Learning English vocabulary from film audio description: A case of Polish sighted students
Abstract
Film audio description recounts the visual content of the film and it is primarily intended for the visually impaired audience. However, when used by sighted viewers, it provides an extra channel of communication which is reinforced by the simultaneous picture. Consequently, this combination of the visual input and language may facilitate the process of learning vocabulary in the second language (Paivio’s theory of dual-coding, Kress’ theory of multimodal teaching and learning). This paper presents the results of a pilot study investigating the effects of film audio description on incidental learning of English in sighted speakers of Polish. The aim of this pilot study was twofold: firstly, to verify if learning vocabulary in English can be enhanced by the use of film audio description and secondly, to test the research method. The study was carried out on a group of 120 learners of English. The participants were divided into four groups (two control groups and two experimental groups). The research instruments included: pre-tests, watching an excerpt of a film with audio description (experimental groups) and without audio description (control groups), repeated post-tests and oral performance (only in Control 2 and Experimental 2). Preliminary observations suggest that audio description may stimulate vocabulary learning in the second language, but there are still certain issues to be considered: the frequency of exposure to the audio described material, the type of the audio described material, the vocabulary type and size, and the number of participants.
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