Exploring second language viewers' use of cognitive strategies in learning Chinese through multimedia learning resources with captions and social annotations

Although linguistic captions are perceived as helpful in developing L2 vocabulary knowledge, the use of social annotations in video learning remains underinvestigated. This study investigated L2 learners' use of cognitive strategies in learning through multimedia resources in a MOOC context when both caption and social annotations modes were available. Triangulated data were collected from thirteen L2 MOOC learners from Africa, including think-aloud data, post-video interviews, and their notes. Findings suggest that 1) captions and social annotations lead to different cognitive strategies and videos with social annotations are found more engaging, 2) captions facilitate L2 viewers to conduct more bottom-up listening strategies at sentence level, while social annotations facilitate more top-down listening strategies, and 3) social annotations are used not only to enhance and expand the understanding of the video, but also to create a sense of belonging and further motivate viewers to achieve a higher level of engagement.