The effects of using authentic videos on IELTS students’ listening performance at an english center in ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
---oOo---

NGUYỄN MỸ LINH

THE EFFECTS OF USING AUTHENTIC VIDEOS
ON IELTS STUDENTS’ LISTENING PERFORMANCE
AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI
(ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG VIDEO ĐẾN KHẢ NĂNG NGHE
HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THEO HỌC KHÓA IELTS TẠI MỘT TRUNG
TÂM TIẾNG ANH Ở HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR THESIS
Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2018


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
---oOo---

NGUYỄN MỸ LINH

THE EFFECTS OF USING AUTHENTIC VIDEOS
ON IELTS STUDENTS’ LISTENING PERFORMANCE
AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI
(ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG VIDEO ĐẾN KHẢ NĂNG NGHE
HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THEO HỌC KHÓA IELTS TẠI MỘT TRUNG
TÂM TIẾNG ANH Ở HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR THESIS
Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi - 2018


DECLARATION

Title: “The effects of using authentic videos on IELTS students’ listening
performance at an English center in Hanoi”

I certify that no part of the thesis has been copied or reproduced by me from any
other works without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by

me under strict guidance of my supervisor.

Hanoi, 2018
Student‟s signature

Nguyễn Mỹ Linh

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn
Vân, for his support, guidance, advice, valuable comments, suggestions, and
provisions which benifited me greatly in completing this study.
Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to all of my students at AMA
English center who took part in my study because of their valuable feedback and
contributions in the process of conducting this research.
My appreciation also goes out to all professors and lecturers at the Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University for their valuable lectures.
Last but not least, I would like to send my gratitude to my parents, my brother and
my special friend, Logan for supporting me and giving me useful advice when
writing this thesis.

ii


ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of using authentic videos on IELTS students‟

listening performance at an English center in Hanoi. The researcher implemented
the action research approach to find out the significance of using authentic videos in
improving students‟ listening performance as well as their attitudes towards the use
of authentic videos as material in the IELTS foundation listening course. The
sample of this study was 30 students who enrolled in the IELTS foundation course
from two classes. To improve the quality of the course as well as meet students‟
needs, the researcher designed the new syllabus for the IELTS foundation listening
course with the use of authentic videos, and the study instruments to collect the data
were survey; pre-test, post-test and observation. The findings from the survey
showed that students had positive attitudes towards using authentic videos as
materials in the course. The results from pre-test and post-test showed that students‟
listening scores increased. With the significant results and implications, the
researcher hopes that this study will be useful for further studies as well as IELTS
teaching and learning in general.

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TABLES OF CONTENTS

Declaration ................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................ii
Abstract. .................................................................................................................... iii
Lists of Abbreviations ...............................................................................................vii
Lists of Tables, Figures ........................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1
1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale for the study ................................... 1
1.2 Significance of the study ....................................................................................... 3
1.3 Scope of the study ................................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 5

2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 5
2.2. IELTS listening .................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1. The IELTS listening test: an overview ............................................................. 5
2.1.2. IELTS listening performance ............................................................................ 6
2.1.2.1 Listening performance .................................................................................... 6
2.1.2.2. IELTS listening performance ......................................................................... 7
2.3. Authentic videos in improving students‟ listening performance. ........................ 8
2.3.1. Authentic materials ........................................................................................... 8
2.3.2 Characteristics of Authentic materials ............................................................. 10
2.3.3 Authentic videos............................................................................................... 11
2.3.4 Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic videos in the classroom. ... 11
2.3.5 Reviews of related studies ................................................................................ 14
2.3.6 Criteria for selecting authentic videos ............................................................. 18
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 21
3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 21
3.2. Research questions ............................................................................................. 21
3.3. Research approach ............................................................................................. 21
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3.4. The validity and reliability of the action research.............................................. 23
3.5. Strengths and weaknesses of action research ..................................................... 24
3.6 Research design ................................................................................................... 24
3.6.1. Participants of the study .................................................................................. 24
3.6.2. The researcher ................................................................................................. 25
3.6.3. Data collection methods .................................................................................. 25
3.6.3.1. Pre-test and post-test .................................................................................... 25
3.6.3.2. The Survey on students‟ attitudes toward using authentic videos in the
IELTS foundation listening course. .......................................................................... 26
3.6.3.3. Observations ................................................................................................. 28

