Reflections on Captioned Video as a Language Learning Tool

This brief reflection will recount my experiences with captioned video and suggest some resources you may wish to explore.

Empirical Background

Captioning of video has been shown to improve comprehension (Garza, 1991; Huang, 1999) and vocabulary (Huang, 1999). It can provide a boost to learning by making native speed speech understandable at an earlier point in the learning curve, enabling the learner to access material that is more authentic and more interesting. And it can offer learners unlimited access to native speaker input.

Personal Language Learning Experience

My own experience as a learner has been enhanced by watching a captioned Spanish soap opera for an hour most week nights for the past five years. Starting as a true beginner, I went cold turkey, concentrating very hard, having faith in Krashen, and receiving input even as I struggled to understand what was going on. Focusing on the captions, not the video action, was a skill I had to learn. After that was accomplished, I began enjoying the program and continued watching because the material was both entertaining and useful to me as a language learner. I became "hooked" on the input. Although I have only had around 135 hours (4 weeks in ELI time) of formal Spanish instruction, I can read a newspaper in Spanish. It is my belief that watching captioned input gave me a much greater Spanish vocabulary than I would otherwise have.

Pros of Captioned Soap Operas

For those who can enjoy one, the soap opera is an ideal type of input.

• It involves receiving language as a means to learn content that is independent of the language.
• It enjoys a high level of visual support. It is dramatic.
• It offers extensive repetition of related language forms in a variety of settings.
  • For example, a character discusses plans with a friend using the future and subjunctive tenses;
  • then the event happens in the present tense;
  • next the character recounts what happened to several other characters using the past tenses.
  • Third parties then begin discussing the event among themselves, changing the person as well as the tense of the verbs and using a variety of pronouns.
  • The next night, at least fifteen minutes of the prior episode is repeated, providing the learner with a review of structures covered earlier. The genre thus offers a tremendous amount of support to learners through frequent repetition.
  • Cliffhanger endings also provide an incentive for coming to "class" the next evening.
• Additionally, a soap opera can make an emotional connection that sends the input through the amygdala, the center of emotion in the brain which is also connected with strong memories.
• Finally, the affective barrier is very low in this independent and entertaining activity.

Personal Teaching Experience

I have looked for the English equivalent of my Spanish soap operas and have found nothing with the same style and heart to hook my students. The Spanish telenovelas are dubbed and exported worldwide and are, in my opinion, in a class by themselves. However, coming soon is Ugly Betty, premiering Friday, September 22, at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. See http://abc.go.com/primetime/schedule/2006-07/betty.html . This is an all new American version, in English, of my current soap, La Fea Mas Bella, which has already been a success in Colombia, Brazil, China, the Philippines, India and Germany, as well as on Univision in the United States. You might want to tune in and check it out.

Soap operas may not be everyone's cup of tea. Others may become "hooked" to greater or lesser extent on other types of content that are engaging or useful to them.

In an attempt to explore beyond the soap opera, last term I gave a few assignments in captioned viewing to Level Three students in my Listening class. They viewed half hour segments of captioned television programs of their choice. The purpose was to expose them to a possible source of comprehensible input that they might want to use independently. Most students did the assignments and produced reflections indicating some understanding of what they watched. For those who had difficulty focusing on the captions, these activities alone did not provide enough practice for them to learn that skill well. One program that received favorable mention from the students was Friends. One independent learner who wanted extra listening input bought a Friends DVD and told me she was watching the captioned material at home and learning from it. Friends could also be a springboard for speaking activities. Scripts are available online at http://www.friendscafe.org/scripts.shtml. So Friends is another resource that I would suggest for hooking students on independent listening.

On a more academic note, this term Level Three students have reported that their understanding is enhanced when we display the captions on the DVD we are using with the Lecture Ready text this term. We have also explored captioned listening on TV using the Annenberg Channel. This site provides streaming captioned video of scheduled educational programs. Its programming includes many college level courses such as Science in Focus:

• Energy
• For All Practical Purposes:
  • Intro to Math
  • The Power of Place
  • The World of Chemistry
  • Economics U$A
• Against All Odds:
  • Inside Statistics
  • Destinos
  • French in Action
  • and even Connect with English...

This Annenberg broadcast website provides a schedule of their programs and further information about current program offerings. Many of the scheduled programs are also available on demand. However, the captioned versions appear only at the scheduled times. It is an ideal resource for students to independently build professional vocabularies in their chosen fields, since there is university level material available in all subject areas.

I will be staying tuned for "Ugly Betty" and also staying tuned for any ideas my colleagues have for using captioned video.

References

Garza, T. (1991). Evaluating the Use of Captioned Video Materials in Advanced Foreign Language Learning. Foreign Language Annals, 24, 239-258.

Huang, H. (1999). The Effects of Closed-Captioned Television on the Listening Comprehension of Intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) Students. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 28, 75-96.

Sarosy, P. & K. Sherak (2006). Lecture Ready 2. New York: Oxford University Press.