The Effect of Color-Coded Subtitles on Vocabulary Retention
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of color-coded subtitles on vocabulary retention among first-year students enrolling at a Thai university, as well as the learners’ views about the intervention. A quasi-experimental and pre- & post-test research design was carried out. Thirty students who were taking an English reading and writing course were given a pre-test, which measured the vocabulary knowledge before the intervention. Each student was then assigned to two groups, one each, based on their pre-test results. An independent samples t-test suggested that the vocabulary knowledge of the students from the two groups was not significantly different. The students in the first group watched the first version of the video, which came with color-coded subtitles, and those in the second group engaged in the other, incorporating traditional subtitles. Both groups sat for the same post-test after the intervention. The students from both groups showed improvement in vocabulary knowledge (from M=12.73 to M=22.13 and from M=10.07 to M=14.20, respectively). The students from the first group performed significantly better than the second group. The differences were at a 0.05 level. In addition, the students expressed very positive views about the usefulness of the color-coded subtitles to assist in vocabulary learning (mean=4.33 on a scale of 1–5). It is concluded in this study that the use of color-coded subtitles should be encouraged in EFL classrooms, because it can contribute to the retention and acquisition of new vocabulary.
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