The role of digital video media in second language listening ...

to a constructivist perspective see the instructional process as the result of a complexnumber of factors, and one that can not be reduced to a set of predictable rules(Driscoll, 1994; Winn, 1991).To provide a stronger theorectical basis for a definition of listening thatacknowledges both the influence of both visual and verbal features in listeningcomprehension (Rubin, 1995b), it is imperative to closely examine the ways listenersmight ‘select and interpret’ elements they encounter while attending to videotexts. Inthis section, neurophysiological activities related to auditory and visual perceptualprocesses, memory systems and the cognitive resources used to interpret dual codedmessages are examined.Neurophysiological activitiesMetallinos (1994) provides an overview of the neurophysiological factors involvedin the comprehension of audio-visual media. To begin, Metallinos explains thathuman information organs are characterised by three factors: duplication,polarisation and interconnection. Duplication of the senses allows for greaterreception of stimuli, flexibility and, in case of injury, a spare part. Polarisation of thesenses allows humans to perceive objects and events in three dimensions. Further, tominimise misunderstandings, organs of recognition and perception are closelyinterconnected as they need to constantly support and complement each other.Within the brain, more than 60% of all sensory nerves perform optical functions(Wescott, 1978).An open eye receives a continual bombardment of minute waves of light, known aselectromagnetic radiation, that vary in frequency, amplitude, and spatial and temporalpatterning (Smith, 1994). The rays of light strike the light-sensitive retina and aretransformed into neural impulses through intricate chemical transformations in theretinal cells. A series of optic nerves wind through the optic chasm to connect withthe occipital lobe in the rear of the cerebral cortex (Anderson, 1995). Along the20