Comprehending News Videotexts: the Influence of the Visual Content

Jeremy Cross Nanyang Technological University Informed by dual coding theory, this study explores the role of the visual content in L2 listeners’ comprehension of news videotexts. L1 research into the visual characteristics and comprehension of news videotexts is outlined, subsequently informing the quantitative analysis of audiovisual correspondence in the news videotexts used. In each of five lessons, ten pairs of Japanese EFL learners participated in a sequence of tasks in which they listened to, and discussed various facets of their comprehension of news videotexts. The pairs’ dialogue acted as the unit of analysis for exploring the effect of visual information on their comprehension. The qualitative analysis illustrated that various attributes of the visual content, such as audiovisual correspondence, impacted on comprehension. Moreover, other influences of the visual content found were its general utility in facilitating comprehension, inhibiting of attention to, and processing of audio information, and stimulation of learners’ expectations and inferencing of content. Based on these findings, learner variability aspects and several implications for related L2 listening pedagogy are discussed.