vocabulary. These new vocabulary will then be easily accessed as needed
when they speak or write.
In addition, Marshall (2002) details three theories that explain how learning may occur
via well-selected video based on the ability of the entertaining media to engage the learner,
activate emotional states, initiate interest in a topic, and allow for absorption and processing of
information. Arousal Theory deals with how communication messages evoke varying degrees of
generalized emotional arousal and how concomitant behavior can be affected while a person is in
this state. Short Term Gratification Theory deals with affective and motivational components
such as enthusiasm, perseverance, and concentration. Finally, Interest Stimulation Theory posits
that entertainment promotes learning and creativity by sparking a student’s interest in and
imagination about a topic.
Significance of the Study

This research will directly benefit the students as they develop vocabulary acquisition
that may also contribute to the development of the four macro skills of language. The educators
may find this research significant as it may contribute a workable method in developing English
language word acquisition among the students. Also, the results of this research may serve as a
guide for curriculum designers to consider the method for students enrolled in English language
subjects. All those in the academe will gain a better understanding of the importance of watching
English movies as tool used for enhancing vocabulary in English language.

A. Objective
Non-native English Speakers
It is the aim of this study to find out how vocabulary skills of students are enhanced through
movies and how it affect the listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Improvement in
listening skills specially in grasping new words for vocabulary enhancement will be thought. The
improved use of appropriate English language vocabulary will be the focus of improvement in
speaking skills. Comprehending the subtitles will be the focus of the reading skills and writing
the new vocabularies from movies they have watched will be the focus of improvement of
writing skills. Specifically, this study will answer the following questions: 1) Was the vocabulary
skills enhanced through movies?; 2) What are the new vocabulary words that the students did
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acquire?; and 3) In what way were these new vocabulary words used?; 3) Does the vocabulary
skills enhanced through movies?

Methodology

A movie marathon of English films was administered to third year students taking up
Bachelors in Secondary Education (BSED) in the School of Teacher Education, Saint Louis
University, Baguio City. These 30 male and female students were all taking English language as
their major field of specialization. The target respondents were selected students having English
language as their secondary language and their field of specialization and because they are in the
phase of learning more critical words.
Before facilitating the series of movies, an interest survey of movies was conducted to
know their favourite genres and movies. These movies were screened to see to it that it uses the
standard English language where 10 movies were considered for viewing. Movie marathon was
scheduled and approved by the dean of the School of Teacher Education. The schedules were as
follows: 8:30-9:30 MWF at GD514 and 4:00-6:00 TTh at rooms GD 506 and GD 517. The
movie marathon lasted for 2 weeks to compensate for the first movie marathon because of
insufficient data gathered from the respondents. After the movie viewing, the respondents were
asked to fill out the questionnaire which included the new vocabulary they learned from the
movies. At the end of the scheduled marathon, the respondents indicated the ways they were able
to use the new vocabulary words just learned.
The research design used in the research is quantitative because it measures the numerical
value of the respondents’ answers in each of the items. The respondents were given set of
questionnaire after the movie marathon. The questionnaire was adopted from a formal research
conducted in Hsinchu,Taiwan. The total answers were converted into weighted mean and
interpreted using the range and its equivalent qualitative interpretation. These interpretations
were the basis of the discussions
Table shows the Likert scale including the qualitative interpretations.
Range Qualitative Interpretation
5.20-6.00 Strongly Agree Fully accept
4.34-5.17 Agree Accept with a condition
3.50-4.33 Moderately Agree Accept to an extent
2.68-3.49 Moderately Disagree Do not accept to an extent
1.84-2.67 Disagree Do not accept to a greater
extent
1.00-1.83 Strongly Disagree Totally do not accept
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Findings and Discussion

After gathering responses from the survey conducted. The findings and interpretation of
the following data give analysis to answer the research questions and if it will obtain the primary
objective of the research.
Table 1 shows how many of the participants prefer with or without captions/subtitles
when they are watching movies.