3.7 Data collection procedure ................................................................................... 29
3.7.1. Phase one: pre-intervention ............................................................................. 29
3.7.2. Phase two: while intervention ......................................................................... 32
3.7.3. Phase three: post intervention ......................................................................... 34
3.8.Data analysis procedures ..................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .................................................. 36
4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 36
4.2. The significance of using authentic videos in improving students‟ listening
performance in the IELTS foundation listening course ............................................ 36
4.3. Participants‟ attitudes towards the use of authentic videos in the IELTS
foundation listening course ....................................................................................... 38
4.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 42
4.4.1. The significance of using authentic videos in improving students‟ listening
performance in the IELTS foundation listening course ............................................ 42
4.4.2. Students‟ attitudes towards the use of authentic videos in the IELTS
foundation listening course ....................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 46
5.1. Concluding remarks ........................................................................................... 46
5.2. Implications ........................................................................................................ 46

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5.3. Recommendations for further research .............................................................. 47
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 52
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX 2: PRE-TEST
APPENDIX 3: POST-TEST
APPENDIX 4: LESSON PLAN SAMPLE
APPENDIX 5: OBSERVATION CHECKLIST

APPENDIX 6: SYLLABUS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IELTS

International English Language Testing System

L2

Second language

EFL

English as a Foreign Language

ESL

English as a Second Language

M

Mean

N

Number of Cases or Subjects of the study

Sig.

Equality of Variances

Std. Deviation

Standard Deviation

SPSS

Statistic Package for Social Science

t

Obtained Value

df

Degree of Freedom

η2

Eta-squared value which is a measure of effect size

vii


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1.1

IELTS listening performance checklist

Table 2.1

Survey questions about students‟ attitudes toward the use of
authentic videos in the IELTS foundation listening course

Table 4.1

Result of pre-test and post-test

Table 4.2

The recommended table for analyzing the effect size level
by Cohen (1988)

Table 4.3

The effect size of using authentic videos on students‟
listening performance in the IELTS foundation listening
course

Table 4.4

Results of survey questions about students‟ attitudes towards
the use of authentic videos in the IELTS foundation listening
course

Figure 1

Formula to calculate Eta-squared by Cohen (1988)

viii


CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale for the study
For a long time, listening has been considered to be in a secondary position in
the English language teaching classroom. This originates from the fact that a variety
of approaches to teaching language and textbooks have been designed for other
skills, but listening has not received as much attention. It was due to the high
emphasis on speaking which was always considered a more valuable skill to focus
on in the classroom.
Although there was a lack of research interest in listening in the past, it is the
language skill most often used in everyday life. According to Burely (1995), more
than forty percent of our daily communication time is spent on listening, thirty-five
percent on speaking, sixteen percent on reading and only nine percent on writing.
Krashen (1994) affirms that listening is considered today as a complicated activity
and a crucial factor in acquiring the language. Despite the fact that listening has
been a relatively neglected skill in terms of research and how it is introduced to
language learners, it is now beginning to be highly appreciated. In the past few
years, several major texts, both practical and theoretical, specifically related to
listening skills have been published. In accordance with these books, teachers are
gradually realizing that it is the teacher‟s role to help learners develop their listening
performance rather than rely on the skill developing itself.
The question of how to improve learners‟ listening performance brings attention
to the method teachers apply and the type of materials teachers use for their

