Captioning second-language videos produces large benefits for comprehension and vocabulary acquisition¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-14 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Captioning videos improved second-language comprehension (g = 0.99) and vocabulary acquisition (g = 0.87). → Noetel 2022

Evidence¶

Noetel 2022¶

Noetel, M., Griffith, S., Delaney, O., Harris, N. R., Sanders, T., Parker, P., del Pozo Cruz, B., & Lonsdale, C. (2022). Multimedia design for learning: An overview of reviews with meta-meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211052329

q3 · i3 · quant-synthesis · r3

Synthesis of the Montero Perez et al. (2013) meta-analysis, which the authors rated more favourably on four of seven quality criteria than the alternative review. Captioning showed large effects on second-language comprehension (g = 0.99, k = 15) and vocabulary acquisition (g = 0.87, k = 10).

"This review found captioning led to large benefits for both comprehension (g = 0.99, 95% CI [0.60, 1.38], k = 15; Montero Perez et al., 2013) and vocabulary acquisition (g = 0.87, 95% CI [0.58, 1.15], k = 10; Montero Perez et al., 2013)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Oral Language — outcome: instruction changes it
• Vocabulary — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• On-screen text that duplicates the narration of a diagram can hurt learning, but spoken–written redundancy is not harmful on average and helps over spoken-only presentation in some conditions — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Adventure video games with supplementary vocabulary material outperform control conditions on receptive and productive vocabulary tests — related
• Digital game-based learning supports long-term retention of second-language vocabulary — related
• Combining textual and pictorial glosses improves incidental vocabulary learning more than single-mode glosses — related
• Captioned-video groups significantly outperform a no-captioning control on form recognition and clip association of target words, with no differences among captioning types — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Bimodal captioned input improved L2 listening skills, generalizing to unfamiliar sentences and speakers (attributed to Charles & Trenkic, 2015) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Earlier meta-analyses, as reported second-hand, find that glosses improve L2 vocabulary learning and that text-and-picture glosses outperform single-mode glosses — related
• Incidental vocabulary exposure produces reliable learning, but learners pick up only a small share of the unknown words they meet — related