Ability Of Listeners Research Articles

A generative AI-driven interactive listening assessment task

IntroductionAssessments of interactional competence have traditionally been limited in large-scale language assessments. The listening portion suffers from construct underrepresentation, whereas the speaking portion suffers from limited task formats such as in-person interviews or role plays. Human-delivered tasks are challenging to administer at large scales, while automated assessments are typically very narrow in their assessment of the construct because they have carried over the limitations of traditional paper-based tasks to digital formats. However, computer-based assessments do allow for more interactive, automatically administered tasks, but come with increased complexity in task creation. Large language models present new opportunities for enhanced automated item generation (AIG) processes that can create complex content types and tasks at scale that support richer assessments.MethodsThis paper describes the use of such methods to generate content at scale for an interactive listening measure of interactional competence for the Duolingo English Test (DET), a large-scale, high-stakes test of English proficiency. The Interactive Listening task assesses test takers’ ability to participate in a full conversation, resulting in a more authentic assessment of interactive listening ability than prior automated assessments by positing comprehension and interaction as purposes of listening.Results and discussionThe results of a pilot of 713 tasks with hundreds of responses per task, along with the results of human review, demonstrate the feasibility of a human-in-the-loop, generative AI-driven approach for automatic creation of complex educational assessments at scale.

The Improvement in English Listening Comprehension Competence of the Tenth-Grade Students Through using Podcasts: A Case Study

The growing development of the internet brings many opportunities to both English teachers and learners since they can access diverse resources, among which podcasts are considered one of the valuable tools for those who want to master English language skills, especially listening. This study aims to investigate the use of podcasts as a medium to enhance the tenth graders’ listening comprehension competence. Involving 80 tenth graders at an upper secondary school in Dak Lak province, Vietnam, who were divided into a control group and an experimental group, the study mainly employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to measure the improvement in students’ listening competence. The tools used for collecting the data were questionnaires, interviews, the pre-test, and the post-test. With the help of the statistical software SPSS version 20.0, a paired sample t-test was conducted to assess the statistical significance of the findings, and the descriptive statistics, including sum, mean, and percentage of each variable, were also found and analyzed. The results indicated that students were eager to use podcasts as a listening tool, thanks to their familiarity and accessibility. Despite some challenges during practice, podcasts effectively helped improve the learners’ listening skills. Specifically, the students overcame the common difficulties that hinder their English listening comprehension, such as limited vocabulary, unfamiliar grammar, poor comprehensive listening ability, and pronunciation challenges. To conclude, it is recommended that students be consistent with podcast practice, and teachers should give enough instructions so that the best results can be achieved.

Temporal speech cue perception in listeners with cochlear implants depends on the time between those cues and previous sound energy.

Cochlear implants (CIs) provide precise temporal information that listeners use to understand speech. Other acoustic cues are not conveyed as precisely, making unambiguous temporal speech cues vital to a listener's ability to understand speech. Several speech sounds are differentiated by small differences in the timing of acoustic features. Previous studies have shown differences in the perception of these differences, depending on whether the speech sound was heard in a single word or embedded in a sentence. This study expands on previous research by exploring forward masking as a possible contributor to the mechanisms driving the effects observed when temporal cues were embedded in sentences. Listeners using CIs performed a phoneme categorization task on words from four continua that each varied mainly on a single temporal dimension. The differentiating phonemes were located at the beginning of the word in two continua and at the end of the word in two others. Silent intervals of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 ms between the preceding sentence and the target words were tested. Results showed an increasing effect on performance as the inter-stimulus interval duration decreased for the two word-initial phonemic contrasts, lending support to forward masking as an influence on speech understanding.

