Effective Vocabulary Learning in Multimedia CALL Environments: Psychological Evidence

A wide range of technologies are now applied in the field of second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Nevertheless, intentional language-focused vocabulary CALL software has not been proven to effectively operationalise working memory. The research presented in this thesis contributes to the existing literature by identifying coding features from cutting-edge multimedia technologies that relate to L2 learning and memory research. The study participants were fifty undergraduate students from the University of York, UK. Their individual differences and memory abilities were assessed using the Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA). Initially, the participants were exposed to L2 novel words via the Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Acquisition software (CAVA) via three interactive interfaces: a verbal-based menu driven interface (L2-L1: MDI), a visual-based graphical user interface (L2-Picture: GUI) and a visuospatial-based zoomable user interface (L2-Context: ZUI), and immediate and delayed post-tests conducted. The first study results revealed that ZUI correlated significantly with AWMA, tending to be the most effective multimedia learning method in the immediate post-test, compared with GUI and MDI. However, in the delayed post-test, ZUI’s effect experienced a dramatic decline, while GUI tended to be the most effective. In the second study, the participants were exposed to a second version of CAVA. Their accuracy and response times during the translation recognition task were measured and analysed, as were their pupillary responses. The findings revealed the participants were significantly more accurate and faster when judging the No translation pairs than the Yes ones. Of the multimedia representations, responses to MDI words were achieved significantly faster and more accurately than to GUI and ZUI words. Moreover, those participants with high verbal short-term memories were significantly faster and more accurate, experiencing a relatively reduced pupil size

An Investigation of Multimedia Instruction, the Modality Principle, and Reading Comprehension in Fourth-Grade Classrooms

Elementary-school teachers are faced with the responsibility of finding the most effective ways to educate their students using multimedia approaches. The use of instruction with visuals and audio has resulted in positive learning outcomes on retention and transfer tasks for junior-high and high-school students. This approach that results in the modality principle has been tested less frequently in elementary-aged students. The purpose of this study was to examine two different multimedia instructional approaches to investigate which condition offers beneficial learning outcomes through recall and transfer assessments during a lesson on different types of energy in fourth-grade classrooms using a Powerpoint® presentation. In addition, reading-comprehension levels were studied to investigate how students with varying reading levels performed on recall and transfer tasks when presented with an audio or visual presentation. The independent variables were the method of instruction including visuals with auditory information and visuals with written text and reading-comprehension scores from a previous assessment. The dependent variables were student performance on recall and transfer assessments. Results from the study were not statistically significant for the method of multimedia instruction overall on both dependent variables and for three different reading levels. Students who received multimedia instruction with visuals and written text and with visuals and audio performed similarly on recall and transfer tasks. Results suggested that both methods of multimedia instruction, visuals with text and visuals with audio, can be used in elementary-school classrooms with similar outcomes on recall and transfer tasks. These results translate to students at different reading levels as well. When teachers are preparing or choosing lessons for elementary-aged students, a visual text or audio approach may benefit their students in similar ways

The Effectiveness of Instructional Video in the Acquisition of Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor Skills in Practical Sports Therapy Rehabilitation.

The use of instructional multimedia, particularly video, within education is steadily increasing although the evidence-base regarding its usage typically only indicates that it is equivalent to or as effective as live demonstration or traditional teaching methods. The current study undertook a longitudinal quasi-experimental crossover study, over three consecutive academic years to evaluate the efficacy of instructional video to teach cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills to level 5 undergraduate sports therapy students. Through the use of a crossover design students undertook both the video and control conditions, they were assessed formatively on a weekly basis to provide a consistent measure of performance throughout the eighteen weeks of data collection within each year. The instructional videos used within the study were based upon (as far as possible) the multimedia principles proposed by Mayer to reduce extraneous cognitive load and maximise essential intrinsic and germane cognitive load. The results from the study were analysed with the use of effect size statistics and interpreted though the use of magnitude based inferences, an emerging alternative to the traditional use of null hypothesis testing. The findings of the study indicate that the use of the instructional videos was beneficial to the vast majority of the students, which builds upon the current evidence-base as it demonstrates that they can be used to enhance academic practice rather than be used as an equivalent resource

Video Games And Learning : A theoretical approach to the use of commercial-off-the-shelf video games in Norwegian upper secondary education

