Incidental acquisition of multiword expressions through audiovisual input: The role of repetition and typographic enhancement

There has been limited research on the efficacy of captioned second language (L2) television in facilitating the incidental acquisition of multiword expressions (MWEs). The present study aims to fill this gap. Additionally, this study examined the role of typographic enhancement and repetition. One-hundred and twenty-two L2 learners were assigned to one of six conditions which differed in terms of caption condition (no captions, normal captions, enhanced captions) and the number of times they watched the same video (once, twice). The participants took a cued MWE form recall test before watching the video, and immediately and two weeks after watching it. A content comprehension test was also administered. Repetition resulted in better content comprehension as well as better acquisition of MWEs. Both caption types positively influenced MWE recall relative to watching the video without captions, but typographic enhancement reduced the benefits of captions for content comprehension

SAUDI EFL LEARNERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTEGRATION OF VIDEO-PODCASTS IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION

The use of podcasts is growing in the instructions of listening comprehension. However, the success of computer technology generally depends on learners positive attitudes towards it. The present study explored attitudes of Saudi EFL undergraduates toward the use of video-podcasts integration in listening comprehension. Moreover, the study also examined students’ attitude from the perspective of the number of video-podcasts they received in their instructions. Samples included 90 English major male undergraduates divided into three groups. The three groups received five (5), ten (10) and 15 video-podcasts in their listening classes before they answered an attitude questionnaire. ANOVA results revealed that the students had positive attitudes towards the use of video-podcasts in listening. However, no significant difference was found between the attitudes of the three experimental groups who received varied number of video-podcasts in their instructions.   Article visualizations

Exploring the learning potential of multimodal input-based tasks: The effects of captioning, textual enhancement and working memory on grammatical development

In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), there is a general consensus that attention is necessary for second language (L2) development. Therefore, SLA researchers have shown considerable interest in exploring ways to draw learners' attention to L2 constructions. Of various attention-getting techniques, textual enhancement has attracted much interest from researchers, given its presumed capacity to direct attention to the target linguistic constructions implicitly during meaning-based written comprehension activities. So far, however, few studies have examined the pedagogical potential of textual enhancement when it is included in captions, that is, in the context of multimodal activities combining aural, textual and visual input. This study aims to fill this gap by assessing the potential of typographically enhanced captions to draw learners’ attention to L2 constructions and assist in L2 grammatical development. The study also explored whether these relationships were influenced by individual differences in the phonological short-term memory, visuospatial short-term memory and executive control functions of working memory. The present thesis reports on two empirical studies. Study 1 examined the extent to which increased salience of target linguistic constructions achieved through textual enhancement affected learners’ allocation of attention and development in the use of L2 grammatical knowledge. Study 2 additionally investigated whether individual differences in working memory had mediated the effects of textual enhancement in captions on the allocation of attentional resources and development in L2 grammatical knowledge. In both studies, the participants were Korean learners of English. Attention allocation was measured by eye-tracking methodology and multiple measures were employed to assess L2 development and the functions of working memory. Overall, the results indicated that textual enhancement succeeded in directing learners’ attention to target linguistic constructions and promoting learning gains. However, only marginal effects were observed for working memory in the allocation of attentional resources and developing L2 grammatical knowledge

