Effectiveness of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition: The technique feature analysis on trial

From the perspective of Nation and Webb’s (2011) technique feature analysis, this research examines the effects of multimedia annotations on vocabulary acquisition, comparing it to other frequently employed word learning strategies. One hundred and twenty undergraduate students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to four groups to complete four multimedia-enhanced word learning tasks. The post-test scores showed that the tasks of reading comprehension with pictorial annotations and doing cloze-exercises with textual annotations were similarly effective. It is also found that cloze-exercises with pictorial annotations were similarly effective as sentence-writing with textual annotations. Such results are consistent with the checklist for technique feature analysis, indicating that this framework is reliable in evaluating and predicting task effectiveness. It also shows that the involvement of imaging in an activity is conducive to word learning, more integration of pictorial annotations in language learning materials is therefore suggested. Copyright © 2018 individual authors.