The use of audiovisual materials–such as stills, in-class films, captioned documentaries, and interactive narrative videos created by teachers–has become increasingly prevalent in English-language instruction for non-native speakers. However, the pedagogical value of these materials depends on the coordinated action of speech and image, subtitles or captions, gesture, and learning activities. The current synthesis, based on applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, and humanities-based critique, casts doubt on the fact that, at the same time, audiovisual aids can facilitate the process of English acquisition as well as create pedagogical and linguistic complexities. It posits that optimal audiovisual pedagogy is founded on four complementary alignments: multimodal coherence (enabling learners to integrate modes into a stable mental representation), scaffolded comprehensibility (addressing lexical coverage and speech transience), interactional task design (transforming viewing into communicative language use), and critical framing (preventing the entrenchment of native-speakers or culturally biased conceptions of English). Through these alignments, the article argues that audiovisual content is most effectively utilised as a language-rich text to be read, discussed, and revoiced, rather than passively consumed as entertainment. It concludes with a principled proposal for captions, sequencing, and inclusive engagement, suitable for early childhood and broader English language teaching contexts.

Audiovisual aids, English as an additional language, multimodality, subtitles and captions, cognitive load, listening comprehension, vocabulary learning, inclusive pedagogy.