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Abstract

Subtitles as a powerful teaching tool can help the process of learning the vocabulary of a second language.The present study aimed to examine the potential effect of the use of  English and Persian subtitled videos on the development of the acquisition of the vocabulary on EFL (English as a Foreign Language), intermediate students at Rama Institute. 30 Iranian intermediate students  were divided into three groups such as English subtitle group (experimental group) ,Persian subtitle group (experimental group)  and no subtitle group (control group). The material included an English one motivational speech of eight minutes and forty eight seconds (Denzel Washington's speech). After a session of watching the video, all participants were requested to answer the multiple choice vocabulary test and then comprehension question , as post-test to assess their improvement in the acquisition of the vocabulary and to clarify that they paid attention to the videos. The results revealed that most of the participants understood the general topic of the video, however, Persian subtitle group performed better in the acquisition of vocabulary.

Keywords: Subtitle, Caption, Acquisition of vocabulary, EFL learners