Guidelines for designing and conducting L2 listening studies

ELT Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Cross ◽  
L. Vandergrift
Keyword(s):  
L2 Listening ◽  
Listening Studies

Age-Related Changes in Flexible Listening: Studies on Meta-Audition and the False Hearing Effect

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad S. Rogers ◽  
Larry L. Jacoby ◽  
Mitchell S. Sommers ◽  
Arthur Wingfield
Keyword(s):  
Age Related ◽  
Listening Studies ◽  
Age Related Changes

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

2021 ◽  
pp. 026553222199113
Author(s):  
Sarah Sok ◽  
Hye Won Shin ◽  
Juhyun Do
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Comprehension Tests ◽  
Reading Comprehension Tests

Test-taker characteristics (TTCs), or individual difference variables, are known to be a systematic source of variance in language test performance. Although previous research has documented the impact of a range of TTCs on second language (L2) learners’ test performance, few of these studies have involved young learners. Given that young L2 learners undergo rapid maturational changes in their cognitive abilities, are susceptible to affective factors in unique ways, and have little autonomy with respect to the context of L2 acquisition, the relationship between their personal attributes and their test performance merit separate research attention. To fill this gap, we investigated the extent to which sixth-grade, Korean-L1, EFL learners’ ( n = 107) TTCs predicted their performance on tests of L2 listening and reading comprehension. The TTCs under investigation included three cognitive characteristics (aptitude, phonological working memory, L1 competence), one affective factor (motivation), and two demographic variables (socioeconomic status and gender). Results showed that aptitude and phonological working memory significantly predicted participants’ performance on both L2 listening and reading comprehension tests, whereas motivation predicted performance on the L2 listening comprehension test only. These findings suggest that higher aptitude, phonological working memory, and motivation contribute positively to young learners’ L2 outcomes.

Analyzing trends in the aural decoding errors of Japanese EFL learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kriss Lange ◽  
Joshua Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Listening

Abstract Japanese EFL learners’ difficulty with accurately decoding connected English speech motivated this mixed methods study. The aural decoding capacities of 63 first-year Japanese university students, with low to intermediate level English proficiency, were first measured with a battery of paused transcription tests (PTT). The transcriptions were clusters of three-words that each possessed attributes typical of co-articulated speech. In addition, after each test, a subgroup of 10 participants individually listened to the same PTT and recounted introspective self-observations of their perceived difficulties with the aural decoding tasks in their L1. These quantitative and qualitative data were used to identify four trends in decoding errors which were categorized as follows: limited collocation familiarity, syntactic knowledge constraints, difficulties utilizing co-text, and L1 phonological influence. This study investigates some of the difficulties associated with aural decoding, highlights the challenges of identifying the origins of decoding errors and suggests that more focus is needed on developing decoding skills as well as knowledge of formulaic language in L2 listening education.

scholarly journals The validation of an L2 English listening self-efficacy instrument using Rasch analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Eric Shepherd Martin
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Rasch Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Second Year ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Esl Learners

This paper details the development and validation of a listening self-efficacy instrument for EFL/ESL learners with beginner- to-intermediate-level English language proficiency. Self-efficacy, or the belief in one's ability to perform a task successfully, is believed to determine how likely individuals will be to cope with difficulties relating to the task domain (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, or writing), and to sustain their effort in spite of obstacles (Bandura, 1997). To date, few instruments have been developed to evaluate English L2 listening self-efficacy. The instrument presented here was distributed among a sample of first- and second-year Japanese university students (N = 121), and, unlike most previously developed questionnaires, was validated through the use of Rasch analysis. The results of the administration of the questionnaire showed that learners' responses differed predictably and considerably, thereby suggesting the utility of the instrument for future use by EFL/ESL practitioners.

language teaching

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. i-i
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The University

In this issue's state-of-the-art article, Larry Vandergrift suggests that L2 listening remains the least understood and the least researched of all four skills. His paper focuses on a number of areas central to the topic, including the implicit nature of the listening product and process, the cognitive dimensions of the listening skill, listening tasks and the assessment of the skill.The present issue of Language Teaching sees the start of a new series, surveying recent research in some of the most widely-taught L2s. It can be argued that nowadays too much L2 research is focussed on English, and there is very often an implied assumption that ‘one size fits all’ in methodological terms for all languages, which is clearly not the case. We also feel that this journal needs to serve its readers more comprehensively by providing an accessible and regular means of obtaining information about research into languages other than English. Michael Evans opens the series with a review of research on L2 French; reviews of research into L2 German, Spanish, Japanese, Italian and Chinese are currently being prepared.This issue also sees the start of another regular section, wherein we will be publishing plenary and invited speeches from recent language teaching and second language acquisition conferences around the world. Many of these speeches are of fundamental interest to a community wider than those present at such events. To begin the series, Fred Davidson with Glenn Fulcher discuss the flexible language of the Common European Framework of References for Languages and explore the pragmatic utility of such language to guide language test development, and William Littlewood discusses the problems encountered in incorporating new methodologies developed in Europe into East Asian educational institutions. In future issues, we will be presenting speeches from events as diverse as the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics and the conference of the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand, and papers based on the invited speakers' lecture series at the University of Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Richard Johnstone's article in which he reviews research on language teaching, learning and policy published in 2004 and 2005 is available online in Language Teaching 39.4 (2006), at http://journals.cambridge.org/jid_LTA.

Developing L2 Listening Fluency through Extended Listening-focused Activities in an Extensive Listening Programme

RELC Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C-S Chang ◽  
Sonia Millett
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Listening Test ◽  
Group 15 ◽  
Input Type ◽  
Simulated Test ◽  
Group 10 ◽  
Group 5 ◽  
Graded Readers ◽  
L2 Listening

This study investigates the effects on developing L2 listening fluency through doing extended listening-focused activities after reading and listening to audio graded readers. Seventy-six EFL university students read and listened to a total of 15 graded readers in a 15-week extensive listening programme. They were divided into three groups (Group 5, n = 30; Group 10, n = 20; Group 15, n =26) according to the number of post-listening-focused activities they completed. Another group who did not receive extensive listening served as the control group (Group 0, n =39). All participants were given a pre-test containing teacher-developed tests and a full-length simulated Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) listening test. Similar tests were repeated at the end of the programme. The study addresses the effect size of improvement that students made from listening to audio graded readers and doing post-listening-focused activities, the degree to which students progressed on their TOEIC listening test, and the transferring effect from narrative-type input to conversational-type listening. Results show that the effect size was very small, medium, and very large on the listening improvement for Group 5, Group 10 and Group 15 respectively. On their post-TOEIC tests, Groups 5, 10 and 15 made approximately 2, 9 and 16 points out of 100 respectively. Finally, only Group 15 demonstrated some transfer effect from narrative to conversational input type of listening. This study also discussed the reasons low-level learners need to read many more texts to see more significant improvement.

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