SCROLL


CAPTION.COOL has reviewed research spanning 30 years, which conclusively shows that closed captioning improves reading skills for ALL students; beginning readers, learning disabled, at risk, English language learners, hearing impaired and even illiterate adults. Educators using closed captioning corroborate these findings. “Foundational readings skills, such as phonics, word recognition and fluency are enhanced. “Reading comprehension scores from students increased dramatically when captioned educational video was used.” In addition to a large body of research, this summary includes research for the inclusive classroom and articles written for and by educators. Closed captioning is a “motivating, engaging and inexpensive way to help build literacy.”
Paper discusses captioned television as a powerful motivator for teaching reading comprehension to students in grades 5-12, remedial programs, special education, English learners and adults with below average reading skills. “Using Captioned TV for Teaching Reading Fastback 359”-Goldman 1993 Using CC TV for Teaching Reading
“Using Captioned TV for Teaching Reading Fastback 359” -Goldman 1993 Using CC TV for Teaching Reading |
“Captioned television can be used to address a variety of skills:
|
Research shows captions on TV can be used to enhance the vocabulary & comprehension skills of young readers.
“Closed Captioned Prompt Rates: Their Influence on Reading Outcomes”- Meyer, Lee 1995 Captioned video and vocabulary learning |
“Of the many uses of captioned video in the development of literacy skills, vocabulary learning appears to be one of the most valuable.” “The combination of the video action with spoken
dialogue and printed words is a powerful tool in learning to read.” |
Significant gains in comprehension & vocabulary result from study of low-literacy achievement students who watched captioned movies with interactive activities.
“Raising adolescent reading achievement: the use of subtitled popular movies & high interest literacy activities”-Davey/Parkhill Raising adolescent reading achievement |
“We suggest that using other media (in this case, film with subtitles) for low literacy students may well offer a potential and attractive addition to an emphasis on print media, particularly in a world where non-print media will likely continue to be the most meaningful, most engaging and most commonly accessed texts in
the literacy lives of millennial generation adolescents .” |
1
Study of economically disadvantaged children showed captions helped them recognize & read more words & identify the meaning of those words.
“On-screen print: the role of captions as a supplemental literacy tool” –Linebarger/Piotrowski 2010 Role of captions as supplemental literacy tool |
“Early readers can learn to read and gain a clearer understanding of new words while viewing existing children’s educational programming with print on screen.” Television captioning increases attention to and subsequent comprehension of television content.”
|
Summary of research proving subtitling improves
reading literacy. “Evidence for the impact of Same Language Subtitles (SLS) on reading literacy” -turnonthesubtitles.org Impact of SLS on literacy |
“In a longitudinal study of continuous caption use in the home, children who viewed with captions scored significantly higher on normative tests of word identification and passage comprehension when compared with non-caption viewers.”
|
Study of a technological approach to reading
comprehension/retention skills in “at risk” elementary students. “Closed Caption Prompt Rates: Their Influence on Reading Outcomes”- Meyer & Lee 1995 Closed Caption Prompt Rates |
“Results suggest that educators can better help reading deficient students by choosing captioned video curriculum rather than traditional print materials.” |
A study investigated the effect of video and narrative presentations on children’s comprehension and
vocabulary acquisition. “Comparison of Video and Text Narrative Presentations on Comprehension and Vocabulary Acquisition ”- Podszebka, Conklin, Apple, Windus 1998 Comprehension & Vocabulary Acquisition |
“Television and video watching appear to have a positive
effect on comprehension. Vocabulary acquisition also seems to be positively affected when coupled with text. Closed captioning is a positive addition to teaching reading through television and video. Closed Captioning. is useful for regular education, special education, other language learners, and adult learners.” |
Two experiments examined the effect of single-modality (sound or text) and bimodal (sound and text) presentation on word learning.
“The effect of bimodal input on implicit and explicit memory: An investigation into the benefits of within-language subtitling ”- Bird, Williams 2002 Effect of Bimodal Input on Word Learning |
“The present results suggest that phonological information derived from both text and sound contributes to improvements in the processing of spoken words. Materials that encourage a more integrated visual and auditory learning context, such as same
language subtitling, might be attractive alternatives to traditional listening materials.” |
Paper analyzes studies to examine what benefits an educator can expect students to derive from closed captioning and computer-assisted reading. comprehension products.
“Technical Advances and Fifth Grade Reading Comprehension: Do Students Benefit?” -Fountaine 2000 Tech Advances & 5th Grade Reading Comprehension |
“The results were significant, indicating closed captioned
curriculum has potential to elevate comprehension. As an aside, it was even noted that most televisions today contain closed captioned capability and that parents could help the students by enabling it in the home.” |
2