Learning Formulaic Sequences Through Viewing L2 Television and Factors That Affect Learning

Abstract

The present study explores the incidental learning of formulaic sequences (FS) from audio-visual input and factors affecting the learning of FS. A pretest-posttest, within-participant design was adopted. English-as-a-foreign-language learners (L1 = Dutch; n = 42) watched a one-hour English-language documentary without subtitles. Learning gains were measured at the level of form recall and meaning recall. Significant learning gains were found in both the form recall and meaning recall tests, indicating that several knowledge aspects of FS can be learned incidentally from audio-visual input. The findings also revealed a positive relationship between learners’ prior vocabulary knowledge and the learning gains. Further, several item-related factors affected the learning gains (e.g., collocate-node relationship, frequency). Finally, the findings showed the incremental nature of learning FS, as preknowledge of the meaning of the FS prior to the TV viewing was the strongest predictor of learning the form of FS.

Multimodal Input in Sla Research

“…A first theoretical contribution of this special issue is that it investigates aspects of L2 learning that have, so far, received little attention. More particularly, it expands upon existing studies that focused mainly on the learning of single words through multimodal input by looking into the potential of multimodal input for other aspects of L2 learning such as grammar (Lee & Révész, 2020), pronunciation (Wisnieska & Mora, 2020), and formulaic sequences (Puimège & Peters, 2020). In addition, this special issue provides an answer to the long-standing call for more longitudinal research (Vanderplank, 2016) on the effects of multimodal input.…”

“…More particularly, the special issue provides interesting examples of fine-grained (Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020) and multimodal comprehension tests (Pellicer-Sánchez et al, 2020). It also highlights the role of tests that target different aspects of L2 knowledge development (e.g., Wisnieska & Mora, 2020) and that reveal partial learning gains (e.g., Feng & Webb, 2020;Puimège & Peters, 2020). We also find two examples of how eye-tracking can be used to study multimodal input and which types of eye-tracking metrics we might need to consider (Lee & Révész, 2020;Pellicer-Sánchez et al, 2020).…”

“…With regard to learner-related factors, it has been found that proficiency level (e.g., Suárez & Gesa, 2019), prior vocabulary knowledge (e.g., Feng & Webb, 2020;Peters & Webb, 2018;Puimège & Peters, 2020), age (Muñoz, 2017), or working memory (e.g., Gass et al, 2019;Montero Perez, 2020) may impact learning gains and the processing of multimodal input. Studies also indicate that including factors related to the target items (e.g., frequency of occurrence, part of speech, visual representation) or to the input (e.g., lexical coverage of TV episodes) is not only important to control for these variables but it also indicates whether these factors influence the learning process from multimodal input (Peters & Webb, 2018;Puimège & Peters, 2020). It is therefore not only crucial to include a detailed description of the multimodal input, individual differences, and the target items in the study methodology but also to use appropriate statistical techniques that allow for the inclusion of learner-and item-related factors such as logistic regression or mixed-effects models (e.g., Puimège & Peters, 2020;Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020).…”

“…This special issue illustrates that multimodal input can be operationalized in many different ways. Studies have investigated the value of audio-visual input (Feng & Webb, 2020;Puimège & Peters, 2020), audio-visual input with subtitles in the L1 (Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020), subtitles in the L2 (Lee & Révész, 2020;Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020), and L2 subtitles with enhanced (i.e., highlighted) target constructions (Lee & Révész, 2020). It also offers a study on audio-assisted reading activities, that is, reading while listening (Pellicer-Sánchez et al, 2020).…”

“…Multimodal input is not only beneficial for intermediate to advanced students (e.g., Lee & Révész, 2020;Puimège & Peters, 2020;Wisnieska & Mora, 2020) but can also be used with young and adolescent beginning L2 learners (Pellicer-Sánchez et al, 2020;Pujadas & Muñoz, 2020). Both reading while listening (with supportive images) as well as videos with subtitles in the L1 have the potential to motivate beginning L2 learners to engage with this type of L2 input and facilitates their comprehension of those materials.…”