The Effect of Using Movie Scripts as an Alternative to Subtitles: How to Improve Listening Comprehension

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of using movie scripts on improving listening comprehension. Forty five intermediate learners were selected based on an IELTS test to carry out the study, and then they were divided into 3 groups: a Home Scripts Group (HSG), a Class Scripts Group (CSG), and a Non Scripts Group (NSG). Each group was required to transcribe a section of a movie entitled The Truman Show. The HSG had the scripts before starting to transcribe the section, the CSG received the scripts in the class, and the NSG received usual training without the scripts. Performance on the posttest revealed a significant difference among the groups with the best achievement for the CSG. More specifically, these differences indicated (a) using scripts may enhance L2 listening comprehension and (b) the most appropriate time of handing scripts to students seems to be after completion of the transcription task.