MID-TERM TEST

Scientific Research Methodology

1. Research title
Enhancing listening skills of the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi
Open University by watching English films.
2. Research Aim
To help the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University
improve their listening skills by watching English films.

3. Research Objectives
To evaluate effectiveness of watching English films to enhance listening skills of
the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University.

To identify the perceptions of the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi

Open University towards watching English films to enhance listening skills.

4. Research questions
What is the effectiveness of watching English films to enhance listening skills of the
second-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University.

What are the perceptions of the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi

Open University towards watching English films to enhance listening skills?

5. Literature review
This literature review is separated into two parts: previous studies and review of
theoretical background. The first part sums up four previous studies investigating
using English films to enhance listening skills. The second part intends to review
the literature on the definitions of listening skills, definitions of English films, the
effectiveness of watching English films to enhance listening skills and the
perceptions of students towards watching English films to enhance listening skills.
5.1 Overview of previous studies
Woottipong (2014) investigated the effects of English video materials on the
development of listening skills among 41 first-year English-majored of Thaksin
University students and evaluated the students’ attitudes toward the use of English
video materials in teaching listening skills. Quantitative analysis was employed to

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get the data. The study showed that after learning with videos, the students’
listening comprehension ability improved significantly. Moreover, they had positive
attitudes towards using English videos in teaching listening skills. However, the
videos were chosen just short documentaries (3-5 minutes) about culture,
environment and adventure activities.

Sihombing (2018) studied ways to increase students’ listening ability. This research
applied quantitative and qualitative methods with 35 students at English Department
of Letter Faculty in Darma Agung University. The result is similar to Kretsai
Woottipong: watching English films is effective to improve the students’ listening
skills.

Fidelia and Rohmah (2023) aimed to find implications of using English films for
language learning improvement. This study adopted qualitative methods with
coding thematic analysis techniques. The result was more comprehensive. Students
found problems with using English films but they could overcome those problems
with lots of strategies. Furthermore, English films can improve listening skills of
students. Nevertheless, the range of samples is narrow. The research interviewed
only six students in SMAN 8 Malang.

Alolaywi (2023) investigated the effectiveness of watching English films on

English language acquisition and the perspectives of students on this method. The
study applied exploratory research, quantitative and qualitative methods via a
questionnaire and interviews. The results indicated most students watched films for
entertainment. They admitted that films help they acquire a great deal of vocabulary
and improve listening and writing skills. Moreover, they believed that exposure to
English people helps enhance language fluency and proficiency. They also can learn
many aspects beside linguistic aspects such as culture, lifestyle, and ways of
thinking,… One strength of this study was the theoretical framework depended on
“Input Hypothesis” of Krashen (1981, 1985) about roles of comprehensible input in
SLA (Second Language Aquisition).

After looking into the previous studies on the same topic of enhancing listening
skills by watching English films, the author can easily find out the research gap.
There have been many studies conducted on this topic; however, none has
mentioned this topic which is carried out the second-year English-majored at Hanoi
Open University. Therefore, this topic is investigated for the research. The study

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aims to evaluate effectiveness of watching English films to enhance listening skills
of the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open University and identify
the perceptions of the second-year English-majored students at Hanoi Open
University towards watching English films to enhance listening skills.

5.2 Theoretical frameworks

5.2.1 Definitions of listening skills
Listening skills was also defined as “an active process of constructing a message
from a stream of sounds with what one knows of the phonological, semantic, and
syntactic potentialities of the language” (Rivers & Temperley, 1978).
Devine (1982) described listening skills “is based upon information here with
suggestions and ideas taken in by the ear”.
Listening skills is “a complex, active process in which the listener must discriminate
between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammatical structures, interpret stress
and intonation, retain what was gathered in all of the above, and interpret it within
the immediate as well as the larger sociocultural context of the utterance”
(Vandergrift, 1999).
5.2.2 Definitions of English films
Thomson and Bordwell (1979) defined film as “art form with a language and an
aesthetic all its own”.
A film “derives from the celluloid strip on which the images that make up motion
pictures were originally captured, cut, and projected”. (Barsam & Monahan, 2016).
According to Rifa’i et al. (2022), “film is a form of entertainment that enacts a story
by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement.”
5.2.3 Effectiveness of watching English films to enhance listening skills
Woottipong’s study (2014) demonstrated that watching English films not only helps
students remember and understand vocabulary more easily but also provides them
with opportunities to encounter words in authentic contexts. This repeated exposure
to language in natural settings enables learners to reinforce their vocabulary
knowledge, improve comprehension, and gradually enhance their overall listening
skills.
Albiladi, Abdeen and Lincoln (2014) claimed that watching English films can
significantly improve students’ listening skills by exposing them to a wide range of
vocabulary items in meaningful contexts. Through films, learners encounter
extensive vocabulary lists not as isolated words but as part of natural conversations,

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idiomatic expressions, and colloquial usage, which allows them to develop better
comprehension and retention. This authentic input not only enriches their lexical
knowledge but also strengthens their ability to process spoken English more
effectively in real-life situations.
Fussalam, Lestari and Anggelia (2019) believed that English films provided real
“situation”, and real-life conversation. This helps students expose to the natural
expresssion, flow of speech, and pronunciations so that improves their listening
comprehension. Moreover, watching English films helps students get use to hear
words in English so that they can catches the English words better when they listen.
5.2.4 Perceptions of students towards watching English films to enhance listening
skills
Woottipong (2014) concluded that students found videos were effective in learning
English, and using subtitles in films were an outstanding method to learning
listening skills.
Silviyanti (2014) also did a survey to investigate students’ perceptions. The results
showed that the students felt English films could be used to enhance their listening
skills. English films also made the class more joyful, which motivated them to
study. Moreover, when students did not understand the content of videos, they could
watch the pictures to help them get to clue.
The study of Fidelia & Rohmah (2023) showed that students felt familiar with
audiovisual material, which helped them improve their listening comprehension.
This due to the fact that English film can expose students to word pronunciation and
get new insights into grammar or vocabulary.
5.3 Summary
In summary, this part investigated a number of previous studies on enhancing
listening skills by watching English films. Moreover, it mentioned the views of
researchers carrying out this topic. The author chose Vandergrift’s definition of
listening skills and Rifa’i et al.’s definition of film to analyze datas in the next parts.
6. References
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movies: Adult English language learners' perceptions. Theory and Practice in
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