Vocabulary Support

Al-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study. Language, Learning, & Technology, 5(1), 202-232.

Examines which of the image modalities—dynamic video or still picture—is more effective in aiding vocabulary acquisition. Thirty English-as-a-Second-Language students were introduced to a hypermedia-learning program, designed for reading comprehension. Concludes that a video clip is more effective in teaching unknown vocabulary words than a still picture. (Author/VWL)

Boone, R., & Higgins, K. (1993). Hypermedia basal readers: Three years of school-based research. Journal of Special Education Technology, 7(2), 86-106.

Low-, medium-, and high-achieving students read hypermedia texts with text-to-speech, structural analysis of words and vocabulary support in the form of animated graphics, computerized pictures, definitions, and synonyms. The results varied according to achievement group and grade. Low- and high-achieving students in kindergarten and second grade, high-achieving students in first grade, and medium-achieving students in the third grade outperformed peers in the control group on a standardized vocabulary test.

Bosseler, A., & Massaro, D. W. (2003). Development and evaluation of a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary and language learning in children with autism. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 33(6), 653-672.

Using our theoretical framework of multimodal processing, we developed and evaluated a computer-animated tutor, Baldi, to teach vocabulary and grammar for children with autism. Baldi was implemented in a Language Wizard/Player, which allows easy creation and presentation of a language lesson involving the association of pictures and spoken words. The lesson plan includes both the identification of pictures and the production of spoken words. In Experiment 1, eight children were given initial assessment tests, tutorials, and reassessment tests 30 days following mastery of the vocabulary items. All of the students learned a significant number of new words and grammar. A second within-subject design with six children followed a multiple baseline design and documented that the program was responsible for the learning and generalization of new words. The research indicates that children with autism are capable of learning new language within an automated program centered around a computer-animated agent, multimedia, and active participation and can transfer and use the language in a natural, untrained environment.

Chun, D. M., & Plass, J. L. (1996). Effects of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 80(2), 183-198.

Discusses studies of German students using "CyberBuch," a hypermedia application for reading German texts that contains annotations for words in the form of text, pictures, and video. The article examines incidental vocabulary learning, the effectiveness of different types of annotations for vocabulary acquisition, and the effect of look-up behavior on performance on vocabulary tests.

Chun, D. M., & Plass, J. L. (1996). Facilitating reading comprehension with multimedia. System, 24(4), 503-519.

Based on recent theories of the L2 reading process that have focused on an interactive approach, i.e. the utilization of both top-down and bottom-up processing, this paper is concerned with the question of how reading comprehension can be facilitated with a multimedia application for language learning. On the macro level, the effect of a dynamic visual advance organizer is investigated. On the micro level, the effects of multimedia annotations for single vocabulary items are studied. In addition, the relationship between vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension is examined. To test our hypotheses three studies with a total of 160 students were conducted using the multimedia application CyberBuch. The results indicate that a dynamic visual advance organizer does aid in overall comprehension and that annotations of individual vocabulary items consisting of both visual and verbal information help more than verbal information only. Also, a moderate correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension was found. These results support the dual coding theory and its extension to multimedia learning and underline the importance of visual information in addition to verbal information to support both top-down and bottom-up processing in reading in a foreign language.

Chun, D. M. (2001). L2 reading on the Web: Strategies for accessing information in hypermedia. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 14(5), 367-403.

This study investigated foreign language learners' use of digital foreign language texts with multimedia support in the form of audio narration of the text, access to an online bilingual dictionary, and hyperlinks to glossary entries offering translations and brief definitions of words in the text. Students looked up significantly more words using the glossary than the dictionary and read and understood the text better when the dictionary was available.

Hebert, B. M., & Murdock, J. Y. (1994). Comparing three computer-aided instruction output modes to teach vocabulary words to students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 9(3), 136-141.

Three sixth-grade students with language learning disabilities performed better on learning vocabulary words when using computer-aided instruction (CAI) with speech output than CAI without speech. Two students did better using CAI with digitized speech, and one student made greater gains using CAI with synthesized speech.

Higgins, N. C., & Cocks, P. (1999). The effects of animation cues on vocabulary development. Journal of Reading Psychology, 20, 1-10.

Third grade students listened to a computer read aloud a poem and then viewed short animations providing cues to the meaning of target words in the text. Students made significant improvement in performance on a test of the target vocabulary.

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.

Investigates how effectively multimedia learning environments can assist second language (L2) students in the process of listening comprehension. Looks specifically at how written and pictorial annotations can aid learners in the acquisition of new vocabulary and in comprehension when they listen to an aural L2 passage. (Author/VWL)

Nikolova, O. R. (2002). Effects of students' participation in authoring of multimedia materials on student acquisition of vocabulary. Language, Learning, & Technology, 6(1), 100-122.

This study investigated the effects on vocabulary acquisition of student participation in authoring a multimedia instructional module. Sixty-two subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, and each group was randomly assigned to one of two treatments. The control subjects were asked to study a French text downloaded from the Internet and presented on a computer. In the text, 20 relatively low-frequency words were annotated with text, sound, and pictures. The experimental subjects had the same text but without annotations. They were asked to participate in creating annotations for the same 20 target words. The study produced evidence that students learn vocabulary significantly better when they participate in the creation of the instructional module, provided time is not considered. However, when the variable of time on task is taken into account, there is no statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control treatments. In addition, annotations containing text, sound, and pictures were found to be more helpful for vocabulary learning than annotations with sound and text only. The results are discussed in light of theories of vocabulary acquisition and active student involvement in the learning process. Practical applications and ideas for further research are suggested.

Plass, J. L., Chun, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Leutner, D. (2003). Cognitive load in reading a foreign language text with multimedia aids and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities. Computers in Human Behavior, 19(2), 221-243.

Investigated the effectiveness of three types of vocabulary annotations on vocabulary learning for English-as-a-Foreign-Language college students: the annotation only, text plus picture, and text plus picture and sound. Determined whether learners with certain perceptual learning styles benefitted more from a particular type of vocabulary annotations.

Proctor, C. P., Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. L. (2007). Scaffolding English language learners and struggling readers in a universal literacy environment with embedded strategy instruction and vocabulary support. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(1), 71-93.

As interest and concern rise in U.S. educational circles around the reading achievement of English language learners (ELLs) and struggling readers, researchers and practitioners alike are calling for the increased use of technology as a means to decrease achievement gaps in reading (Jimnez, 2003; Strangman & Dalton, 2005). In this article, we report results from a 4-week study of the English reading comprehension of struggling readers, including Spanish-speaking ELLs. Thirty 4^th-grade students read several narrative and informational hypertexts that provided embedded vocabulary and comprehension strategy supports, along with text-to-speech read-aloud functionality. Correlation analyses of pre-post standardized reading vocabulary gain scores revealed that vocabulary gain was associated, although not significantly, with the frequency of access of hyperlinked glossary items throughout the intervention, and that lower pretest vocabulary knowledge was associated with positive vocabulary gains. A similar pattern was detected for comprehension gains, which were significantly associated with the frequency of access of coaching avatars that provided support around the productive use of reading comprehension strategies. The results reported here suggest that struggling readers and Spanish-speaking ELLs made use of the digitally embedded features in such a way as to promote both learning novel lexical items and effectively applying reading comprehension strategies.