The purpose of this experimental study was to compare the effects
of different types of computer-generated visuals (static versus
animated) and advance organizers (descriptive versus question) in
enhancing comprehension and retention of a content-based lesson for
learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Additionally, the study
investigated the interactive effect of students' existing reading
proficiency level and the above-mentioned treatments on their reading
comprehension achievement. Students from two EFL reading sections (N =
115) were tested on their reading proficiency and then randomly assigned
to one of four computer-based instructional modules--static visual
alone, animation alone, animation plus descriptive advance organizer,
and animation plus question advance organizer. Once having interacted
with their respective instructional materials, students then took four
criterion tests immediately afterward and again four weeks later. The
results showed that the animation group outperformed the static visual
group in one of the four tests, and that animation embedded with a
question advance organizer had a marginal effect among the four
treatments in facilitating the acquisition of L2 reading comprehension
both for the immediate and the delayed posttests.
INTRODUCTION
Instructional materials designed and developed using multimedia
have provided exciting potential learning opportunities thanks to
advancement in information technology, making their pedagogical effects
on learning and teaching worth examining. L1 reading comprehension takes
place when a previous acquired schema stored in the long-term memory is
retrieved to assist the processing and understanding of new unfamiliar
information (Anderson & Pearson, 1984). The process of transforming
incoming information/knowledge elements into schemata requires
considerable cognitive mental effort. Native language speakers typically
encounter difficulties in reading when they have gaps in their content
knowledge. However, the problems faced by L1 readers can also be applied
to L2 readers. Insufficient background knowledge hinders top-down
processing of the new information, and limited language competence of
second/foreign language learners makes the decoding process even more
difficult. For ESL/EFL learners with low prior knowledge of a subject
matter, instructional strategies need to be integrated into the course
material. Instructional materials developed using multimedia are
believed to be able to facilitate learners' information processing,
and to enhance effective cognitive encoding due to the multiple
representations that trigger both verbal and visual modes of processing
in human beings.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Framework
Dual-coding theory (Paivio 1971, 1978, 1990, 1991) provides
theoretical justifications for the use of visuals in the instructional
presentations. According to the dual-coding theory, human memory is
composed of two independent but interconnected coding systems. The
visual system primarily deals with visual codes, such as images,
pictures, concrete objects, or events; the other system, the verbal
system, deals with non-visual codes such as words, speech, language, or
semantic codes. Generally, each of the systems functions independently
but most information processing requires connections and reinforcement
between the two systems (Lai, 2000). Generally speaking, visuals are
more likely to be processed in both verbal and visual systems, and hence
the probability that they are retained in working memory and retrieved
later from long-term memory is higher than when the presentation
contains verbal information alone (Kobayashi, 1986).
Mayer (1994) developed a generative theory of multimedia learning
to provide design principles of multimedia instructional materials. The
basic tenet of the generative theory of multimedia learning is that
learners actively construct knowledge and are involved in a meaningful
learning process. A meaningful process occurs when learners consciously
select information from presented stimuli, organize information into
coherent representations, and then make efforts to integrate new
information with other information. The step of integration of
information from two individual systems, i.e. verbal and visual, is
especially critical. For a successful integration process to occur, both
verbal and its corresponding visual information must be held in the
working memory simultaneously.
Advance Organizers and Meaningful Learning
An advance organizer is defined as an instructional unit that is
introduced in advance of direct instruction. It is generally presented
at a higher level of abstraction and is intended to connect
learners' prior knowledge to what they will learn (Ausubel, 1963).
According to Ausubel, for meaningful learning to occur, learners must
possess a meaningful learning set and the material must be meaningful to
them. The learning set refers to an existing cognitive structure that
contains components to which the learner can connect substantive and
relevant features of new information and thus draw various relationships
between existing knowledge and newly acquired information. Kloster and
Winne (1989) suggest that advance organizers may promote learning
because they "... supply a learner with a new cognitive structure
so that the new information can be connected to it ..." and that
advance organizers "... cue students to assemble links between new
information and more abstract, general, and inconclusive information
that the students already know ..." (p. 9). An advance organizer is
designed to give learners a general overview of the new material before
the actual confrontation, and it creates a cognitive connection between
established knowledge and new material in terms of the relevant
concepts, therefore enhanceing the "familiarity and learn-ability
of new material ..."(Ausubel, 1963, p. 82).
