Abstract

This study investigated the influences of word-related and learner-related factors on incidental vocabulary learning from captioned videos. Specifically, it examined whether part of speech (nouns vs. verbs) affects learning outcomes, and explored the roles of learners’ L2 proficiency and working memory (WM) capacity in learners’ incidental vocabulary learning. Sixty Chinese university-level EFL learners were divided into two groups (N group: target nouns; V group: target verbs) and watched a captioned storytelling video with pseudowords replacing original nouns or verbs. Vocabulary tests (form and meaning recognition), a standardized English proficiency test (CEFR), and a reading span task for WM were administered. Results revealed that there was no significant difference between the learning of nouns and that of verbs. Overall, English proficiency significantly predicted form recognition and meaning recognition scores, but WM exhibited no significant correlation with learning outcomes. These findings suggest that captioned videos may mitigate word class disparities through multimodal input, and L2 proficiency plays a critical role in incidental vocabulary learning. Educators should prioritize aligning video materials with learners’ proficiency levels to optimize learning, and take advantage of visual input to enhance vocabulary acquisition.

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