Learning to Read From Television: The Effects of Using Captions and Narration

The author investigated caption use, sound, and the reading behavior of 76 children who had just completed 2nd grade. The present study indicated that beginning readers recognize more words when they view television that uses captions. The auditory element was important for comprehension tasks related to incidental elements and spontaneous use of target words, and the combination of captions and sound helped children identify the critical story elements in the video clips. Positive beliefs about one's competence in reading or watching television appeared to facilitate the recognition of words and, for boys, improve their oral reading rates. In sum, television captions, by evoking efforts to read, appeared to help a child focus on central story elements and away from distracting information, including sound effects and visual glitz. Implications are discussed.