本研究的目的，在於調查大一學生對於英文字幕的六人行影集中的英文字幕之態度與他們看完影片後對於提升自身英文能力和文化理解程度之態度。本研究總共有219位參與者，分別來自三個不同系所: 資訊與圖書館學系，中國語文學系，與日本語文學系。這三組的學生每隔一周會在英語語言練習的課堂上觀看兩集的「六人行」持續一學年。本研究中學生總共觀看了32集的六人行。口頭訪談與學生的省思日誌的結果為本研究的質化資料；而問卷調查的結果為本研究的量化資料。問卷的結果顯示，學生普遍對於英文字幕的六人行與他們自身的英文能力和文化理解之進步抱持著正面的態度。然而，口頭訪談，問卷中的開放式問答與學生的省思日誌的結果顯示觀看六人行的次數與六人行影集的英文難度是影響學習者學習的要件。此外，對於本研究的一些參與者而言，一個影集的流行度也會是影響他們學習的一項要件。因此，本研究結果發現播放英文字幕的六人行能一定程度的提升學生的語言能力與文化理解的程度。但若要達到更加有效果的語言學習，老師們可以給予一些指導並且鼓勵學生們自主的學習。

The purpose of this study is to examine the freshman students’ attitudes toward Friends with English subtitle, their self-perceptions of English learning progress and culture awareness after watching it.  A total of 219 university freshmen participated in this study.  They were from three different departments: Information and Library Science, Chinese Department, and Japanese Department.  All the three groups watched two episodes of Friends with English subtitle every other week in the English Language Drill class for an academic year.  A total of 32 episodes were watched by the participants in this study.  Oral interviews, open-ended questions in the questionnaire and reflection journals wrote by the students were served as qualitative data; while structured questions in the questionnaires were used as quantitative data in this study.  The results showed that from the data of questionnaires, students tended to be positive toward Friends with English subtitle, and their own progress in English proficiency and cultural understanding.  However, the results of oral interviews, open-ended questions and reflection journals indicated that the times of watching Friends and the level of difficulty of the episodes would be factors influence students’ language learning.  Moreover, for some of the participants in this study, the popularity of a TV series would also be an element affecting their language learning motivation.  Thus, the results suggested that showing Friends with English subtitle could improve student’s language proficiency, and cultural understanding in some degree; while, it would be better for teachers to give some instructions and encourage students being autonomous learners to enhance effective language learning.

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….1
   
Background……………………………………………………………1

Statement of the problem…………………………………………………3

Research questions…………………………………………………………….5

Importance of the study………………………………………………………………….5 

LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………….……….7

The benefits of applying videos in language teaching………………………………………………………………7

The brief description…………………………………………………………7

Videos and language learning motivation.............................................7

Videos and listening comprehension………………………………………………………10

Videos and target language culture………………………………………………………………13

Videos as authentic materials…………………………………15

The research about DVD captions and language learning…………………………………………………17

Brief introduction of DVD captioning technology……………………………17
 
The advantages of captions on listening comprehension……………………………………………………18

The factors influence the captioning effect on language learning……………………………………………………………19

The advantages of captions on other aspects of language learning……………………………………………………………20

METHODOLOGY………………………………………………….……22

Overview in Methodology……………………………………………………….22

Participants……………………………………………………….22

Materials……………………………………………………………22

Instrument……………………………………………………………23

  Questionnaires…………………………………………………23

  Interviews………………………………………………………23

Procedures……………………………………………………………24

  Visual materials for students……………………………………………….….26

  Questionnaires for students……………………………………………………26

  The oral interviews for students……………………………………………………….27

Data analysis………………………………….………….……….27

   The analysis of quantitative data…………………………………………………28

   The analysis of qualitative data………………………………………….………..28

RESULTS…………………………………………………………….30

The result of quantitative data……………………………………………………..30

The results of qualitative data………………………………………………………….31

  The results of qualitative data for the first research question………………………………………………………….31
 
    Some opinions in favor of Friends………………………………………………………………31

  Some opinions seem not so in favor Friends…………………………………34

The results of qualitative data for the second research question………………………………………………………….35

    Some opinions about the benefits of watching Friends……………………………………………………………36

    Some opinions about not progressing so much after watching Friends…………………………………………………38

The results of qualitative data for the third research question……………………………………………………………39
 
    Some opinions of understanding American culture from Friends………………………………………………………………39

    Some opinions about not understanding American culture from Friends…………………………………………………………41

The results of qualitative data for the fourth research question……………………………………………………………44

Some opinions about the benefits of English subtitle……………………………………………………………44

Some opinions about not so beneficial from English subtitle……………………………………………………………47
 
DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS…………………50

Discussions………………………………………………………50

Conclusion…………………………………………………………54

Implication…………………………………………………………55

Suggestions for Future Research…………………………………………………………56

REFERENCE………………………………………………………58

APPENDIX A………………………………………………………63

APPENDIX B………………………………………………………72

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