A comparative analysis of performance and cognition in multimedia learning between ESB and NESB students in higher education

The inspiration to conduct the present study was the rapid spread of multimedia and Internet technologies becoming integrated into education systems intended to facilitate teaching and learning of students studying in Australia from both English speaking backgrounds (ESB) and non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB). With the development of communication technologies, multimedia resources have increasingly been integrated within all levels of educational systems. Text, audio, image, animation and video are the most frequently used elements included in multimedia contexts for instructional purposes in authentic learning environments. However, the previous findings indicated that in comparison with ESB individuals, NESB individuals prefer to access learning content via visual sources because English is their second/third language spoken and they experience more difficulties in learning from verbal-related cognitive contexts. Therefore, it is important to identify the differences that exist between ESB and NESB individuals in comprehending different formats of learning materials in order to be able to fulfil their different needs and maximise their potential for academic success. The present study has employed a hypermedia system as the medium to present the experimental multimedia context aimed at investigating the influence of different types of multimedia formats on learners' comprehension performance and recognising the diversity of performance in comprehending learning materials between ESB and NESB sample groups and within each sample group respectively. Fifty-four participants took part in the experiment. They were randomly recruited from undergraduate students enrolled in the unit of Professional Communication Practice (LPR100), and were assigned into two different experimental groups depending on their language backgrounds, ESB or NESB. All participants were required to comprehend five different formats of multimedia learning materials presented through linearly structured hypermedia contexts and answer comprehension questions to measure their comprehension performance. There five formats of learning materials were: hypermedia with image links, hypermedia with audio links, hypermedia with video links, hypermedia with animation links and hypertext with text links. The present study employed a quantitative research method for data analysis. The results confirmed that there is a difference in performance between ESB and NESB students within some of the experimental learning contexts. The results showed that the ESB students' performance was maximised using hypermedia materials with audio links while NESB students showed maximum performance when interacting with hypertext materials containing text links. Based on the results of the present study, the practical evidences for multimedia learning and the most effective multimedia structure(s) for instructional and educational purposes to meet the needs of students across different language backgrounds have been provided. The findings could be incorporated into multimedia, hypermedia and/or e-learning contexts in the future in order to maximise students' potential for academic success.