Effects of Audiovisual Media on L2 Listening Comprehension: A Preliminary Study in French

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether integrating online audiovisual materials into the listening instruction of L2 French learners would have a measurable impact on their listening comprehension development. Students from two intact sections of second-semester French were tested on their listening comprehension before and after a four-week learning phase during which the treatment group received listening instruction via audiovisual materials while the control group completed a different listening task that did not involve audiovisual materials. Results from the pretest indicated that the two groups began the study at a nearly identical level of listening ability. The experimental group subsequently increased its listening proficiency in the immediate and delayed posttests, achieving considerably higher scores when compared to the control group. While the difference in scores on the posttests was not significant, effect sizes suggested a positive outcome for the experimental group. This study represents a preliminary indication that activities using online audiovisual materials may have a positive impact on the acquisition of listening comprehension skills.