Attention allocation in (L1) subtitled
and (L2) captioned video
viewing
Effects of prior vocabulary instruction on input processing and
comprehension
Pre-directing learners’ attention to novel words
facilitates learning through meaning-focused input, but little is known
about the effect that vocabulary-focused activities may have on video
processing and comprehension. This study investigates attention allocation
in (L1) subtitled and (L2) captioned video viewing and explores potential
trade-offs between pre-viewing instruction and comprehension. Eighty-seven
Catalan/Spanish L2-English beginner learners watched an eight-minute video
with either captions or subtitles while their eye-movements were recorded.
Half of the participants in each language condition were pre-taught
vocabulary. Results showed that pre-viewing instruction affected attention
allocation only in the captions group, with participants tending to spend
less time on target captions and comprehension-relevant captions. Allocating
attention to vocabulary, however, did not seem to hinder comprehension in a
significant manner.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 2.1Vocabulary learning through L2 television
- 2.2The importance of attention
allocation
- 2.3Pre-viewing
instruction as an attention enhancing
technique
- 2.4Trade-off effects
- 2.5Rationale and research aims
- 3.Methodology
- 3.1Participants
- 3.2Audiovisual materials
- 3.3Target words
- 3.4Pre- and post-viewing tasks
- 3.5Procedure
- 3.6Scoring and data analysis
- 4.Results
- 4.1Effect of instruction on dwell times and number of fixations on
target-vocabulary AOIs
- 4.2Effect of instruction on comprehension
rates
- 4.3Effect of instruction on dwell times and number of fixations on
question-relevant AOIs
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion and further research
- Ethical considerations
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
References
-
Appendix
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