Master´s thesis in English (EN501)This thesis explores the educational potential of commercial video games. With LK20, games and gaming have become integral part of Norwegian education, especially with a specific aim in the new English subject curriculum (ENG01-04) and with the broad definition of texts as cultural expressions. Due to the uncertainties surrounding the covid-19 pandemic, no original action-research was conducted. Therefore, this thesis offers a purely theoretical approach instead. It offers a literary analysis and discussion of a wide selection of theories and research regarding games and learning, followed by a theoretical exploration of how one commercial video game, namely Detroit: Become Human (2018)can be effectively utilized in learning contexts in Norwegian upper secondary education. Thus, the following two research questions are answered:(1) What does existing theories and research suggest one can learn from games and gaming in general, what are their potential learning effects? and (2) In light of existing theories and research, what can potentially be learnt by using Detroit: Become Human (DBH) in educational contexts, and how could various learning outcomes be achieved through its use? More specifically, the thesis explores the educational potential of video games to facilitate motivating, interactive, multimodal, and safe learning environments that enable exploration of identities through immersion and identification to foster deep learning and critical thinking

Intralingual subtitles, interlingual subtitles, and L2 vocabulary learning: and exploratory study with brazilian EFL students

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Inglês: Estudos Linguísticos e Literários, Florianópolis, 2016.Abstract : This dissertation explores the effects of intralingual and interlingual subtitles on Brazilian EFL learners? development. More specifically, it seeks to explore (i) the effects of intralingual and interlingual subtitles on learners? general and specific video comprehension; (ii) the effects of intralingual and interlingual subtitles on learners? L2 vocabulary recognition; (iii) and a possible correlation amongst learners? Working Memory (WM) capacity, their level of general and specific video comprehension, and their level of L2 vocabulary recognition. A total of 36 intermediate-level EFL learners, enrolled at the Extracurricular Language Courses at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), were divided into two experimental groups (intralingual subtitles and interlingual subtitles) and one control group (soundtrack only). In addition to profile data, participants? performance was also measured on three sets of tests: (i) a general and a specific video comprehension test; (ii) an L2 vocabulary recognition test, comprising a pre-test, a test, and a post-test; (iii) and two WM tests, a Reading Span Test (RST) and an Operation-Word Span Test (OSPAN). Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. As regards the effects of subtitles on video comprehension, statistical tests and analyses performed indicated more beneficial effects when using intralingual subtitles over the other conditions, even though participants? performance in the experimental conditions was not statistically different from one another. As for the effects of subtitles on L2 vocabulary recognition, experimental conditions were not found to substantially foster it, and no statistically significant differences among the experimental groups and the control group were found. Across time, the results obtained on the L2 vocabulary recognition tests point out to more positive growth in performance obtained by the intralingual subtitles group, followed by the interlingual subtitles group, and then the control group. Finally, concerning the correlation tests performed, participants? WM capacity did not significantly interact with their performance on any of the tests, which may possibly be related to the study design at large.Esta tese de doutorado explora os efeitos de legendas intralinguais e interlinguais no desenvolvimento de aprendizes brasileiros de ILE. Especificamente, este estudo busca explorar (i) os efeitos de legendas intralinguais e interlinguais na compreensão geral e específica de vídeo pelos aprendizes; (ii) os efeitos de legendas intralinguais e interlinguais no reconhecimento de vocabulário em L2 pelos aprendizes; (iii) e uma possível correlação entre a capacidade de Memória de Trabalho (MT) dos aprendizes, seu nível de compreensão geral e específica e seu nível de reconhecimento de vocabulário em L2. Um total de 36 aprendizes de nível intermediário de ILE, matriculados nos Cursos Extracurriculares de Línguas da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), foram divididos em dois grupos experimentais (legendas intralinguais e legendas interlinguais) e um grupo controle (sem legendas). Além de informações sobre seus perfis, o desempenho dos participantes também foi medido por meio de três testes: (i) teste de compreensão geral e específica de vídeo; (ii) teste de reconhecimento de vocabulário em L2, contendo um pré-teste, um teste e um pós-teste; (iii) e dois testes de MT, sendo um Teste de Alcance de Leitura (TAL) e um Teste Soma-Palavra (TSP). Os dados foram analisados de forma quantitativa e qualitativa. Com relação aos efeitos das legendas na compreensão de vídeo, os testes estatísticos e análises feitas indicaram mais efeitos benéficos com legendas intralinguais, ainda que o desempenho dos participantes nas condições experimentais não tenha sido estatisticamente diferente entre si. Sobre os efeitos de legendas em reconhecimento de vocabulário em L2, as condições experimentais não pareceram promovê-lo substancialmente, não sendo encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre os grupos. Ao longo do tempo, os resultados obtidos nos testes de reconhecimento de vocabulário em L2 demonstraram maior crescimento no desempenho por parte do grupo de legendas intralinguais, seguido pelo grupo de legendas interlinguais e depois pelo grupo controle. Finalmente, no tocante aos testes estatísticos de correlação, a capacidade de MT não interagiu significativamente com o xi desempenho dos participantes nos demais testes, estando possivelmente relacionado ao design do estudo

