The effect of English videos with different types of subtitles and glosses on vocabulary learning of Chinese ESL learners

Thesis

There is growing interest in research focusing on the effect of subtitled videos on second language (L2) vocabulary learning. While a large number of studies have investigated the benefits of L2 subtitles, few studies have examined L1 subtitles and dual subtitles and compared the effects of the subtitles in different languages. What’s more, glosses in subtitles are paid more attention to, because they stimulate learners’ attention to the novel words and provide the meaning of the words to scaffold acquisition of form-meaning links. The present study investigated the effects of five different types of subtitles (L2 subtitles, L1 subtitles, dual subtitles, L2 subtitles + L2 glosses, and L2 subtitles + L1 glosses). A total of 314 Chinese middle school students who are beginner learners of English as a second language (ESL) were randomly assigned to one of the five conditions and watched two videos with different types of subtitles. For each video, 10 target words were included, and there were 20 target words in total. An unexpected post-test measuring the participants’ word form and word meaning learning was administered immediately after the participants watched each video. Results show that the group with L2 subtitles and L1 glosses significantly outperformed the L1 subtitles group in the word form tests, while there was no significant difference between any other groups. For word meaning learning, it was found that both the L1 subtitles group and the dual subtitles group significantly outperformed the L2 subtitles group. What’s more, the group with L2 subtitles and L1 glosses significantly outperformed every other group in the word meaning test. However, the group with L2 subtitles and L2 glosses had no significant difference from the L2 subtitles group without glosses. This interventional study contributes to the literature by providing evidence which suggests that L1 subtitles may benefit word meaning learning, and that glosses can draw learners’ attention to the target words and scaffolds word form learning. Pedagogical implications on the use of subtitles and glosses in L2 learning videos are provided.

Authors: Li, Y

• Type of award: MSc
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: caption; subtitle; incidental vocabulary learning; second language video; gloss
• Subjects: Computer Assisted Language Learning