Word Recognition Processing Efficiency as a Component of Second Language Listening

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Paul Joyce
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huong Nguyen ◽  
Marilyn Abbott

When teaching listening, second language instructors tend to rely on product-oriented approaches that test learners’ abilities to identify words and answer comprehension questions, but this does li le to help learners improve upon their listening skills (e.g., Vandergri & Goh, 2012). To address this issue, alternative approaches that guide learners through the listening process toward improved comprehension and uency have been recommended in the literature. Based on a review of 6 popular intermediate adult English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) textbooks, we found that most of the listening activities in the texts exemplified a product-oriented approach (testing word recognition or listening comprehension) rather than a process-oriented approach (providing instruction to aid in word recognition and comprehension). To enhance the integration of process-oriented approaches for teaching listening, we provide suggestions for activities to supplement product-oriented teacher-made and textbook activities. We begin with an overview of second language listening theory and research that justi es the incorporation of process-oriented instructional approaches in the ESL classroom. Then we report the results of our textbook review and present examples of recommended activity types that teachers and textbook writers could incorporate into their instructional materials to encourage a balanced approach to teaching listening.Quand les enseignants de langue seconde enseignent l’écoute, ils ont tendance à sefier aux approches orientées sur le produit qui évaluent la capacité de leurs élèves à identifier des mots et à répondre à des questions de compréhension. Pourtant, ce e méthode ne contribue que très peu à l’amélioration des habiletés d’écoute des élèves (par ex., Vandergri & Goh, 2012). Pour aborder ce e question, les chercheurs recommandent des approches alternatives qui guident les apprenants au l du processus d’écoute de sorte à améliorer la compréhension et les compétences. Un examen de 6 manuels populaires d’anglais langue seconde ou étrangère pour adulte a révélé que la plupart des activités d’écoute sont orientées sur un produit (évaluation de la reconnaissance des mots ou la compréhension à l’écoute) plutôt que sur un processus (directives pour aider la reconnaissance des mots et la compréhension). Pour me re en valeur l’intégration des approches axées sur le processus dans l’enseignement de l’écoute, nous o rons des suggestions d’activités pour enrichir les activités créés par les enseignants ou provenant des manuels et qui sont axées sur le produit. Nous commençons par un survol de la recherche et de la théorie qui portent sur l’écoute en langue seconde et qui jus- ti ent l’intégration dans les cours d’ALS d’approches pédagogiques axées sur le processus. Ensuite, nous présentons les résultats de notre examen de manuels et recommandons des exemples de types d’activités que les enseignants et les auteurs de manuels pourraient incorporer dans leur matériel pédagogique pour o rir une approche équilibrée à l’enseignement de l’écoute. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wafa Shahada Zoghbor

<p>Teachers’ understanding of the process of speech perception could inform practice in listening classrooms. Catford (1950) developed a model for speech perception taking into account the influence of the acoustic features of the linguistic forms used by the speaker, whereby the listener ‘identifies’ and 'interprets' these linguistic forms based on the association between them and the context of speech. This paper critically reviews Catford’s model and proposes an alternative one distinguishing between two levels of perceiving speech: word recognition and utterance comprehension. Smith and Nelson (1985) refer to these as 'intelligibility' and 'comprehensibility’, respectively. The proposed model could inform classroom practice as well as curriculum and material design.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110645
Author(s):  
Fengjiao Cong ◽  
Baoguo Chen

We conducted three eye movement experiments to investigate the mechanism for coding letter positions in a person’s second language during sentence reading; we also examined the role of morphology in this process with more rigorous manipulation. Given that readers not only obtain information from currently fixated words (i.e., the foveal area) but also from upcoming words (i.e., the parafoveal area) to guide their reading, we examined both when the targets were fixated (Exp. 1) and when the targets were seen parafoveally (Exp. 2 and Exp. 3). First, we found the classic transposed letter (TL) effect in Exp. 1, but not in Exp. 2 or Exp. 3. This implies that flexible letter position coding exists during sentence reading. However, this was limited to words located in the foveal area, suggesting that L2 readers whose L2 proficiency is not as high as skilled native readers are not able to extract and utilize the parafoveal letter identity and position information of a word, whether the word length is long (Exp. 2) or short (Exp. 3). Second, we found morphological information to influence the magnitude of the TL effect in Exp. 1. These results provide new eye movement evidence for the flexibility of L2 letter position coding during sentence reading, as well as the interactions between the different internal representations of words in this process. Altogether, this is helpful for understanding L2 sentence reading and visual word recognition. Thus, future L2 reading frameworks should integrate word recognition and eye movement control models.


2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Nelson ◽  
Kathryn Kohnert ◽  
Sabina Sabur ◽  
Daniel Shaw

Purpose: Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of classroom noise on attention and speech perception in native Spanish-speaking second graders learning English as their second language (L2) as compared to English-only-speaking (EO) peers. Method: Study 1 measured children’s on-task behavior during instructional activities with and without soundfield amplification. Study 2 measured the effects of noise (+10 dB signal-to-noise ratio) using an experimental English word recognition task. Results: Findings from Study 1 revealed no significant condition (pre/postamplification) or group differences in observations in on-task performance. Main findings from Study 2 were that word recognition performance declined significantly for both L2 and EO groups in the noise condition; however, the impact was disproportionately greater for the L2 group. Clinical Implications: Children learning in their L2 appear to be at a distinct disadvantage when listening in rooms with typical noise and reverberation. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists should collaborate to inform teachers, help reduce classroom noise, increase signal levels, and improve access to spoken language for L2 learners.


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