scholarly journals Investigating the Relationships Between Listening Skills and Genre Competence Through Cognitive Diagnosis Approach

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110613
Author(s):  
Huilin Chen ◽  
Jinsong Chen

Although research on listening skills has been frequently conducted to discover the nature of listening comprehension, there is little study about listening genre competence which is related with knowledge about listening text types. In order to find out whether listening skills and listening genre competence are related, cognitive diagnosis, a quantitative method to disclose finer-grained latent attributes, was adopted in this study. The generalized deterministic inputs, noisy “and” gate (G-DINA) model, which takes attribute compensation and attribute interaction into consideration, was used to carry out cognitive diagnostic analysis. The listening comprehension subtest of Band 4 of Test for English Majors (TEM) which is a large scale English proficiency test for English Majors in China was used as the proficiency test for homogenizing the participants. Three genres in the subtest, dialog, lecture, and news, were investigated. The 2,285 subjects were sophomore English major college students and also test-takers of the same TEM4 examination. They were chosen by random sampling from the nationwide test population in China. The study analyzed three types of relationships between listening skills and genre competence. By analyzing how mastery of certain listening text genres goes with mastery of listening skills according to latent class distribution, the coexistence relationship was discovered. By comparing the average number of skills/genres mastered when the number of genres/skills mastered increases through One-Way ANOVA, compensatory and contributory relationships were revealed. The study also found that the subjects mastering Lecture genre got higher listening scores.

Author(s):  
Jeerapan Phomprasert ◽  
◽  
Ma'ayan Grace

Listening has been recognized as one of the most difficult skills in language acquisition and has been the least researched of all four language skills. This has meant listening skills haven't been targeted by teachers and are viewed as a "somewhat neglected and poorly taught aspect of English". This study investigates the English listening ability and the effect of accent on freshman student's ability to comprehend spoken English. The sample group used for this study comprised of 33 students from the Business English Major at Phetchabun Rajabhat University. The results of this study showed that the freshman students studying Business English had a listening ability below the originally expected threshold as well as revealing that students received higher percentages of correct answers when tested using Australian and British accents and lower results when tested using American accents. The results were then analyzed according to the student's backgrounds and exposure to various accents. Correspondingly the results from this study can be used to develop awareness and improve the techniques used to ensure students acquire better English listening abilities and improve the precision and effectiveness of both teaching and learning.


Author(s):  
Norazean Sulaiman ◽  
Nurul Nadiah Dewi Faizul Ganapathy ◽  
Wan Faizatul Azirah Ismayatim

Listening skills should be given more attention as listening takes precedence over anything else when it comes to acquiring a language (Putriani, Sukirlan & Supriyadi, 2013). Even with the booming of various technology to facilitate teaching and learning of listening skills in class, the assessment conducted to identify students’ level of understanding of certain topic is still not up-to-date and not parallel with the advancement of technology. The current studies show that the use of mobile apps for listening purpose is proven to be effective in reducing students’ anxiety (Rahimi & Soleymani, 2015), sustaining students’ motivation (Read & Kukulska-Hulme, 2015), and improving students’ linguistic competencies (Ramos & Valderruten, 2017). This study is aimed to test the effectiveness of mobile application in assessing students’ listening skills. Diploma students from various faculties in UiTM Shah Alam were randomly chosen to answer listening comprehension questions via the prototype developed, named Pocket E-Li. The results demonstrate that the majority of the students provided positive response towards the implementation of mobile application for listening assessment. Almost all respondents agreed that listening assessment should be conducted via mobile application in the future. It can be concluded that listening assessment via mobile application is beneficial to students since it meets the students’ demands and needs which is equivalent with the use of current technology.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110165
Author(s):  
Qing Xie

In light of pedagogical innovation, this study reports a two-stage survey with 172 participants from English-major and non-English-major programs on their needs of production-oriented approach and perceptions of effective implementation strategies in business English courses at a Chinese university. The results of the study suggest that while the two student groups used different learning methods, both valued communication with native speakers. While the two groups had different needs in business English reading, writing, and speaking activities, they also preferred listening to business news broadcasts. The two groups liked learning in case studies and case-based methodology. Based on the needs, a production-oriented teaching procedure is designed. For teaching activities, the students preferred simulation and role-play. As to their favorite teaching and learning materials, English-majors mentioned English news reading and videos, whereas non-English-majors liked theme-based reading materials. For curriculum adaptation and post-course practice, they suggested using communicative activities and more recent cases. The majority of the groups considered the teaching activities, materials, and activities as effective. Based on the different needs and perceptions, effective and tailored implementation strategies for a production-oriented approach in business English courses for the two student groups at this Chinese university context are suggested. Informed by production-oriented pedagogical theories, the results of the study may have significant implications for business English teaching reform and theoretical development in Chinese universities as well as other cultural and education settings in further innovating and refining the teaching and learning process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 75-76
Author(s):  
Camren l Maierle ◽  
Andrew R Weaver ◽  
Eugene Felton ◽  
Scott P Greiner ◽  
Scott A Bowdridge

