The acquisition of formulaic language through subtitles: a study across genres

Abstract

The present Master’s thesis adopts a multidisciplinary approach and blends the literature related to subtitles, formulaic language, multimedia learning, and teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The aims of the research are, first, to examine whether genre affects meaning recall of target multi-word expressions (MWEs) by EFL learners, and second, to explore whether input enhancement of target MWEs aids learning. 40 EFL adult learners participated in this study. Participants were exposed to four short clips subtitled in English. Half of the participants watched the videos with the target MWEs enhanced. The highlighting was removed from the target MWEs for the other half. The videos used belonged to four distinct genres: documentary, public lecture, detective story, and comedy. Overall, findings revealed an effect of genre. Additionally, results showed limited but positive effects of input enhancement of the target MWEs. Results were triangulated with qualitative findings from a retrospective protocol analysis questionnaire.