Listening Comprehension Scores Research Articles

An exploratory study on practising listening comprehension skills in high‐immersion virtual reality

AbstractHolding learners' attention is challenging, especially when they are asked to listen to long passages. High‐immersion virtual reality (VR) can immerse learners in listening tasks, even in such complex languages as Chinese. This exploratory study examined the effect of VR on 43 Chinese language learners' listening comprehension, enjoyment, sense of presence, and cognitive load. Participants were self‐selected into two groups without knowing the purpose of the study or the details of their activity. The experimental group (n1 = 23) experienced an interactive multimedia story in VR, and the comparison group (n2 = 20) watched a screencast video recording of the same story. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) indicated that VR may have a positive effect on the development of listening skills. Compared with the video group, the VR group had significantly higher listening comprehension scores, reported significantly more enjoyment and sense of presence, and reported experiencing less cognitive load. Thus, the findings suggest that VR could be used as a pedagogical tool to enhance foreign language listening skills.Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Practising listening skills is key for language development. Virtual reality (VR) is motivational and engaging. Research on practising listening skills in VR is scarce. What this paper adds VR can be beneficial for practising listening skills. Language learners highly enjoy practising listening in VR. Interactivity can improve engagement and support listening comprehension. Implications for practice and/or policy Learners should be provided pretraining and scaffolding prior to using VR. The duration of VR activities should be considered. Interactivity in VR may increase its effectiveness in attending listening tasks.

Variable effects of speakers’ visual cues and accent on L2 listening comprehension: A mixed-methods approach

Few studies have explored the influence of a speaker’s accent and visual (facial and gestural) cues on second-language (L2) listening comprehension. The current mixed-methods between-groups design investigated: (1) the effects of accent and visual cues on Arab students’ comprehension of recorded lectures delivered by two speakers: first language (L1) American English and second language (L2) English (strong Vietnamese accent), (2) students’ assessments of the comprehensibility and English nativelikeness of the accents, and (3) students’ perceptions of and preferences for visual cues in communication. A total of 120 Arab university students were distributed across three stimulus conditions: auditory-visual (AV)-gesture-face, AV-face, and A-only within two accent conditions (L1, L2 English). Materials included: a listening comprehension task, 9-point rating scales for comprehensibility and nativelikeness of accent, and a speaker’s accent and visual cues (SAVC) questionnaire. ANCOVAs were conducted on listening comprehension scores and the ratings, with students’ listening proficiency as the covariate. Students with higher listening proficiency received higher comprehension scores and tended to recognize the L1 English accent as nativelike; however, proficiency was not significantly related to their comprehensibility ratings of either accent. The L1 English speaker’s gestures were associated with higher comprehensibility ratings; the L2 English speaker’s gestures were associated with a stronger nonnativelike accent, which students found frustrating to comprehend. Although SAVC responses revealed a general preference for facial cues and gestures in daily communication, the L2 English speaker’s gestures in the study were not considered helpful. Thematic analysis of interviews emphasized: (1) the variable effectiveness of visual cues, (2) the important role of topic and accent familiarity, (3) the relationship between listening proficiency and interlocutor/instructor preference, and (4) strategies to deal with unfamiliar accents. Pedagogical implications include increased awareness of variability in visual cues across speakers and the need to build familiarity with various accents and gesture patterns.

Correlation of Students’ Listening Comprehension Score With Students’ Learning Styles at Students of English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Gresik

Listening ability is an important component of language teaching and learning as it tends to improve faster than speaking ability and frequently influences skill development when learning anything new. Meanwhile, in order to accomplish excellent academic outcomes, students need to consider their learning styles and teachers need to consider various students’ learning style. This study aims to investigate the correlation between the listening abilities of learners and their learning styles. The participants were students of English education study program, faculty of teaching and educational sciences, Muhammadiyah University of Gresik, with 48 males and 52 female students participating. This study employed quantitative approaches using a questionnaire to assess students' learning styles, a test to assess students' listening comprehension scores, and an interview as a few sample about students’ perception. The data analyzed used SPSS Pearson's Correlation Coefficients and thematic analysis. The level of probability (p-value) significance (sig.2-tailed) resulted in .003. Since, the p-value (.003) was less than .05, Ha (alternative hypothesis) was accepted and Ho (null hypothesis) was rejected. As a result of the acceptance of the Ha (alternative hypothesis), researchers discovered there is a significant correlation connecting both visual and auditory learning styles and listening comprehension. The impact of this study to help students aware with their learning styles and teachers need to consider efficient learning activities with students’ various learning style.

