The effects of video and captioned text and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities on second language listening comprehension in a multimedia learning environment.

摘要

The study investigated how English as a Second Language (ESL) learners with different verbal and spatial abilities acquired vocabulary and overall listening comprehension skills in a second language (L2) through four different modes of multimedia presentations of a dialogue. It examined whether captioned text and video helped or hindered L2 listening comprehension, and for whom (verbal or spatial learner). Participants included 115 ESL students from a community college who completed verbal and spatial ability tests and were randomly assigned to four treatments: audio only (A), audio + video (AV), audio + text (AT), and audio + video + text (AVT). Afterwards, they took a vocabulary test, a listening comprehension test, and an attitude survey. Some participated in an interview discussing their perceptions of the treatments. Findings suggested that for the vocabulary test and listening comprehension test, high-verbal ability students perform best with the A or AVT treatments; the low-verbal ability students perform best in the treatments with video (AV and AVT). High-spatial ability students performed best when video was present; the performance of low spatial ability students was not hindered when video was present. Students in the AT treatment performed lower on the outcome measures than expected, pointing to a heavy cognitive load due to the transient nature of the L2 captioned text. Overall, the data suggested that the AVT treatment provided the greatest support for vocabulary acquisition and listening comprehension. Students attended to the mode (video or text) that provided the most support for comprehension. Thus, evidence supported the Dual Coding Theory (Paivio, 1986). Participants' comments about the treatments indicated a favorable attitude toward having both video and captioned text to support listening comprehension of the dialogue.