Video is widely used in the teaching of L2 listening, and SLA researchers have argued that the visual components of spoken texts are useful for the listener in comprehending aural information. Yet video texts are rarely used on tests of L2 listening ability, perhaps in part due to the belief that including the visual channel involves assessing something beyond listening ability. In this study, a quasi-experimental design was used to compare the performance of two groups of learners on an ESL listening test. The control group took a listening test with audio-only texts. The experimental group took the same listening test, except that test-takers received the input through the use of video texts. Multi-variate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was used to compare the two groups’ performance, and it was found that the video (experimental) group scored 6.5% higher than the audio-only (control) group on the overall post-test, and this difference was statistically significant. The results of the study suggest that the non-verbal information in the video texts contributed to the video group’s superior performance.
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