Is less more? Effectiveness and perceived usefulness of keyword and full captioned video for L2 listening comprehension

Abstract

The aim of this study was twofold: we investigated (a) the effect of two types of captioned video (i.e., on-screen text in the same language as the video) on listening comprehension; (b) L2 learners' perception of the usefulness of captions while watching L2 video. The participants, 226 university-level students from a Flemish university, watched three short French clips in one of three conditions: the control group watched the clips without captions (N 5 70), the second group had fully captioned clips (N 5 81), the third group had keyword captioned clips (N 5 75). After each clip, all participants took a listening comprehension test, which consisted of global and detailed questions. To answer the detailed questions, participants had access to an audio passage of the corresponding clip. At the end of the experiment, participants completed a questionnaire and open-ended survey questions about their perception of captions. Our findings revealed that the full captioning group outperformed both the no captioning and the keyword captioning group on the global comprehension questions. However, no difference was found between the keyword captioning and the no captioning group. Results of the detailed comprehension questions (with audio) revealed no differences between the three conditions. A content-analysis approach to the questionnaire indicated that learners' perceived need for full captions is strong. Participants consider captions useful for speech decoding and meaning-making processes. Surprisingly, keyword captions were considered highly distracting. These findings suggest that full rather than keyword captioning should be considered when proposing video-based listening comprehension activities to L2 learners.* We are grateful to Carmen Eggermont (KU Leuven Kulak), Nathalie Nouwen, Vincianne Hermant, Se´line Van Helleputte, and An Slootmaekers (KU Leuven ILT) for their help with the data collection.

The impact of keyword and full video captioning on listening comprehension

“…This may result in a better listening ability (Graham, 2006). The majority of learners believe that full captions allow them to enhance their comprehension (Montero, 2013).…”

The Effect of Imagery and On‐Screen Text on Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning From Audiovisual Input

“…Previous research established that captions have the potential to boost vocabulary learning (see, e.g., the meta-analysis of 10 studies by Montero Perez, Van Den Noortgate, & Desmet, 2013b). Further, foreign language learners also perceive captions as helpful for making form-meaning connections of unfamiliar words (Montero Perez, Peters, & Desmet, 2013a;Winke, Gass, & Sydorenko, 2013). Studies on captions have also explored the effectiveness of different types of captions (Montero Perez et al, 2014;Montero Perez, Peters, & Desmet, 2018) and the order effects of viewing condition (viewing with captions before viewing without captions or vice versa) when learners watch a clip twice (Winke et al, 2010).…”

“…The positive effects of captions compared to no on-screen text support the work of other studies (e.g., Mohd Jelani & Boers, 2018;Montero Perez et al, 2014;Sydorenko, 2010;Winke et al, 2010). Eye-tracking research has shown that foreign language learners' use of captions is high (Winke et al, 2013) and that captions are perceived as helpful for form-meaning mapping (Montero Perez et al, 2013a;Winke et al, 2013). Similar to imagery, the combination of spoken and written language input gives language learners the opportunity to process word information through the auditory as well as the visual channel.…”

An investigation of integrative and independent listening test tasks in a computerised academic English test

“…Three types of subtitles have been investigated with mixed results: full captioning, keyword captioning and no captioning. Perez, Peters and Desmet (2014) concluded that the full captioning group outperformed the other two groups on the global comprehension questions, with no significant difference being identified between the keyword captioning and the no captioning group. Furthermore, the results of the detailed comprehension questions (with audio) revealed no differences between the three conditions.…”