Does multimodal input enhance vocabulary acquisition and retention? A classroom-based longitudinal study with EFL learners

Session Submission Type: Paper

Summary

This study presents the results of a one-year pedagogical intervention exploring the effects of sustained exposure to multimodal input on lexical acquisition and retention with intermediate EFL learners. The research provides new insights and valuable data on long-term vocabulary learning from L2 subtitled TV series.

Abstract

The increasing number of available multimedia materials has arisen researchers’ interest in the role that modality of input plays in language learning (Vanderplank, 2016). Most of the studies on the topic (e.g.: Montero Perez et al., 2015; Peters et al., 2016) have been conducted with quite advanced EFL learners viewing a short subtitled video. However, further research on the effects of sustained exposure to multimodal input is needed to examine the impact of such practice on language learning (Webb, 2015).

This longitudinal study investigated the extent to which a pedagogical intervention facilitated the learning of a set of 110 target words (TWs) to 63 intermediate Catalan/Spanish EFL learners at high school. Participants were randomly allocated to an experimental (EG) or control group (CG). On a weekly basis, and for a whole academic year, both groups were introduced to the corresponding TWs and did several vocabulary learning tasks, but the EG watched an L2 subtitled episode of a TV series where the TWs appeared, while the CG followed regular instruction instead. In order to assess lexical gains, all students took a pre- and a post-test at the beginning and end of each term evaluating both TWs’ form and meaning recall. A delayed post-test was also administered eight months later to measure retention effects.

Statistical analyses on vocabulary scores showed a significant effect for time and condition, revealing that lexical gains differed across testing times and that learners in the EG significantly benefited from sustained exposure to TV series. Findings also revealed a high retention rate of the TWs that students in both groups had previously learned during the intervention. Results will be discussed in relation to intentional and incidental vocabulary learning, as well as to multimodal input theories for language acquisition (Paivio, 2007; Mayer, 2009).

Strand

• Vocabulary and Lexical Studies (VOC)

Presenters

• Ferran Gesa Vidal, Universitat de Barcelona

• Imma Miralpeix, University of Barcelona