learners. The purpose of all listening lessons should be to make learners more
independent when facing listening to the foreign language in a real world context.
As Castro (2009) states “The listening skill refers not only to the ability to
comprehend sounds and different accents, but also the context and the language
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employed to perform the speech act.” In other words, to learn any language, it is
important to have access to good input in terms of listening, since listening helps
learners of the language obtain most of the aspects of the language. In addition,
Higuchi (1998) also asserts that “Learning a foreign language through videos
facilitates to develop performance skills in the target language, such as body
language and facial expressions.” With the implementation of authentic videos in an
English class, the students will be exposed not only to listening itself, but also to
some other features of the language of the language as paralinguistic factors like
body language, and facial expressions used by native speakers of English. This may
promote EFL Learner‟s understanding of the language in a real context with natural
use of English.
Another important issue is to consider the level of proficiency of the language in
which the authentic materials could be used. Guariento & Morley (2001) claim only
intermediate and advanced students should be exposed to authentic materials. These
researchers believe that the use of authentic materials at lower levels make learners
discontented and discouraged because students at these levels lack many lexical
items and structures used in the target language. In other words, a lot of cultural
factors in authentic materials lead to difficulties in understanding the target
language since beginner learner‟s lack of proficiency to tackle aspects involved in
the cultural issues.
Some researchers argue that motivation plays a key point in improving learners‟
listening proficiency. Oura (2001) suggests that the use of authentic materials in
ESL or EFL classrooms have a positive impact on learners‟ motivation to learn the

language. Images in authentic videos might make students feel more interested in
listening.
In the context of AMA English center, many students enrolled in IELTS course
to get an opportunity to study abroad. As can be seen, IELTS is considered to be a
ticket to help students go abroad, but the main purpose is to adjust to the academic
2


environment in foreign countries. Therefore, learning listening skills not only helps
them get a high score in IELTS listening tests, but offers them chances to get
familiar with real-life situations. Students feel bored with listening to audio in the
textbooks so they lack motivation to practice listening skill. Therefore, the
researcher as well the teacher must come up with new ideas of how to use authentic
videos in improving students‟ listening performance. Although videos are used in
some kind of English teaching in Vietnam, it is limited in some pronunciation or
warm-up activities. The use of authentic video in teaching listening skills is a new
approach, so the researcher must investigate whether it brings positive or negative
effects to students. All of these reasons make the researcher conduct a study “The
effects of using authentic videos on IELTS students‟ listening performance at an
English center in Hanoi”.
The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of using authentic
videos in enhancing students‟ listening performance in IELTS foundation listening
course at AMA English center. Besides, the researcher also attempts to explore
students‟ attitudes towards using authentic videos in listening lessons. To achieve
the aims above, the study is conducted to answer the following research questions:
(1) To what extent is the use of authentic videos significant in improving students’
listening performance in the IELTS foundation listening course?
(2) What are students’ attitudes towards using authentic videos in the IELTS
foundation listening course?
1.2 Significance of the study

By conducting this research, it is hoped that the findings may encourage teachers to
use authentic material in their lessons. Also, students can be motivated to do more
extensive listening outside classroom to improve their listening performance. Last
but not least, for researchers who share the same interest in this topic, they can refer
to this paper as a source of updated and reliable information.
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1.3 Scope of the study
In this study, the researchers seek to find out the attitudes of students towards using
authentic videos in IELTS foundation listening course. Students who are studying
TOEIC or Communication English are beyond this study.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter includes a review of the literature of listening performance,
introducing theoretical background, conceptual framework, and theoretical
framework of the study and the theory of IELTS listening pedagogy. Last but not
least, critical synthesis and summary of related research on using authentic videos in
improving students‟ listening performance and IELTS listening pedagogy will be
mentioned briefly.
2.2. IELTS listening
2.2.1. The IELTS listening test: an overview
IELTS listening test consists of 40 questions (10 per section) and lasts around 30
minutes. The listening test consists of four separate sections, the level of difficulty
increases from the first part to the last part. In other words, the easiest part is part
one and part four is the most difficult. Each part has a different topic or focus.

Different types of questions are used, including answering multiple choice
questions; labelling a plan, map or diagram, filling in a form, completing a table,
completing a flow-chart and giving short answers.


In section 1, there is a conversation between two people and it is almost
always someone making an appointment or making a booking of some kind
(e.g. making a hotel reservation or hiring a car). The questions are normally
gap-fill questions in which you have to listen to the information and
complete a form or sentence.



In section 2, the candidates will listen to someone talking by themselves
about a non-academic subject (e.g. TV or radio presenter).



Section 3 switches to an academic context and it will always be more than
one person discussing something (e.g. an academic paper or assignment).