Research findings have provided evidence of the superior effects of
various types of advance organizers used to facilitate reading
comprehension. Evans (2003) investigated the effects of graphic
organizers, one type of advance organizers for Japanese readers on
expository texts in English and found that studentgenerated graphic
organizers help accommodate different learner styles, lead to meaningful
learning, and enhance reading comprehension. In their study looking into
how the use of a dynamic visual advance organizer can facilitate reading
comprehension of L2 learners, Chun and Plass (1996) indicated that a
dynamic visual advance organizer is effective on the macro level of
processing while reading.
Herron, York, Cole, and Linden (1998) study compared the effect of
declarative versus interrogative advance organizers in facilitating
learners' comprehension of a foreign language video. The results
indicated that the students' listening comprehension of the foreign
language video was greatly improved when advance organizers were used
prior to the viewing of the video than not, although there were no
significant differences in tests between the two advance organizer
experimental groups. Using fifth graders as subjects, Hanley, Herron,
and Cole (1995) compared two visual advance organizers and pictures,
plus the teacher's narrative, in the comprehension and retention of
a written French passage. The result suggested that the video advance
organizer was superior in enhancing the comprehension of the foreign
text. Herron (1994) conducted an experiment to investigate the
effectiveness of using a verbal advance organizer that outlined major
scenes from the video. The advance organizer written on the blackboard
was presented orally by the teacher, outlining major scenes from the
video which both the control and the advance organizer groups watched in
its entirety. The results suggested that an advance organizer was
"... a more natural strategy than, for example providing students
with a list of fifteen key vocabulary words extracted from the
video" (p. 196).
Instructional Visualizations
Recent advances in instructional technology have made it possible
to design instructional material that incorporates varied
visualizations. Diagrams and images, typically presented as still or
static in both print and computer-based environments, can now be
animated or programmed to be dynamic to vividly present abstract
concepts or phenomena that are invisible to human eyes (Hegarty, 2004;
Rieber, 1996). However, visualization has a long history in
instructional material and previous research has shown that simply
adopting a new technology does not necessarily improve learning
(Hegarty, 2004). Generally speaking, animated (dynamic) visualization is
more likely than static visuals to present effectively motions or
movements imperceptible to the human eye or changes in shapes or motions
of objects (Caraballo, 1985; Rieber, 1996; Wong, 1994).
Despite the overwhelming excitement for animated visualization,
research studies have not been able to conclude that it is any more
effective than static visualization. Szabo and Poohkay (1996) reviewed
20 studies that investigated animation in the CBI environment and found
that half of the studies show a significant effect in favor of animation
(Alesandrini & Rigney, 1981; Kaiser, Proffitt, & Anderson, 1985;
Rieber, 1989; Rieber, Boyce & Assad, 1990) while the other half
showed no significant differences (Caraballo, 1985; King, 1975; Moore,
Nawrocki, & Simutis, 1979; Reed, 1985; Rieber & Hannafin, 1988).
Visuals, such as pictures/static images or video, have gained popularity
in foreign/second language teaching for purposes of teaching reading
comprehension. Rieber (1996), after conducting a review of static versus
animated visualization studies, indicates that animation has been used
"... with the intent to impress rather than to teach...." (p.
77). He strongly suggests animation be used only when its attributes are
congruent to the learning task. He also cautioned that complex animation
may be confusing for novice learners without prior knowledge in the
content area, i.e., they may not know how to attend to critical
information delivered by the animation (Rieber, 1996; Reed, 1985).
Omaggio (1979) investigated the effect of various types of visuals
as context in the reading comprehension of a French text. The results
suggested that providing visual contexts effectively enhanced the recall
of factual knowledge. Students also demonstrated better performance in
reading comprehension than their counterparts who received only the
text. To place foreign-text reading in a comprehensible context, ESL/EFL
teachers also utilized supplemental material such as news programs, TV
programs, or videotapes. Di Carlo (1994) suggested that visuals and
specifically, videotexts such as TV commercials, movies, and dramas can
enhance language acquisition by providing students various discourse
contexts and reducing the anxiety typically experienced in
second/foreign language learning.
