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Cited by 32Second Language Acquisition and LearningSubtitles and Audiovisual MediaEFL/ESL Teaching and Learning

Selecting Television Programs for Language Learning: Investigating Television Programs from the Same Genre

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Webb, Stuart·2011·International Journal of English Studies
DOI 10.6018/ijes/2011/1/137131
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Abstract

The scripts of 288 television episodes were analysed to determine the extent to which vocabulary reoccurs in television programs from the same subgenres and unrelated television programs from different genres. Episodes from two programs from each of the following three subgenres of the American drama genre: medical, spy/action, and criminal forensic investigation were compared with different sets of random episodes. The results showed that although there were an equivalent number of running words in each set of episodes, the episodes from programs within the same subgenre contained fewer word families than random programs. The findings also showed that low frequency word families (4000-14,000 levels) reoccur more often in programs within the same subgenre. Together the results indicate that watching programs within the same subgenre may be an effective approach to language learning with television because it reduces the lexical demands of viewing and increases the potential for vocabulary learning.

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  • Knowledge of the 2,000 to 4,000 most frequent word families provides 95% coverage of television programs.

    “They found that knowledge of the 2,000 to 4,000 most frequent word families provides 95% coverage of television programs, which, according to Nation (2006), is the coverage required for incidental learning and adequate text comprehension.”

    From Effects of captioning on video comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning (2014) · cites this paper as Webb, 2011

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References 51 · Cited by 32

Research works printed but not linked: 29

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Authors
Webb, S.
Affiliations
Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
Corresponding author
Webb, Stuart
ORCID
Webb, Stuart
Venue
International Journal of English Studies
Publisher
Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia
Published
2011-06-01
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
117
ISSN
  • 1578-7044 (ISSN-L)
  • 1989-6131
DOI
10.6018/ijes/2011/1/137131
OpenAlex
W2105002579
Cited by
32
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2
FWCI
3.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-sa
Locations
  • International Journal of English Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Digitum: Institutional Repository of the University of Murcia (University of Murcia) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Hispana (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Hispana (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Subtitles and Audiovisual Media
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
Keywords
vocabulary acquisition, word frequency, word families, American drama, television scripts, low-frequency words

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