Task-induced involvement load and working memory: Effects on active and passive vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners in a multimedia learning environment

This study examined the role of output-first presentation of vocabulary tasks in noticing lexical items and enhancing vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. The participants were 103 elementary level female Iranian EFL learners who were randomly divided into three groups: input-only, inputoutput, and output-input groups. After all participants took a placement test and a vocabulary pretest, the input-only group of learners received only input tasks, while the members of the other two groups received both input and output tasks in different sequences. All participants then took a vocabulary posttest. Comparison of input-only group with the other two groups showed that participants in the input plus output groups outperformed input-only group in the vocabulary posttest. The results of t-test and Mann-Whitney test indicated that output-input group performed better than the input-output group in both overall vocabulary posttest and the productive vocabulary section of the test. Moreover, the results of the semi-structured interview revealed the positive influence of output-first presentation of vocabulary tasks on noticing the gap in lexical knowledge. The findings of this study suggest presentation of vocabulary tasks in the sequence of output prior to input in order to enhance noticing vocabulary knowledge gap and develop vocabulary knowledge.

Drawing on Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the present study aims to examine the effectiveness of technology-mediated teaching vocabulary in the form of multimedia glosses on EFL learners’ depth and breadth of lexical knowledge. The study was conducted with 91 male and female undergraduate students at a lower-intermediate level of English proficiency in Iran. Participants of the study were randomly assigned into two-variable group contrasts, experimental (text + visual) and control (text-only) groups. They attended 16 reading sessions once a week during which the experimental group practiced computerized reading texts with pop-up text and picture glosses and the control group practiced reading similar texts with pop-up text only. The relative efficacy of teaching activities in vocabulary learning was assessed by using the Word Associates Test for measuring lexical depth and the Updated Vocabulary Levels Test for measuring the lexical breadth before and after the intervention program. To scrutinize the data, ANCOVA and t-test have been done. Results of ANCOVA revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both tests, and the result of the t-test specified that participants kept the scores in the Vocabulary Levels Test significantly higher than the Word Associates Test in the outperforming group. This means that using multimedia glosses in teaching vocabulary has a significant effect on improving both the breadth and depth of lexical knowledge of EFL learners. However, the effect is more significant on breadth than depth of lexical knowledge. The study by analyzing separate measurements of the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners provided original research in vocabulary teaching and learning and offered pedagogical implications for language teaching.

Developing vocabulary is crucial because it allows a student to be proficient in four areas (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Students will not significantly improve their English language abilities if they lack the necessary vocabulary. The purpose of this study is to determine whether digital storytelling (DST) can replace traditional classroom instruction as a means of enhancing vocabulary knowledge. The study was carried out by utilizing a comparative research design. The participants aged from 13 to 14 years old and took grades 7 A and B of SMP N 3 Parongpong Junior High School. Pre-test, treatments, and post-tests were used to gather study data. From the results of the pre-test, it can be seen the participants' initial abilities were in a bad category with a score of less than 69. According to the initial results, this study aimed to show that the research had a significant impact on students' post-test performance as compared to their pre-test performance. The study's findings indicated that using digital storytelling helps learners in the experimental class grow their vocabulary knowledge and establish it. Throughout the treatment, learners who were taught using DST outperformed those who were not taught using DST. Furthermore, it was observed that the group with DST had a positive opinion on the utilization of digital storytelling in the classroom. The results also show how well digital storytelling involves students in the learning process.

Vocabulary assessment plays a ctitical role in language education for EFL learners, educators and researchers. The article introduces and analyzes four English receptive vocabulary tests of high frequency words, including Vocabulary Levels Test, Vocabulary Size Test, Computer Adaptive Test of Size and Strength and New General Service List Test. Based on the review of the four tests, it provides practical suggestions for choosing an appropriate test to assess the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners in Vietnam as well as implications for building new vocabulary tests to meet the demand of English language teaching and learning practices as well as the research needs in the field of language education in Vietnam.