Captions Female Male respondents N %

respondents
with English 23 4 27 90
captions
with no captions 3 0 3 10
*Total no. of answers= 30 *No. of female respondents=26 *No. of male respondents= 4
Table 1: Number of Participants who Prefer Movies With or Without Subtitles

Precisely, as gleaned in Table 1 many students prefer watching movies with English
language captions or subtitles rather than no subtitles at all.
Listening is more difficult than reading. Most of the students will really understand the
story of the movie through the guide of having English subtitles. With a movie, students may
sometimes hear something but they don’t really know what it is especially if the student does not
know English language very well. If we want to understand a movie, we have to know a lot of
English words — not only their spelling, but also their pronunciation. Most of them want to
watch it with subtitles especially when you cannot comprehend the words that are being dubbed
or said by the actor or the character on the movie.
In addition, majority prefer that the movies (of any genre) they are watching will have
English captions for them to clearly understand the movie. Accordingly, they will be attracted to
continue and finish watching the movie if they are guided with the subtitles for they will
understand the storyline more. Lastly, it is evident that males would watch movies if these are
installed with English subtitles.

Table 2 shows the specific benefits that we get from the movies that we are watching.

Questions Strongly Agree Moderately Moderately Disagree Strongly

Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
4. In enhancing 16 4 9 1 0 0
vocabulary, do you
think subtitles are
better than no
captions at all?
5. Do you think your 13 17 0 0 0 0
movie watching
enhances your
vocabulary?
6. Do you think 14 15 1 0 0 0
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English captions are

effective in
enhancing vocabulary
skills?
7. After watching a 3 8 16 1 2 0
film without subtitles,
do you watch it again
with English
captions?
8. How has watching
English movies
affected your
vocabulary skills? 8 15 6 1 0 0
o My
vocabulary
skills were
enhanced.
o I had more 9 16 5 0 0 0
words to use
for academic
purpose.
o I was able to 9 15 6 0 0 0
use new
words for
daily
conversation.
Table 2: Specific Benefits from the Movies

Firstly, it is truly helpful if a movie has a subtitle most especially when one of the reasons
for watching is to enhance vocabularies. Without the subtitle, you might assume that you heard
the word correctly when in fact, we did not. Truthfully, according to the respondents, movies
help them a lot to improve their vocabulary – speaking-wise or writing-wise. Besides, subtitles
save time from going back to a scene just because you didn’t hear clearly what has been said by
the characters.

Table 3 gives emphasis on the qualitative interpretation of each weighted mean from the
total answers in each item of questions.

Questions Mean Qualitative

Interpretation
4. In enhancing vocabulary, do you think 5.17 Accept with a condition
English subtitles are better than no captions
at all?
5. Do you think your movie watching 5.43 Fully accept
enhances your vocabulary?
6. Do you think English captions are 5.43 Fully accept
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effective in enhancing vocabulary skills?

7. After watching a film without subtitles, 4.3 Moderately agree
do you watch it again with English
captions?
8. How has watching English movies 5 Agree
affected your vocabulary skills?
o My vocabulary skills were
enhanced.
o I had more words to use for 4.53 Agree
academic purpose
o I was able to use new words for 5.1 Agree
daily conversation
Table 3: Interpretation of Weighted Mean
In item number 4, the computed mean is 5.17 and the qualitative interpretation is
accepted with a condition. Almost all of the participants think that English subtitles are better
than no caption. One and very evident reason is that “subtitles” is a big aid for those viewers who
are deaf and hard of hearing to follow the dialog. Also, this guides people who cannot understand
the spoken dialog or who have accent recognition problems. Two percent of the students
moderately agreed that English movies with subtitles are better than those without caption, they
learn through listening to the words carefully.
Item number 5 has the mean of 5.43 which is fully accepted that most which means that
the respondents strongly agree that watching English movies helps in enhancing their
vocabularies. According to a research, many Filipinos develop their communication skills
because of the movies (of any genre) they are watching. For that, the social skills are also
enhanced.
Item number 6 has a mean of 5.53 which is likewise fully accepted. Movies with English
captions are effective in enhancing vocabulary skills. Most of the students really learn if the
movies that they are watching have English captions. It was also shown in a research made by
students and linguists that whenever the viewer’s read a new word in the subtitle, they would
look up the dictionary for its meaning. Wherein, if there is no caption, the viewers are hard up to
decipher the spelling of the uttered words.

