Examining the Impact of Individual

Differences of Information Processing

Styles in Technology-Enhanced Second

Vocabulary Learning

Takeshi Sato Tokyo Univ. of Agri. & Tec., Japan

Yuda Lai Providence University, Taiwan

Tyler Burden Meisei University, Japan

Presentation for CLaSIC 2014 International Conference

on 5th of December 2014 at National University of Singapore

Compared with the static picture, does

this animation help ANY learners

understand a prototypical sense of

over?

Can visual aids help L2

vocabulary learning?

Yes(e.g. Chun & Plass 1996; Al-Seghayer 2001;

Yoshii & Flaiz 2002; Sato & Suzuki 2010, 2012)

Learning tools with multimedia aids

From COCONE on YouTube

Sound

PhotoImage

Animation

From COCONE

(http://www.cocone.jp)

The more

technologically

advanced, the

better

To whom is it more effective?

Overview

1. Background

2. Research questions

3. Procedure

4. Findings

5. Conclusions

1. Background

• Chanier & Selva (1998)

Animation > Picture

• Al-Seghayer (2001) Mayer and Moreno

(2002)

Video > picture

• Yoshii & Flaitz (2002)

Text and picture > Text only and picture only

My previous study

Which image could be an effective aid for

L2 vocabulary learning?

My previous study (Sato, 2013)

✓English spatial prepositions as target

words

✓Pictorial images and animated

images as visual aids

Learning English

prepositions

Difficult to learn.

Why are prepositions

difficult?

• They appear very frequently but

learners do not always understand

their meanings. (Lingstromberg

2001a)

• Learners cannot use them according

to contexts only by memorization.

(Lingstromberg 2001b)

“image schema” as a visual aid

(I)mage schemata are

abstract patterns in

our experience and

understanding...

(Johnson 1987, p.2)

prototype Extended

Examples

Extension

The clouds are above the mountain.

The amount is above $ 100.

A flat high above the river.

? A flat high on the river.

? A flat high over the river.

Schematic pictorial

information of

basic prepositional

senses should be

used. (Brala, 2002)

Schematic image can

mediate several senses

The balloon is flying over the mountain

Let’s talk over a beer!I got over my cold

How about an animation?

The balloon is flying over the mountain

Let’s talk over a beer!I got over my cold

Results

No significant difference

(Sato & Suzuki 2009, 2010, 2011,

2012; Sato 2013)

We have reached…

• Technologically-enhanced visual

aids are not always superior to

traditional pictorial aids.

• Individual factors might

influence the results

Individual factors

Styles of Processing (Childers

et al. 1985)

Imager or Verbalizer

Learners’ L1

Japanese or Chinese

Process of learning

preposition with visual aids

I am ( ) average in

Math.

• Above, On, or Over?

• Which image is the most suitable in the context?

I am aboveaverage in

Math

• Selecting appropriate one

Process of learning

preposition with visual aids

I am ( ) average in

Math.

• Above, On, or Over?

• Which image is the most suitable in the context?

I am above average in

Math

• Selecting appropriate one

Process of learning

preposition with visual aids

I am ( ) average in

Math.

• Above, On, or Over?

• Which image is the most suitable in the context?

I am above in

Math

• Selecting appropriate one

The process

needs the

ability to

develop a

mental image

of the text

Imager vs Verbalizer

• Imagers tend to think in mental pictures

rather than words.

• Verbalizers (or low imagers) tend to think

in words rather than mental pictures.

• Verbalizers might not benefit from the

strategy from Cognitive Linguistics

(Boers et al. 2008)

L1 translations make learning

English prepositions more difficult

(Tanaka 1990)

-no ue ni

above

on

overlocated at higher level

than something

How about in the case of Chinese?

zai ... shangmian

above

on

over

2. Research questions

• Overall, compared to the static visual aids, do the animated visual aids enhance the appropriate use of the prepositions?

• If the learners are imagers, do the animated visual aids enhance their appropriate use of the prepositions?

If the learners’ L1 is Chinese, do the animated visual aids enhance their appropriate use of the prepositions more than if their L1 is Japanese?

3. Procedure1.Japanese (n=160) and Taiwanese (n=51)

undergraduate students

2.Divided into 2 groups at random

3.Questionnaire (Information Processing Style)

4.Vocabulary pre-test (above, on and over)

5.Displayed 3 images or animations, with sentences

6.Post vocabulary test (randomized)

7.Production test

8.Delayed vocabulary test (2 weeks after)

9.Delayed production test

Treatment 1: Above

Tanaka et al. (eds.) 2003 coconejp from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by2BIcd4AIQ

Treatment 2: On

Tanaka et al. (eds.) 2003 coconejp from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzk8kibGX2Y&feat

ure=c4-overview&list=UUrtW7B-57zAIz_1rpPiQ8Ew

Treatment 3: Over

Tanaka et al. (eds.) 2003 coconejp from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZGf2FF01pQ

Production (free-writing) test

• Students write as many sentences with

the prepositions as possible within 15

minutes

• Sentences were marked by two people

independently after deciding the criteria

• Scored for grammatically correct

metaphorical use (excluding idioms and

phrasal verbs)

• Average scores were used for the

analysis

1. Overall, compared to the

static visual aids, do the

animated visual aids

enhance the appropriate

use of the prepositions?