A listening model of venture growth: entrepreneurs' listening abilities and ventures' listening capabilities

While we understand the importance of entrepreneurs listening to stakeholders, we lack a sufficient theory-driven understanding of why some entrepreneurs and their ventures can listen to their stakeholders more effectively than others. We offer a listening model of venture growth based on listening theories and the literatures on new ventures and capability development. Listening is initially facilitated by entrepreneurs' cognitive and behavioral processes, but continued venture growth creates a paradox for entrepreneurs. Listening to stakeholders may also deplete entrepreneurs' personal resources, diminishing their listening capacity. This paradox can be overcome by generating their ventures' listening capability—behavioral routines and attention structures for listening—enabling them to acquire and interpret quality information from stakeholders more effectively to build or adapt the capabilities necessary for venture growth. The ventures' listening capability acts as a dynamic capability, which itself can be dynamic. This listening model of venture growth contributes to the entrepreneurship literature on stakeholders, entrepreneurs' abilities, and ventures' capabilities and dynamic capabilities. Executive summaryEntrepreneurs need to acquire resources from stakeholders to create and grow their ventures. Therefore, stakeholder enrollment is a critical task for entrepreneurs. The predominant research on stakeholder enrollment has been on entrepreneurs' overt behaviors to secure the support of stakeholders—a unidirectional communication pattern in which entrepreneurs communicate to audiences and stakeholders listen to and decide whether to commit their resources to ventures. However, entrepreneurs need to communicate and listen to their stakeholders. Although scholars recognize the importance of entrepreneurs listening to stakeholders, we lack sufficient understanding of why some entrepreneurs and their ventures can listen to their stakeholders more effectively than others and thus acquire and use stakeholder support critical for venture growth. Therefore, we ask, Why are some entrepreneurial actors more effective at listening to stakeholders than others?To address this question, we integrate theories of listening and the literatures on new ventures and the creation of organizational capabilities to develop a listening model of venture growth. This model explains the importance and the limitations of entrepreneurs' listening ability in acquiring and interpreting stakeholder information for venture growth. Venture members can learn from and formalize entrepreneurs' listening ability to build ventures' listening capability, which overcomes the entrepreneurs' listening limitations. Ventures' listening capability includes acquiring and interpreting stakeholder information to inform and/or change additional capabilities critical for venture growth.Specifically, the model begins with communication from stakeholders to an entrepreneur and their venture. The entrepreneur engages cognitively in listening to the stakeholders' communication and acquiring and interpreting this stakeholder information. The entrepreneur also listens behaviorally, providing back-channeling that encourages the stakeholders to share more high-quality information. The entrepreneur's listening ability can enhance and change the venture's capabilities. However, the entrepreneur's ability to notice and interpret stakeholder information is limited. Other venture members can learn the entrepreneur's cognitive and behavioral listening to represent an organizational-level listening capability. This listening capability is reflected in the venture's routines and attention structures.The venture's listening capability can build and adapt the venture's nonlistening capabilities. The venture's capabilities drive venture growth. Because the listening capability generates and enables the interpretation of more high-quality stakeholder information, the venture can use this information to change its capabilities to obtain or maintain a tight fit with a changing environment. In doing so, the venture's listening capability represents a dynamic capability—listening can change the venture's capabilities.As the venture grows, the strain on the entrepreneur's listening ability further constrains the entrepreneur as a source of information for building and adapting the venture's capabilities. Venture growth also stretches the venture's listening capability, leading to changes in this listening capability and thus building and adapting the venture's nonlistening capabilities for subsequent venture growth. Venture growth can also lead to an increase in stakeholders and, thus, more stakeholder information to be noticed and interpreted by the venture's listening capability and to adapt the venture's nonlistening capabilities if necessary.With this work, we make three primary contributions to the entrepreneurship literature: We provide theoretical insights into (1) the workings of entrepreneurs' listening ability for promoting venture growth; (2) entrepreneurs' learning from their listening ability and formalizing this ability into organizational capabilities, which is critical for information to enact nonlistening capabilities for venture growth; and (3) a venture's listening capability as a dynamic capability.

