Film-Based English Learning: The Effect of Toy Story 3 on Students’ Listening Skills

Abstrak

Listening is widely recognized as one of the most challenging language skills for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly among non-English major students who have limited exposure to authentic spoken English. Film-based learning has emerged as an alternative instructional approach that provides meaningful audiovisual input and authentic communicative contexts. This study aimed to investigate Informatics Engineering students' perceptions of using Toy Story 3 as a medium for improving English listening skills. A mixed-methods approach was employed involving 26 Informatics Engineering students at Universitas Catur Insan Cendekia. Quantitative data were collected through a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire consisting of ten items, while qualitative data were obtained through classroom observations and students' reflective responses. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas the qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed that students perceived film-based English learning positively across four dimensions. More than 80% of the participants agreed that Toy Story 3 enhanced their listening comprehension, facilitated vocabulary acquisition, increased learning motivation, and created a more engaging classroom environment. In addition, 76.9% of the students reported increased confidence in understanding spoken English after participating in the learning activities. These findings suggest that animated movies provide authentic audiovisual experiences that effectively support listening development while simultaneously promoting learner engagement and confidence. The study concludes that film-based English learning can serve as an effective pedagogical strategy for teaching listening to non-English major students in higher education and recommends integrating structured pre-viewing, while-viewing, and post-viewing activities to maximize learning outcomes