Exploring simplified subtitles to support spoken language understanding

Understanding spoken language is a crucial skill we need throughout our lives. Yet, it can be difficult for various reasons, especially for those who are hard-of-hearing or just learning to speak a language. Captions or subtitles are a common means to make spoken information accessible. Verbatim transcriptions of talks or lectures are often cumbersome to read, as we generally speak faster than we read. Thus, subtitles are often edited to improve their readability, either manually or automatically. This thesis explores the automatic summarization of sentences and employs the method of sentence compression by deletion with recurrent neural networks. We tackle the task of sentence compression from different directions. On one hand, we look at a technical solution for the problem. On the other hand, we look at the human-centered perspective by investigating the effect of compressed subtitles on comprehension and cognitive load in a user study. Thus, the contribution is twofold: We present a neural network model for sentence compression and the results of a user study evaluating the concept of simplified subtitles. Regarding the technical aspect 60 different configurations of the model were tested. The best-scoring models achieved results comparable to state of the art approaches. We use a Sequence to Sequence architecture together with a compression ratio parameter to control the resulting compression ratio. Thereby, a compression ratio accuracy of 42.1 % was received for the best-scoring model configuration, which can be used as baseline for future experiments in that direction. Results from the 30 participants of the user study show that shortened subtitles could be enough to foster comprehension, but result in higher cognitive load. Based on that feedback we gathered design suggestions to improve future implementations in respect to their usability. Overall, this thesis provides insights on the technological side as well as from the end-user perspective to contribute to an easier access to spoken language.Die Fähigkeit gesprochene Sprache zu verstehen, ist ein essentieller Teil unseres Lebens. Das Verständnis kann jedoch aus einer Vielzahl von Gründen erschwert werden, insbesondere wenn man anfängt eine Sprache zu lernen oder das Hörvermögen beeinträchtigt ist. Untertitel erleichtern und ermöglichen das Verständnis von gesprochener Sprache. Wortwörtliche Beschreibungen des Gesagten sind oftmals anstrengend zu lesen, da man weitaus schneller sprechen als lesen kann. Um Untertitel besser lesbar zu machen, werden sie daher manuell oder maschinell bearbeitet. Diese Arbeit untersucht das automatische Zusammenfassen von Sätzen mithilfe der Satzkompression durch rekurrente neuronale Netzen. Die Problemstellung wird von zwei Gesichtspunkten aus betrachtet. Es wird eine technische Lösung für Satzkompression vorgestellt, aber auch eine nutzerorientierte Perspektive eingenommen. Hierzu wurde eine Nutzerstudie durchgeführt, welche die Effekte von verkürzten Untertiteln auf Verständnis und kognitive Belastung untersucht. Für die technische Lösung des Problems wurden 60 verschiedene Modellkonfigurationen evaluiert. Die erzielten Resultate sind vergleichbar mit denen verwandter Arbeiten. Dabei wurde der Einfluss der sogenannten Kompressionsrate untersucht. Dazu wurde eine Sequence to Sequence Architektur implementiert, welche die Kompressionsrate benutzt, um die resultierende Rate des verkürzten Satzes zu kontrollieren. Im Bestfall wurde die Kompressionsrate in 42.1 % der Fälle eingehalten. Die Ergebnisse der Nutzerstudie zeigen, dass verkürzte Untertitel für das Verständnis ausreichend sind, aber auch in mehr kognitiver Belastung resultieren. Auf Grundlage dieses Feedbacks präsentiert diese Arbeit Designvorschläge, um die Benutzbarkeit von verkürzten Untertiteln angenehmer zu gestalten. Mit den Resultaten von technischer und nutzerorientierter Seite leistet diese Arbeit einen Betrag zur Erforschung von Methoden zur Verständniserleichterung von gesprochener Sprache

Students'perception on the use of animated videos with english subtitles in a foreign language listening class

Advances in technology have made the language learning system have several media that are quite sophisticated, such as learning to listen to foreign language using media that helps the learning process using video. The study was aimed to describe the perception of the student of English education using animated videos with English subtitles in listening classes and to describe the obstacles for the student while using animated videos with English subtitles to the listening learning process. The researcher conducted this study using the case study method. In this research, there were six students as the subject. The researcher has selected the student based on some criteria that relate to this study. Based on the result of the study, the student believed that using animated video with English subtitles is very useful and necessary. Furthermore, the use of animated videos with English subtitles can give a contribution to students’ listening skills, vocabulary, structure, and grammar with the help of English subtitles. The students’ problems when watching the animated video with English subtitles were unfamiliar with pronunciation, lack of vocabulary, and the speakers in the video being too fast and the pronunciation is not clear so they don't understand what is being said. The researcher concluded that the use of animated video with English subtitles is also one of the advantages of this research. Although, watched to animated video with English subtitles is not easy too, but if the student was able to understand and learn a listening skill from this media, it will give the students more knowledge, and of course, they can improve new vocabulary, structure, and grammar, pronunciation from this learning media. Abstract Kemajuan teknologi membuat sistem pembelajaran bahasa memiliki beberapa media yang cukup canggih, seperti pembelajaran mendengarkan bahasa asing dengan menggunakan media yang membantu proses pembelajaran menggunakan video. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan persepsi siswa pendidikan bahasa Inggris menggunakan video animasi dengan teks bahasa Inggris di kelas mendengarkan dan untuk mendeskripsikan hambatan siswa saat menggunakan video animasi dengan teks bahasa Inggris untuk proses pembelajaran mendengarkan. Peneliti melakukan penelitian ini dengan menggunakan metode studi kasus. Dalam penelitian ini ada enam siswa sebagai subjek. Peneliti telah memilih siswa berdasarkan beberapa kriteria yang berhubungan dengan penelitian ini. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, siswa percaya bahwa menggunakan video animasi dengan teks bahasa Inggris sangat berguna dan perlu. Selanjutnya, penggunaan video animasi dengan teks bahasa Inggris dapat memberikan kontribusi terhadap keterampilan mendengarkan siswa, kosa kata, struktur dan tata bahasa dengan bantuan teks bahasa Inggris. Masalah siswa saat menonton video animasi dengan subtitle bahasa Inggris adalah kurang familiar dengan pengucapan, kurangnya kosakata, dan pembicara dalam video terlalu cepat dan pengucapannya tidak jelas sehingga mereka tidak mengerti apa yang dikatakan. Peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa, penggunaan video animasi dengan subtitle bahasa Inggris juga menjadi salah satu kelebihan dari penelitian ini. Meskipun menonton video animasi dengan subtitle bahasa Inggris juga tidak mudah, tetapi jika siswa dapat memahami dan mempelajari keterampilan mendengarkan dari media ini, itu akan memberi siswa lebih banyak pengetahuan, dan tentu saja, mereka dapat meningkatkan kosakata baru, struktur dan tata bahasa, pengucapan dari media pembelajaran ini

