The relationship between two measures of L2 phonological vocabulary knowledge and L2 listening comprehension

TESOL Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Masrai
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-749
Author(s):  
Kriss Lange ◽  
Joshua Matthews

The capacity to perceive and meaningfully process foreign or second language (L2) words from the aural modality is a fundamentally important aspect of successful L2 listening. Despite this, the relationships between L2 listening and learners’ capacity to process aural input at the lexical level has received relatively little research focus. This study explores the relationships between measures of aural vocabulary, lexical segmentation and two measures of L2 listening comprehension (i.e., TOEIC & Eiken Pre-2) among a cohort of 130 tertiary level English as a foreign language (EFL) Japanese learners. Multiple regression modelling indicated that in combination, aural knowledge of vocabulary at the first 1,000-word level and lexical segmentation ability could predict 34% and 38% of total variance observed in TOEIC listening and Eiken Pre-2 listening scores respectively. The findings are used to provide some preliminary recommendations for building the capacity of EFL learners to process aural input at the lexical level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Matthew P Wallace

Metacognition is known to be important for L2 listening comprehension. However, it is unclear how much variance in listening performance it can explain after controlling for vocabulary knowledge. To examine this, data from the listening section of the TOEFL Junior test, the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ), and the Listening Vocabulary Levels Test were collected from 76 high school EFL learners in Japan. The MALQ measured five subscales of metacognition representing metacognitive skills and metacognitive knowledge. Representing skills, the MALQ measured perceptions of the ability to (1) plan and evaluate performance, (2) direct attention, and (3) overcome listening problems. Representing knowledge, it measured strategic knowledge of (4) avoiding mentally translating speech and person knowledge of (5) maintaining positive attitudes about listening. The descriptive results showed that participants used their metacognition moderately. Of the subscales, they directed attention the most, planned and evaluated performance least, and perceived their ability to avoid mental translation, solve problems, and maintain optimism equivalently. The results from the hierarchical regression analysis further showed that vocabulary knowledge and metacognition overall predicted listening performance. Of the MALQ subscales, only person knowledge predicted comprehension. These findings indicate that, contrary to earlier findings, metacognition was important for listening comprehension after accounting for vocabulary knowledge.


2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882091399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songshan Zhang ◽  
Xian Zhang

This study set out to investigate the relationship between L2 vocabulary knowledge (VK) and second-language (L2) reading/listening comprehension. More than 100 individual studies were included in this meta-analysis, which generated 276 effect sizes from a sample of almost 21,000 learners. The current meta-analysis had several major findings. First, the overall correlation between VK and L2 reading comprehension was .57 ( p < .01) and that between VK and L2 listening was .56 ( p < .01). If the attenuation effect due to reliability of measures was taken into consideration, the ‘true’ correlation between VK and L2 reading/listening comprehension may likely fall within the range of .56–.67, accounting for 31%–45% variance in L2 comprehension. Second, all three mastery levels of form–meaning knowledge (meaning recognition, meaning recall, form recall) had moderate to high correlations with L2 reading and L2 listening. However, meaning recall knowledge had the strongest correlation with L2 reading comprehension and form recall had the strongest correlation with L2 listening comprehension, suggesting that different mastery levels of VK may contribute differently to L2 comprehension in different modalities. Third, both word association knowledge and morphological awareness (two aspects of vocabulary depth knowledge) had significant correlations with L2 reading and L2 listening. Fourth, the modality of VK measure was found to have a significant moderating effect on the correlation between VK and L2 text comprehension: orthographical VK measures had stronger correlations with L2 reading comprehension as compared to auditory VK measures. Auditory VK measures, however, were better predictors of L2 listening comprehension. Fifth, studies with a shorter script distance between L1 and L2 yielded higher correlations between VK and L2 reading. Sixth, the number of items in vocabulary depth measures had a positive predictive power on the correlation between VK and L2 comprehension. Finally, correlations between VK and L2 reading/listening comprehension was found to be associated with two types of publication factors: year-of-publication and publication type. Implications of the findings were discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyu Cheng ◽  
Joshua Matthews

This study explores the constructs that underpin three different measures of vocabulary knowledge and investigates the degree to which these three measures correlate with, and are able to predict, measures of second language (L2) listening and reading. Word frequency structured vocabulary tests tapping receptive/orthographic (RecOrth) vocabulary knowledge, productive/orthographic (ProOrth) vocabulary knowledge and productive/phonological (ProPhon) vocabulary knowledge and tests measuring L2 listening and L2 reading were administered to 250 tertiary-level Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Results showed that ProPhon vocabulary knowledge correlated most strongly with L2 listening ( r = .71) and ProOrth vocabulary knowledge correlated most strongly with L2 reading ( r = .57). Factor analysis indicated that all subcomponents of the ProPhon vocabulary knowledge test loaded onto one factor and those of the RecOrth and ProOrth vocabulary knowledge tests loaded onto another. Regression modelling showed that ProPhon vocabulary knowledge explained 51% of the variance in L2 listening scores and that ProOrth vocabulary knowledge explained 33% of the variance in the L2 reading scores. Discussion addresses the varying importance of different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge in L2 listening and reading.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Pardo-Ballester