A relatively large body of similar research has also been conducted
with native speakers on different types of learning in a multimedia
learning environment. Since the present study draws heavily on
Mayer's generative theory of multimedia learning, a brief review of
similar research conducted by Mayer and his colleagues is provided here.
Mayer, Hegarty, Mayer and Campbell (2005) investigated the effect of
annotated illustrations versus narrated animation in multimedia
instruction on students' retention and transfer test performance.
Students either received a static diagram with explanatory text or
animation with narration explaining the process of how lightning, a
toilet tank, ocean waves and a car's braking system work. The
results indicated that students receiving static diagrams with text
scored significantly higher than those receiving animation with
narration on four of the eight tests. The study supported the idea that
static illustration effectively reduce extraneous cognitive load
possibly induced by animation and narration, and on the other hand
promotes germane processing.
In another study by Mautone and Mayer (2001), students received a
short science lesson on how airplanes lift. Four lessons were prepared
for the research. One lesson employed signals including a preview
summary, section headings, and pointer words. The other three lessons
included explanations presented as printed text, spoken text, and spoken
text with corresponding animation, respectively. Results suggested that
students receiving the lesson with signals performed significantly
better in the problem-solving task than those who did not. Research on
animation has looked into the effect of animated instruction with
various types of strategies. Mayer and Moreno (1998) investigated the
relative effectiveness of concurrent narration versus on-screen text
when they were used to accompany computer-generated animation. Results
indicated that learners identified factual knowledge better when
explanations were presented via concurrent narration than by on-screen
text. Learners also generated more solutions to problems when animated
instruction was accompanied with spoken narration than with on-screen
text. To sum up, previous studies on visualization have documented the
related effectiveness of various types of visualizations and strategies
used to accompanying them either with native or non-native speakers of
English in different types of learning material and outcomes. However,
the authors believe that few studies have compared the learning effects
of static and animated visuals, as well as strategies embedded to foster
learning from animation in a foreign language context. The only study
that we can identify was Xiao and Jones' (1995) study. When
investigating potential ways to integrate animation in ComputerBased
Instruction (CBI) programs into a language learning environment, Xiao
and Jones have suggested that animation be used to teach phonetics,
action verbs, and cultural elements.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Built on cognitive psychology theories underpinning the use of
multimedia to facilitate L2 learners' reading comprehension, this
study first examined the effect of cognitive strategies on language
learners' comprehension of authentic reading material. The
strategies included a combination of advance organizers (questions
versus descriptive statements) and visualizations (static versus
dynamic). Since learners' reading comprehension level might also
affect the strategies that they will employ in the reading process, this
study also investigated the relationship of the reading proficiency
level and the proposed cognitive strategies on L2 learners' reading
comprehension.
Specifically this study addressed the following research questions:
1) What are the relative effects of different cognitive strategies
combining advance organizers and visualizations on ESL/EFL
learners' reading comprehension of a multimedia-based authentic
text?
2) Can cognitive strategies, visuals embedded with advance
organizers in a multimedia-based authentic text, compensate for low
reading ability?
METHODOLOGY
The Participants
The participants of the study were 115 sophomores (20 males and 95
females) drawn from two sections of an intermediate EFL reading course
at a private technical/vocational university in Taiwan. The students
were English majors for practical purposes with an age range of 19-24
([bar].M =20.0; SD=1.25). At the time of the study, students had been
learning English for approximately seven years since English is a
required course from the seventh grade up in Taiwan. Participants in
this study have not had the experience of studying or living in any
English-speaking countries.
Computer-Based Instructional Material
The material used in the current study is a paper-based reading
material developed by Dwyer and Lamberski (1977) that describes the
parts of the human heart, the circulation of blood flow, and blood
pressure. This text contains both general physiology knowledge that
English native speakers typically learn in their high school as well as
more complex concepts likely learnt in a college freshman biology class.
The lesson consisted of 1,821 words split into 20 pages covering a range
of learning tasks in increasing complexity. Each page is accompanied by
a contextual visual of a simple line drawing. The material was further
developed into a computer-based instructional format with static or
animated visuals and advance organizers.
