The Effects Of Multimedia Annotations On L2 Vocabulary Learning: A Comparative Study Of Text-Picture And Audio-Picture Annotations Under Intentional Learning Condition

Studies on multimedia dual annotations are mostly conducted under incidental learning condition, and attention is mainly focused on the text-picture and text-video annotations. However, there were few studies on the effect of multimedia dual annotation processed by the auditory and visual working memory under intentional learning condition. Thus, this thesis, based on Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, aims to examine the effects of text-picture annotation and audio-picture annotation on L2 vocabulary immediate and delayed recall under intentional learning condition.The thesis is composed of six parts. Part One is introduction, which illustrates the significance of the study. Part Two is a review of the related literature. Part Three is the theoretical framework. Part Four stated the key elements of this research design, including research questions, participants, instruments and research method. The research questions are:Is there any difference between the effects of text-picture and audio-picture annotation on L2 vocabulary immediate recall under intentional learning condition? What type of multimedia annotation leads to better retention of L2 vocabulary under intentional learning condition? This study was designed to employ a between-subjects design. The participants were 60 English majors In Lanzhou University of Technology who passed Test for English Major Band 4(TEM4). Those 60 participants were randomly divided into two groups: 30 participants were in the audio-picture annotation setting and 30 participants were in the text-picture annotation setting. The instruments were Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, Word Recognition Test and Multiple-Choice Reading Comprehension Test. According to the research purpose, the participants were told that they would have vocabulary posttests and reading comprehension test up front. Two weeks later, all participants were given the same tests again. Part Five analyzed the data, and made a discussion on the basis of the theoretical framework.SPSS12.0 for Windows was employed for Independent-samples T test. Part Six are conclusions: (1) Under intentional learning condition, the effect of the audio-picture annotation is better than that of the text-picture annotation on L2 vocabulary immediate recall. On Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, there was a statistically significant difference between the score of the audio-picture annotation group and that of the text-picture annotation group in immediate posttest(T= -5.091, P= .000< .05). On Word Recognition Test, there was also a statistically significant difference between the score of the audio-picture annotation group and that of the text-picture annotation group in immediate posttest(T=-2.415, P= .019<.05). Theoretically speaking, the audio-picture annotation group processed the information that was presented via multimedia through the visual channel and the auditory channel simultaneously, which made participants take advantage of the visual working memory and the auditory working memory consciously in the posttest when they were told the learning task in advance, in this way, the cognitive load of sensory modality was reduced and lead to better L2 vocabulary learning. (2) Under intentional learning condition, the effect of the audio-picture annotation is better than that of the text-picture annotation on L2 vocabulary delayed recall. On Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, the audio-picture annotation group did significantly better than the text-picture annotation group in immediate posttest(T= -7.252, P=.000<.05). On Word Recognition Test, the audio-picture annotation group outscored the text-picture annotation group significantly on L2 delayed posttest(T= -5.787, P= .000<.05). On the basis of the theoretical framework of this study, the text-picture annotation group only made the use of the visual channel instead of using the auditory and visual channels simultaneously in the posttest, which overloaded the visual channel and went against the dual channel assumption of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, as the result, decreased the expected effectiveness of the multimedia learning.In summary, this study indicated that under intentional learning condition, the audio-picture annotation group did significantly better than the text-picture annotation group on L2 vocabulary immediate and delayed recall, which confirmed the theoretical framework in this study. The dual channel assumption of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning can explain these findings. Mayer distinguishes the two separate channels for processing visual/pictorial and auditory/verbal. Information, the effective capacity of working memory could be increased by using both visual and auditory channels. So, words annotated with both verbal and visual modes of information lead to more effective vocabulary learning and retention.