Pairing Script and Dialogue: Combinations That Show Promise for Second or Foreign Language Learning

With the aim of improving foreign or second language learning, this study tested various ways of combining visual and auditory inputs of messages, using subjects’L1 and/or L2. Subjects were English‐speaking (L1) elementary school pupils with advanced training in French (L2). Matched subgroups were assigned to particular treatment conditions that ran for a ten‐week period. From earlier research, certain combinations were expected to enhance L2 comprehension over control conditions. As predicted, it was found that reversed subtitling (a combination of dialogues in L1 and coordinated printed scripts in L2) and bimodal L2 input (a combination of coordinated dialogues and scripts both in L2) are both especially promising devices for second or foreign language learning and for enhancing comprehension of verbal information. Practical, theoretical, and pedagogical implications of the research are discussed.