Intentional and incidental learning of english grammar through captioned video exposure

Màster de Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües, Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2016-2017, Tutora: Carme MuñozThe vast majority of the research into the role of captions in language learning has focused on listening comprehension, vocabulary learning, pronunciation, and reading. Only a few studies have been dedicated to investigating the implications of subtitle (L1 on-text screen) use on grammar learning. This thesis aims to explore the effects of captioned (L2 on-text screen) videos on grammar learning of English conditional sentences. Four intact classes of a total of 23 school aged English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students participated in the study. The experiment examined intentional and incidental learning of different age and proficiency groups. Statistical tests revealed that watching the captioned material twice led to significant gains in grammar acquisition in both types of learning. The proficiency advantage reported in previous research is supported in the present study. The results of this study have several pedagogical implications as captions seem to facilitate classroom instruction, lead to better knowledge of grammar structures, and result in incidental acquisition of grammar structures which are not explained in class. Captioned video appears to be a useful tool for language learners and language teachers

Watching subtitled tv series: Does it facilitate comprehension?

Treballs Finals de Grau de Llengües i Literatures Modernes. Facultat de Filologia. Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutora: Imma Miralpeix[eng] Watching TV series, films, documentaries, or any kind of multimedia material has become very popular over the last few years. Teenagers make use of this easy to find multimodal input in an entertaining way, but, what is more interesting is that they often watch it in its original version, either with subtitles in English, in Spanish or without subtitles. This is great news for ESL teachers, who can take advantage of this new trend in “TV watching” and use it as a way of motivating students, as well as a learning tool. In order to test if the presence of L2 subtitles facilitates content comprehension of TV viewing, two groups of pre-intermediate Spanish students of English as a foreign language (EFL) watched a 23 minutes long episode of an American TV series either with L2 subtitles or without subtitles. After the viewing, participants took a content comprehension test. The results revealed that at this level there was no significant difference in comprehension between these two groups of students.[cat] Mirar sèries de televisió, pel·lícules, documentals o qualsevol altre tipus de material multimèdia s’ha fet molt popular al llarg dels últims anys. Els adolescents fan ús d’aquest input visual, que és fàcil de trobar, com a mitjà d’entreteniment. Però, el que és més interessant és que sovint el miren en la seva versió original fent ús de subtítols en anglès, en castellà o sense subtítols. Això són molt bones notícies pel professorat d’anglès com a llengua estrangera, ja que poden aprofitar-se d’aquesta nova moda de “mirar la televisió” i utilitzar-la com una manera de motivar-los, al mateix temps que la poden utilitzar com a eina d’aprenentatge. Per tal de provar si la presència de subtítols ajuda a la comprensió de contingut a l’hora de mirar una sèrie en anglès, dos grups d’estudiants espanyols de nivell pre-intermig d’anglès com a llengua estrangera, van mirar un episodi de 23 minuts de durada d’una sèrie nord-americana amb subtítols en L2 o sense subtítols. Després de la visualització de l’episodi, els participants van fer un test de comprensió. Els resultats van revelar que no van haver diferències significants en relació a la comprensió entre els dos grups d’estudiants

Theory and application of audiovisual materials in the English classroom

Treballs Finals del Grau d'Estudis Anglesos, Facultat de Filologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2016-2017, Tutor: Roger Gilabert Guerrero[eng] In the information era, the media have become a central focus in people’s lives. We are surrounded by the visual, and TV series and other online videos are very popular entertainment systems, specially among teenagers and young adults. Introducing audiovisual materials in the English classroom offers an unlimited number of possibilities for teachers and students, since videos are both authentic and motivating materials. The premise behind this paper is Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, which believes that information is better learned if presented with words and pictures at the same time. This paper gathers the most important findings regarding multimedia and the use of audiovisual materials in the fields of SLA and TEFL, as well as the use of subtitles and captions to promote language learning.[cat] A l'era de la informació, els mitjans de comunicació s'han convertit en un dels principals interessos en les nostres vides. En un món ple d'imatges, les sèries de televisió i els vídeos a Internet són un dels sistemes d'entreteniment més populars entre els joves, i la possibilitat d'introduir materials audiovisuals a la classe d'anglès suposa un ampli ventall de possibilitats tant pels professors com pels alumnes, ja que els vídeos són materials autèntics i motivants. La premissa en la qual es basa aquest treball és la teoria cognitiva de l’aprenentatge multimèdia (Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning) de Mayer, que creu que s'aprèn millor si la informació es presenta en forma de text i imatges. Aquest treball recull les troballes de l'estudi de l'prenentatge amb multimèdia i l'ús de materials audiovisuals en els camps de l'Adquisició d'una segona llengua i de l'Ensenyament l'anglès com a llengua estrangera, així com la utilització de subtítols per promoure l'aprenentatge lingüístic

Exploring the links between vocabulary learning, language aptitude and captioned TV series: A longitudinal study in high school and university

Presentació a: Vocab @Leuven 201

El uso de vídeos auténticos por estudiantes universitarios españoles y sus motivos para realizar esta actividad informal: un estudio con estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera de distintos niveles de competencia