Effects of the Type of Audio‐visual Input and Listenability on Young L2 Learners' Listening Comprehension

AbstractNumerous studies have compared the effect of input mode (video‐based vs. audio‐only) on the listening comprehension of adult second language (L2) learners. However, there is a notable absence of research regarding how various types of audio‐visual input in a listening test affect young learners' listening comprehension. To address this gap, this study examined the effects of audio‐visual input type and text listenability on the listening comprehension performance of 50 English language learners (ELLs) in Grades 3–5 in the U.S. In this study, participants completed a computer‐delivered English listening test comprising three test forms, each containing six passages. These passages included a combination of three video passages and three audio‐only passages. The video passages were carefully designed to balance two key variables in a counter‐balancing manner: the listenability of the text, assessed using Lexile Audio Measure, and the nature of visual elements, which encompassed speaker‐only visuals, visual‐only elements, and a combination of speaker‐and‐visuals. This study found that students performed equally well on both video‐based and audio‐only passages, and the type of visuals accompanying the content did not have a statistically significant impact on students' listening comprehension scores. However, the listenability of the text significantly influenced students' listening scores, especially in the context of audio‐only passages. Furthermore, responses to a post‐test questionnaire revealed that students had a positive perception of all three types of audio‐visual input. This study contributes to our understanding of how audio‐visual input types and text listenability affect the listening comprehension performance of Grades 3–5 ELLs.

21 Nonverbal Assessment of Theory of Mind in Children with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Peers: An Examination of Group Differences and Associations with Structural Language Skills

Objective:Children with Down syndrome (DS) show marked differences in their early development when compared to typically developing (TD) peers. Major domains of challenge include intellectual abilities, executive functioning, and structural language. Children with DS have a unique profile of strengths and weaknesses that must be considered when comparing them to TD children, especially in terms of Theory of Mind (ToM). ToM encompasses the developmental milestones reached early in childhood when children develop the ability to conceptualize and understand others' thoughts, emotions, perspectives, and intentions. In TD children, these abilities typically begin to mature around 4-6 years of age, while in children with DS, delays are observed relative to chronological age expectations. Evidence shows that children with DS have impaired ToM abilities; however, these deficits might be more related to underlying delays in structural language, rather than a fundamental misunderstanding of social cues. The present study seeks to fill gaps in the literature by using a nonverbal assessment (The Penny Hiding Game; PHG) to evaluate a) ToM abilities in children with DS relative to younger TD peers of a similar mental ability level and b) relationships between ToM performance and structural language skills.Participants and Methods:25 children with DS (60% F, M=11.39 years) and 25 TD children (40% F, M = 5.37, range = 3 to 7) participated. Participants' structural language abilities were briefly assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- III Listening Comprehension Test (Oral Discourse Comprehension subcomponent). ToM was assessed using the PHG.Results:Univariate analysis of covariance was used to explore differences in ToM performance between groups while controlling for mental ability level. Children with DS (M= 2.79, SD= 2.23) performed significantly worse than TD peers (M= 4.28, SD= 1.87) on the ToM task (F(1, 60)= 4.5, p= .038). Linear regression was used to assess associations between ToM and structural language abilities. When both groups were lumped together, there was a modest association between ToM and Listening Comprehension scores (R2 = .12, F (1, 55) = 7.29, p= .009). However, when groups were considered separately, significant associations were not observed (p>.1).Conclusions:The DS group showed markedly diminished ToM performance compared to TD controls, as expected based on the literature. However, data did not suggest a clear association between ToM and structural language skills. While an association was observed when groups were lumped, this relationship was likely driven by group differences in both ToM and structural language skills. Future research should examine the relationship between ToM performance, different aspects of language functioning, and the cooccurrence of autistic traits among children with DS in order to augment our understanding of linguistic and social correlates of ToM performance in young children with DS.

