Abstract
Individual differences have been shown to influence language development (Skehan 1989) and vocabulary learning (Dóczi and Kormos 2016) to a great extent. Among them, language aptitude has been found to be a good L2 proficiency predictor, even if it is said to have a low predictive validity for vocabulary learning (Li 2016). Research has also shown that extensive television viewing may be beneficial for vocabulary learning at beginner levels (Gesa 2019). However, there is virtually no research exploring the mediating role of language aptitude in the learning of L2 vocabulary through multimodal input. This chapter aims at filling the existing gap by exposing Grade 6 Catalan / Spanish EFL learners aged 11-12 (N=40) to L1 subtitled TV series for an academic term. Participants were pooled from two intact classes, which were randomly allocated to the experimental or control group. Weekly, both groups were pre-taught a set of Target Words (TWs) and completed two active learning vocabulary tasks. However, only those in the experimental group additionally watched a total of eight episodes of a TV series where the TWs appeared. In order to be able to compute for lexical gains, all learners took a pre- and a posttest, assessing TW form and meaning recall, at the beginning and at the end of the term. Language aptitude was measured using the multicomponential Modern Language Aptitude Test - Elementary in Catalan (Suárez 2010). Statistical analyses do not yield significant differences between experimental conditions, but descriptive statistics suggest that those exposed to subtitled TV series learn more vocabulary than learners who just received formal instruction. Moreover, language aptitude is revealed to impact word form learning. Conclusions are drawn in relation to how type of exposure (TV series and explicit vocabulary teaching) and some language aptitude components mediate vocabulary learning through multimodal input.
