Visual Language Input Improving Vocabulary Learning in College Students: A Comparison of the Effects of Audiovisual, Visual, and Orthographic Input

Abstract

Subtitles have been popularized recently with the rise of streaming services and short-form media, and evidence suggests that subtitles increase vocabulary learning. The study compares three conditions of watching a documentary—audiovisual (AV), visual and text (VT), and audiovisual and text (AVT)—to determine the highest incidental vocabulary acquisition, correlations between existing vocabulary skills and vocabulary learning, and perspectives of the documentary based on the three conditions. For the study, 44 college students were recruited, and a series of tests were given before and after participants watched a 25-minute selected documentary clip. Results show that participants gained the most scores under the VT condition. The AV condition shows the most significant score difference when comparing effect sizes. The relationship between prior knowledge and gain scores was positive but weak. Subjects under the VT condition were less likely to watch the documentary in the same condition than participants under different conditions.