Enhancing Listening Ability and Retelling Skills of Elementary School Students: Exploring the Impact of Nusantara Animated Videos

The role of students' listening ability and retelling skills is crucial in the teaching and learning process, particularly in elementary education where foundational skills are developed. In this context, listening ability directly influences how well students can comprehend instructional content, while retelling skills allow them to effectively organize and communicate the information. This study analyzes the impact of Nusantara animated video media on the listening ability and retelling skills of fourth-grade elementary school students. A quantitative experimental approach with a nonequivalent control group design was employed, involving a sample of 89 students divided into two groups: the experimental group (Jarakan Public Elementary School and Jarakan Public Elementary School 3) and the control group (Blunyahan Public Elementary School 2 and Sawit Public Elementary School). The schools were selected based on similar demographic and educational backgrounds to ensure comparability. Research instruments included a listening ability test and an observation sheet for retelling skills. Data analysis using the Wilcoxon test showed a significant positive impact of Nusantara animated video media on both listening and retelling skills (p 0.05). The findings suggest that incorporating Nusantara animated video media into classroom instruction is an effective strategy to enhance these critical skills, particularly in the context of Indonesian language learning. This study highlights the broader educational implications, including potential applications in curriculum design, teacher training, and educational policy development.

Teachers' Perceptions in Using YouTube to Teach Listening in ESL Classroom

This study was centered around recognizing the impact of YouTube recordings as a listening learning media. It is accepted that the general media mode might work on students' ability to listen and make listening seriously intriguing. Although past research has been conducted to discuss the implementation of YouTube videos in ESL classrooms, not much research has been done that focuses on the teachers' perception of using YouTube for listening skills. The objectives of the study are to identify how frequently ESL educators at the secondary level use YouTube recordings in their classroom for listening practices and to find out how much YouTube recordings provide ESL students with new techniques that can assist them with practicing their listening ability. The researchers employed a survey method design and chose 30 respondents using purposive sampling. Observations field notes were also employed to triangulate the data. The results of the study revealed that the teachers feel that the use of YouTube to teach listening in ESL classrooms is efficient and effective. They also stated that the school facilities should be sufficient to conduct an effective listening lesson using YouTube videos.

The Use of English Songs to Improve the Listening Comprehension of Eighth-Grade Students at SMP Negeri 2 Babahrot

English is the world's international language of communication. In some countries, English is even a common language or mother tongue. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using English songs in improving students' listening skills. The population of this study is VIII-grade students at SMP Negeri 2 Babahrot. The study involved two groups: experimental group that learned by using songs and control group that used traditional teaching methods. The experimental group, consisting of 23 students, took a pretest and a posttest to measure the impact of the learning intervention using songs on their listening ability. The comparison between the two groups showed that the experimental group showed greater improvements in English language skills compared to the control group, with a mean pretest score of 60.70 and posttest score of 74.43. The use of English songs significantly improved the listening skills of the grade VIII students. These results support the hypothesis that using songs into English language learning, especially in improving listening skills, can improve students' listen skills. This suggests that songs can be an effective strategy for improving students and used as additional materials to increase students' motivation and engagement in learning.

Development of 20-Talker Korean Sentence In Noise Test Lists

Purpose: Clinical speech recognition measures often present the sentences recorded with a single speaker and one rate of speech. Performances with single-talker recordings may not accurately represent the speech recognition abilities of the listeners in a multitalker communication situation. The present study aimed to construct and optimize the sentences recorded by 20 different talkers for sentence-in-noise recognition tests (20-talker Korean sentence-in-noise test, 20-talker K-SIN).Methods: Phases I and II were conducted in this study. In phase I (developmental phase), preliminary 720 sentences composed of 3 to 6 words were selected and recorded by twenty different talkers (10 male and 10 female). The recorded sentences were superimposed to generate a speech-shaped noise similar to the long-term average speech spectrum of the sentences. In phase II (optimization and formation of equally intelligible sentence lists), the psychometric functions of 30 normal-hearing listeners were obtained from the sentence-in-noise recognition scores at three different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (-2, -4, and -7 dB). Based on these scores, the SNR required for 50% sentence intelligibility (SNR-50) and the slope at that point were derived from the psychometric function curves.Results: Before level adjustment, the median SNR-50 and slope were -4.12 dB SNR and 24.33%/dB over 720 sentences. Level adjustments were applied to homogenize the intelligibility of the sentences, resulting in 508 sentences remained. Out of 508 sentences, 320 sentences were used to construct 1 practice list and 15 test lists, wherein 20 sentences in each list were spoken by each of the 20 different talkers.Conclusion: The 20-talker K-SIN sentences can be used for high-variability speech-in-noise recognition test to better reflect the multitalker communication abilities of listeners.