THE EFFECT OF AUDIO LIGUAL METHOD (ALM) IN MANDALORIAN MOVIES ON LISTENING ABILITY IN 11TH STUDENT OF SMA 12 BENGKULU UTARA

Nowadays, teaching media is developed well in many kinds especially for English listening skill. Listening is the first communication skill human acquired. It is an important process which has vital role in the daily activity. The example of teaching media to be used in listening class is English Movie. The researcher conducted watching English movie activity in the class and he realize that the teaching media is interesting to be used because students are easy to get bored when they have listening activity without visual media. Then, he wants to know the students’ perception about the use of this method, The objective of the research was to find out the Effect of Audio Lingual Method (ALM) In Mandalorian Movies On Listening Ability and it was using quantitative experimental research. The population of this research was the students in SMA 12 Bengkulu Utara. It takes 60 students consisted of 30 as experimental and 30 as a control class. The result of t-test value of the post test was greater than t-table value (116,0>2.042). The hypothesis testing above showed that the listening comprehension scores of the students in experimental group had a significant difference after the use ALM (Audio Lingual Method) in Mandalorian movies, strategy was done in compared to the control’s group achievement who did not receive the ALM (Audio Lingual Method) in Mandalorian movies as on the experimental group, it showed Audio Lingual Method (ALM) In Mandalorian Movies On Listening Ability was effective to be used to improved students’ ability in listening. By using this strategy, it maybe improves students to learn proper English by using a movie as a learning method so the student can enjoy studying a English by watching a movie.
 Keywords: Listening Ability, Audio Lingual Method (ALM), Mandalorian Movie

Effect of Background Noise on PTE Listening Test Scores for Korean and Native English Listeners

This study compares the effect that background noise has on the listening comprehension scores on the Pearson Test of English between first language (L1) English listeners and Korean, second language (L2) listeners of English. The extent to which L2 listeners are at a greater disadvantage when listening to more complex academic sentences in noise requires further investigation. A group of 16 Korean L2 listeners and a comparison group of 11 L1 English listeners were asked to repeat academic sentences in quiet, a small amount of noise and a greater amount of noise. L2 listeners obtained significantly poorer word recognition scores when listening in a larger amount of noise compared to when listening in the two other conditions. In addition, L2 listeners attained lower word recognition scores than native listeners across all three conditions.

The Effects of Visual Input and Text Types on the Listening Comprehension of EFL Students in China

In recent years, there has been an interest in using visual input in multimodal applications for language learning. However, the effects of visual input in listening materials remain to be discussed. Past literature has shown no unified answer to the effects of video input in improving listening comprehension scores. Since there are many proposals for the diversified reform of English teaching methods, it is worth examining whether using traditional audio listening only or using different video inputs can bring more significant benefits to students. The subjects of this study are 30 non-English majors in Chinese universities. This paper applied the quantitative research method, testing students’ performance using different listening visual inputs (content, context, and audio only) and different listening text types (monologue and dialogue). Data were analysed using the two-way repeated measures within groups ANOVA. The interaction effects and the main effect of variables on listening performance were examined to explore the impact of visual input and text types on English listening comprehension. The following conclusions are drawn from the data analysis: (1) The interaction effect shows that video and text types significantly affect students’ listening scores. Videos that contain authentic listening scenes and content elements are beneficial to promote listening comprehension as they support students’ interpretation and understanding of what they hear, and (2) It was noted that grouping students by listening proficiency and examining their cultural background would expand the study in the future.

