The Impact of Keyword Caption Ratio on Foreign Language Listening Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of three keyword caption modes on the listening comprehension of Arab learners of English as a foreign language (N = 90) while viewing authentic video clips. The keyword caption modes contained approximately 10%, 30% or 50% of the words in the video scripts. The participants watched three different video clips from three science videos, each of which contained one of the three keyword caption modes. Each participant experienced all three modes and the order in which they were viewed was counterbalanced. Their understanding of the content of the video clips was measured using comprehension tests consisting of gap fill and multiple-choice questions. The analysis of the listening comprehension test scores found evidence of an effect for the 50% keyword caption condition.