| Recently, watching subtitled American TV programs to learn English has become a very popular method with many English students here in China. Authentic language programs presented with the appropriate subtitles have become an appealing method for those wishing to increase their knowledge of a foreign language. In China, to the best of our knowledge, there has not been sufficient research into the effects of using these subtitled programs to assist in the learning of a second language, mostly because these studies are still in the early stages of their development. Based on previous researches, and more recent methods, such as the microgenetic method in Second Language Acquisition(SLA), the thesis deals with the effects of viewing frequency of these subtitled programs and the experimentation of different styles of subtitles on vocabulary acquisition, hoping to bring about new perspectives into the process of acquiring a second language vocabulary.Specifically, two research questions are addressed: To what degree is the acquisition of vocabulary affected by the viewing frequency? With the same viewing frequency, what are the effects of the five different modes of subtitles that are available for these programs on vocabulary acquisition? Correspondent hypotheses are put forward to address these issues as well. Participants are randomly assigned to five different subtitled groups to view one American drama five times. After each viewing, a vocabulary test is carried out to the participants immediately. The final results and the interview are analyzed under the microgenetic method. The major findings are as follows:(1) The participants’ target words knowledge keep rising as the viewing times increase. But there is an optimal point where their vocabulary development reaches a maximum. In addition, frequency exerts stronger effects on the receptive vocabulary acquisition for advanced learners.(2) It is concluded that subtitled drama facilitates vocabulary acquisition compared with non-subtitled one.(3) Learners watch the full subtitles with highlighted keywords outperform the keyword subtitled group in facilitating vocabulary acquisition. Also, learners are able to pick up the words faster in the group of full subtitles with highlighted keywords than the keywords subtitled group.(4) Bilingual subtitles provide the best opportunities among the four modes of subtitles for the development of target vocabulary. Also it is more beneficial for increased productive vocabulary knowledge development than a receptive one.This research confirms the positive effects of viewing frequency and some subtitles on second language vocabulary acquisition. The research also sheds light on both learners and educators. Future research could focus widely on things such as learners from different proficiency background or on the strategies with which to develop vocabulary by adopting this method. |
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