Impact of Youtube and Video Podcast on Listening Comprehension Among Young Learners

<p class="HRPUB-Abstract">Even though listening comprehension is an important language skill in second language learning, it is considered to be the most difficult skill to learn. Besides, the teaching of listening comprehension among primary pupils is often neglected even though the role of listening comprehension in language teaching has been repeatedly emphasized. Using an action research design, this study explores the teaching of listening comprehension utilizing YouTube and Video-Podcast involving 40 Primary Year 4 pupils from one of the cluster schools of excellence in the northern region of Malaysia. This study attempts to investigate to what extent did the use of YouTube and Video-Podcast enhance Primary Year 4 pupils’ listening comprehension. This study adopted multiple data collection methods including pre-post tests, reflection, observation, and focused group interviews. However, the data analysis section was mostly pre and post tests data and observation. Only these data collection and analysis tools will be expanded in this study, and not the reflection and focus group interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed statistically using paired sample t-test while thematic analysis was used for analyzing the qualitative data. The findings revealed that YouTube and Video-Podcast yielded positive significant impact on listening comprehension skills among Primary ESL pupils. There was statistically significant increase in listening comprehension scores from pre-test and post-test. Four themes emerged from the observation data. It<em> </em>increased learners’ participation and understanding, developed team spirit as well as enhanced interest and motivation of the young learners.</p>

The Effect of Positive Psychology Intervention on EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

This study applies positive psychology to improve EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. To this aim, two groups of EFL learners (N = 45) participated in the study. The learners in the experimental group received the positive psychology intervention based on four components of positive psychology including hope, gratitude, emotion regulation, and empathy and those in the control group received the usual listening comprehension activities. The results including listening comprehension scores along with the analysis of the semi-structured interviews and class observations showed the effectiveness of the intervention, highlighting an increase in the students' listening comprehension scores. It was found that the experimental group experienced a range of positive and negative emotions, with positive emotions more than twice as frequent as negative emotions. The findings also showed that the intervention informed the instructor regarding specific areas where the learners encountered difficulty and in so doing, it allowed for applying appropriate strategies to help them overcome such problems. Finally, the theoretical and pedagogical implications of integrating positive emotions in foreign language teaching are discussed.

Working memory and language aptitude in relation to listening strategy instruction in an instructed SLA context

AbstractThe present small-scale study explores whether working memory (WM) and language aptitude (LA) explain any variance in L2 listening comprehension beyond baseline listening ability and explicit strategy-based listening instruction in an instructed EFL setting at the tertiary level. In a pretest/posttest non-randomized group design, the experimental group (N = 19) received explicit strategy-based listening instruction for 12 hours while the control group (N = 17) followed their regular L2 listening course syllabus. L2 listening comprehension was measured with an L2 academic listening comprehension test. WM measures (Foster et al., 2015) included an operation span task (OST), a symmetry span task (SST), and a rotation span task (RST). LA was assessed with LLAMA (Meara, 2005). The findings revealed the effectiveness of strategy-based intervention for L2 listening comprehension. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that baseline listening scores explained about 52% of the variance in the post-listening scores, while listening strategy instruction explained an additional 16% of the variance. On the other hand, WM and LA did not explain any variance in listening comprehension scores, suggesting that the two individual learner differences in the present study are not significant predictors of L2 listening comprehension.

Effects of Adding Subtitles to Video via Apps on Developing EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension

It is unclear if using videos and education apps in learning adds additional value to students’ listening comprehension. This study assesses the impact of adding text to videos on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ listening comprehension. The participants were 76 prep college EFL students from Taibah University, divided into two groups. The semi-experimental measure was employed to compare the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group watched an English learning video and then wrote text subtitles relating to the video using apps, and later took a listening test to evaluate their ability in acquiring information through the videos. The control group watched videos during live lectures but did not add subtitles on the content they viewed. A paired samples t-test was used to assess the extent of listening comprehension achievement and posttest results were compared. Results revealed statistically significant increases in posttest listening comprehension scores. The result indicated superior performance and a significant positive impact through teaching/learning via video watching and adding text apps.

