Captioned Television Videotapes: Effects of Visual Support on Second Language Comprehension

This study examined the effects of captioned video material on ESL student comprehension with videotaped episodes presenting both low and high audio/video correlation as defined by Garza (1991). Prior research has been restricted to high audio/video correlation material in which the audio track was strongly supported by the video portion (visual images). A total of thirty-seven advanced and thirty-four intermediate ESL students participated in the experiment. The results revealed that both groups were able to recall significantly more idea units ( p < .01) when the captions were available with the episode presenting a low level of visual support (low audio/video correlation). Conversely, caption availability did not substantially improve student recall with the episode presenting a high audio/video correlation.