Investigating the Effects of Different L2 Caption Types on Young Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Learning

Captioned videos plays an important role in incidental vocabulary learning and retention. However, to date there has been limited research on how they affected young learners’ word acquisition. The present study examines the effectiveness of four captioning conditions, i.e., glossed captions, full captions, keyword captions, and no captioning, on incidental vocabulary learning and retention. A total of 125 young learners of English as a foreign language, divided into four groups, watched four videos and completed two vocabulary tests, i.e., form recognition and meaning recall, administered as pretest, post-test, and delayed test. The results showed that captioning types, particularly glossed captions, significantly affects incidental vocabulary learning and retention. And pedagogically relevant implications and limitations were discussed based on the results.