대학생의 TOEIC 듣기실력 향상을 위한 듣기전략 지도의 효과

The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of listening strategy used in the instruction of college students while undergoing the TOEIC listening test. It will also discuss relevant and effective learning strategies that can be applied in the classroom. The participants in this study were 70 college students participating in an intensive TOEIC course for a period of four weeks at a college in Gumi. The students were divided into two groups: control(n=33) and experimental (n=37). Three sets of TOEIC test scores and two different questionnaires were used in the testing process. The major results of this study were as follows. First, the students tended to use cognitive strategies rather than metacognative strategies during the TOEIC test. Secondly, the students applied commonly used strategies after the new listening methods were introduced and they considered the strategies in a positive way. Thirdly, the use of different listening strategies resulted in improved listening comprehension scores. Lastly, the listening strategies used did not show a statistical effect on the students listening proficiency. These findings demonstrate that providing effective strategies such as cognitive and metacognitive strategies which were proved as an useful method in listening acquisition will be a good way for students to improve their listening skills.

The therapeutic effect of melodic intonation therapy on Broca′s aphasia after stroke

Objective To investigate the effect of melody intonation therapy on the language function of Chinese-speaking stroke survivors with Broca′s aphasia. Methods Forty patients with Broca′s aphasia after stroke were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group, each of 20. The treatment group received melodic intonation training, while the control group received routine speech rehabilitation training including training of the vocal organs, oral expression, literal expression and listening comprehension 30 minutes a day, five days a week for 12 weeks. Before and after the treatment, the spontaneous speech, listening comprehension, retelling and naming of both groups were tested using the western aphasia battery. Results After the intervention, a significant increase was observed in the average aphasia quotient, speech, listening comprehension, retelling and naming scores of both groups. The average spontaneous speech, listening comprehension and naming scores and the aphasia quotient of the treatment group were then significantly better than those of the control group. Conclusion Melody intonation training and rhythm training can improve the speech and daily communication ability of stroke survivors effectively. Key words: Aphasia; Melody intonation therapy; Speech therapy; Intonation; Rhythm

Predicting integrated writing task performance: Source comprehension, prewriting planning, and individual differences

Integrated writing tasks are widely used in L2 academic proficiency tests (Cohen, 2009) even though L2 writers experience challenges with the comprehension and integration of source ideas (Plakans & Gebril, 2013). Relatively few studies have examined whether prewriting planning helps mitigate these challenges (Hayes, 1996) or whether L2 writers' individual differences affect any potential benefits for prewriting planning. Therefore, this study explores the contribution of source comprehension, individual differences, and prewriting planning to English L2 writers' performance on a Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment integrated writing task. English for academic purposes students (N = 111) carried out reading comprehension, listening comprehension and integrated writing sections of a CAEL test, writing anxiety and self-efficacy questionnaires, and a semi-structured interview. CAEL writing band scores along with reading and listening comprehension scores were obtained and participants' prewriting planning notes were analyzed in terms of their strategies and degree of elaboration. Multiple regression models indicated that anxiety and reading scores were significant predictors of CAEL writing band scores, and the interview data provided greater insights into the L2 writers' reading-to-plan strategies and challenges. Pedagogical implications are discussed to increase students' understanding of the connections between reading comprehension and prewriting planning.

ROLES OF GENERAL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, AURAL VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE, AND METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN L2 LEARNERS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Investigating the learner variables involved in second language (L2) listening comprehension can lead to a better understanding of the difficulties that learners may encounter while listening to an L2. In this line, this study aimed to examine the roles of some important learner variables (i.e., general language proficiency, aural vocabulary knowledge, and the metacognitive awareness) in L2 listening comprehension. To this end, 100 lower-intermediate Iranian learners of English were selected. Three tests (i.e., Oxford Placement Test, Aural Vocabulary Knowledge Test, and a listening comprehension test) were administered to the participants. A translated version of Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) was also used to measure the participants’ metacognitive awareness in L2 listening. Results of Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that of the variables examined, aural vocabulary knowledge was the strongest correlate with L2 listening and was also the most valuable in predicting variance in L2 listening comprehension scores (r = .46, p < .05) (β = .40, p < .01), while metacognitive awareness correlated weakly with L2 listening.