Section 4 is normally an academic lecture and the candidates will listen to one
person (normally the lecturer or professor) talking for an extended period of time.
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2.1.2. IELTS listening performance
2.1.2.1 Listening performance

Listening is considered to be “the means to immediate oral production” from the
opinion of Anderson and Lynch (1988). Rubin (1995) pointed out that listening is
“an active process in which a listener selects and interprets information which
comes from auditory and visual clues in order to define what is going on and what
the speakers are trying to express”. Buck (2001) asserts that listening process
requires both linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge. Linguistic knowledge
involves in knowledge of phonology, lexis, syntax, semantics, discourse structure,
pragmatics and sociolinguistics, meanwhile non-linguistic indicates background
knowledge related to information about the world and how it works. Brown (1990)
emphasized three aspects from which one can interpret an utterance. First, before
listening, background knowledge (top-down) was used to guess the utterance. While
listening, listeners utilized the phonological system and other distinct features of the
utterance (bottom-up) to confirm/reject their predictions and also gain
information/details that they did not expect. After the utterance, inference skill was
applied to explain what the speaker meant. In daily conversations, people usually
apply nearly all of these three aspects all the time. While listening, during the
process of confirmation or predictions rejection, people have new predictions and
infer at the same time, as they continue listening and deciphering the phonological
code. Moreover, Willis (1981) makes a list of micro-skills of listening performance,
which are called enabling skills. These are:
1. Making a prediction of what speakers are going to say.
2. Making a guess of unfamiliar vocabulary without getting too worried.
3. Utilizing background knowledge to understand the topic.
4. Finding out relevant points; rejecting irrelevant information.
5. Maintaining relevant points (note-taking, summarizing).
6. Identifying discourse marker, e.g., well; oh, another thing is; now, finally; etc.

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7. Being able to grasp a variety of intonation patterns and uses of stress, etc., which
provide clues to meaning and social setting.
8. Understanding inferred information, e.g., speakers' attitude or intentions
2.1.2.2. IELTS listening performance
IELTS listening performance refers to the fact that candidates are able to
comprehend the main idea of the conversations, monologues as well as lectures. In
addition, the candidates also need to understand details related to information about
time, places, numbers, and letters as well as complex ideas mentioned in the
recordings.
Below is the table of IELTS listening performance checklist ranging from 1-9 to
evaluate the candidates‟ performance in the IELTS listening test:
Table 1: IELTS listening performance checklist
IELTS listening performance checklist
Range 1-9
1. I can easily understand a variety of English
dialects, particularly British and Australian accents
2. I find conversation between two people on a
general or social theme easy to listen to and comprehend.
3. I find monologues easy to listen to and
comprehend.
4. I can understand an academic conversation when
there are four speakers.
5. I can interpret an academic talk or lecture.
6. I can recall information several minutes after I have
heard it.
7. I can listen, read and write simultaneously.
8. I know how to answer a variety of different types
of questions.
9. I can concentrate all of the time, so that I listen to
the recording rather than just hearing it.

10. I use the questions to help me predict and
understand the recording.
11. I can actively concentrate for five minutes or more.
12. I am familiar with numbers and their spellings.
( From: />7


2.3. Authentic videos in improving students’ listening performance
2.3.1. Authentic materials
The root of the word “authentic” is from late Latin authenticus and Greek
authentikos with the meaning of “principal, genuine”. Researchers give different
definition about authentic materials. Generally, authentic materials refer to “print,
video, and audio materials students encounter in their daily lives, such as change-ofaddress forms, job applications, menus, voice mail messages, radio programs, and
videos”. Even though they are not created to be used in the classroom, they are
considered to be great learning tools for learners because they are simply authentic.
Peacock (1997) indicates that the purpose of authentic materials is “to fulfill some
social purpose in the language community”. According to Harmer ( 2001), authentic
texts are defined “materials which are designed for native speakers; they are real
texts; designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language”.
Jordan (1997) shows that authentic texts are written not for language teaching
purposes. Widdoson (1990) emphasizes that “exposure to real language and its use
in its own community” is an important aspect of authentic materials.
From Sanderson‟s viewpoint (1999), authentic materials are kept originally without
any changes even though they are used for ESL students. Take an example of a
newspaper article written for a native-English-speaking audience but it is used as
teaching material for ESL students.
According to Nunan (1999), authentic materials are spoken or written language
created in real-life communication but they are not necessary designed for aims of
language teaching. Furthermore, he proposes to make the classroom be samples of
authentic language data from real-world contexts outside of the classroom. His

