The personalization effect in multimedia learning: The influence of dialect

• Personalization effect for Austrian pupils at a lower secondary school confirmed.
• Influence of a regional dialect in regard to learning outcome investigated.
• Influence of personalization and dialect on learners interest revealed.

The personalization effect states that through addressing a learner personally or formulating multimedia instruction in a personal way the learning outcome is improved. This effect can be explained either with higher social presence, with stronger self-reference or with more familiarity of personal messages. Based on these explanations, using a regional dialect instead of standard language should also improve the learning outcome. Two hundred and ten Austrian pupils at a lower secondary school viewed a narrated animation concerning computer networks. The students were randomly assigned to one cell of a 2 (formal or personalized) × 2 (standard German or Austrian dialect) between-subjects factorial design. Results confirmed the personalization effect for retention and transfer performance, showing a stronger effect for transfer. This result is discussed as well as the partly significant findings for the factor speech and the significant interaction effect between personalization and speech on learners’ interest.