The document summarizes and critiques two research papers on the use of multimedia in the classroom. The first paper examines how visual elements in news videos influence second language comprehension and finds that images can distract or aid comprehension depending on the learner. The second paper tests if concurrent or successive presentation of visuals and text leads to better understanding, finding contiguity helps for some but not all learners. Both papers contribute to theories of how individual differences affect multimedia learning.

1. TOPIC: The Use of Multimedia in the Classroom
By Robyn Wood
A Critique of
Comprehending News Videotexts: The Influence of
Visual Images
(Cross, 2011)
And
For Whom Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?
Extensions of a Dual-Coding Theory of Multimedia
Learning (Mayer & Sims, 1994)

2. A Brief Summary: Comprehending News Videotexts….
Jeremy Cross
• PhD in applied linguistics. Associate professor in English, Nanyang Technological
Institute, Singapore
Purpose of research:
• To explore the influence of the visual content of news videotexts on the listening
comprehension of L2 learners (builds on the same research done with L1 learners)
Research methods:
• Participants: - 20 Japanese women (of similar English speaking abilities)
•
Used 5 BBC news videotext segments – with the verbal and visual information being
coded into 4 categories
•
Learners - paired up, watched the segments & made notes on:
(i) their understandings
(ii) their comprehension processes and
(iii) considered ways to better understand the segments
•
Dialogic recall was recorded and analysed using a thematic analysis approach is
results
•
Results were discussed based on dual coding theory

3. Main Findings of this Research
•
Visual content may / may not be unhelpful in assisting comprehension
• Some learners were distracted by the sheer number of visual images making it difficult
for students to make connections. This supports split-attention theory (Chandler &
Sweller, 1991)
•
L2 learners do not necessarily benefit from visual information the same as L2
learners
• While CGA‟s benefited L1 learners, some L2 learners found CGA‟s unhelpful
•
At times, learners attended to either the visual content or the audio content as
a means of a comprehension strategy
• Suggests when processing issues such as redundancy or „split attention‟ arose,
students used „selective attention’ as a comprehension strategy. Supported by
Lang‟s (1995) research that “the multimodality of news videotexts places excessive
demands on an individuals limited short term memory capacity”
•
Learners respond differently to different news texts
• Several learners identified captions as being helpful in orientating them re. the
interviewers/ees while other learners did not even notice the captions!

4. Main Findings of this Research Continued + Links
•
initial portions of segments were used by students for predicting or creating an
expectation
•
students used visual content to make inferences
o Note however that the students inferences were not always correct!
•
visual information in the news videotext was not always attended to or used
o E.g. students looking at the screen with a „blank-stare‟ while listening (presumably to cut out
the visual information). This is supported by Garland-Thomson (2009).
Links To This Paper :
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Listening comprehension
Dual coding theory
Visual imagery
Split attention
Redundancy effect
Second language acquisition

5. A Critical Review of this Research
Analysis
o Informative literature review. The inclusion of screen shots illustrating the coding categories was
helpful
o Useful research for educators using multimedia and for ESOL educators
Evaluation
o The sole use of dialogic recall at times made the results feel vague and lacking precision e.g.
„several‟ learners, and „a number of learners‟
o Absence of graphs / tables
Problem solving:
o Limitations to the design were acknowledged. Further research was suggested .
o The implications for classroom practice are clearly stated (see notes) however because
variables such as the influence of differing mental models etc. were not considered, I have
reservations about these.
Decision Making:
o The use of qualitative data only is questionable especially when thematic analysis views it only
from one level. Adding a quantitative component (e.g. eye tracking movements and a required
response to set questions) would have added greater depth/reliability to this research.
Reasoning:
o Given current use of videotexts in classrooms is „one size fits all learners‟, this research topic is
important however I believe it is weak due to questionable research methods/analysis.

6. A Brief Summary: For Whom Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?….
Richard E. Mayer
American educational psychologist.
Valerie K. Sims (M.A. and Ph.D)
Associate professor in cognitive psychology, Orlando. Research includes
human-computer interaction and individual differences in spatial ability.
Purpose of research:
•
To determine if students build better referential connections when visual and verbal materials are
presented contiguously or separately
Research methods:
•
Conducted 2x experiments involving 86 college students viewing an animation and listening either
simultaneously (concurrent group) or successively (successive group) to two sets of different
instructions.
•
Participants were tested and grouped according to their domain-specific knowledge of the topic and
their spatial abilities.
•
After watching the animations, participants answered questions relating to creative problem solving
requiring transfer
•
Data was interpreted using the modified DCT model (as shown in diagram above)

7. Main Findings of this Paper & Links:
•
The concurrent group generated more creative solutions when solving problems requiring transfer
•
The contiguity effect was strong for high-ability spatial learners but not for low-spatial ability
learners
•
Spatial ability allows high-spatial ability learners to devote cognitive resources to building
referential connections between visual and verbal representations
•
Low-spatial ability learners need to allocate more cognitive resources to building representation
connections between visually presented material and its visual representation
•
Students with domain-specific knowledge may not require texts with visual aids because they can
generate their own mental image (drawn from long term memory) as they read or listen
•
individual differences of leaners (i.e. in terms of domain specific knowledge and spatial ability)
influence the cognitive conditions required for meaningful learning* from words and pictures.
Links To This Paper
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Baddeley‟s model of working memory
Spreading activation
Visual imagery
Dual coding theory
Spatial ability

8. A Critical Review of this Research
Analysis:
o Diagrams, explanations and tables aided the understanding of this research. Terms well defined.
o Highly relevant topic – especially to educators of 21st Century learners. The resulting
implications are pertinent to classroom practice (see notes below).
Evaluation:
o Extended dual coding model seems plausible
o Measuring both domain-specific knowledge and spatial capability at the same time seemed
unnecessarily complicated
Problem solving:
o Major imitations to research were acknowledged with further research suggested to address
these.
Decision Making:
o Using a second experiment to confirm the hypothesis relating to the first experiment was sound
o Having a control group enabled comparisons
o Analyzing the results using ANOVA added reliability (although mathematical equations were
above me!)
Reasoning:
o The conclusions appear reasonable, build on the widely accepted view of DCT, confirm previous
research and contribute to the evolving theory re. cognitive conditions for meaningful learning from
pictures and words.

9. References
Chandler, P. & Sweller, J. (1991). Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction. Cognition and
Instruction, 8, 293-332. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.waikato.ac.nz/stable/pdfplus/3233596.pdf?acceptTC=true
Cross, J. (2011) Comprehending news videotexts: the influence of the visual content. Language,
Learning &Technology, 15 (2), 44–68. Retrieved from Factiva database.
Mayer, R. E., & Sims, V. K. (1994) For who is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a
dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86 (3), 389-401.
Retrieved from Proquest Education Journals database.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford, England: Oxford
University Press.
Wikipedia. (2013). Contiguity effect. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguity
Wikipedia. (2013). Thematic analysis. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_analysis