Development Of Listening Comprehension Research Articles

Synthesis and Meta-Analysis of Oral Language Interventions on the Vocabulary and Listening Comprehension Development of Young Children

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to systematically review the components of oral language (OL) instruction and meta-analyze the effects of OL instruction on vocabulary and listening comprehension (LC) skills. We included experimental and quasi-experimental studies with 3- to 6-year-old children at risk for reading difficulties based on economic disadvantage or poor performance on OL assessments. Additionally, included studies had to report using at least one vocabulary or LC outcome measure. From the 16 eligible studies, we computed 80 standardized mean differences (SMDs), ranging from 2 to 14 SMDs per study (Mdn = 4). The multivariate weighted average SMD with robust variance yielded a positive effect of 0.52 (95% CI = 0.29 – 0.76), indicating OL instruction significantly improved children’s vocabulary and LC. Although measure type, intervention session length and frequency, and publication type were explored as moderators, only outcome skill and measure type were significant. Findings suggest it is feasible for classroom teachers to implement effective OL practices.

Exploring the Effectiveness of Songs for Learning Improvement: A Case of Elementary Level Students’ English Skills

This research study explores the effectiveness of incorporating songs into the English language learning curriculum for elementary-level students, focusing on their impact on various language skills. In an educational landscape that increasingly emphasizes creative and engaging approaches, this investigation delves into the potential benefits of integrating songs into traditional language instruction. This study was a descriptive qualitative study, while the data is collected through classroom observations and literature studies in order to provide a comprehensive view of the multifaceted effects of using songs as a pedagogical tool. The findings highlight the positive influence of songs on vocabulary acquisition, pronunciation refinement, and listening comprehension development. Additionally, songs contribute to a richer cultural context for language learning, fostering greater cultural awareness among elementary students. Importantly, the research underscores the motivational power of songs, which enhances student engagement and willingness to participate actively in English language activities. This research concludes that integrating songs into the curriculum is a promising strategy for enhancing English language skills at the elementary level. It advocates for a thoughtful and strategic approach to song selection and pedagogical methods while recognizing the need for continued exploration and research to refine the implementation of songs in language education. Ultimately, this study underscores the value of creative and engaging learning methods in nurturing well-rounded language skills among young learners.

Embedding L2 Listening Homework in Metacognitive Intervention: Listening Comprehension Development

A review of the various approaches to L2 listening instruction suggests that they were more of text- or communication-oriented approaches and less of learner-oriented ones. More recently, the focus has shifted to engage L2 listeners in their own listening comprehension process through strategy instruction inside the classroom and strategy use outside the classroom. In this regard, Vandergrift and Goh suggested a metacognitive approach to L2 listening instruction in which listening homework is assigned to L2 listeners as an extensive listening activity. Thus, the present article reports on a qualitative study that explores the role of embedding listening homework in metacognitive intervention in the case of English as Foreign Language listening comprehension and the problems learners encounter during listening. A group of intermediate-level male and female learners (N = 25) speaking Persian as the first language participated in embedded listening tasks. As part of a metacognitive intervention, the learners were given listening homework for which they were requested to view five news programs drawn from the BBC website for 5 weeks and complete diaries with a self-directed listening guide before, during, and after watching the programs. Totally, 116 diary entries were analyzed and data about factors influencing their listening comprehension processes and the actual notes they took during planning, monitoring, and evaluating stages of listening comprehension were collected. To categorize and analyze the diary entries, Goh’s framework was used as the analytical framework. Results indicated that diaries with a self-directed listening guide served pedagogical purposes by raising the learners’ metacognitive knowledge and providing them with opportunities to plan, monitor, and evaluate their unseen listening processes. It helped listeners to reflect on their listening homework, find the gap, take action to resolve their listening problems, and experience a sense of achievement and confidence. Possible reasons for findings are outlined and recommendations for future research are presented.

The Effect of Using Dicto-Gloss as a While-Listening Activity for Listening Comprehension Development of EFL Learners

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of using dicto-gloss as a while-listening activity for improving EFL learners’ listening comprehension in Iran. To fulfill the objectives of the study, 80 high school female students were selected using a random sampling method, and they took the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). A total of 40 students whose scores fell between 1 SD below and above the mean were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental group and control group. Then, the groups went through a pretest, intervention (lasted 10 sessions, held once a week), and posttest procedure. The collected scores were analyzed using an independent sample t-test. The findings revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group. The results indicated that using dicto-gloss as a while-listening activity can improve significantly the Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension. The study ends with offering some implications.

