ROLES OF GENERAL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, AURAL VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE, AND METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN L2 LEARNERS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Purpose We investigated how age and linguistic status affected listeners' ability to follow and comprehend 3-talker conversations, and the extent to which individual differences in language proficiency predict speech comprehension under difficult listening conditions. Method Younger and older L1s as well as young L2s listened to 3-talker conversations, with or without spatial separation between talkers, in either quiet or against moderate or high 12-talker babble background, and were asked to answer questions regarding their contents. Results After compensating for individual differences in speech recognition, no significant differences in conversation comprehension were found among the groups. As expected, conversation comprehension decreased as babble level increased. Individual differences in reading comprehension skill contributed positively to performance in younger EL1s and in young EL2s to a lesser degree but not in older EL1s. Vocabulary knowledge was significantly and positively related to performance only at the intermediate babble level. Conclusion The results indicate that the manner in which spoken language comprehension is achieved is modulated by the listeners' age and linguistic status.

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What vocabulary size tells us about pronunciation skills: Issues in assessing L2 learners

Journal of French Language Studies ◽

10.1017/s0959269520000010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 141-160

Author(s):

Paolo Mairano ◽

Fabian Santiago

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Research Methods ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Listening Skills ◽

Vocabulary Size ◽

L2 Learners ◽

The Impact ◽

Speaking Skills

AbstractMeasures of second language (L2) learners’ vocabulary size have been shown to correlate with language proficiency in reading, writing and listening skills, and vocabulary tests are sometimes used for placement purposes. However, the relation between learners’ vocabulary knowledge and their speaking skills has been less thoroughly investigated, and even less so in terms of pronunciation. In this article, we compare vocabulary and pronunciation measures for 25 Italian instructed learners of L2 French. We measure their receptive (Dialang score) and productive (vocd-D, MTLD) vocabulary size, and calculate the following pronunciation indices: acoustic distance and overlap of realizations for selected L2 French vowel pairs, ratings of nasality for ratings of foreign-accentedness, fluency metrics. We find that vocabulary measures show low to medium correlations with fluency metrics and ratings of foreign-accentedness, but not with vowel metrics. We then turn our attention to the impact of research methods on the study of vocabulary and pronunciation. More specifically, we discuss the possibility that these results are due to pitfalls in vocabulary and pronunciation indices, such as the failure of Dialang to take into account the effect of L1-L2 cognates, and the lack of measures for evaluating consonants, intonation and perception skills.

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How much vocabulary is needed to use English? Replication of van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012), Nation (2006) and Cobb (2007)

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444815000075 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 212-226 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Norbert Schmitt ◽

Tom Cobb ◽

Marlise Horst ◽

Diane Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Word Knowledge ◽

Word Families ◽

Written Texts ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Knowledge Requirements ◽

Esl Learners

There is current research consensus that second language (L2) learners are able to adequately comprehend general English written texts if they know 98% of the words that occur in the materials. This important finding prompts an important question: How much English vocabulary do English as a second language (ESL) learners need to know to achieve this crucial level of known-word coverage? A landmark paper by Nation (2006) provides a rather daunting answer. His exploration of the 98% figure through a variety of spoken and written corpora showed that knowledge of around 8,000–9,000 word families is needed for reading and 6,000–7,000 for listening. But is this the definitive picture? A recent study by van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012) suggests that 95% coverage may be sufficient for listening comprehension, and that this can be reached with 2,000–3,000 word families, which is much more manageable. Getting these figures right for a variety of text modalities, genres and conditions of reading and listening is essential. Teachers and learners need to be able to set goals, and as Cobb's study of learning opportunities (2007) has shown, coverage percentages and their associated vocabulary knowledge requirements have important implications for the acquisition of new word knowledge through exposure to comprehensible L2 input. This article proposes approximate replications of Nation (2006), van Zeeland & Schmitt (2012), and Cobb (2007), in order to clarify these key coverage and size figures.