This paper examines informal learning practices of Spanish university EFL learners of different proficiency levels with authentic videos in English and the reasons for engaging in this activity. For this purpose, one hundred and fifty-six students of mixed proficiency levels completed a questionnaire. The general percentages revealed that the majority of them are exposed to authentic videos with very high or considerably high frequency, they normally undertake this activity alone using their computers, laptops or mobile phones, and they tend to watch authentic videos with captions/subtitles either in English or in Spanish. The Internet and streaming services were identified as the two most commonly used sources. Furthermore, many of the respondents enjoy this activity and find it particularly useful for developing their listening skills and lexis. A statistical analysis of the results revealed a clear impact of the proficiency level on the frequency of exposure, the use of subtitles/captions, the sources and reasons for doing this informal activity.El presente estudio examina el uso informal de vídeos auténticos en inglés así como las razones para estas prácticas de los estudiantes universitarios españoles de inglés como lengua extranjera de distintos niveles de competencia. Con esta finalidad, ciento cincuenta y seis estudiantes de niveles mixtos de competencia lingüística en inglés respondieron a un cuestionario. Los porcentajes generales revelaron que la mayoría de ellos están expuestos a vídeos auténticos con una frecuencia considerablemente alta o muy alta, suelen usar ordenadores, portátiles y teléfonos móviles como dispositivos para ver los vídeos, y normalmente los ven con subtítulos en inglés o en español. Se constató también que las fuentes que usan habitualmente para realizar esta actividad informal son Internet y servicios de transmisión de vídeo. Asimismo, muchos de los encuestados disfrutan realizando esta actividad y la consideran particularmente útil para desarrollar sus habilidades auditivas en inglés y el aprendizaje de nuevo vocabulario. Aplicando un análisis estadístico se observó un claro impacto del nivel de competencia en inglés de los estudiantes en referencia a los resultados de la frecuencia de exposición a vídeos auténticos, el uso de subtítulos, las fuentes de estos videos y las razones para desarrollar esta actividad informal

How captions help people learn languages: A working-memory, eye-tracking study

Captions provide a useful aid to language learners for comprehending videos and learning new vocabulary, aligning with theories of multimedia learning. Multimedia learning predicts that a learner’s working memory (WM) influences the usefulness of captions. In this study, we present two eye-tracking experiments investigating the role of WM in captioned video viewing behavior and comprehension. In Experiment 1, Spanish-as-a-foreign-language learners differed in caption use according to their level of comprehension and to a lesser extent, their WM capacities. WM did not impact comprehension. In Experiment 2, English-as-a-second-language learners differed in comprehension according to their WM capacities. Those with high comprehension and high WM used captions less on a second viewing. These findings highlight the effects of potential individual differences and have implications for the integration of multimedia with captions in instructed language learning. We discuss how captions may help neutralize some of working memory’s limiting effects on learning

Vocabulary Acquisition through Viewing Captioned and Subtitled Video: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

As access to video-viewing technology has increased, so has researchers’ interest in understanding how the viewing of captioned and subtitled videos can lead to effective vocabulary learning outcomes. Previously, there has been one meta-analysis on the effects of this type of video-viewing on vocabulary acquisition. However, the variables investigated and types of vocabulary knowledge analyzed were limited. To address these issues, we conducted a mixed review that combined a scoping review and meta-analysis. We identified 139 studies in major databases, of which 34 aligned with our inclusion criteria. Results from the scoping review found that researchers have assessed productive knowledge more than receptive knowledge, and knowledge of form and meaning more than knowledge of use. Participants were given TV series to view more than any other media type. Results from the meta-analysis found that viewing any type of captioned or subtitled videos had a positive effect on vocabulary acquisition. Among all the captioned and subtitled video types, viewing videos with intralingual captions had the largest effect on vocabulary learning outcomes. Furthermore, the viewing of animations had the largest effect on vocabulary learning outcomes compared with all the other types of video viewing investigated. No statistically significant difference between intentional or incidental learning conditions was found, indicating that both conditions are suitable for developing vocabulary learning through video viewing. Additional findings and implications for teaching and research are discussed

How do differences in exposure affect English language learning? A comparison of teenagers in two learning environments

This study investigates whether potential differences in the weight of out-of-school and in-school learning environments affect the acquisition of L2 English by teenagers in two geographical contexts, more and less English-rich, and with less and more linguistic distance to English, respectively. Participants were two groups of 14-15-year-olds, from Denmark and Spain. Language measures included a listening comprehension test, a metalinguistic knowledge test, and a grammaticality judgment test. Data about out-of-classroom exposure was elicited via a questionnaire. The study showed that (a) the Danish group attained a significantly higher level in all language tests except for the metalinguistic knowledge test; (b) the Danish group engaged longer in out-of-school activities although the preference for some activities over others was similar in the two groups; and (c) the types of associations between out-of-school activities and language measures were different between the two groups. These results suggest that the potential influence of out-of-school activities on different language aspects is related to the particular context in which the L2 is learned and to the language proficiency of the learner

Vocabulary learning through subtitled video viewing as mediated by language aptitude: The case of EFL beginner learners at primary school

Comunicació a: EuroSLA 29 - Lun

Examining adolescent EFL learners' TV viewing comprehension through captions and subtitles

This study explores the differential effects of captions and subtitles on extensive TV viewing comprehension by adolescent beginner foreign language learners, and how their comprehension is affected by factors related to the learner, preteaching of target vocabulary, the lexical coverage of the episodes, and the testing instruments. Four classes of secondary school students took part in an 8-month intervention viewing 24 episodes of a TV series, two classes with captions, and two with subtitles. One class in each language condition received explicit instruction on target vocabulary. Comprehension was assessed through multiple-choice and true-false items, which included a combination of textually explicit and inferential items. Results showed a significant advantage of subtitles over captions for content comprehension, and prior vocabulary knowledge emerged as a significant predictor particularly in the captions condition. Comprehension scores were also mediated by test-related factors, with true-false items receiving overall more correct responses while textually explicit and inferential items scores differed according to language of the on-screen text. Lexical coverage also emerged as a significant predictor of comprehension