BIMODAL INPUT IN TEACHING LISTENING COMPREHENSION EXERCISES

The objective of this study was to see whether bimodal input (audio and its tape-script) can increase students’ listening comprehension in TOEIC listening section. Three groups of freshmen were involved in this study. Before the experiment began, three groups took the same TOEIC listening pre-test. They were selected and put into three groups with roughly equal level based on pre-test scores. All of the three groups trained in the same listening comprehension skills and strategies, and after that they did the same TOEIC listening post-test. There were two experimental groups, one group was shown the tape-script during the listening exercises) and the other experimental group was provided tape-script in the post listening comprehension practices, while the control is not shown the tape-script at all. By using a projector, presentation slides of tape-script were shown to the two experimental groups, one group was exposed the tape-script and at the same time the students were reading the script, and the other group was exposed with the tape-script after they finished listening, in order to check and analyze some parts in the listening to make sure about they heard and to see the relevant information needed. The pre-test and post-test comparisons showed that all three groups performed better as indicated by the increase of the listening comprehension scores in the post test, so it may show that each group is eager to learn the language. Each has to deal with the test which consists of 100 questions broken down into four parts, photographs, questions and responses, conversations, and talks. The writer does not specify the results based on each part, but on basis of the whole listening section result instead.

Listening Comprehension and Listening Effort in the Primary School Classroom.

In the primary school classroom, children are exposed to multiple factors that combine to create adverse conditions for listening to and understanding what the teacher is saying. Despite the ubiquity of these conditions, there is little knowledge concerning the way in which various factors combine to influence listening comprehension and the effortfulness of listening. The aim of the present study was to investigate the combined effects of background noise, voice quality, and visual cues on children’s listening comprehension and effort. To achieve this aim, we performed a set of four well-controlled, yet ecologically valid, experiments with 245 eight-year-old participants. Classroom listening conditions were simulated using a digitally animated talker with a dysphonic (hoarse) voice and background babble noise composed of several children talking. Results show that even low levels of babble noise interfere with listening comprehension, and there was some evidence that this effect was reduced by seeing the talker’s face. Dysphonia did not significantly reduce listening comprehension scores, but it was considered unpleasant and made listening seem difficult, probably by reducing motivation to listen. We found some evidence that listening comprehension performance under adverse conditions is positively associated with individual differences in executive function. Overall, these results suggest that multiple factors combine to influence listening comprehension and effort for child listeners in the primary school classroom. The constellation of these room, talker, modality, and listener factors should be taken into account in the planning and design of educational and learning activities.

Vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension at an intermediate level in English and French as foreign languages

Abstract The present study aims to replicate Stæhr’s (2009) study on the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension. To explore the generalizability of Stæhr’s findings, two experiments were conducted. However, the study changed the population (Flemish learners) and proficiency level of the materials in the first experiment (intermediate) and also the language in the second experiment (French). Our results generally confirm Stæhr’s findings. We also found a positive correlation between vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension. Although our findings reveal that learners probably need fewer words for adequate listening comprehension at an intermediate proficiency level, our study also showed that learners who knew more words had higher listening comprehension scores. Finally, our study seems to suggest that learners might need less lexical coverage for intermediate listening.

Empirical Approaches to Measuring the Intelligibility of Different Varieties of English in Predicting Listener Comprehension

AbstractThis study compared five research‐based intelligibility measures as they were applied to six varieties of English. The objective was to determine which approach to measuring intelligibility would be most reliable for predicting listener comprehension, as measured through a listening comprehension test similar to the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The speakers included 18 English users representing six distinct varieties. These speakers’ speech was evaluated by 60 listeners, users of the same English varieties who completed the listening comprehension test as well as five intelligibility tasks, all recorded by the speakers. The five measures of intelligibility included responses to true/false statements, scalar ratings of speech, perception of nonsense sentences, perception of filtered sentences, and transcription of speech; these measures were compared in terms of their relationship to listening comprehension scores using linear mixed‐effects models. Results showed that the measure of intelligibility based on listeners’ responses to nonsense sentences was the strongest predictor of the listening comprehension scores.Open PracticesThis article has been awarded an Open Materials badge. Study materials are publicly accessible in the IRIS digital repository at http://www.iris-database.org. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.