Abstract Residual feed intake (RFI) is quickly becoming the preferred measurement of efficiency in many species due to its inherent independence of most other important production traits. Making meaningful improvement in feed efficiency of sheep will require a consistent methodology to accurately identify efficient individuals. Due to difficulty in measuring this trait efforts must be made to incorporate efficiency data in large-scale genetic evaluations. The aim of this study was to evaluate lambs in a feedlot with large-scale genetic evaluations for feed efficiency calculated by residual feed intake (RFI) utilizing a Growsafe™ system. RFI was calculated by subtracting expected intake from actual intake. Expected intake was determined by regressing metabolic body size of mid-test weight. Regression determined ADG on actual intake for individuals in the population. Texel (n = 58) and Katahdin (n = 118) lambs were placed in a feedlot and fed in separate feeding trials, a complete pellet ad libitum as the sole source of nutrition. In this environment Texel and Katahdin lambs had expected ADG values (0.27 kg/day, 0.32 kg/day respectively) and actual intake data (2154.17 g/day, 1909.33 g/day respectively. After a period of adaptation, Texel average intake was determined over a period of 27 consecutive days and used to calculate individual RFI within the test population. Observable ranges of RFI (-0.62 – +0.62) were seen in the Texel lambs. At the start of the Katahdin trial lambs were separated by sex and FEC treatment. After a period of adaptation, Katahdin average intake was determined over a period of 42 consecutive days and used to calculate individual RFI within the test population. Observable ranges of RFI (-0.53 – +0.50) were seen in the Katahdin lambs as well. In both feeding trials RFI appeared to be normally distributed. Use of this technology may be useful in identifying superior individuals for feed efficiency.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motje Wolf

This article introduces research on the influence of teaching on the change of inexperienced listeners’ appreciation of electroacoustic music. A curriculum was developed to make Key Stage 3 students (11–14 years old)1 familiar with electroacoustic music. The curriculum introduced music using concepts, such as music with real-world sounds and music with generated sounds. Presented in an online environment and accompanied with a teachers’ handbook, the curriculum can be used online or as classroom-based teaching resource.The online environment was developed with the help of user-centred design. Following this, the curriculum was tested in a large-scale study including four Key Stage 3 classes within three schools in Leicester, UK. Data were collected using questionnaires, a listening response test and a summary of the teaching (letter written by participants). Qualitative content analysis was used for the data analysis.Results include the change of the participants’ appreciation of electroacoustic music during the study. Successful learning and a decrease in alienation towards electroacoustic music could be measured. The study shows that the appreciation of electroacoustic music can be enhanced through the acquirement of conceptual knowledge. Especially important was the enhancing of listening skills following a listening training as well as the broadening of the participants’ vocabulary that enabled them to describe their listening experience.


Author(s):  
Andrea Bresee ◽  
Joyce Kinkead

Abstract This article focuses on the progress of an undergraduate English major on the scholarship continuum outlined by Laurie Grobman (2009). The student engaged in authentic research in a research methods course for English majors, a class that also meets a university requirement of “quantitative intensive,” and she completed two research projects of note. Her journey has implications and significance for faculty in designing undergraduate research experiences.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang

<p>As a very important skill both in English teaching and learning, reading strategy has been emphasized at home and abroad for a long time. Many scholars and teachers make research on undergraduates of English major or non-English major. However, the postgraduates are often neglected. Actually, it is also imperative to make a study among postgraduates of non-English majors, getting the information of their use of reading strategies and giving some useful suggestions to them. Therefore, this paper makes a quantitative study among 40 postgraduates from College of Mechanical Engineering in Chang’an University.This study shows that postgraduates of non-English major in Chang’an university do not frequently use reading strategies to improve their reading speed and proficiency. And there is a big difference between the successful learners and unsuccessful learners in terms of the use of reading strategies.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 409
Author(s):  
Yanxiu Dong ◽  
Suli Liu

This paper provides a comprehensive review on the current situation of non-English major students’ agentic engagement in online English listening course. The paper aims to investigate students’ low motivation in doing their online listening homework. Paper questionnaires and SPSS 22.0 were used to analyze the results. 46 freshmen and 43 sophomores of non-English majors participated in this research. It has been found that the agentic engagement of non-English majors is low and freshmen’s average agentic engagement is higher than sophomores’. Besides, it doesn’t have significant correlations with students’ scores in online weekly tasks. The research findings indicate the importance of raising teachers’ awareness of student agentic engagement, and a more effective e-learning platform is required. At last, with the results of this investigation, the current study provides some suggestions for future English listening course design.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Minh ◽  
Nguyen Thuy Nga

This paper aimed at investigating the frequencies of reading strategies employed by Vietnamese non-English major students while taking a reading comprehension test at Kien Giang University. Data was collected through a questionnaire delivered to 117 sophomores who majored in Economics, Accounting and Construction at Kien Giang University. The results from the descriptive statistics showed that Vietnamese non-English majors were medium strategy users. Of the three types of reading strategies, cognitive strategies were the most frequently used, followed by metacognitive and support reading strategies. Out of 27 reading strategies, students reportedly used item number 14 “I read the text again for better understanding.” at the highest frequency while rating item number 2 “I determined what the type of the text is.” the least frequency.


Author(s):  
Ali ARABMOFRAD ◽  
Majid SAEIDI ◽  
Mohammad MOTAMEDI

Since the phenomenon of bilingualism is gradually increasing in the world, the theory-driven and practically oriented investigation on bilingualism have increased recently. However, a few studies have been conducted on the effect of bilingualism on language learning in the multilingual and multicultural context of Iran. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to examine the effect of bilingualism on Iranian EFL learners' listening comprehension in the case of Azeri-Turkish vs. Persian students. The study employed a quasi-experimental design over 8 weeks with 44 female students assigned to one of the two experimental groups. To select bilingual and monolingual groups, a biographical questionnaire was used. Then, Nelson elementary proficiency test was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the students. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 15 bilingual (Azeri-Persian) elementary students in Fazilat high school in Ramian and 29 monolingual (Persian) elementary students in Sama high school in Azadshahr were selected to participate in the present study. Each group received 16 sessions of treatment in listening skill. Then, the two groups' performance was compared on pretest and posttest consisting of a multiple-choice and matching listening comprehension test. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the bilingual and monolingual groups regarding their performance on listening comprehension, that is, bilingualism did not affect listening comprehension.


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