Through an analysis of students' reactions to transcription exercises, this exploratory study examined some of the differences between two forms of written help enhancing listening passages--second language (L2) captions and transcripts. This primarily qualitative analysis highlighted the role that student proficiency levels may have played in differentiating the way captions and transcripts assist language learners in the decoding process of aural input. Captions seemed to help novice learners better recognize words and keep up with a listening passage, even after the written support was removed. Advanced students found transcripts preferable to refine their comprehension of details. In contrast to the clearer preferences of the two other groups, intermediate students tended to use each type of textual support in more idiosyncratic ways, based on their linguistic needs and study habits. These initial observations demonstrated the need for more in-depth analyses to gain a better understanding of a learner's cognitive processes when listening to foreign utterances. They also suggested the importance of encouraging students to develop metacognitive awareness and explore listening strategies best adapted to their purpose and learning styles, an approach now facilitated by the plethora of multimedia material accompanied with help options encompassing transcripts and captions.