Exploring the Effects of Learner-generated Multimedia Annotations on Vocabulary Acquisition

Language learners are often encouraged to keep notes of unfamiliar words that they encounter while reading, and go over them periodically to obtain a strong and durable memory trace (Hulstijn, 2001). As one of the most widely adopted word learning strategies, such practice of creating personalized word lists, however, does not normally involve multimodality. Word lists are normally comprised of only the target words and simplified definitions, with sample phrases or sentences sometimes included. Few learners try to, or are advised to, integrate multimedia (e.g., images, videos, animation, audio, etc.) into their word lists, even though the effects of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition have been widely acknowledged (Chun & Plass, 1996; Nation, 2001; Abraham, 2008).
However, the scopes of these studies are limited to the annotations that are provided to learners, while the field of learner-generated annotations has rarely been explored. This research, therefore, aims to investigate the effectiveness of four types of learner-generated annotations in promoting the initial learning and retention of ten target words. So far as we know, this is the first attempt to examine the employment of multimedia in creating word lists.