Investigating the collaborative process of subtitles creation and sharing for videos on the Web

In this paper we concentrate on the study of the collaborative practices of enthusiasts that create and share subtitles for third party videos. Based on preliminary results from interviews with some volunteers, we formalize the subtitles creation and sharing process using a business process management model and compare it with other collaborative and crowdsourcing models. We expect that our initial observations can bring a new understanding of the process and, thus, help in the design of next generation video enriching tools

Investigating the Effects of Using Subtitles on Enhancing Multilingual Learners’ Vocabulary Knowledge

This study examined the effects of three subtitle conditions on English vocabulary learning, form recognition and meaning recall, from TED Talks videos while controlling for vocabulary size and initial knowledge of the target words. The participants, 105 Libyan students (16 males and 89 females) at intermediate English proficiency level, were assigned randomly to one of three groups. Group A, the control group, watched the TED Talks videos without subtitles. Group B watched the TED Talks videos with subtitles in English (L2). Group C watched the videos with Arabic (L1) subtitles. Data were collected from two pre-tests and two post-tests. Vocabulary Level Test (VLT) was used to measure learners’ vocabulary size and served as a co-variate. Form Recognition (FR) and Meaning Recall (MR) tests were used to measure learners’ depth of vocabulary knowledge at pre and post-tests. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to respond to the study’s research questions. The results indicated that there was no significant difference among the three groups’ scores on either the FR or MR post-tests, controlling for vocabulary size and initial knowledge of the target words. Future studies with larger samples and multiple L2 and L1 subtitled video viewings (or other instructional supports that may be needed to support intermediate proficiency learners) are needed to more thoroughly examine subtitle effects on incidental vocabulary learning while controlling for relevant variables

Lexical Richness in the Texts of Norwegian Lower Secondary School Students: The Effect of Specific Extramural English Activities.

This thesis explores the vocabulary of a selection of 8th grade students and the effect that Extramural English activities can have on their vocabulary knowledge. The vocabulary of the students was based on measurements of lexical richness, these were, lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication. Other variables such as off-list words and total words were also looked at. The primary focus is on activities such as watching movies/tv-series, listening to audiobooks/radio programs/podcasts. However, other Extramural English activities are also examined with regards to their effect on vocabulary. In this study the data is collected through the TRAWL project, access to student texts, and their answers to a questionnaire about Extramural English activities have been granted through this project. The participants of this particular study consist of 80 Norwegian EFL learners, 36 male and 44 female. All of the participants are 8th graders from the Agder area, and it can be assumed they are near exclusively age 12/13. To analyze the texts of the students a program Cobb’s (2023) Vocabprofile VP Compleat v2.6 was used. A statistical analysis was run on the relationship between total time spent on Extramural English and the lexical richness scores. The statistical analysis required groupings. Two methods of grouping the participants were used. When looking at the time spent on activities individually the time the participants spent on these activities were set as groups. Meaning there was five groups, group 1= 0 hours, group 2 = 0.5 hours, and so on. When looking at several of the Extramural activities combined or when looking at all of the activities combined, the students were divided into three groups, low, moderate, and high. The conclusion from the analysis was that there was no significant correlation between the time spent on activities and the lexical richness scores of the students

Telops for language learning: Japanese language learners’ perceptions of authentic Japanese variety shows and implications for their use in the classroom

Research on the use of leisure-oriented media products in foreign language learning is not a novelty. Building further on insights into the effects of audiovisual input on learners, recent studies have started to explore online learning behaviour. This research employed an exploratory design to examine the perceptions of a Japanese variety show with intralingual text, known as telops, by Japanese Language Learners (JLLs) and native Japanese speakers through a multimodal transcript, eye-tracking technology, questionnaires, and field notes. Two main objectives underlie this study: (1) to gain insights into participants’ multimodal perceptions and attitudes towards the use of such authentic material for language learning, and (2) to gain a better understanding of the distribution of participants’ visual attention between stimuli. Data from 43 JLLs and five native Japanese speakers were analysed. The JLLs were organised into a pre-exchange, exchange and post-exchange group while the native Japanese speakers functioned as the reference group. A thematic analysis was conducted on the open-ended questionnaire responses and Areas Of Interest (AOIs) were grouped to generate fixation data. The themes suggest that all learner groups feel that telops help them link the stimuli in the television programme although some difficulty was experienced with the amount and pace of telops in the pre-exchange and exchange groups. The eye-tracking results show that faces and telops gather the most visual attention from all participant groups. Less clear-cut trends in visual attention are detected when AOIs on telops are grouped according to the degree in which they resemble the corresponding dialogue. This thesis concludes with suggestions as to how such authentic material can complement Japanese language learning