Cognitive vs. metacognitive scaffolding strategies and EFL learners’ listening comprehension development

Studies have documented the significance of scaffolding as a sociocultural theory driven type of assistance for the development of English as foreign language (EFL) learners’ language skills in general; however, the comparative efficacy of various cognitive and/or metacognitive scaffolding procedures for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development and progress has received scant attention. As a partial attempt in this regard, this study investigated the comparative efficacy of cognitive and metacognitive scaffolding strategies for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development. For this purpose, 90 intermediate level EFL learners aged 15 to 20 were selected to participate in this study. The participants’ actual proficiency level was assessed using a sample TOEFL Junior Standard test and relatively homogeneous classes of nearly 15 learners were formed and randomly assigned to two experimental conditions and a control one. The listening section of TOEFL Junior standard test was used as the pre- and posttest. While the learners in both experimental conditions worked in groups of three or four learners on some listening comprehension tasks, the participants of the first experimental condition received cognitive scaffolding strategies, and the second experimental group members were treated using metacognitive scaffolding strategies, the control group members received teacher-fronted non-scaffolding instruction. In addition to a listening comprehension posttest, a semi-structured interview was given to a number of participants of each experimental condition to explore their attitudes towards given scaffolding strategies. The analyses verified that metacognitive scaffolding strategies had a significant superior effect on EFL learners’ listening development compared to cognitive scaffolding strategies and non-scaffolding instruction. Furthermore, the analyses revealed that the EFL learners were generally more pleased with the metacognitive scaffolding procedures and viewed them as instructive, innovative, and effective for finding problems, better comprehension and increased readiness.

Latent profiles of vocabulary and domain knowledge and their relation to listening comprehension in kindergarten

BackgroundVocabulary and domain knowledge are important factors that influence comprehension development. However, these factors have most frequently been examined in relation to reading comprehension and much less frequently examined in relation to listening comprehension. Moreover, almost no empirical studies have examined profiles of strengths and weaknesses in vocabulary and domain knowledge in students at the beginning of schooling. In the current study, we investigated different profiles (groups) of students regarding receptive and expressive vocabulary and science and social studies domain knowledge in the fall of kindergarten, as well as relations between the profiles and listening comprehension development throughout kindergarten.MethodWe analysed data collected from 629 kindergarten students living in two large urban districts in the United States by conducting a series of latent profile and chi‐square analyses.ResultsLatent profile analysis identified three groups of students that displayed distinct patterns of achievement in vocabulary and domain knowledge, namely, students whose scores on the four measures were below average (−1.6 standard deviations [SD]), average (−0.2 SD) and above average (0.8 SD). There was no group of students who displayed unbalanced achievement in vocabulary and domain knowledge at the beginning of schooling. In addition, statistically significant differences in listening comprehension development during kindergarten were observed for all pairwise comparisons across the groups.ConclusionThe findings appear to indicate that students can acquire vocabulary to the extent that they develop domain knowledge and vice versa. The commensurate achievement might be due to mutually enhancing relations between vocabulary and domain knowledge. Moderate to large effect sizes on listening comprehension development when comparing the groups suggest the importance of supporting vocabulary and domain knowledge from the early grades.

Effects of Audio-Visually Prompted Collaborative Dialogue on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Development

This study investigated the comparative effects of audio-visually prompted collaborative dialogue on the listening comprehension development of symmetrical, asymmetrical, and asymmetrical teacher-fronted EFL learner groups. Besides, it explored the attitude of the participants of the groups concerning the effectiveness of collaborative dialogue for their listening comprehension improvement. The participants of the study were 120 Iranian female EFL learners who were conveniently chosen from several English language institutes and put into three experimental and one control groups, each with 30 learners. In the first experimental group, coequal learners engaged in collaborative dialogue. In the second experimental group, the expert peer(s) and less knowledgeable peers applied collaborative dialogue, and in the third experimental group, in addition to the peers, the teacher was involved in collaborative dialogue with the group members. As for the control group, the collaborative dialogue was abandoned and the participants worked individually. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that collaborative dialogue in asymmetrical teacher-fronted, asymmetrical peer and symmetrical peer groups were respectively the most effective procedures for listening comprehension development of the EFL learners. Also, it was found that the participants of the asymmetrical teacher fronted group had a more positive attitude towards the efficacy of audio-visually prompted collaborative dialogue compared with asymmetrical and symmetrical peer groups. The findings underscore the cognitive and affective efficiency of a more knowledgeable source, either a teacher or a peer, in asymmetrical dyadic interactions for the less knowledgeable partners' ZPD sensitive development.