learners have chances to practice listening and reading with a variety of materials,
for example, TV or radio broadcasts, conversations on the tapes or CDs, meetings,
talks, and announcements. Besides, his students also access to authentic reading
materials such as magazine stories, hotel brochures, airport notices, bank
instructions, advertisements, and written messages presented in the real world
situations.
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Additionally, Nunan and Miller (1995) presented the definition of authentic
materials as “items not created or edited expressly for language learners” In other
words, that is a source of materials that is about the reality of the world with
problems and current events. Another definition is said that authentic text is the real
message produced by a real speaker or writer for a real audience.
The past two decades advocated the idea of using authentic materials in classrooms.
Gilmore (2004) considered that utilizing authentic materials enhances the repetition
of certain syntactic structures, lexicon components and collocations. This method
was also used by Guariento and Morley (2001) who believe that it is the only way
to create a real world in classroom. Authentic materials are generally considered to
be better than text-book based material because they demonstrate a real specific
aspect of foreign language and encourage cultural understanding. The formation of
authentic material is a thing of concern beside different definitions.
Gebhard (1996) divided authentic materials into 4 types including:
1. Authentic Listening Viewing Materials, for example: TV ads, quiz shows,
cartoons, new clips, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, professionally
audio-taped

short

stories

and

novels,

radio

commercials,

songs,

documentaries, and sales pitches.
2. Authentic Visual Materials, for instance: slides, photographs, paintings,
children‟s artwork, stick-figure drawings, wordless street signs, silhouettes,
pictures from magazines, ink blots, postcard pictures, wordless picture
books, stamps, and X-rays.
3. Authentic Printed Materials composing of newspaper articles, movie
advertisements, astrology columns, sports reports, obituary columns, advice
columns, lyrics to songs, restaurant menus, street signs, cereal boxes, candy
wrappers, tourist information brochures, university catalogues, telephone
books, maps, TV guides, comic books, greeting cards, grocery coupons, pins
with messages, and bus schedules.
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4. Realia (Real world objects) refers to coins and currency, folded paper, wall
clocks, phones, Halloween masks, dolls, and puppets. They are often used to
illustrate points visually or for role-play situations.
2.3.2 Characteristics of Authentic materials
The issue with authentic texts is that they have long been perceived as being too

hard for students to comprehend (Ciccone, 1995). The very basic learners or
learners at elementary level may feel frustrated when they encounter an authentic
text. However, Cook (1996) asserts that the level of difficulty relies on the designed
task that is used with the material. Schmidt-Rinehart (1994) and Wing (1986) state
that the understanding process of authentic material is facilitated by not only the
literal meaning of sentences but also several attributes of the spoken language such
as pausing, repeating, rephrasing, and the use of clauses. Authentic texts are more
redundant than most texts prepared for language learners; the redundancy of these
texts gives students more clues to comprehension (Bacon, 1989; Gilman & Moody,
1984; Meyer, 1984; Schmidt-Rinehart, 1994). Nevertheless, other characteristics of
the spoken language such as reduced and ungrammatical forms would, on the other
hand, be expected to hinder understanding (Wing, 1986). In addition, the fact that
authentic texts are often delivered at fast speed can be troublesome to some students
(Joiner et al., 1989).
Other two aspects related to authentic materials are authentic speech and cultural
aspect. According to Bacon (1992) and Gilman & Moody (1984), authentic texts,
by their very nature, are more culturally rich and interesting. Shrum and Glisan
(1999) state that authentic materials reflect the details of daily life in a culture as
well as social values because these materials are designed for native speakers. To
make the point clearer, Scarcella and Oxford (1992) assert that authentic language is
rather stimulating to students, particularly when it is about the themes that students
are interested in. Fully exploited, Rivers ( 1987) and Rogers & Medley(1988)
authentic texts provide students opportunities to benefit from cultural information
and aid them use the new language authentically on their own, to convey meaning
10


in meaningful situations From the viewpoint of Herron & Seay (1991), authentic
texts promote student learning and interest by presenting the culture in a natural
way. In addition, Stagich (1998) asserts that the most effective way to decipher real