Age-related myelin deficits in the auditory brain stem contribute to cocktail-party deficits.

Age-related hearing loss is a global health problem of increasing importance. While the role of peripheral hearing loss is well understood and treatments are available, central hearing loss, the ability of the brain to make sense of sound, is much less well understood and no treatments are available. We report on age-related alterations in the auditory brain stem which compromise a listener's ability to isolate a sound from competing background noises, for example in a crowded restaurant. Sound localization depends on extreme temporal precision on the order of microseconds, and the sound localization pathway shows several specializations towards temporal precision. The pathway from the cochlear nucleus to the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) is heavily myelinated and terminates in the calyx of Held. Using auditory brain stem response measurements (ABRs), we found that the physiological properties of MNTB changes with age. The mechanism is that in older animals, MNTB afferents demyelinate to various degrees, resulting in larger variability in the timing of responses. Myelin is produced by oligodendrocytes, and we found that fewer mature, but more precursor and immature oligodendrocytes are present in MNTB of aged animals, suggesting that the demyelination is an age-related deficit in oligodendrocyte maturation.

Listenership always matters: active listening ability in L2 business English paired speaking tasks

Abstract Active listening, foundational for meaningful social interaction, plays a pivotal role in enhancing interactional competence (IC) during dialogues. Despite its importance, current second language (L2) assessments, such as the TOEFL iBT and the Business English Certificate (BEC) Preliminary, notably does not include active listening in their evaluation metrics. The research presented here contributes significantly to this discourse by foregrounding the imperative of listener responses (LRs) in L2 communication and the diverse interactional functions they serve across different cultures. Notably, variations emerge, with Chinese speakers exhibiting more restrained verbal feedback compared to the more vocally expressive English counterparts. This study stands apart by underscoring the necessity of updating current L2 assessment rubrics, which currently prioritize grammatical proficiency, pronunciation, and vocabulary. By weaving in active listening, assessments can become more holistic, capturing more comprehensively a learner’s L2 interactional ability. Through rigorous quantitative and qualitative methodologies, this investigation probes the influence of active listening on BEC speaking test outcomes. Its findings are poised to revolutionize assessment strategies, urging a more encompassing approach that factors in both verbal and non-verbal cues, thereby reflecting genuine linguistic and interactional competence.

Truth or Lie: Ability of Listeners to Detect Deceptive Emergency Calls of Missing Children

Truth or Lie: Ability of Listeners to Detect Deceptive Emergency Calls of Missing Children

Educational Game Teaching Methods on Communicative English Listening and Speaking Abilities for Early Childhood Students

Background and Aims: Early childhood education (ECE) in China has undergone significant transformations, shaped by historical, cultural, and socio-political factors. The foundations of early education in China can be traced back to Confucian traditions, emphasizing moral development and the importance of family and community in transmitting cultural values. This overview explores the historical roots, current practices, challenges, and notable reforms in China's general early childhood education system, providing a comprehensive understanding of its evolution. Thus, the purposes of this research were to:1) To compare the communicative English listening abilities of early childhood students after learning through the educational game teaching method with the criterion determined of 70 percent of the full score. 2) To compare the communicative English speaking abilities of the early childhood students after learning through the educational game teaching method with the criterion determined of 70 percent of the full score. The sample of this study is 30 early childhood students (1 classroom) of Jinshan Xinyuan Preschool Zoucheng City in the academic year of 2023 which was selected by cluster random sampling method. Materials and Methods: The population of this study is 180 early childhood students (6 classrooms), who were enrolled in English courses. The sample of this study is 30 early childhood students (1 classroom) of Jinshan Xinyuan Preschool Zoucheng City in the academic year of 2023 which was selected by cluster random sampling method. Data was collected through listening rubrics and speaking rubrics and SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data, the data used for analysis were the mean value of samples, standard deviation, and single sample t-test. Result: The results of the study were as follows: (1) As presented in Table 4.3, the mean scores of students’ English Communicative English Listening Abilities after learning through Learning Management Using the educational game teaching methods were 11.8 and the standard deviation was 1.69. which was statistically higher than the criterion of 70% at a .05 level of statistical significance (t29 =38.25, p＜0.05). The data above showed that Learning Management Using the educational game teaching methods was able to enhance the students’ Communicative English Listening Ability. (2) As presented in Table 4.3, the mean scores of students’ Communicative English-Speaking Abilities after learning through Learning Management Using the educational game teaching methods were 14.77 and the standard deviation was 2.65. which was statistically higher than the criterion of 70% at a .05 level of statistical significance (t29=30.54, p=0.000 < .05). The data above showed that Learning Management Using the educational game teaching methods was able to enhance the students’ Communicative English-Speaking Ability. Conclusion: According to the research results, we can draw the following conclusions: The average score and standard deviation of the preschool students who adopted the educational game teaching mode were higher than the standard of 70% at the level of statistical significance of 0.05. The educational game teaching method can enhance the preschool students’ Communicative English Listening and Speaking Abilities.