To be consistent across all treatments, all instructional web pages
were split into five sections with the title of each page on top and an
image of the heart on the right to illustrate the corresponding text in
the middle. Supplementary review links were placed on the left-hand side
of the screen. At the bottom was a navigation bar that allowed students
to go back or move forward.
Treatments
Four computer-based modules were developed respectively for the
study. All modules contained identical instructional content. The
description of each treatment material is described in the following.
1. Static Visuals Alone (SV)
Students in this group received the instructional material
described above accompanied by 20 contextual static visuals. The visuals
contained simple line drawings of the part of the human heart. See
Figure 1 for a sample screenshot of this treatment.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
2. Animated Visuals Alone (AN)
Students in this group received an instructional module that
contained animated visuals on selected web pages according to a pilot
study, which was conducted to determine the parts of the instruction
material with which students had difficulties and where animation could
be positioned to resolve these difficulties. Students in this group were
asked to look at the heart image at the right and read the pertaining
text in the middle. Students were encouraged to interact with the
animated visuals and associate them with the text. The animation used in
the study is of three major types: zoom in/out, motions, and focusing.
The purpose of the animated visuals is to illustrate concepts and
rules/procedures related to the instructional material that are hard to
demonstrate using such static visuals. Students were allowed to review
the animated visuals as many times as they wanted by clicking on the
animation button. A sample screenshot of the animated instruction is
presented in Figure 2.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
3. Animated Visuals + Descriptive Advance Organizer (A+D)
Participants in this group received treatment that contained
animated instructional material that was exactly the same as those
received by the Animation group (AN). However, descriptive advance
organizers were placed prior to each frame. Each descriptive advance
organizer consisted of a short statement and a supplemental static
visual. The purpose of the embedded descriptive advance organizer was to
cue learners to crucial concepts that they needed to pay particular
attention to in the to-beencountered material. For a sample screenshot
of a frame that contains a descriptive advance organizer, see Figure 3.
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
4. Animated Visuals+ Question Advance Organizer (A+Q)
Participants in this treatment received the same animated
instructional material as the (AN) group. However, students in this
group received advance organizers in the form of questions prior to each
frame. The question advance organizer consisted of a question and a
static visual, which was exactly the same as that received by the (A+D)
group. This type of advance organizer asked a question concerning the
main concepts in the upcoming material, followed by possible answer
choices. Feedback as to the right answer of the question was provided in
a pop-up window eight seconds after the appearance of the question. The
purpose of the question advance organizer was to activate students'
prior knowledge and to encourage elaborate processing of the upcoming
material. For a sample screenshot of the frame that contained a question
advance organizer, see Figure 4.
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
Criterion Measures
Four criterion measures were used to assess students'
understanding and retention of the content-based lesson. These four
criterion tests measured different levels of reading comprehension of
the instructional material, i.e., simple factual/declarative knowledge,
concepts, rules/procedures, and comprehension. Each criterion test is
composed of 20 items with each item worth one point. The maximum score
for each test is 20. Except for the drawing test, the terminology,
identification, and comprehension tests consisted of 20 multiple choice
questions each. As for the drawing test, students were asked to draw a
diagram of the human heart on a piece of paper provided. All the tests,
except for the drawing test, were converted to an online format so that
after students received their respective treatments, they could
immediately take the tests. A detailed description of the criterion
measures are provided below. Refer to the Appendix for the complete test
questions.
Drawing Test: (Cronbach's alpha =0.83)
The purpose of the drawing test was to measure students'
overall understanding of the content-based lesson, as well as their
ability to reproduce the parts of the heart in their appropriate
context. Each student was provided with a blank piece of paper on which
20 parts of the heart were to be drawn and then identified.
Students' drawing ability was not an important factor in the
scoring since correct positioning of the 20 parts of the heart was the
criterion of assessment. The scorers were two doctoral students with a
major in instructional systems. The scorers were trained and given
instruction on scoring procedures. The inter-rater reliability of the
drawing test for this study was 0.90.
Identification Test: (Cronbach's alpha =0.81)
The purpose of the identification test was to assess students'
ability to identify parts of the human heart. In this test, a diagram of
the human heart with 20 numbered arrows was provided to students, who
had to then choose the corresponding letter for a numbered arrow from
four possible answer choices.