The mean of item number 7 is 4.3which is interpreted as moderately agree. 75% of the
participants watch the movies again even without subtitles. 25% of the students did not watch the
movies because they already missed some of the lines, so it discouraged them to continue and
finish the movie.
Item number 8 approved that watching English movies can enhance the students’
vocabularies, they have more words to use for academic purpose, and were able to apply new
words in their daily conversations. It is a fact that students are very enthusiastic to add up more
beautiful and new-to-the-ears terms whenever they exchange dialogues with their classmates,
teachers, friends, and acquaintances.
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Table 4 indicates in what way the participants use these new vocabularies they learned
from the movies.
Usage Female Male N % Rank
respondents respondents
 Conversation 20 4 24 19.83 3
 Recitation 17 4 21 17.36 5
 Essays 24 3 27 22.31 1
 Reflection 21 2 23 19.01 4
 Compositions 22 4 26 21.49 2
*Total no. of answers= 121 *No. of female respondents=26 *No. of male respondents= 4
Table 4: Result on the strand “Where do you think can you use these new vocabularies?”

Most of the answers in this part proved that students can use the new vocabularies they
learned from watching English movies in written output than in oral activities. New vocabularies
are always applied in written compositions to express the real thought. It is proven that one of
good benefits of watching English movies is that it improves students’ writing and speaking
skills. Watching English movies with English subtitles gives opportunity in getting exposed to a
wide range of vocabulary which is one of the best way for the students to enhance their writing
skills which is 63% of the total percentage based from this survey gathered compared with the
communicative skills which is only 37% as shown in Table 5. The effect of movies on creativity
in the use of the English vocabularies showed that it helps students to become better writers. But,
there is a need to remind them that they should always have to write and expose their creativity.
In this era of entertainment in which students spend valuable time on mindless activity, it is
unfortunate that students seem to do more watching than reading and writing. It was found out
that despite the negative effects such as students adopting the use of slang; adopting an informal
style of presentation; and adopting the direct translation style typical of some movies, more than
half or 55% of the population experienced positive effects from watching movies which
includes; getting exposed to a wide range of vocabulary; alternative sentence construction;
getting exposed to life realities; thus, tapping into their creativity in oral and communicative
skills.
Cohen (1999) as cited in Trier, (2002) reports that movies are potentially more powerful
and effective than printed texts in transferring the ideas and knowledge while learning English
language by watching movies is learning by input (Scott & Golde, 2001). These statements
supported after the findings were all interpreted, the total percentage of the survey showed that
through the help of watching English movies, the respondents able to enhance their vocabulary
skills and thus it contributed to improvement as well of those macro skills. The development that
was observed supported the idea that vocabulary acquisition is a process that occurs along a
continuum (Wesche & Paribakht, 1996; Schmidt, 2001). However, one should not forget that
learning a word necessitates multiple exposures to the word in different forms (Horst, Cobb, &
Meara, 1998; Nation, 1990; Schmidt, 2001). In accordance with the statement of Danan (2004),
that viewers are generally motivated to understand what is shown and said on television when
the captions are provided, in contradiction to this statement, researchers find out that participants
who watched movies without captions/subtitles can still acquire a good vocabulary by using their
listening skills.
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Conclusion
The study therefore concludes that vocabulary of students can be heightened through
movie watching. Their academic work is enhanced by the new vocabularies learned. The daily
conversations of students are upgraded with the new words they have acquired.
Recommendation
The study therefore recommends that watching English movies be part of the academic
curriculum , not only for the English majors but for other courses as well. With the limitations of
time involved in this research, it is recommended that future researchers embark on longer time
for movie marathons for the acquisition of more vocabulary words.
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