Capturing the situated, dynamic nature of EMI-lecture listening comprehension in real time

Abstract English-medium instruction (EMI) potentially offers pedagogical efficiency by simultaneously providing access to academic content and English affordances. EMI’s efficacy and effectiveness, however, remain unproven with questions concerning students’ language proficiency unresolved. As listening to lectures holds a central role in tertiary education and the development of language skills is founded on second-language listening ability, key concerns for stakeholders are knowing how much of an EMI lecture students can understand and what factors impact their lecture listening comprehension. Current methodologies used to capture listening comprehension data, such as tests, surveys, summaries, and transcript markings do not capture the idiosyncratic, volatile, and multifaceted reactions to aural text phenomena that learners encounter during a lecture. This study, therefore, uses an innovative foot switch mechanism to capture comprehension data in real time as students participated in an EMI lecture. These data were then used to guide a stimulated recall. The data showed learners failing to comprehend extensive sections of the lecture while deeper analysis identified sections of the lecture where issues concerning prior taught knowledge, top-down schema building, lexical, and bottom-up identification of sounds coincided for multiple learners. Extrapolating from these points of convergence, pedagogical recommendations are provided.

Mahalia Jacksonin musiikin ja hänen gospellaulutyylinsä saapuminen Suomeen 1950–1960 luvuilla

Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972), “The World’s Greatest Gospel Singer”, broke path for the worldwide popularity of African American gospel music. Her European concert tours never reached Finland, but since the 1950s, Finnish audiences have been able to listen to her music via recordings, radio, film and other media. This article explores the ways in which Jackson’s music came to Finland in the 1950s and 1960s. Furthermore, the article shows how the early marketing of her records and music critics’ excited reception of her gospel vocal expression sought to shape local audiences’ listening experiences and appreciation for the artistic merit of her music. This article is based on a study of various sources including advertisements, music reviews, correspondence and other archival materials, recordings, Jackson’s performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the film Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1959). This article shows that when Mahalia Jackson’s music came to Finland, her gospel vocal expression was recognized for its powerful spirituality and emotional impact on listeners. Yet the ways in which her music was presented to Finnish audiences was often mystifying, decontextualized and guided by the interests of music industry actors. This limited the ability of local listeners to understand the cultural and historical meanings of her gospel vocal expression. At the same time, however, the enthusiasm and admiration demonstrated by music critics paved the way for the enduring influence of Mahalia Jackson’s music in Finland.

Talker change detection by listeners varying in age and hearing loss.

Despite a vast literature on how speech intelligibility is affected by hearing loss and advanced age, remarkably little is known about the perception of talker-related information in these populations. Here, we assessed the ability of listeners to detect whether a change in talker occurred while listening to and identifying sentence-length sequences of words. Participants were recruited in four groups that differed in their age (younger/older) and hearing status (normal/impaired). The task was conducted in quiet or in a background of same-sex two-talker speech babble. We found that age and hearing loss had detrimental effects on talker change detection, in addition to their expected effects on word recognition. We also found subtle differences in the effects of age and hearing loss for trials in which the talker changed vs trials in which the talker did not change. These findings suggest that part of the difficulty encountered by older listeners, and by listeners with hearing loss, when communicating in group situations, may be due to a reduced ability to identify and discriminate between the participants in the conversation.