Terminology Test: (Cronbach's alpha =0.83)
Students were assessed about their knowledge of specific terms of
the human heart and their association with various functions of the
human heart. For example, students were assessed whether or not they
knew that "superior and inferior vena cavas" is the term for
the parts of the human heart through which blood from the body enters
the heart.
Comprehension Test: (Cronbach's alpha =0.77)
This test consisted of more difficult comprehension questions that
required students' understanding of facts, rules/procedures, and
simple concepts pertaining to this content-based lesson. Specifically,
the test covered questions that asked about the function of the human
heart in both the diastolic and systolic phases. In particular, given a
description of how a part of the human heart was functioning, students
needed to be able to understand a simultaneous functioning of another
part(s) of the human heart. Position or status of relative parts while
specific parts of the human heart are operating needed to be fully
comprehended by the students for them to score high on the test.
Total Score: (Cronbach's alpha =0.92)
Scores from above four tests were added up and a grand total was
attained; the total score was used to examine students' overall
understanding of the instructional material.
Procedure
The procedures were divided into two stages. In the first stage,
the instructor provided students with readings in which the content was
relevant to the material used in the study. The readings were simplified
in terms of the level of difficulty in vocabulary and content. The
purpose was to provide students with general background knowledge
related to the human heart before they were exposed to the experimental
material originally developed for English native speakers at the college
level. The use of material at a reduced difficulty prior to the
experiment was also intended to decrease the level of frustration for
students because, generally speaking, students in this EFL context do
not possess advanced physiology knowledge unless they are majors in this
discipline. A glossary listing important professional words with their
Chinese translation was provided to students, and they were encouraged
to remember the list to facilitate the understanding of the
pre-experimental material.
The second stage of the experiment was conducted in a multimedia
language lab during normally scheduled class hours. Prior to receiving
respective treatment, students were tested on their English reading
comprehension via taking a sub-test on TOEFL in their intact reading
class. Upon completion of the reading test, students were seated in a
multimedia language lab in which each treatment was installed and the
introduction page was displayed. Students, randomly assigned to each
treatment, then received the respective treatment material and completed
the four criterion measures. Students took the same criterion measures
again four weeks later after the experiment. During the four-week
period, students had no access to the treatment material or the answers
to the tests nor were they informed beforehand that the same tests would
be given the second time four weeks later.
RESULTS
Reading Comprehension Test
The reading comprehension test was a subtest of an institutional
TOEFL and consisted of 37 multiple choice questions assessing
students' understanding of five reading passages in different
lengths. The maximum score for the reading test is 37. Table 1
summarizes the means and standard deviations of the reading
comprehension test scores achieved by the four treatment groups.
Main Effect of Treatments
A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the four
immediate criterion tests. The results suggested that there was no
interaction between the treatment group and the level of reading
comprehension on each of the criterion tests. However, the main effects
of the treatments were observed in each of the criterion tests. Table 3
summarizes the means and standard deviations of each immediate criterion
test among the groups for the main effect of treatments on these groups.
As indicated, the (A+Q) group outperformed the other three groups in all
of the tests. The (SV) group scored the lowest in all except the
terminology tests. For treatments in which the advance organizers were
embedded, the question advance organizer seemed to be more effective
than the descriptive advance organizer in facilitating the
students' performance on the tests.
Tukey post-hoc tests were used to investigate the differences found
in a significant main effect for treatment. The significance level and
the mean difference of treatment groups are shown in Table 4. Another
two-way analysis of variance was conducted on the four delayed criterion
posttests. Again, no interaction between the treatment group and RPL was
observed on all of the criterion posttests. However, the main effects of
the treatments were observed in three of the criterion tests and the
total score as shown in Table 5.
Tukey post hoc tests were used to investigate the differences found
in a significant main effect for treatment and the results were shown in
Table 6.
Table 6. Tukey HSD Post-hoc Tests of Treatment Effect on Each
Delayed Posttest
Table 7 provides a summary of the main effects of treatment on both
immediate and delayed posttests. As indicated, the (A+Q) group performed
significantly better than the (SV) group in three of the tests and the
total score bu