Enhancing text comprehension through watching TV.

The purpose of this experimental research was to analyze the possibility of stimulating student text comprehension through a guided exploration of an amusing TV cartoon that is also difficult to be fully comprehended, using the attractiveness of dynamic images as a resource for improving text compre hension. 38 students of an Italian Secondary School participated to the study. They were 15 years old on average. A group of 19 student received a training for processing the cartoon comprehension difficulties, and was helped in detecting and making the required bridging inferences. A multimedia comprehension post test verified a significant difference between the two groups. The educational implications of the research concern the possibility of using interesting and motivating material for the enhancing text comprehension.

The educational treatment performed gave the students the opportunity to acquire a special learning strategy that consists of consciously making the processes that good comprehenders of both written text and audiovisual narratives automatically and correctly are used to make. [Publisher's text].