Exploring the role of multimedia glosses and strategy use in second language listening comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning in a mobile environment

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the effects of multimedia glosses on second language listening comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning in a mobile environment. The study also explored the strategies used by second language learners as they interacted with listening and multimedia glosses. Based on the multimedia principle of Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2001), three types of gloss conditions were tested (textual-only, pictorial-only, textual-plus-pictorial). Two other conditions with no glosses included; one of these conditions allowed the learners to regulate their listening through an audio control tool as in the gloss conditions, the other did not allow any kind of control to the learner, except starting the audio file and restarting it. A listening application for mobile devices was developed and optimized for mobile phones. 116 participants with a low-level proficiency level in English were randomly assigned to one of these conditions. To assess their L2 listening comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning, immediate free recall and unannounced vocabulary tests were administered. The participants’ interaction with the listening text and glosses was tracked in order to examine the strategies they employed. The findings indicated that access to glosses facilitates recognition and production of vocabulary with the type of gloss having a nonsignificant effect. On the other hand, glosses had no effect on L2 listening comprehension. The results also indicate that when glosses were available, analytical listening strategies were employed more often than global listening strategies. When no glosses were available, students showed an equal tendency for either analytical or global listening. In addition, the participants preferred to use the available glosses simultaneously, i.e. as they interacted with the text. The study concluded that while access to glosses promoted vocabulary recognition irrespective of gloss types, gloss use did not have a significant effect on overall L2 listening comprehension.