Date of Award
5-2026
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
English: Teaching English as a Second Language: M.A.
Department
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
First Advisor
Choonkyong Kim
Second Advisor
Edward Sadrai
Third Advisor
Michael Dando
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Lexical Profile, EFL/ESL Learning, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Vocabulary Acquisition, Frequency Analysis, Movie Scripts
Abstract
Movies can be entertaining and educational. As we are living in a digital age, movies, TVs, and animations are all around us, making it easy to watch, download, and analyze. Marvel superhero films have been a prominent global trend over the past two decades. These movies are generally suitable for a wide range of age groups and are globally accessible, allowing diverse audiences to engage with them. In the context of this study, Marvel’s superhero movies offer potential benefits for language learners who seek to combine entertainment with English language learning. The study analyzed ten Marvel superhero movie scripts using the Compleat Lexical Tutor to examine their lexical profiles. By using this website as a tool that focuses on frequency levels, it is possible to discover how many K1 words (1000 most frequently used words in English), K2 words (the second 1000 most frequently used words in English), K3 words (the third 1000 most frequently used words in English), and so on (K4-K25), in each script. The results of the analysis demonstrate how these movies can help EFL learners learn English vocabulary and how teachers can make use of them to enhance students' out-of-school learning outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Qian, Yuhan, "What is the Lexical Profile of the Language Used in Marvel’s Superhero Movies?" (2026). Culminating Projects in TESL. 76.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/tesl_etds/76
