scholarly journals The effect of written text on comprehension of spoken English as a foreign language: A replication study

2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Elsa Tragant
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Free Recall Task ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Perceived Difficulty ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Learning To Listen

Abstract The use of written text has been acclaimed to enhance L2 listening comprehension, yet some argue that using written text does not effectively prepare learners to listen in real situations. Thus, the study was conducted to explore the effect of written text on learners’ perceived difficulty, listening comprehension and learning to listen through replicating the research by Diao, Chandler & Sweller (2007. The effect of written text on comprehension of spoken English as a foreign language. The American Journal of Psychology 237–261). Participants were 101 low-proficient English learners who were divided into three groups: listening with subtitles, listening with a full script and listening only. Each group first listened to a passage in their respective mode, then all three groups listened to another passage in the listening-only mode. Participants rated their perceived difficulty and completed a free recall task after each listening. Results suggest that the difficulty of written text should be tuned with learners’ proficiency level so that they can benefit from the presence of written text in listening.

Effects of expanded vocabulary support on L2 listening comprehension

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Chun Pan ◽  
Tzung-Hung Tsai ◽  
Yueh-Kuey Huang ◽  
Dilin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Vocabulary Instruction ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Multiword Units ◽  
Listening Ability ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Different Levels

Various forms of pre-listening support, such as the provision of vocabulary and topic information, have been used to help second language (L2) learners better understand what they listen to. Results of studies on the effects of vocabulary support have been mixed. Furthermore, there has been little research on the effects of different quantities of vocabulary items and types of word information provided on the listening performance of L2 students of different proficiency levels. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of two different levels of 18-week vocabulary support (an expanded vocabulary-instruction support that targeted both a greater quantity of lexical items and a focus on multiword units vs. an unexpanded vocabulary-instruction support with a focus on single words only) for enhancing listening ability of students of English as a foreign language (EFL) defined as their performance on the listening test of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). The results indicate that the group that received the expanded vocabulary support attained a significant gain and performed significantly better on the posttest than the group that received the unexpanded vocabulary support. The results also reveal that the expanded vocabulary support was particularly helpful for lower proficiency level students. Pedagogical and research implications are also discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of presentation mode on mobile language learning: A performance efficiency perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
I-Jung Chen ◽  
Chi-Cheng Chang ◽  
Jung-Chuan Yen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Personal Digital Assistant ◽  
Presentation Mode ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Comprehension Skill ◽  
Immediate Recall

<span>This study investigated the effects of simultaneous written text on the comprehension of spoken English as a foreign language, when the text is presented with the aid of a personal digital assistant (PDA) as a learning tool. Eighty-seven university students majoring in applied foreign languages were randomly assigned to either listening with auditory materials only, or listening with identical and concurrent written text. Performance efficiency was used to provide a better indicator of the quality of learning. The results revealed that for learners with lower English levels, the presence of concurrent written text elicited higher performance efficiency in the immediate recall task of the English listening comprehension. However, the beneficial effect of the written text did not extend to the subsequent auditory-only passage. The study suggested that when using mobile devices as training tools, the provision of written text facilitates the acquisition of information but not the schema construction of the English listening comprehension skill.</span>

scholarly journals EXPLORING ENGLISH LISTENING PROBLEMS AMONG EFL STUDENTS AT IAIN KUDUS

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azizah Maulina Erzad
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
English Education ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Listening Process

Listening comprehension becomes one of the most difficult skills for most of English learners especially EFL learners. As a foreign language, English is rarely used in communication by EFL learners in their daily life. Therefore, the learners or students always face some difficulties/problems in listening comprehension. It can be seen from the results of their tests. The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems occur in listening class of EFL students at IAIN Kudus and the solutions to overcome those problems. The EFL students in this study refer to the English Education Department students of IAIN Kudus. The participants of this study are the second semester of English Education Department students. This study is a qualitative research. Observation, interview and documentation were conducted to collect the data. By conducting this study, several problems in listening comprehension can be revealed. The listening problems encountered by the EFL students are the pronunciation (accents), speedy delivery and length of the listening, physical conditions, unfamiliar vocabularies and terminologies, and limited facility for listening. Some actions should be done to overcome these obstacles occurred during listening process. The solutions to overcome the problems are students should be focus, practice more in listening English, memorize vocabularies, and prepare a language laboratory.