meaning of the language is from understanding cultural context, through perceiving
cultural situations and views.
In general, some aspects of authentic texts, such as redundancy, can make it easier
to comprehension process meanwhile other aspects, such as reduced forms, may
obstruct comprehension of the material. However, authentic materials provide a
productive means for both expressing real language and integrating culture.
2.3.3 Authentic videos
Video plays an essential part in education in general and language teaching in
particular. It is an extraordinary tool which facilitates learners with a chance to learn
and acquire information in fascinating, intriguing, and motivational way. According
to Sherman (2003) authentic video refers to any sort of programs that audiences can
watch directly on cinema, television or DVD, films, documentary, advertisement,
and game show. Videos can be used as resources to learn English with excitement
and bring both teacher and language learners a lot of benefits. Idavoy (n.d) lists
examples of authentic video such as TV commercials, public service
announcements, short movies, full-length feature films, television dramas, sitcoms,
documentaries, YouTube clips, music videos, news programming, even video
games, and home movies. Some claim that scripted programs, i.e., soap operas, are
not authentic because they are produced with subtitle Nevertheless, Idavoy (n.d)
asserts that if scripted videos are written by native speakers and for native speakers,
they are qualified to be authentic in the context of this discussion.
2.3.4 Advantages and disadvantages of using authentic videos in the classroom
From the viewpoint of Thanajaro (2000), the use of authentic videos in ESL or EFL
classrooms has a positive influence on learners‟ motivation to learn the language.
For example, Guariento & Morely (2001) mention that authentic videos strengthen
learners‟ motivation because it evokes the feeling that they are learning the real
11


language and they are in association with the target language used by the native

community. It is due to the fact that authentic videos include real language, and it
shows the learners the pacing, the turn taking and the hesitations (“uh‟s”, “umm‟s”)
in conversations between native speakers (Oura, 2010), this factor can arise the
pupils‟ interest when acquiring a foreign language since they can see the natural
way in which English speakers have a conversation in their daily lives. On the
contrary, Porter & Roberts (1981) point out that non-authentic materials refrain
from the speech components such as the ones previously mentioned because these
conversations are prepared for teaching. Besides, using authentic videos in the ESL
classroom also provides students opportunities to practice the everyday situations in
a “real” context (Omaggio H, 1993), and (Rogers & Medley, 1998) cited by
(Thanajaro, 2000). There are some other benefits of using authentic materials such
as videos, for the following reasons:
1. Kilickaya (2004) claims that students can be exposed to real language and closely
fulfil their needs from authentic videos because students have chances to know
more about real world intercultural discourse.
2. Duquette et al (1987) asserts that cultural knowledge for cultural adaptation,
language comprehension, and language use are also provided from authentic videos
3. Karpova (1999) mentions authentic materials as videos creates a close link with
language, expand paralinguistic features, bring life-like settings into the classroom,
and can be utilized for all levels.
4. Gilmore (2007) considers authentic videos as a rich input and latent qualities to
enhance the communicative proficiency of learners.
5. Castro (2009) emphasizes that “videos can be an effective tool for language
learning since they are created for native speakers which allow the EFL learners to
learn lots of expressions or collocations as well as grammatical forms for them to
interact with other people in different life contexts.”
6. Ting Hung (2008, cited by Arteaga et al, 2009) in a study conducted by this
author, the participants of his research benefited from the visual part of the video
12

