The effects of watching American TV series on tertiary level EFL learners' use of formulaic language

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of watching an American TV Series, How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), on tertiary level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ use of formulaic language. The participants were 66 Upper Intermediate level students studying at Akdeniz University, School of Foreign Languages, Intensive English Program. The study employed an experimental and a control group. At the beginning of the study, both groups were administered a pre-Discourse Completion Test (DCT) to determine their knowledge of formulaic language. After the pre-test, the experimental group received formulaic language training through watching an American TV Series HIMYM while the control group received a traditional training of formulaic language without watching any American TV Series. At the end of the 3-week training, both groups were given a post-DCT to see if they have developed their use of formulaic language. After a two-week interval, both groups received a recall-DCT to check the long term effects of formulaic language training. The findings revealed that, both the experimental and the control groups have made progress in their use of formulaic language at the end of the formulaic language training. However, the experimental group’s development is statistically much higher than that of the control group in the recall-DCTs, which indicates the long-term effects of watching an American TV Series HIMYM. The findings revealed that formulaic language training through watching American TV Series is effective in improving the students’ formulaic language use in the long term. This finding confirms the previous literature which emphasizes the influence the use of authentic media tools has on foreign language acquisition. The present study has filled the gap in the literature on formulaic language use by suggesting the use of an American TV Series HIMYM as a source to develop EFL learners’ formulaic language use. This study gives the stakeholders; the administrators, curriculum designers, material developers, and teachers the opportunity to draw on the findings in order to shape curricula, create syllabi, develop materials, and conduct classes accordingly