scholarly journals L2 Listening Comprehension: Is it a Language Problem or Listening Problem?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa El-dali
Keyword(s):  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Major Question ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Language Problem ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Comprehension Process ◽  
Faculty Of Education ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Language Environment

In a foreign language environment, students typically have limited exposure to the language outside formal classrooms. Therefore, their ability to comprehend spoken English may be limited. To add to this problem, L2 learners often regard listening as the most difficult language skill to learn. On the other hand, it is noticeable that L2 listening remains the least researched of all four language skills. Accordingly, the present study is based on the commonly believed premises that (1) investigating the listening comprehension process can provide useful insights into teaching listening and (2) learners who learn to control their listening process can enhance their comprehension, and their overall proficiency may be highly developed.The present study reports on the results of an empirical study on forty-six L2 learners of English. The subjects were equally divided into two groups. The first group (N=23) represents first year students (Beginners) in the Department of English at the Faculty of Education, Menufia University, Egypt. The second group (N=23) represents fourth year students (Advanced) in the same department. The major question that this study attempts to answer is “whether listening comprehension a language problem or listening problem?” The instruments of this study consist of five tasks: pre-test, questionnaire, classroom instruction sessions, post-test, and interviews. The data analysis had a quantitative and a qualitative part. Results were obtained and conclusions were made.

scholarly journals Exploring the relationships between L2 vocabulary knowledge, lexical segmentation, and L2 listening comprehension

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-749
Author(s):  
Kriss Lange ◽  
Joshua Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Lexical Segmentation ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
L2 Listening ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

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.

scholarly journals Vocabulary and listening in English among L1-Spanish learners: a longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Martin Aioz Pinillos
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Second Language Listening ◽  
Listening Ability ◽  
L2 Listening

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.

scholarly journals The Effect of Written Text on Comprehension of Spoken English as a Foreign Language

2007 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yali Diao ◽  
Paul Chandler ◽  
John Sweller
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Spoken English

scholarly journals The TOEFL as Exit Criteria in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Programs in Mexico: A Discourse Historical Analysis (DHA) Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Isaac Frausto Hernandez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Testing Program ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
The Many ◽  
Discourse Historical Approach ◽  
Metalinguistic Skills

The purpose of this article is to explore the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) assessment under its Institutional Testing Program (ITP) modality as it acts as a curriculum artifact along Mexican undergraduate degree programs considered within the exit criteria. A discourse historical approach (DHA) (Wodak, 2008; Wodak & Meyer, 2009) is taken in analyzing the TOEFL ITP assessment to further understand its implementation. The analysis helps reveal the many linguistic and metalinguistic skills and elements that extend beyond what may be traditionally taught in English courses or programs. The analysis also calls for further questioning of how suitable the TOEFL ITP may be in aiming to assess the proficiency level or development of English learners along undergraduate degrees in Mexico. Alternative types of assessment may better aid in providing a different perspective on the knowledge or progress of these students.

Recent developments in second and foreign language listening comprehension research

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Vandergrift
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Integrated Model ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Multimedia Environments ◽  
L2 Listening

Listening comprehension lies at the heart of language learning, but it is the least understood and least researched skill. This paper brings together recent research and developments in the field of second and foreign language (L2) listening. It begins with a brief discussion of the different cognitive and social factors that impact listening, followed by a summary of recent research into the development of perception skills and metacognitive knowledge. An integrated model for teaching learners how to listen is then elaborated. In addition, recent research on listening in multimedia environments, academic listening and listening assessment is presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas for further research, arguing that the process of listening needs more research attention with in-depth studies that probe deeper into the interaction of the processes and factors that influence successful L2 listening.

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