that supported them to self-analyse their own performance; thus, students became
autonomous learners and critical thinkers. One interesting kind of authentic videos
to work with is films which offer the language that is commonly used by native
speakers. Furthermore, “the most useful point of a film is that learners naturally
acquire the sense of „language in action‟ in the target language” (Gilmore, 2007).
However, a problem with films is that sometimes it is not clearly spoken (e.g.use of
verbal contractions, the speech is too fast ,use of jargon, collocations and
expressions); as a result learners might get confused and should need to review the
previous scene of the movie to understand it better (McCarthy & Carter, 1995).
It is an a benefit to learn a foreign language with films because learners can identify
these concepts afresh in order to aid developing performance skills in the target
language, such as body language and facial expressions (Higuchi, 1998). From
previously being said, the use of films for listening is a helpful tool as learners can
be in the use of authentic videos for listening comprehension contact with the
gestures and body language, thus the communication could be clearer and better.
The use of authentic videos can also have a variety of disadvantages which are
mentioned bellow. To begin with, Ciccone (1995), Rogers & Medley (1998) et al
maintain that “beginner language learners may experience extreme frustration when
confronted by an authentic material”; the authors refer to the idea that the use of
authentic videos should be implemented in higher levels, since beginner learners
might have problems because of lack of proficiency in the language. Nevertheless,
the difficulties of using authentic videos do not concern on the level of proficiency,
but on the tasks the teacher uses in the classroom, Cook (1996). In addition,
(Martinez, 2002) states: “one of the biggest disadvantages of using videos for
listening comprehension is that it requires special preparation which can be time
consuming for the teacher.” The problem here is that authentic videos have a lot of
cultural content, which can require the teacher to look for relevant information
useful for the students before introducing this kind of material. Also for the teacher
it is a challenge, since he/she has to find relevant and appropriate authentic videos,

analyze and organize them in a pedagogical way.
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2.3.5 Reviews of related studies
Many studies related to the use of authentic videos have been implemented with a
lot of participants in different settings. The reviews of these valuable studies
extended the previously analysed theory with the proofs shown in the application of
authentic videos for improving listening performance. With the analysis of these
studies in detail and the analysis of how these studies contributed to this research
paper as well as conclusions are provided.
Nowadays, using authentic material brings L2 teachers and learners with advantages
that let them perform a better teaching-learning process. The use of authentic videos
for teaching listening skill gained promising results, which can be applied to
develop learning and teaching processes with specific purposes for enhancing
listening skills in ESL classrooms. It can be pedagogically claimed that the usage of
authentic videos would form a good connection between learners and the real
exposure. A study carried out by Arteaga, Guarín & López (2009) focused on the
impact of using video materials as a teaching strategy for listening comprehension.
This project states that the use of authentic videos as an educational tool would
increase students‟ abilities to understand language in real context as well as
expanding lexicon range and body language by using video materials in an
Elementary English level course, in which learners can access to real context in
order to be prepared for real life situations. Arteaga, Guarín, & López conducted
this project by studying a group of 5 students, 4 females and 1 male of the first
semester in a TEFL program of Basic English course, with a level of proficiency
equivalent to A1 of a public university in Colombia, located in the coffee region.
The data collection methods used to develop this project was:
1. Field notes: they offer a means of recording behaviors.
2. Questionnaire: to collect the students‟ attitudes and perceptions about the video

activities applied in class to obtain information.
3. Interviews: to answer the research questions.
4. Tests: to find out the impact of videos on listening skills.
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5. Instructional designs: to carry out the study.
Subsequently, the data obtained from each instrument were analyzed, codified and
grouped into categories to gain relevant information. Arteaga, Guarín & López
(2009) emphasized essential aspects in their project based on the students‟
perceptions about using videos in class. First, the activities used to attract students‟
attention were enjoyable and successfully completed. Second, it was clear that
students had positive attitudes towards the effectiveness of introducing important
new words and key words prior to showing the video, in as much as they feel
contextualized. Besides, it was presented that when the learners continuously
watched videos, they gradually tended to be familiar with the real language and it
not only accelerated students‟ listening performance, but also their pronunciation
and words recognition. These two researchers concluded that the use of video
materials as teaching strategies in a TEFL class made a positive influence on
English listening comprehension for ESL students. Another evidence which also
shows the effective of using videos in this project is the better results of post-test
compared to pre-test at the end of the sessions. In addition, students had higher
motivation in learning English because they were exposed to real language that used
by native speakers. Although this project brought evidences about the good points
of using authentic in improving learner‟s comprehension as well as showed positive
perceptions of the students, it was a big question about the reliability of this project
to beginner students. The speed of most videos in which native speakers
communicated with each other is rather fast so I do not think that beginner learners
with basic level of English can understand the content and information in the
videos.

Learning a second language is a complicated process in which students must have
knowledge of many language features such as syntactic structures and
communicative functions as well cultural aspects and pragmatic components of the
language that they are learning. Therefore, with the purpose of helping students be
exposed to these elements, authentic videos are considered to be valuable tools
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