This chapter summarizes research and theory concerned with the effect of learner motivation and emotional states on multimedia learning. It describes trends and issues in the current approaches, identifies relevant theoretical models, and assesses the importance of motivation (including interest, intrinsic-extrinsic motivation, goal orientation, and self-efficacy) and affect (including positive and negative affective states) as mediators and moderators of the effects of multimedia learning on cognitive outcomes. The reviewed empirical findings indicate the strong influence of multimedia learning environments on learner motivation and affect.

Emotional Design is the deliberate use of design elements of learning materials to induce an emotional state in the learner that leads to increased learning outcomes. This emotion induction should not add significantly to the cognitive demands placed on the learner, which is best achieved by using existing design elements rather than adding new elements. In this chapter, we summarize research on the effect of emotion-inducing features of a multimedia lesson on memory, cognition, and learning, provide empirical evidence for the emotional design principle, and discuss design features that have been shown to induce emotion. We will also differentiate emotional design from other emotion induction methods that increase processing demands on the learner by adding seductive details or that take place outside of the learning materials in the form of priming.

The previous chapters have outlined the theoretical background, basic assumptions, and some key applications of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) in its current state of development. The fundamental idea underlying CLT is that instructional design decisions should be informed by the architecture of the human cognitive system. CLT can therefore be described as a cognitive theory of instructional design. CLT has been very influential in educational research since the 1980s. It has inspired a growing number of research studies aimed at deriving empirically based guidelines for instructional design. Moreover, at its present stage of development, CLT is arguably one of the most influential instructional design theories.

However, the extant research on cognitive load raises questions about the assumptions underlying CLT, some of which have not been consistently supported by the empirical data, suggesting the need to update the theory by incorporating recent empirical findings on cognition and learning (Schnotz & Kirschner, 2007). The first goal of this chapter is to summarize the theoretical developments of CLT and highlight some of its strengths and limitations.

An additional contribution of CLT research includes efforts to develop practical, valid, and reliable measures of its main construct: cognitive load. However, as suggested in Chapter 9, the existing body of cognitive load research fails to exhibit methodological consistency regarding cognitive load measurement and lacks appropriate methods to measure other relevant constructs, such as the different load types proposed by the theory (DeLeeuw & Mayer, 2008).

What is Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)? The objective of CLT is to predict learning outcomes by taking into consideration the capabilities and limitations of the human cognitive architecture. The theory can be applied to a broad range of learning environments because it links the design characteristics of learning materials to principles of human information processing. CLT is guided by the idea that the design of effective learning scenarios has to be based on our knowledge about how the human mind works. Starting from this premise, different processes of knowledge acquisition and understanding are described in terms of their demands on the human cognitive system, which is seen as an active, limited-capacity information processing system. Taking into account the demands on cognitive resources induced by the complexity of the information to be learned, the way in which the instruction is presented to the learner, and the learner's prior experience and knowledge, CLT aims to predict what makes learning successful and how learning can be effectively supported by teaching and instruction.

Because of its applicability for a broad range of instructional materials, including Web-based and multimedia instruction, CLT is a frequently discussed concept in educational psychology and applied learning sciences. A growing body of empirical research has become available in recent years that describes the relationships among human cognitive architecture, the design of educational materials, and successful learning.

The previous chapters discussed sources of cognitive load that are a result of the difficulty of the materials, the design of instruction, and the amount of mental effort invested by learners to process the new information. As outlined in these chapters, the major cause of cognitive load effects is the limited capacity of working memory. In this chapter, we discuss how individual differences relate to the level of cognitive load that a particular learner experiences.

Individual differences in learner characteristics take many different forms, ranging from preferences for learning from different presentation formats (e.g., verbal, pictorial) or modalities (auditory, visual, haptic) and preferences for learning under different environmental conditions (e.g., lighting, noise level, or physical position) to cognitive styles (e.g., field dependency/independency), cognitive abilities (e.g., verbal, spatial ability), and intelligence (Carroll, 1993; Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993). The influence of individual differences on learning has been studied for several decades as aptitude-treatment interactions (ATIs; Cronbach & Snow, 1977; Leutner, 1992; Lohman, 1986; Mayer, Stiehl, & Greeno, 1975; Plass, Chun, Mayer, & Leutner, 1998; Shute, 1992; Snow, 1989, 1994; Snow & Lohman, 1984, 1989). Aptitude-treatment interactions occur when different instructional treatment conditions result in differential learning outcomes depending on student aptitudes, in other words, when the effect of a given treatment is moderated by a given aptitude. Different aptitudes may influence learning in specific instructional environments, and the impact of a particular aptitude on a particular condition may only be observed for a particular type of learning outcome.

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss research on second-language acquisition with multimedia. We propose a model of cognitive processing in second-language acquisition that is based on interactionist models and on a cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML). For each of the major phases in this model, we discuss the cognitive processing involved, describe how multimedia can be used to support these processes, and report what the research says about the effectiveness of such multimedia support. We discuss limitations of existing research, derive implications for cognitive theory as well as for designers of instructional multimedia materials for second-language acquisition, and suggest directions for future research.

What Is Second-Language Acquisition with Multimedia?

Introduction

The use of a language – whether first or second – has as its goal the communication of ideas, maintenance of social relations, and creation of discourse, all of which require the development of several core competencies. These include input competencies, such as listening and reading, and output competencies, such as speaking and writing, and entail the process of receiving (input), attending to (interaction), and assigning meaning (output) to verbal (aural or written) and/or visual stimuli. They also include competencies in communicating in the target language, which includes an understanding of the cultural and situational context of such communication.

Introduction

Networked environments have been used for many years as both a delivery medium and a collaboration tool in second language acquisition. Typical examples preceding the studies reported on in this volume include the use of e-mail for asynchronous collaboration (e.g., Esling, 1991; Barson, Frommer, and Schwartz, 1993; Cononelos & Oliva, 1993; Oliva & Pollastrini, 1995; Warschauer, 1995; Brammerts, 1996; Kern, 1996), support for “writing as process,” including peer-review software (e.g., Michaels, 1993), and on-line discussions for synchronous collaboration between students and for negotiating meaning and developing discourse competence and sociocultural competence (e.g., Beauvois, 1992; Kelm, 1992, 1996; Kern, 1995; Pinto, 1996; Sanchez, 1996; Warschauer, 1996a, 1997; Chávez, 1997). All of the aforementioned work, however, is based on a primarily verbal presentation of information and text-based communication.

In recent years, use of the World Wide Web for delivery of language learning materials has been expanding rapidly (e.g., Godwin-Jones, 1996; Peterson, 1997; Blyth, 1998). There is a plethora of Web sites for language teaching and learning that incorporate the multimedia capabilities of the Web and present information in the form of visuals and audio in addition to text. However, the vast majority of learner production activities involve only text-based responses from the learner (e.g., answering multiple-choice questions about content or grammar, typing in answers to content questions or grammatical exercises, filling in tables with information discovered in the various Web sites, and writing short answers or essays [Moehle-Vieregge, Bird, & Manteghi, 1996]).