The lag or the intersession interval (ISI) is the gap between two learning sessions. Lag effects are one of those effects that few studies have examined. Moreover, albeit a huge bulk of research on input spacing (i.e., phenomenon of distributed learning conditions) has been done in laboratory setting, few studies have directly examined this issue within real contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of not only spaced-short but also spaced-long condition on the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. To achieve this goal, 37 intermediate level EFL learners were selected from four intact classes. The whole process took place in nine weeks; two testing sessions for pretest and a 28-day delayed posttest, two learning sessions and a final review session. Learning was done in two sessions. In this process, 20 target items were divided into 10 target words from each two lists. The first 10 words were studied during the first session, and reviewed during the review session. Eight days (intersession interval) ISI was specified for the spaced-long condition. Finally, a 1-day ISI was specified for the spaced-short condition. To do so, the second 10 words during the second session were studied, and then they were reviewed during the review session. The results of paired samples t-test revealed that spaced-long input was more effective than the space-short. Spaced-long condition could help learners for conceptual understanding to develop, reduce forgetting and provide opportunities for learners to learn more efficiently.

Effectiveness of Using Mobile Dictionary App to Enhance Vocabulary Knowledge of EFL Learners with Different Level of Motivation

Vocabulary is an essential component of language proficiency which provides the basis for learners’ performance in other skills. This study investigated the effect of three kinds of definition conditions, that is L1, L2, and L1+L2 on incidental vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. To this aim, three experimental and one control groups took part in the current study so as to examine the effectiveness of definitions with 96 target words through listening. The participants were 74 fourth-grade high school students. Eight stories with each with 12 target words (total 96 words) were given to the learners. Participants in each group listened to eight short stories under one of the three mentioned conditions for experimental groups, with no definition offered for control group. They all answered vocabulary list, eight immediate post-tests and eight delayed posttests of vocabulary. The data were analyzed using t-tests and one-way ANOVA for both immediate and delayed post-tests. The results indicated that definition groups significantly outperformed the other group in terms of vocabulary acquisition on both immediate and delayed retention of target words. However, the findings showed a significant loss from the immediate to the delayed post-tests. These findings are discussed and implications are offered for foreign language syllabus designers and instructors.

Language learners have unprecedented opportunities for developing second language literacy skills and intercultural understanding by reading authentic texts on the Internet and in multimedia computer-assisted language learning environments. This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 11 studies of computer-mediated glosses in second language reading comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning. Computer-mediated glosses had an overall medium effect on second language reading comprehension and a large effect on incidental vocabulary learning. Mean effect sizes varied from medium to large depending upon the level of instruction, text type, and assessment tasks. Drawing upon findings of this meta-analysis and the overall characteristics of gloss studies, we propose recommendations for future research, including replications and the systematic study of reading variables and learner individual differences in multimedia learning environments with authentic texts.

Applying the Science of Learning to Classroom Teaching: The Critical Importance of Aligning Learning with Testing

Using cues (attention directing cues) to guide students through using multimedia learning environments is vital as it reduces visual search and thus reducing the cognitive load on students' working memory. In some cases these visual cues are used in the form of text box to guide students' attention and to provide critical information at the same time. These text cues may impose heavy cognitive load on learners, which cause working memory overload and, therefore, hinder learning. One of the reasons for this working memory overload is the split attention effect that occurs when learners need to mentally integrate two related sources of information at the same time in order for the learning materials to be understood. The current empirical study was performed to investigate the effects of different text cues that vary only in the opacity level of the text box (opaque, semi-transparent, transparent) on reducing split attention. A mental effort scale and a task performance test were administrated to 119 participants. A quantitative analysis was conducted and results from it showed that students from the semi-transparent group spent less cognitive effort learning the materials than students in both the transparent and the opaque groups. Moreover there was a positive significant correlation between the mental effort spent in learning the materials and the students' performance.