Supporting EFL Listening Ability and Vocabulary Acquisition with Lyrics Training App

Supporting EFL Listening Ability and Vocabulary Acquisition with Lyrics Training App

Assessing the impact of pre-lecture reading compliance on lecture comprehension in English-medium instruction courses

This study explores the relationship between pre-lecture reading compliance and lecture comprehension in English-medium instruction (EMI) settings. The primary objective of the research was to investigate the influence of pre-lecture reading compliance on English lecture comprehension, with a secondary aim of identifying factors influencing pre-lecture reading compliance. Data were collected from 258 Taiwanese EMI students in 17 courses. A PLS-SEM model utilizing data from 249 participants evaluated the impact of pre-lecture reading compliance on lecture comprehension, accounting for English listening ability, and examined the role of reading expectancy and value in reading compliance. Additionally, open-ended responses from all 258 participants provided insights into students’ perspectives on factors affecting their reading compliance. Results indicate that academic listening ability had a large effect on lecture comprehension whereas the effect for reading compliance was small. Moreover, academic reading expectancy and value were identified as having only a small effect on pre-lecture reading compliance. Further consideration of EMI reading compliance among EMI instructors and researchers is recommended.

Discrimination of Degrees of Foreign Accent across Different Speakers

Second-language learners often encounter communication challenges due to a foreign accent (FA) in their speech, influenced by their native language (L1). This FA can affect rhythm, intonation, stress, and the segmental domain, which consists of individual language sounds. This study looks into the segmental FA aspect, exploring listeners’ perceptions when Spanish interacts with English. Utilizing the SIAEW corpus, which replaces segments of English words with anticipated Spanish-accented realizations, we assess the ability of non-native listeners to discriminate degrees of accent across male and female voices. This research aims to determine the impact of voice consistency on detecting accentedness variations, studying participants from Japanese and Spanish. Results show that, while listeners are generally able to discriminate degrees of foreign accent across speakers, some segmental transformations convey a more clear distinction depending on the phonological representations of the native and accented realisations on the listener’s system. Another finding is that listeners tend to better discriminate degrees of accent when words are more native-like sounding.

Study on the Three-dimensional “Chunking" Listening Teaching Strategy for Naval Vocational English

Based on the chunk theory, this paper proposes a three-dimensional "chunking" listening teaching strategy for naval vocational English through extracting and analyzing the lexical chunks of naval vocational English from the self-built authentic listening corpus, which will effectively support the students to understand and master the needs and requirements of their future jobs and professions within a limited time and improve their listening ability for naval vocational English.

Dialect identification, intelligibility ratings, and acceptability ratings of dysarthric speech in two American English dialects

ABSTRACT The current study explored the intelligibility and acceptability ratings of dysarthric speakers with African American English (AAE) and General American English (GAE) dialects by listeners who identify as GAE or AAE speakers, as well as listener ability to identify dialect in dysarthric speech. Eighty-six listeners rated the intelligibility and acceptability of sentences extracted from a passage read by speakers with dysarthria. Samples were used from the Atlanta Motor Speech Disorders Corpus and ratings were collected via self-report. The listeners identified speaker dialect in a forced-choice format. Listeners self-reported their dialect and exposure to AAE. AAE dialect was accurately identified in 63.43% of the the opportunities; GAE dialect was accurately identified in 70.35% of the opportunities. Listeners identifying as AAE speakers rated GAE speech as more acceptable, whereas, listeners identifying as GAE speakers rated AAE speech as more acceptable. Neither group of listeners demonstrated a difference in intelligibility ratings. Exposure to AAE had no effect on intelligibility or acceptability ratings. Listeners can identify dialect (AAE and GAE) with a better than chance degree of accuracy. One’s dialect may have an effect on intelligibility and acceptability ratings. Exposure to a dialect did not affect listener ratings of intelligibility or acceptability.