<p class="AbstractText">With sophisticated multimedia technology, there is a renewed interest in the relationship between visual and auditory channels in assessing listening comprehension (LC). Research on the use of visuals in assessing listening has emerged with inconclusive results. Some learners perform better on tests which include visual input (Wagner, 2007) while others have found no difference in the performance of participants on the two test formats (Batty, 2015). These mixed results make it necessary to examine the role of using audio and video in LC as measured by L2 listening tests. The current study examined the effects of two different types of listening support on L2 learners’ comprehension: (a) visual aid in a video with input modified with redundancy and (b) no visuals (audio-only input) with input modified with redundancy. The participants of this study included 246 Spanish students enrolled in two different intermediate Spanish courses at a large Midwestern university who participated in four listening tasks either with video or with audio. Findings of whether the video serves as a listening support device and whether the course formats differ on intermediate-level Spanish learners’ comprehension will be shared as well as participants’ preferences with respect to listening support.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Miki Satori

Abstract This paper examined the relationship between working memory (WM) and L2 linguistic knowledge as well as L2 listening comprehension with 150 Japanese EFL learners. The study also investigated the extent to which these relationships vary across L2 proficiency levels. The results in the study were as follows: (a) WM capacity was more strongly associated with L2 listening comprehension, L2 perceptual processing, and L2 syntactic parsing processing in the lower-proficiency group than in the higher-proficiency group; (b) L1 WM capacity still accounted for the unique variance in L2 listening comprehension after adjusting for the L2 language-related variables in the lower-proficiency group. The results suggest that the relationship between WM capacity and L2 listening comprehension may be mediated by L2 proficiency and depend on the domain-general processing efficiency reflecting central executive attention when the listening comprehension task requires conscious attention for less proficient listeners. The findings provide suggestive evidence for variation in the role of WM in L2 listening comprehension across proficiency levels and the significant role of L1 WM capacity in L2 listening comprehension as the general cognitive factor independent of L2 linguistic knowledge for L2 learners with limited linguistic knowledge.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Martin Aioz Pinillos

Second language listening causes situations of stress and negative perceptions among learners and teachers. Research has suggested that L2 listening and vocabulary knowledge are related. However, this relationship has been barely explored, and in most cases with inadequate instruments. This thesis is an attempt to bridge those gaps by examining the contribution of the language learners’ vocabulary size to their listening ability. A bilingual multiple-choice vocabulary test, based on the official vocabulary list in a standardized language exam, was created to assess the vocabulary size of L2-English learners. Its 81 items were delivered first orally, and then in writing. The ability to comprehend aural texts was assessed through the listening paper in the same standardized examination. 284 language learners took the vocabulary and listening tests. After an observation period of 35 weeks, the study participants were given the same tests. Both datasets were analyzed with the Rasch model to determine the participants’ abilities and the item difficulties. Evidence from data analyses supported the following findings: 1) A strong and positive relationship exists between L2 vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension. 2) Aural and written vocabulary knowledge are two dimensions that should be assessed and investigated separately, particularly in relation to listening comprehension. 3) Aural vocabulary knowledge is a better predictor of listening comprehension than written vocabulary knowledge, especially among language learners with comparatively weaker listening skills. 4) Knowing 71.71% of the words featured in a listening comprehension test is sufficient to answer 72% of its questions correctly. 5) Language learners increase their aural and written vocabulary size, and improve their listening ability after attending classes for about 35 weeks. This improvement is particularly acute among lower-level learners. Based on these results, L2 learners, teachers and researchers should focus more on the aural form of words to improve listening comprehension.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (Special) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
SASAN BALEGHIZADEH ◽  
PAYAM PAYAM

This study was an attempt to investigate the particular role of learners’ depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge in their listening comprehension. Moreover, it also sought to find out whether there is any difference between high and low listening proficiency groups in performance on depth and breadth dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. To this end, a total of 117 junior university students majoring in English language and literature participated in the study. In order to assess the learners’ listening comprehension, the listening section of a paper-based version of the TOEFL was administered. Their depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge were measured through performance on Word Associate Test and Vocabulary Levels Test, respectively. The results of data analysis indicated that both depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge are determining factors in successful listening comprehension. However, it was found out that breadth or size of vocabulary knowledge provides a more significant contribution than depth to listening comprehension. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge are not significant predictors of listening comprehension in the low listening ability group.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document