العبء المعرفي | الوسائط المتعددة | الذاكرة العاملية | عمليات ين ويانغ | الجهد العقلي | الكفاءة الذاتية | التذكر | Cognitive Load | Time Limited Learning | Multimedia - Learning Environments | Recall / Memory

There is a close relationship between learners’ affective states and the operation of working memory. When instructional support provided to learners is not tailored to levels of their prior knowledge, the resulting working memory overload may emotionally upset and de-motivate learners and thus influence the learning outcomes. The inclusion of affective and motivational factors in cognitive load research, particularly in studies of the expertise reversal effect, remains an essential direction for future research in this area. Establishing connections between affective variables and cognitive load factors, and using methods of affective computing could enhance capabilities of multimedia environments in tailoring learning to cognitive characteristics of individual learners. The chapter focuses primarily on features of our cognitive architecture that are directly related to the expertise reversal effect, main empirical findings associated with this effect in multimedia learning environments, and their implications for research in affective learner-tailored multimedia environments.

Regarding the redundancy effect in multimedia learning environments, more consistency is needed in the theoretical assumptions and investigation of this effect. Current research lacks a comprehensive account of different redundant scenarios in which materials facilitate or inhibit learning and provides little conceptual guidance on how learning processes are affected by different types of redundancy. Theoretical assumptions refer to redundancy as a contentual overlap of information provided by the learning material; in this case, processing duplicated information strains the learners' limited cognitive capacities. Other assumptions refer to the role of processing limitations in working memory channels, including separate processing for visual and verbal information. In this case, an ineffective combination of sources leads to an overload of the limited working memory capacity. This paper reviews empirical research on the redundancy effect (63 studies) and classifies two types of redundancy: (1) content redundancy, and (2) working memory channel redundancy. From an instructional psychology perspective, the analyses reveal four different implementations of redundant scenarios: (1) adding narration to visualizations, (2) adding written text to visualizations, (3) adding written text to narration, and (4) adding written text to narrated visualizations. Regarding the effects of the two redundancy types within these scenarios, analyses indicate positive effects of content redundancy (affected by learners' prior knowledge), negative effects of working memory channel redundancy (regarding visualizations and written text), and positive effects of working memory channel redundancy (regarding narration and written text). Moreover, results point to factors that might moderate the effect of redundancy and illustrate interactions with existing multimedia effects. Overall, this review provides an overview of the state of empirical research and reveals that the consideration of both redundancy types provides further explanations in this field of research.

Limited prior research provides some evidence of the cognitive and learning benefits of employing multiple pedagogical agents, each assigned to distinct knowledge bases, in a multimedia learning environment. However, follow‐up studies and extensions of these findings remain scarce. To address this gap, we draw on multimedia learning and cognitive models to investigate the effects of using multiple AI voices as specialist virtual tutors for distinct programming algorithm subtopics on cognitive load and learning outcomes. A between‐subjects experimental design was employed with first‐year business undergraduates who had minimal programming knowledge. Participants engaged with a multimedia learning video, narrated either by a single AI voice or by three distinct AI voices, each assigned to a different subtopic. Cognitive load was measured via a survey, while learning outcomes were assessed using immediate and 2‐week delayed posttests covering retention, near‐transfer, and far‐transfer tasks. Results indicated that participants in the multiple AI voice condition reported significantly lower intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load compared to those in the single AI voice condition. Furthermore, the multiple AI voice group outperformed the single AI voice group in both immediate and delayed retention, as well as in immediate far‐transfer tasks and delayed near‐transfer. This study empirically extends prior research on the cognitive effects of using multiple AI voices as virtual tutors in multimedia learning environments. It offers preliminary evidence that using unique voices to distinguish subtopics can benefit cognitive load and learning outcomes, with theoretical and instructional design implications for leveraging AI text‐to‐speech engines to simulate multiple virtual tutors for distinct instructional topics.

Effects of Learner Prior Knowledge and Working Memory Limitations on Multimedia Learning