L2 vocabulary learning from educational media: The influence of screen-based scaffolds on the incidental–intentional continuum

This study examines the potential of educational media to provide preschool-aged dual language learners (DLLs) with vocabulary in a new language. Drawing from dual-coding theory, the current study investigated how three distinct instructional contexts with varying degrees of incidental–intentional vocabulary exposure on screen might facilitate second language (L2) vocabulary development. Instructional contexts included participatory contexts that engaged viewer attention and elicited viewer response surrounding a vocabulary word (least incidental, most intentional), expository contexts that provided explicit visual-auditory vocabulary scaffolds (somewhat incidental, somewhat intentional), and narrative contexts that embedded vocabulary words in conversations within a storyline (most incidental, least intentional). The study used a within-subjects design with 50 preschool-aged DLLs. Children watched nine 2-minute video clips, followed by vocabulary knowledge assessments. Findings indicate that instructional contexts were differentially facilitative in helping DLLs identify words in a new language, F(1, 47) = 11.003, p =.002. Moreover, L2 proficiency moderated the influence of instructional contexts on vocabulary identification but not word meaning. Results suggest that media programs with relatively intentional exposure to vocabulary words on the incidental–intentional continuum may scaffold L2 word learning better than incidental exposures. Implications on the critical role of incidental vocabulary exposure in media learning environments for preschoolers are discussed.