The Effect of Situational Comedies on the Auditory Comprehension and Motivation of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Situational comedies (sitcoms) have been used in EFL classrooms to promote authenticity anddiversity for the language learners through watching movies. Several studies have been undertakento investigate the impact of sitcoms on improving EFL learners' comprehension of movies.However, the effectiveness of sitcoms in improving language learners' auditory comprehension hasnot been studied sufficiently. In this study, the researchers used a quasi-experimental researchdesign to examine the impact of sitcoms. ۶۰ intermediate language learners out of a total of ۱۲۰were selected and then divided into control and experimental groups. Auditory comprehension testsand a motivation scale were used to collect the data. The Independent Samples-T-Test was usedfor data analysis. The results showed that the use of sitcoms had a significant impact on improvingintermediate language learners’ auditory comprehension. The results also showed that the use ofsitcoms positively affected the language learners’ motivation for learning English. It was concludedthat EFL teachers needed to be aware of the importance of movies in general and sitcoms inparticular and that sitcoms needed to be incorporated into curriculum for effective learning and fortheir appeal to learners.Situational comedies (sitcoms) have been used in EFL classrooms to promote authenticity anddiversity for the language learners through watching movies. Several studies have been undertakento investigate the impact of sitcoms on improving EFL learners' comprehension of movies.However, the effectiveness of sitcoms in improving language learners' auditory comprehension hasnot been studied sufficiently. In this study, the researchers used a quasi-experimental researchdesign to examine the impact of sitcoms. ۶۰ intermediate language learners out of a total of ۱۲۰were selected and then divided into control and experimental groups. Auditory comprehension testsand a motivation scale were used to collect the data. The Independent Samples-T-Test was usedfor data analysis. The results showed that the use of sitcoms had a significant impact on improvingintermediate language learners’ auditory comprehension. The results also showed that the use ofsitcoms positively affected the language learners’ motivation for learning English. It was concludedthat EFL teachers needed to be aware of the importance of movies in general and sitcoms inparticular and that sitcoms needed to be incorporated into curriculum for effective learning and fortheir appeal to learners.

Keywords:

Auditory Comprehension , Motivation , Situational Comedies , EFL Learners