The Strategy Use in Listening Comprehension for Efl Learners in Taiwan

Abstract

This study aims to identify the listening strategies of Chinese learners of English in an EFL context using a sample of students from Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan. Two aspects of listening strategies have been studied: firstly to find out whether there is any difference in strategy use between the mostly advanced learners and the lowest-level learners at grammar and vocabulary, and secondly to compare four groups of different proficiency levels in their application of various categories of listening strategies, and to identify the casual relationship between a range of strategies and a good performance in listening assessment. In order to find out how differently the sample groups interpret oral language, various testings, questionnaires, and interviews were undertaken. ANOVA was employed to analyze the variance in the use of the most commonly used listening strategies between paired groups. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in strategy use between better-listening groups and poor- listening groups. The highest-ranking groups are good at using a greater number or the three categories of strategies simultaneously. The importance of learners' attitude towards foreign language learning cannot be ignored about a better performance in listening comprehension.