Targeting Oral Language and Listening Comprehension Development for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A School-Based Pilot Study.

This study investigates the effects of an integrated oral language and listening comprehension intervention for early elementary students with ASD. Students (n = 43) were randomly assigned to intervention or control comparison conditions, with intervention students receiving instruction in small groups of 3 or 4. Groups were led by special education classroom teachers 4days per week across 20weeks in the school year. Significant group differences were detected on measures of expressive vocabulary, narrative ability, and listening comprehension. This study provides preliminary evidence of the intervention's feasibility and effectiveness for intervening in language and early reading skills for students with ASD.

The Relationship between L2 Listeners’ Self-Efficacy and Listening Proficiency for Various Listening Tasks and Comprehension Skills

Despite abundant evidence supporting the predictive power of self-efficacy for general language proficiency, the specific relationship between L2 listeners’ self-efficacy that vary depending on task types, listening comprehension skills, and listening proficiency has been relatively under-researched. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between L2 listeners’ self-efficacy and listening proficiency for three types of listening tasks (response, semi-production, and production tasks) and four main comprehension skills (understanding gist, understanding details, inferencing, and identifying the speaker’s opinion). A total of 174 tertiary level learners participated in this study. Data sources included a self-efficacy questionnaire that measured specific self-efficacy for three tasks that varied in demands and four main comprehension skills and a listening comprehension test. Results of this study showed that L2 listeners’ overall self-efficacy demonstrated a close relationship with their listening comprehension proficiency. As for specific self-efficacy for listening tasks and comprehension skills, self-efficacy for outline-filling and summarizing, understanding gist, details, and inferencing demonstrated significant relationships with listening proficiency. These factors also had substantial predictive power on listening proficiency. Findings of this study have implications for further research on the role of self-efficacy in L2 listening comprehension development and listening pedagogy.

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

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.

The impact of scaffolding and nonscaffolding strategies on the EFL learners' listening comprehension development

ABSTRACTDrawing on sociocultural theory, and a large number of empirical studies conducted on the effectiveness of scaffolding on second or foreign language learning, the authors investigated the application of different forms of scaffolding to improve listening comprehension of the Iranian intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this end, 90 intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups and a control group. During 15 treatment sessions of listening comprehension instruction, expert peers in the first experimental group assisted their less knowledgeable peers in their listening comprehension tasks. The participants in the second experimental group were asked to assist their coequal peers while doing the listening comprehension tasks, but the participants in group 3 did not interact with each other or even their teacher and no scaffolding scheme was used when they were doing the listening comprehension tasks. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc analyses revealed that the expert peers' scaffolding was the most effective procedure for the intermediate EFL learners' listening comprehension development. Furthermore, coequal peers' scaffolding was proved to be the second effective procedure for the listening comprehension improvement. The findings underscore the relative efficacy of different forms of scaffolding procedure and the superiority of the expert peers' scaffolding over coequals' scaffolding. The qualitative analysis of the recorded data indicated that the implicit scaffolding strategies were more frequently used by the expert peers. However, the explicit scaffolding strategies were more frequently used to by the coequals. The findings of the study underscore the positive potentiality of scaffolding in its different forms for the EFL learners' listening comprehension development.

METACOGNITION AS SCAFFOLDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN A SOCIAL MALL APP

This article focuses on the role that metacognition can effectively play in the development of second language listening comprehension, and specifically, how a mobile app can be specified for this end. A social mobile assisted listening app, ANT (Audio News Trainer), is presented as a prototype for exploring the way in which students can be helped to use metacognition to improve relevant linguistic communicative competences. A study has been undertaken with students using ANT to explore the intricate nature of the listening comprehension development process and the main metacognitive strategies that can be successfully applied. Special attention is paid to the implicitly and explicitly applied metacognitive strategies within the app, and related social network, where follow-on activities were undertaken, the strategies in question being: focus (a conscious effort on the gradual development of individual skills), engagement (interest is enhanced when a learning activity is enjoyable/successful), interaction (since collective activities seem to enhance emotional and social involvement), reflection (upon what works and does not work for each individual), self-regulation (through data about the students’ own progress and achievements), and attitude (here a further distinction is made between satisfaction, self-confidence and encouragement). The stages of engagement of a student with the app are explored in relation to the metacognitive strategy used and how they can contribute to the overall success of the learning experience. A final reflection is made about how metacognitive strategies offer an effective way to compensate for the lack of teacher presence, support and guidance on a medium/long term basis. However, although the study of the initial use of this social listening training app shows the potential for incorporating ‘knowing about knowing’ into mobile technology, it is suggested that future research is required to provide further finer-grained insights into this process.

