Innovation in Language Learning

This study examined the role of media on the learning of formulaic sequences (FSs) by advanced EFL (English as a foreign language) learners (n = 40) enrolled in an English Language Teaching program at a government university in Turkey. The learners were divided into experimental and control groups. The instrument involved clips from two television series. Over the course of three weeks, the instructor introduced to the experimental group 30 FSs through the video clips and had the learners create dialogues in pairs, using the FSs.The control group learned the FSs through traditional methods. In order to determine the extent to which learners learned and retained the FSs, the learners in both groups were given a post- and a delayed post-test at the end of three weeks. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare the two groups with respect to the learning and retention of FSs. The results showed that the experimental group had significantly higher rates in the retention of FSs. Several pedagogical considerations regarding the teaching of FSs to ESL (English as a second language) and EFL learners are discussed.