Receptive

vocabulary(Overall)

19.0

22.5

21.0

19.3

23.1

22.0

18.0

19.0

20.0

21.0

22.0

23.0

24.0

pretest posttest delaytest

2D 3D

Production (Overall)

3.46

3.08

3.91 3.74

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

posttest delayed test

2D 3D

t-test (receptive)

• Pre-test: t(55)= -2.41, p < 0.05

• Post-test: t(55) = -0,39, p > 0.05

• Delayed-test: t(54)= 0.61, p > 0.05

(Sato, 2013)

t-test (production)

• Post test: t(148)=-1.00, p > 0.05

• Delayed test: t(148)=-1.80, p > 0.05

2. If the learners are

imagers, do the animated

visual aids enhance their

appropriate use of the

prepositions?

Imager vs verbalizer (receptive)

22.5

20.8

22.4

21.2

24.1

22.9

22.1

21.1

19.0

20.0

21.0

22.0

23.0

24.0

25.0

imager post imager delayed verbalizer post verbalizerdelayed

2D 3D

Imager vs Verbalizer

(production)

1.94

2.48 2.74

3.38

2.00

2.48 2.54

3.10

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

2D verbalizers(n=24)

2D imagers(n=29)

3D verbalizers(n=27)

3D imagers(n=25)

posttest delayedtest

t-test (receptive)

verbalizer post t(101)= -0.314 p > 0.05

verbalizer delayed t(101)= -0.187 p > 0.05

imager post t(106)= -0.159 p > 0.05

imager delayed t(106)= -2.30 p < 0.05

t-test (production)

• Verbalizer Post test: t(49)=-1.816, p >

0.05

• Verbalizer Delayed test: t(49)=-1.421, p >

0.05

• Imager Post test: t(52)=-2.060, p < 0.05

• Imager Delayed test: t(52)=-1.402, p >

0.05

3. If the learners’ L1 is

Chinese, do the animated

visual aids enhance their

appropriate use of the senses

more than if their L1 is

Japanese?

Japanese (receptive)

18.7

22.4

20.5

18.8

22.3

21.4

18.0

19.0

20.0

21.0

22.0

23.0

pretest posttest delaytest

2D

3D

Taiwanese (receptive)

20.0

23.5

22.5

21.2

26.2

24.2

19.0

20.0

21.0

22.0

23.0

24.0

25.0

26.0

27.0

pretest posttest delayedtest

2D 3D

t-test (Japanese, receptive)

• Pretest: t(159)= -0.11 p > 0.05

• Posttest: t(159) = 0.287, p > 0.05

• Delayed test: t(159)= 0.136, p > 0.05

t-test (Taiwanese,

receptive)

• Pretest: t(49)= -0.131 p > 0.05

• Posttest: t(49) = -2.23, p < 0.05

• Delayed test: t(49)= -1.45, p > 0.05

Japanese (Production)

1.87

2.26

3.05 2.81

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

posttest delayedtest

2D (n=53) 3D (n=52)

Taiwanese (Production)

6.654

4.712

6.2146.000

4.000

4.500

5.000

5.500

6.000

6.500

7.000

post test delayed test

2D

3D

t-test（Japanese, production）

• Post test: t(103)=-3.927, p < 0.05

• Delayed test: t(103)=-1.858, p > 0.05

t-test（Taiwanese,

production）

• Post test: t(45)=0.55, p > 0.05

• Delayed test: t(45)=-1.89, p > 0.05

5. Conclusion

• Significant differences between the groups

Delayed vocabulary test (Imagers)

Delayed production test (Imagers)

Post vocabulary test (Taiwanese)

Post production test (Japanese)

Imagers could make better use of animated aids

Learners’ L1 might affect the results

Research Question Answers

Overall, compared to the static visual aids, do the animated aids enhance the appropriate use of the prepositions?

NO

If the learners are imagers, do the animated visual aids enhance their appropriate use of the prepositions?

YES (both in receptive and production test)

If the learners’ L1 is Chinese, do the animated visual aids enhance their appropriate use of the prepositions more than if their L1 is Japanese?

NO (Taiwanese are better in vocabulary test while Japanese in production test )

That is to say…

Individual factors affect the

result of L2 vocabulary

learning with technologically-

enhanced aids

ReferencesAl-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: a comparative study. Language Learning and Technology, 5(1), 202-232

Chun,D.L., & Plass, J.L. (1996). Effects of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 80(2), 183-198.

Mayer, R. & Moreno, R. (2002). Aids to computer-based multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 12, 107-119.

Lakoff, G.(1987) Woman, fire and dangerous thing. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Langacker, R, W.(1987) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Volume I, Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

Lindstromberg, S.(2001a) "Preposition Entries in UK Monolingual Learner’s Dictionaries: Problems and Possible Solutions." Applied Linguistics 22(1),pp79-103.

Lindstromberg, S. (2001b). Are English prepositions really incredibly idiomatic? Humanising Language Teaching Magazine, 3(3). Available on the Web: http://www.hltmag.co.uk/may01/lind.htm

Sato, T., & Suzuki, A. (2010). Do multimedia-oriented visual glosses really facilitate EFL vocabulary learning? : A comparison of planar images with three- dimensional images. Asian EFL Journal, 12(4):160-172.

Sato, T., & Suzuki A. (2011). Verifying Multimedia Gloss: Image Schema and Polysemous Vocabulary in English. Proceedings of the annual conference of the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning, 285-293.

Tanaka, S. (1990) Cognitive Semantics. Sanyusha: Tokyo.

Yoshii,M., & Fraitz, J.(2002). Second Language Incidental Vocabulary Retention: The Effect of Text and Picture Annotation Types. CALICO Journal, 20(1), 33-58.

Yeh, Y., & Wang, C. (2003). Effects of Multimedia Vocabulary Annotations and learning styles on vocabulary learning. CALICO Journal, 21(1). 131-144.

Thank you for listeningご清聴ありがとうございました

tsato@cc.tuat.ac.jp

https://tuat.academia.edu/TakeshiSato