Using Authentic Aural Materials to Develop Listening Comprehension in the EFL Classroom

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of authentic aural materials on listening ability of thirty female undergraduate psychology majors studying English as a foreign language. It basically focused on using authentic materials and real-life situations as part of the communicative approach. The results of the listening comprehension post test were compared to that of the pretest using a 2-tailed t-test (P< .05). Analysis of the interviews and the questionnaire revealed that the use of authentic materials in the EFL classroom enhanced EFL students' listening comprehension ability. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in listening ability of the EFL students. Recommendations were offered to ease students’ frustration that resulted from the speed of authentic speech. Pedagogical implications of the results were discussed along with the impact on EFL students’ listening comprehension development.

Desarrollo de la comprensión oral en inglés como LE al término de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria española

This research study shows the level of English listening comprehension reached by the students in their final year of Compulsory Secondary Education in the Andalusian Autonomous Community and it can illustrate the competence levels that are currently obtained in other Spanish High Schools of similar characteristics. This study have allowed us to obtain data about the students' English listening comprehension development, the specific sub-objectives development established by the Education Authorities and the differences between males and female students. Moreover, we offer the average students competence according to the Common European Framework guidelines. We will see that the results of the students' listening comprehension in English are insufficient for 87% of the population used in this study. Although female students obtain better results than male students this difference is not statically significant.

Computer testing of listening comprehension

This article describes a listening comprehension computer program and discusses its effects on general second language proficiency, measured in an experiment with large samples. In a research project with smaller samples language data were analysed to assess common types of listening errors and to determine the effects of the computer monitoring on students' progress. Subjects in the main experiment were 352 students of Dutch as a second language following an intensive beginners' course. The experimental group ( N= 154) was set a daily listening comprehension test on the computer, while the control group ( N= 198) was set a daily cloze-test. In the additional project a comparison was made of the performance of 16 subjects of the experimental group at the beginning and the end of the course. Results of the experiment showed a significant difference: the experimental group scored much better on a general language proficiency test at the end of the course. The analysis of performance data shows that most errors were caused by misinterpretation. A possible bias due to incorrect spelling was not found. Steady progress was made in the course of the program. Finally, the results on listening tests with verbatim texts that students listened to before the test, and with paraphrased texts that students never heard before were found to correlate highly. The conclusion is that monitoring of listening comprehension development by daily testing with computers promotes second language proficiency. Automated testing of listening comprehension, incorporated in a language course as described, is not only easy and efficient for both teachers and students, but also appears to make the second language teaching and learning more effective.

German Videos with German Subtitles: A New Approach to Listening Comprehension Development

The opportunity for the use of audio-visual material in German language instruction today is widespread. Videocassette players and film projectors are available to virtually every teacher at any level, videodisc players with computer programmed random access and laser beam technology make interactive video possible on more and more college and university campuses, and satellites can bring American students instantly into contact with German TV programs-technology today makes real what yesterday was only a dream. And yet, the adaptation of these technologies to the teaching of German at both the intermediate and advanced level has been slow and all too often nonexistent. To be sure, authentic German language video programs, i.e. video programs made for natives, are available in ever increasing numbers.' Live programs received via satellite also offer a variety of exciting new approaches to teaching German, both in the classroom and in the language lab.2 But while technology provides for increasingly easier access to more and more authentic material, the actual application of these authentic programs with the specific purpose of teaching the language has received little attention3 and has been almost unchanged for the past two decades.4 To teach German with the aid of authentic film or video material, the instructor has two options. The first is that the film or video program can be used as it is shown to natives, i.e. with the original sound track and no subtitles. In this case, the audience must have from very good to excellent knowledge of German, and the instructional value of showing the visual material lies mainly in refining the existing language competence and/or perhaps also in serving as a base for a follow-up discussion of nonlinguistic questions and ideas. This is generally the case in German literature and civilization courses.