Why Are Your Captions On?!?

Anyone who knows and loves me is well aware that I feel most comfortable watching television with the captions turned on. For years, I did it because my hearing was quite poor. It was a means of staying connected with the show without telling my mother that I had a hard time hearing. I finally broke down and told her eventually which resulted in a doctor's visit and a Haitian castor oil home remedy. However, the captions have remained and become a part of my home. I attribute the reading of captions to my speedy yet fluent rate of reading.

I was reading Anthony and Ula Manzo's "Reading Assessment for Diagnostic-Prescriptive Teaching" (not for fun) the other night and it was mentioned that captioned television can be an older student's untiring tutor. Research done by Patricia Koskinen, University of Maryland, shows that captions can be used to improve reading along while listening. Details on implementation and measurable outcomes are scarce however it has worked with many older struggling readers. Typically, when a child is reading deficient, the fluency is also quite poor; this makes it hard to keep up with the text in print form. This is a good strategy, if used strategically and periodically.

Photo Credit: http://mediaaccess.org.au/television/captions-tv