The role of phonology in visual word recognition: evidence from Chinese

Posters - Letter/Word Processing V: abstract no. 5024The hypothesis of bidirectional coupling of orthography and phonology predicts that phonology plays a role in visual word recognition, as observed in the effects of feedforward and feedback spelling to sound consistency on lexical decision. However, because orthography and phonology are closely related in alphabetic languages (homophones in alphabetic languages are usually orthographically similar), it is difficult to exclude an influence of orthography on phonological effects in visual word recognition. Chinese languages contain many written homophones that are orthographically dissimilar, allowing a test of the claim that phonological effects can be independent of orthographic similarity. We report a study of visual word recognition in Chinese based on a mega-analysis of lexical decision performance with 500 characters. The results from multiple regression analyses, after controlling for orthographic frequency, stroke number, and radical frequency, showed main effects of feedforward and feedback consistency, as well as interactions between these variables and phonological frequency and number of homophones. Implications of these results for resonance models of visual word recognition are discussed.postprin

Interactive effects of orthography and semantics in Chinese picture naming

Posters - Language Production/Writing: abstract no. 4035Picture-naming performance in English and Dutch is enhanced by presentation of a word that is similar in form to the picture name. However, it is unclear whether facilitation has an orthographic or a phonological locus. We investigated the loci of the facilitation effect in Cantonese Chinese speakers by manipulating—at three SOAs (2100, 0, and 1100 msec)—semantic, orthographic, and phonological similarity. We identified an effect of orthographic facilitation that was independent of and larger than phonological facilitation across all SOAs. Semantic interference was also found at SOAs of 2100 and 0 msec. Critically, an interaction of semantics and orthography was observed at an SOA of 1100 msec. This interaction suggests that independent effects of orthographic facilitation on picture naming are located either at the level of semantic processing or at the lemma level and are not due to the activation of picture name segments at the level of phonological retrieval.postprin

Quantitative explorations of graduate learners' monitoring proficiencies and task understandings in the context of ill-structured writing assignments : from learner to work task as unit of analysis

Research has debated the degree of domain generality of monitoring skills through the theoretical lens of self-regulated learning, largely in the context of studies involving college/undergraduate-level objective, multiple-choice tests. The present quantitative study sheds some much-needed light on the nature of monitoring skills in 39 adult learners tackling ill-structured writing tasks for a graduate-level e-learning theory course in the domain of educational technology. Performance prediction and confidence in predictions were collected through a theoretically-grounded self-assessment tool termed TAPE (Task Analyzer and Performance Evaluator). Monitoring proficiencies were calculated using the instructor's assessment of performance and the TAPE-related measures. Using "learner" as unit of analysis, repeated measures procedures reveal improvements in the instructor's assessment of performance but not in any monitoring proficiencies. While the task-generality of the monitoring skills of discrimination and bias is confirmed through correlational analyses, facets of their specificities stand out due to the absence of intra-monitoring measure correlations. Subsequently, using the 247 instances of the writing task as unit of analysis, parametric multiple regression procedures demonstrate that 39% of variance in individual essay performance is predicted by combined variances in absolute prediction accuracy, discrimination, performance prediction and self-assessment scores. In addition, non-parametric ordinal and multinomial regression procedures reveal that individual essay performance can be predicted from the monitoring measures of bias, prediction confidence and absolute prediction accuracy, as well as from the self-assessment scores. The dual levels of analyses allow not only the quantitative description of learners' content-specific calibration of performance on a writing task, but also contextualized, essay-specific insight into how individual performance on an instance of the writing task is influenced by measures of monitoring and task understanding. Results are interpreted in light of the novel procedures undertaken in calculating monitoring measures like bias using the theoretical notion of performance prediction capability. Findings are also discussed with respect to the "work task as unit of analysis" approach which enables not only the generalization to the tasks completed for the specific course described in this study, but also the interchangeability of the tasks when treating variables such as time, class session, individual student and gender as fixed effects in the various regression approaches adopted for analyse