Malaysian Students’ Perceptions of “Telop” as a Teaching Tool to Enhance the Japanese Learning Experience

Scholars have confirmed that apart from being an aid to hearing impaired or deaf people, intralingual subtitles, also known as captions, have a function as an audio–visual aid in language learning as well. While many studies verified the effect of using normal captions on various language skills such as listening, reading, comprehension, and vocabulary, little is known about the distinctive captions from Japan known as telop. This study tries to find out how Japanese language learners (JFL) feel about the use of open captions telop (OCT) (henceforth, telop) and what makes a lesson successful. Eight participants majoring in the Japanese language at Universiti Malaya were chosen to participate in this study and joined a lesson. During the lesson, they were asked to complete vocabulary tests, video analysis sheets, comprehension tests, and a learning diary. One interview was held to study their perceptions of OCT. The results show that there are five perceptions of the use of telop in JFL classrooms. We also found that there are four factors that can be addressed to make a lesson become successful. This study concluded that telop has many benefits that can help JFL learners improve their learning experience. Therefore, the use of telop by JFL instructors as an alternative way to expose authentic conversation to learners should be encouraged.