Exploring Students’ Experiences in Watching English Subtitled Films and Their Perceived Listening Skills

Abstract

The growing popularity of English subtitled films has created newforms of informal listening exposure for language learners. However, most existing studies on this topic rely heavily on quantitative approaches that focus on measuring learning outcomes, leaving a limited qualitative understanding of how learners internally experience subtitled viewing and construct meaning from it. Consequently, little is known about the subjective experiences, emotional responses, and cognitive strategies that EFL learners employ to manage the interaction between listening and reading during film viewing. To address this gap, this qualitative explorative study investigates the experiences and perceptions of English Education students at the University of Nusantara PGRI Kediri regarding their use of English subtitledfilms as a learning medium. Four participants were purposively selected based on their documented listening proficiency levels. Data were collected through semi structured interviews, supported by listening achievement records, and analyzed using thematic analysis to generate recurring patterns of meaning. The findings reveal that learners’ experiences are shaped by differences in proficiency, emotional engagement, and the strategic ways they utilize subtitles. Higher proficiency students employed active meaning-making strategies such as pausing, predicting meaning from context, and focusing on audio before subtitles which contributed to more positive perceived gains in listening comprehension. In contrast, lower proficiency learners tended to depend more heavily on subtitles, struggled with fast speech, and experienced cognitive overload that constrained their listening development. Overall, the study suggests that English subtitled films offer meaningful listening input in informal learning settings when supported by effective learner strategies. These insights highlight the importance of fostering more intentional and strategic subtitle use to promote autonomous listening improvement.