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Effects of web-based metacognitive listening on Chinese university EFL learners' listening comprehension and metacognitive awareness

Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.17509/ijal.v9i2.20246 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Tao Pei ◽

Jitpanat Suwanthep

Keyword(s):

Listening Comprehension ◽

Metacognitive Awareness ◽

Control Group ◽

Web Based ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Metacognitive Development ◽

Chinese University ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Experimental Group ◽

The Web

The present study examined the effects of web-based metacognitive listening practice on L2 learners’ listening comprehension over 14 weeks. Participants (N = 67) came from two intact classes of intermediate EFL university learners in China. The experimental group was involved in the web-based metacognitive listening practice built on the metacognitive listening principles. The control group undertook a traditional web-based listening practice with the same listening materials texts, yet without training on their metacognitive awareness. TOEFL tests and MALQ were used to track the development of listening achievements and metacognitive awareness. ANCOVA was employed to detect the differences between the two groups regarding listening achievements and metacognitive development. The results show that the experimental group made significantly greater gains than the control group in listening achievements. However, the development of metacognition remained inconclusive. The study concludes that metacognitive listening practice under web-based environment could outperform the traditional web-based listening practice in improving listening achievements among Chinese intermediate EFL learners. Besides, some recommendations for further study are discussed.

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Exploring the Relationship Between L2 Listening and Metacognition After Controlling for Vocabulary Knowledge

Journal of language and Education ◽

10.17323/jle.2021.12685 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 187-200

Author(s):

Matthew P Wallace

Keyword(s):

Listening Comprehension ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Metacognitive Awareness ◽

Hierarchical Regression ◽

Strategic Knowledge ◽

Metacognitive Skills ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

L2 Listening ◽

The Relationship

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.

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THE EFFECT OF METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION ON MAXIMIZING EFL LEARNERS’ METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN LISTENING

Malaysian Journal of Languages and Linguistics (MJLL) ◽

10.24200/mjll.vol7iss1pp8-17 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 8-17

Author(s):

Mahsa Assadi

Keyword(s):

Experimental Research ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Intervention Program ◽

Metacognitive Awareness ◽

Listening Test ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Metacognitive Instruction ◽

Before And After ◽

Comprehension Ability ◽

The Impact

This study reports a pre-experimental research on the impact of metacognitive instruction on EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and their listening performance. To obtain the goal of the study, a group of 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners, including 14 males and 16 females, were selected randomly. Their ages range from 20 to 24. The participants took part in 16 weeks’ intervention program based on metacognitive pedagogical sequence consisted of five stages. The metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ), and a listening test were also used to find changes in metacognitive awareness and listening performance before and after the treatment. The results of comparing pre and posttests scores revealed that metacognitive instruction raised the learners’ metacognitive awareness and helped them improve their listening comprehension ability.

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Auditory Processing of Gender Agreement across Relative Clauses by Spanish Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages6010008 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 8

Author(s):

Daniel Vergara ◽

Gilda Socarrás

Keyword(s):

Language Proficiency ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Age Of Onset ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Auditory Task ◽

Auditory Modality ◽

Gender Agreement ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Spanish Heritage Speakers

Processing research on Spanish gender agreement has focused on L2 learners’ and—to a lesser extent—heritage speakers’ sensitivity to gender agreement violations. This research has been mostly carried out in the written modality, which places heritage speakers at a disadvantage as they are more frequently exposed to Spanish auditorily. This study contributes to the understanding of the differences between heritage and L2 grammars by examining the processing of gender agreement in the auditory modality and its impact on comprehension. Twenty Spanish heritage speakers and 20 intermediate L2 learners listened to stimuli containing two nouns with gender mismatches in the main clause, and an adjective in the relative clause that only agreed in gender with one of the nouns. We measured noun-adjective agreement accuracy through participants’ responses to an auditory task. Our results show that heritage speakers are more accurate than L2 learners in the auditory processing of gender agreement information for comprehension. Additionally, heritage speakers’ accuracy is modulated by their Spanish language proficiency and age of onset. Participants also exhibit higher accuracies in cases in which the adjective agrees with the first noun. We argue that this is an ambiguity resolution strategy influenced by the experimental task.

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