LISTENING SKILL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INTEGRATING SUBTITLES WITH SCHEMATA ACTIVATION

Advances and increased availability of computers and DVDs have altered and expanded the field of second/foreign language education. Listening comprehension can be fostered with the addition of images. Today subtitles bring together old and new technology. The objective of this research project was to investigate the influence of schemata and subtitles on second language listening comprehensions. Two models used in this study include dual subtitling (English dialogue with Persian as well as English subtitles at the same time) with schema-activation and dual subtitling without schema-activation. The preliminary use of dual subtitling with schema-activation was to explore their possible effects on the development of Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) learnersʹ listening comprehension. 50 advance EFL participants took part in this study. The learners were divided into two groups randomly. The first group of participants was labeled as dual subtitling with schema-activation and the second group as dual subtitling without schema-activation. The results confirmed the effectiveness of dual subtitling accompanied by schema activation in ameliorating EFL learnersʹ listening comprehension. Dual subtitles accompanied by schema activation can be recommended as a way for simultaneous attention on listening comprehension and teachers who are interested in promoting listening skill of their student can benefit from the findings of this study and use dual subtitles accompanied by schema activation in their daily program.