The Effects of Advance Organizers and Subtitles on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Skills

The present research reports the findings of three experiments which explore how subtitles and advance organizers affect English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' listening comprehension of authentic videos. The EFL learners in this study were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group received no treatment and the experimental group received treatment with the experimental conditions of which comprised several types of scaffolds-subtitles, unaided advance organizers and teacher-guided advance organizers. The results show that the presence of subtitles and advance organizers assisted EFL learners' listening comprehension of CNN news reports. However, there was no significant relationship between English proficiency and the experimental conditions. All of the students benefited from the scaffolding regardless of proficiency level. The students' attitudes toward the specific type of scaffolding were also probed and the reasons for their preferences for one type of scaffold over another are also explained.