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

Memory systemsOnce stimuli are perceived, the input journeys to an appropriate sensory buffer,depending on whether the source of input is of a visual or verbal nature. There aretwo types of sensory buffers. Visual sensory storage takes in visual input and lastsfrom one to two seconds; auditory sensory storage decomposes within four seconds(Anderson, 1995).Media researchers hold that presentation of both visual and verbal symbol systemsmay create different outcomes than information provided solely in one form oranother (Miller & Burton, 1994). For tests of recall that utilise video media as amode of presentation, Kozma (1991) and Wetzel et al (1994) state that the display ofvisual elements in a medium leads candidates to recall information related to actionand visual elements, whereas the audio input in video assists candidates in theretention of linguistic information.One widely accepted view of cognitive processes, prevalent in second languagelistening research (e.g., Chamot, 1995; Schwartz, 1992), holds that informationpasses from sensory buffers through short-term memory before integration into thebrain. In this scheme, short term memory acts as a temporary storage space for inputthat vanishes within fifteen seconds, though it was thought rehearsal processeswithin this store prolong information storage for up to one minute (Bostrom,1990a). A perceived stimulus which had survived decomposition then activated longtermmemory approximately one minute after presentation, though actual entry intothe store depends on both structural and rehearsal schemes (Bostrom, 1990a).Applied to listening theory, an inability to process input quickly was thought tooverload short-term processing capabilities that caused deficits in attention andcomprehension (Byrnes, 1984). Theories regarding cognitive processes and howinformation proceeds from sensory buffers to permanent storage, however, haverecently been revised (Anderson, 1995; Logie, 1995).22