Harnessing English subtitles in Igbo films as a pedagogical tool for the Igbo language acquisition

Abstract

Many indigenous languages around the world are experiencing declining usage, particularly among younger generations. The Igbo language spoken by over 30 million people primarily in southeastern Nigeria, faces significant decline due to urbanization, English dominance in education and media, and limited accessible learning resources. This study explores harnessing English subtitles in Igbo films as an innovative, engaging pedagogical tool to enhance Igbo language acquisition, including vocabulary building and comprehension among learners of the Igbo language. To attend to this, 12 popular Igbo Nollywood films subtitled in English have been selected and 30 intermediate Igbo learners aged 11-16 have been selected from Maryland Secondary School in Enugu. This school being heterogeneous has allowed for two groups, Igbo native speakers and Igbo non-native speakers. Each group has 15 pupils. The two groups are differently subjected to controlled viewing sessions with pre- and post-tests assessment for vocabulary recall, and sentence comprehension. The test results have been analyzed to determine transformative implications for Igbo pedagogy in the areas of vocabulary building and comprehension in Igbo. The output is that controlled use of Igbo films has a significant impact in vocabulary development and sentence comprehension in the Igbo language. It is therefore recommended that Igbo films should be produced with thedesign to aid the learning of the Igbo language by both native and non-native speakers.