Cover not available

In:Approaches to Learning, Testing and Researching L2 Vocabulary
Edited by Stuart Webb
[Benjamins Current Topics 109] 2020
► pp. 191–211

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

The images in television programs and the potential for learning unknown words

The relationship between on-screen imagery and vocabulary

 | Carleton University
Published online: 6 August 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.109.itl.00012.rod
Abstract
Previous studies have indicated the potential for incidental vocabulary learning through viewing television. The assumption has been that the imagery in television helps learners acquire vocabulary because when they hear an unfamiliar word, the on-screen images provide semantic support. However, the extent to which imagery in authentic television supports learners in this way is unclear. This study examines 90 target words occurring in single seasons of television, and the degree to which their aural occurrence matched the presentation of a potentially supporting image. Results indicate differences in the way imagery supports potential vocabulary learning in documentary television compared with narrative television, and that this supporting imagery occurred concurrently with the aural form more often in documentary television. Research and pedagogical implications are discussed in detail.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1The role of imagery in vocabulary learning
    • 2.2Unknown vocabulary when reading, listening, and viewing
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1The television programs
    • 4.2Selection of target items
    • 4.3Analysis
  • 5.Results
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Limitations and future research
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (57)
References
Al-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study. Language, Learning & Technology, 5(1), 202–232.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anthony, L. (2014). AntWordProfiler. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Anthony, L. (2015). TagAnt (Version 1.2.0). Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Avila, E., & Sadoski, M. (1996). Exploring new applications of the keyword method to acquire English vocabulary. Language Learning, 46(3), 379–395. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baltova, I. (1999). Multisensory language teaching in a multidimensional curriculum: The use of authentic bimodal video in core French. Canadian Modern Language Review, 56(1), 31–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bisson, M. -J., van Heuven, W. J. B., Conklin, K., & Tunney, R. J. (2013). Incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary through brief multi-modal exposure. PLoS ONE, 8(4), e60912. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buck, G. (2001). Assessing listening. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chai, J., & Erlam, R. (2008). The effect and the influence of the use of video and captions on second language learning. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 14, 25–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
d’Ydewalle, G., Van Rensbergen, J., & Pollet, J. (1987). Reading a message when the same message is available auditorily in another language: The case of subtitling. In J. K. O’Regan & A. Lévy-Schoen (Eds.), Eye movements: From physiology to cognition (pp. 313–321). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
d’Ydewalle, Géry, & Gielen, I. (1992). Attention allocation with overlapping sound, image and text. In K. Rayner (Ed.), Eye movements and visual cognition (pp. 415–422). New York: Springer Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dubois, M., & Vial, I. (2000). Multimedia design: The effects of relating multimodal information. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 16(2), 157–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duquette, L., & Painchaud, G. (1996). A comparison of vocabulary acquisition in audio and video contexts. Canadian Modern Language Review, 53(1), 143–172. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elley, W. B. (1989). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. Reading Research Quarterly, 24(2), 174–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S. (1999). Incidental vocabulary learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(2), 319–333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ginns, P. (2006). Integrating information: A meta-analysis of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects. Learning and Instruction, 16(6), 511–525. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guichon, N., & McLornan, S. (2008). The effects of multimodality on L2 learners: Implications for CALL resource design. System, 36(1), 85–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horst, M., Cobb, T., & Meara, P. (1998). Beyond A Clockwork Orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 207–223.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huckin, T., & Coady, J. (1999). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(2), 181–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hulstijn, J. H. (2001). Intentional and incidental second-language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 258–286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, L. C., & Plass, J. L. (2002). Supporting listening comprehension and vocabulary acquisition in French with multimedia annotations. The Modern Language Journal, 86(4), 546–561. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laufer, B. (2001). Quantitative evaluation of vocabulary: How it can be done and what it is good for. In C. Elder, T. McNamara, T. Lumley, L. Grove, N. Iwashita, A. Brown, & K. Hill, (Eds.), Experimenting with uncertainty (pp. 241–250). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laufer, B., & Paribakht, T. S. (1998). The relationship between passive and active vocabularies: Effects of language learning context. Language Learning, 48(3), 365–391. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markham, P. (1999). Captioned videotapes and second-language listening word recognition. Foreign Language Annals, 32(3), 321–328. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markham, P., Peter, L. A., & McCarthy, T. J. (2001). The effects of native language vs. target language captions on foreign language students’ DVD video comprehension. Foreign Language Annals, 34(5), 439–445. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (1998). A split-attention effect in multimedia learning: Evidence for dual processing systems in working memory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(2), 312–320. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E., Moreno, R., Boire, M., & Vagge, S. (1999). Maximizing constructivist learning from multimedia communications by minimizing cognitive load. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 638–643. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michas, I. C., & Berry, D. C. (2000). Learning a procedural task: Effectiveness of multimedia presentations. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14(6), 555–575. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mittell, J. (2004). Genre and television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture. New York, NY: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (1999). Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: The role of modality and contiguity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(2), 358–368. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murray, S. (2004). “I think we need a new name for it”: The meeting of documentary and reality TV. In S. Murray & L. Ouellette (Eds.), Reality television: Remaking television culture (pp. 40–56). New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neuman, S. B., & Koskinen, P. (1992). Captioned television as comprehensible input: Effects of incidental word learning from context for language minority students. Reading Research Quarterly, 27(1), 95–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
OECD. (2009). Communications Outlook 2009. Paris: OECD. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Once Upon a Time. (2011). Hollywood, CA: ABC Studios.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1999). Reading and “incidental” L2 vocabulary acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(02), 195–224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pellicer-Sánchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do Things Fall Apart. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 31–55.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peters, E., Heynen, E., & Puimège, E. (2016). Learning vocabulary through audiovisual input: The differential effect of L1 subtitles and captions. System, 63, 134–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peters, E., & Webb, S. (2018). Incidental vocabulary acquisition through watching a single episode of L2 television. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(3), 551–577. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Planet Earth. (2006). London: BBC.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodgers, M. P. H. (2016). Extensive listening and viewing: the benefits of audiobooks and television. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 5(2), 43–57.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodgers, M. P. H., & Webb, S. (2011). Narrow viewing: The vocabulary in related television programs. TESOL Quarterly, 45(4), 689–717. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Incidental vocabulary learning through watching television. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sydorenko, T. (2010). Modality of input and vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning & Technology, 14(2), 50–73.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taylor, G. (2005). Perceived processing strategies of students watching captioned video. Foreign Language Annals, 38(3), 422–427. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2017). American time use survey new release. Retrieved from <[URL]>.
Van Zeeland, H. (2014). Lexical inferencing in first and second language listening. The Modern Language Journal, 98(4), 1006–1021. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Zeeland, H., & Schmitt, N. (2013). Incidental vocabulary acquisition through L2 listening: A dimensions approach. System, 41(3), 609–624. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S. (2008). The effects of context on incidental vocabulary learning. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(2), 232–245.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Selecting television programs for language learning: Investigating television programs from the same genre. International Journal of English Studies, 11(1), 117–136. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Extensive viewing: Language learning through watching television. In D. Nunan & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Language learning beyond the classroom (pp. 159–168). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S., Newton, J., & Chang, A. C. -S. (2013). Incidental learning of collocation. Language Learning, 63(1), 91–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S., & Rodgers, M. P. H. (2009). Vocabulary demands of television programs. Language Learning, 59(2), 335–366. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Winke, P., Gass, S., & Sydorenko, T. (2010). The effects of captioning videos used for foreign language listening activities. Language Learning & Technology, 14(1), 65–86.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue