Live Captions displays speech-to-text captions on the MyViewBoard screen in real-time.

When a host is instructing, captions will appear at the top of the screen.

This feature is standard within the myviewboard software, and sets the Viewsonic product apart from its competitors in terms of what it brings to a more inclusive education.

On the surface, it’s a great aid to any students with any form of hearing impairment. Giving them the opportunity to benefit from the subtitles.

However, the benefits extend far further than this.

S.L.S.(Single Language Subtitles) benefit everyone who watches videos (children, adolescents, college students, and adults). More than 100 empirical studies document that captioning a video improves comprehension of, attention to, and memory for the video.

Teaching literacy to students means that they are given the ability to communicate clearly and effectively and form the foundation of modern life. Students that can’t read effectively fail to grasp important concepts, score poorly on tests and ultimately, fail to meet educational milestones. Literacy skills allow students to seek out information, explore subjects in-depth and gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. When they cannot read well, they become discouraged and frustrated by school, which can result in high school dropouts, poor performance on standardized tests, increased truancy and other negative reactions, all of which can have major and long-lasting repercussions. By teaching students to communicate effectively, you help create engaged students who learn to love the act of learning.

So how does this support Literacy?

Captions are same-language written translations. And over 100 studies say adding captions to video improves viewers’ understanding of what they see.

One way that adding captions helps with comprehension and retention is by tapping into a dual approach to word coding. As highlighted in a study by the University of Southampton, and supported by the British Council, Paivio’s dual-coding theory (1971) suggests the brain places verbal and non-verbal information into two separate regions.

So, when students need to understand a word in a concrete way, if they receive both audio and visual clues it will code a word into both regions of the brain. And this dual approach to comprehension can facilitate an increase in learners’ understanding and retention of information.

Captions Improve Literacy Levels

The UK government’s ‘Levelling Up’ scheme aims to get 90% of children at the expected standards in reading, writing and Maths by 2030.

And Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust Jonathan Douglas stands behind it. But Mr Douglas also believes children need a holistic approach to achieve high levels of literacy.

In a TES report on the benefits of captioning, Mr Douglas also supported global evidence from the US, India and UK that same-language subtitles, or captions, can improve literacy skills:

“I would absolutely support automatic same-language subtitling. This is not replacing or taking away anything from what teachers do – this would be a supplemental activity.”

Jonathan Douglas CBE

Captions Helps EAL Learners

One of the key benefits of captioning is the way it boosts comprehension of difficult to learn words for EAL learners.

With over 1 Million children in UK primary schools and a further 600,000 in the secondary sector who are

Professors from the University of Nottingham and the University of Western Ontario tested comprehension scores with Japanese speaking students by adding captions to an English-speaking TV program.

They discovered that comprehension scores were higher in those who watched captioned episodes, but also much higher in 3 out of the 10 episodes. And these were the most difficult to understand.

The results of their study suggest captions have a significant impact on comprehension levels in EAL learners, particularly when the spoken language may be difficult to understand.

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Captions Assist with Information Recall

One of the other benefits of captioning is the way it supports information recall. And it’s proving to work for advertisers, who are gaining an advantage by adding captions to mobile app commercials.

Around 1 in 3 people now turn captions on on their phone when they’re in public settings. And around 50% of consumers surveyed said they needed captions because they often watch videos without sound.

In the same report, advertisers measured an 8% increase in ad recall and a 10% increase in ad memory quality with captions added.

So, by adding captions to instructional learning videos on YouTube, for example, viewer recall gets a marked boost.

Captions Support Students to Focus

One more of the benefits of captioning is the way it keeps students on track with their learning.

Studies show there is widespread use of captions among students, at least some of the time. And of course, higher education students have many distractions, making captioning an excellent way to assist when focusing on lectures.

If you already have a Viewsonic screen with myviewboard software – a couple of taps on the screen is all it takes to set this underway! That’s all it is going to take!

This works via your device microphone but the addition of a Bluetooth microphone, gives Teaching staff the freedom to work from around the room.

S.L.S., benefit everyone who watches videos (children, adolescents, college students, and adults). More than 100 empirical studies document that captioning a video improves comprehension of, attention to, and memory for the video.

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There are now over 1,000,000 children in English Primary schools that are E.L.L.

ELL: English language learner. A national-origin-minority student who is limited-English-proficient.

These numbers are growing and show no signs of slowing down.

Engaging non-native speakers and challenging English language learners requires thoughtful strategies that cater to their unique needs and learning styles. One simple yet effective method is to leverage captions in educational videos. By enabling captions, students can practice listening, comprehension, and pronunciation simultaneously, creating a more immersive and interactive learning experience.

Captions serve as a valuable tool for language learners by providing visual reinforcement of spoken words. They offer additional context and clarity, helping students grasp the meaning of unfamiliar terms or phrases. Moreover, captions facilitate self-paced learning, allowing students to pause, rewind, and review content as needed, promoting autonomy and confidence in their language skills.

Integrating captions into educational videos not only supports language acquisition but also encourages active engagement. Students can follow along with the dialogue, speaking aloud to practice pronunciation and intonation. This interactive approach fosters a dynamic learning environment where students feel motivated to participate and improve their language proficiency.

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English Captions Improve Language Retention

New ELLs listening to a native English speaker talk often find it difficult to identify which words are being spoken, how they are spelled, and in what order they are arranged (syntax). That’s why, for anyone learning a new language, it is extremely helpful to read the words one is hearing at the same time.

Even if the viewer cannot fully understand what they are reading on screen, captions can provide some helpful context, encouraging the viewer to stay engaged with the video. Time-synchronized captions focus the ELL’s attention on the words being spoken in real-time, which helps with the retention of vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and other valuable linguistic qualities one must understand to speak a language properly.

In 2009, a study conducted with Dutch ELLs concluded that watching English-language video content with English captions led to high scores after testing for aural word recognition, while watching English videos with Dutch subtitles led to lower scores on those tests. This suggests that reinforcing English speech with English text helps ELLs memorize spoken and written words in the language, leading to stronger vocabulary skills.

In 2016, a study conducted with a group of intermediate Spanish students of English as a foreign language watched an episode of a television show in its original English version with English, Spanish, or no subtitles overlaid. Before and after the viewing, participants took a listening and vocabulary test to evaluate their speech perception and vocabulary acquisition in English, plus a final plot comprehension test. The results of the listening skills tests revealed that after watching the English subtitled version, participants improved these skills significantly more than after watching the Spanish subtitled or no-subtitle versions.

English Captions Help Students Decipher Accents and Dialects

Accents and dialects are another reason why captions for ESL students and ELLs can be beneficial.

Many Americans have difficulty understanding certain accents and dialects from places like the UK, Ireland, Australia, and other places where English is spoken. So, imagine what ESL learners have to go through in the same scenario.

Accents tend to go hand in hand with dialects—regionally-exclusive ways of speaking. Captions can help ELLs learn words and phrases from different dialects by helping them process the audio in the videos they watch.

In the previously mentioned study with Dutch ESL students, it was found that adding closed captions to videos with Scottish and Australian actors speaking in native accents and dialects helped the students identify the words spoken. Interestingly, it was also found that watching those same videos with Dutch subtitles diminished students’ success in word recognition:

If an English word was spoken with a Scottish accent, English subtitles usually told the perceiver what that word was, and hence what its sounds were. This made it easier for the students to tune in to the accent.

In contrast, the Dutch subtitles did not provide this teaching function, and, because they told the viewer what the characters in the film meant to say, the Dutch subtitles may have drawn the students’ attention away from the unfamiliar speech.

In 2008, an academic study involving 20 Chinese ESL students found that video content with captions helped students learn new words and expressions better than students who watched the same content without captions. Specifically, the study revealed that “the use of video plus captions can help students learn colloquial language [including] how and when native speakers use it.”

If you are already using the Viewsonic IFP range of Interactive touchscreens - you already have the capability waiting. It just takes a touch of the screen to activate. It costs nothing, its easy to use and could have a massive effect on literacy in your classroom.

If you are looking to move to or refresh your Interactive classroom displays, this is a STANDARD FEATURE within the Viewsonic package - do your current screens offer this?

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