News videotexts
At the research sites, supplementary listening material is largely drawn from authentic
sources, and the BBC news is one such source utilized. As such, the BBC news videotexts
used in this study reflect the kind of authentic material the learners are exposed to in their
regular lessons, as well as being accessed by learners outside the classroom via the Internet
or satellite broadcast channels. Furthermore, transactional authentic listening material was
the focus of the study, as this mode of listening is predominant in the given EFL context,
namely, Japan. Two BBC news videotexts, each just under one and a half minutes long, with clearly
defined segments, and of similar format with clear visual cuts between segments, were used.
One news videotext, entitled ‘Armed robbery’, covered a large cash robbery from a security
company, and the other, ‘Waste recycling’, was about recycling incentive schemes. Both of
the news videotexts were edited into segments on a personal computer using conversion
software, embedded in a PowerPoint file (Version 11), and burnt onto DVD. Segmentation
was determined according to visual scene change and shift in audio content focus of the
news videotext. The segmentation was done because the level of comprehension, and its
subsequent recall, was not plausible should the news videotexts be played in full. One news
videotext consisted of eight segments and the other nine segments. Segments typically
contained two or three main or main and subordinate clauses, and were, on average, 9
seconds in length.