Listening Strategies Research Articles

Validation of ‘Self-perception of ESL Learners’ Listening Comprehension Problems and Metacognitive Listening Strategy Use’ Questionnaire

According to the literature, listening comprehension problems mostly relate to the shortage of learners’ metacognition in listening. Through reviewing the developed instruments on listening comprehension problems and metacognitive listening strategy use, some shortcomings can be detected in available instruments. This paper adapts the previous instruments and seeks to explore their shortcomings by adding supplementary sections and items to them. It also aims to validate the new instrument. The adapted questionnaires are Listening Comprehension Problems Questionnaire (LCPQ) and Metacognitive Listening Strategy Questionnaire (MLSQ). The adapted instrument is validated by a panel of experts (n= 3) and a Field- Test (n= 28). The changes are presented in this paper. Results show 9 items of LCPQ and 6 items of MLSQ have been revised by the experts. The modified questionnaires were tested for their internal reliability and the Cronbach’s alpha values were greater than 0.7. According to the Field- Test’s results, 2 items are added to LCPQ and 1 item is added to MLSQ. Moreover, 1 item of LCPQ and 1 item of MLSQ are changed by applying participant’s comments. The developed instrument named ‘Self- perception of LCP (Listening Comprehension Problems) and MLSU (Metacognitive Listening Strategy Use)’ is predicted to be effective for researchers who are concerned with the same area in different contexts. The new instrument will help researchers to identify the perceived metacognitive listening strategy use and listening comprehension problems among ESL/EFL learners with different listening comprehension abilities. Future surveys would validate the effectiveness of the current instrument.

ENHANCING STUDENTS’ LISTENING PROFICIENCY THROUGH THE INSTRUCTION OF (META)-COGNITIVE LISTENING STRATEGY

A b stract Metacognitive listening strategy instruction is fruitful to enhance students’ autonomy by planning and deciding what the best strategy in mastering listening skills is. Meanwhile, the cognitive strategy instruction facilitates students to find out the solution to their listening problems. The study aimed to find out the effectiveness of (Meta)-cognitive listening strategy (M-CLS) instruction by administering the integrated listening strategy instruction between metacognitive and cognitive strategies on students’ listening proficiency. The participants were 38 EFL students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang that consist of 20 for the experimental group and 18 for the control one. The M-CLS instruction that utilized the three stages including planning, monitoring, and evaluating stage was administered in experimental group for ten meetings. The quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate quantitative data. The data were gathered by using a listening proficiency test adopted from TOEFL listening section. The descriptive statistics, Generalized Linear Model, and Paired Sample t-test reveal that the students in the experimental group achieve a higher score of listening proficiency with a significant achievement than those in the control group. Keywords: (Meta)-Cognitive Listening Strategy (M-CLS), Listening Proficiency, Experimental Design, TOEFL, EFL Student Teachers

Extensive Listening in ESP: An Experiment in the Course of “English for Tourism 2” at Dalat University

This article presents the results of an experimental study on the practice of extensive listening strategy (EL) for the third-year students at the Faculty of Tourism, Dalat University, when studying the course of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) “English for Tourism 2”. The students of the experimental group spent eight weeks conducting searching listening materials, listening outside the classroom independently and with their team, taking weekly listening tests designed by other teams before taking the final listening test; the results of which would be used to compare with the English listening results of the control group performing traditional listening practice activities. The results of the final listening test, survey and interview responses revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the application of EL during the course period with the English listening competence of the students, researchers also investigated the perception of these students about the application of this listening strategy. This study implies improvements in the design for future implementations of EL, including the length of practising EL activities and the enhancement of students participation in these listening activities
 Keywords
 English for Specific Purposes (ESP); Extensive listening (EL); Listening skills
 References
 1. Bruce, I., Introduction to EAP: Key issues and concepts, in Theory and concepts of English for academic purposes2011, Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire, UK. p. 3-14.2. Field, J., Special issue: Listening in EAP. Journal of English for academic purposes, 2011. 10(2): p. 73-78.3. Beall, M.L., et al., State of the context: Listening in education. International journal of listening, 2008. 22: p. 123-132.4. Bommelje, R., J.M. Houston, and R. Smither, Personality characteristics of effective listeners: A five factor perspective. International Journal of Listening, 2003. 17: p. 32-46.5. Conaway, M.S., Listening: Learning tool and retention agent., in Improving reading and study skills, A.S. Algier and K.W. Algier, Editors. 1982, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA. p. 51-63.6. Ridgway, T., Listening strategies - I beg your pardon? ELT Journal, 2000. 54(2): p. 179-185.7. Brown, S., Teaching listening2006, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.8. Ediger, M., Listening in the integrated curriculum. Reading Improvement, 2012. 49(1): p. 3-5.9. Richards, J.C. and R. Schmidt, Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. 3rd ed2002, Harlow, England: Pearson Education Ltd.10. Bruce, I., The EAP and teaching the listening skill, in Theory and concepts of English for academic purposes2011, Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire, UK. p. 154-176.11. Flowerdew, J. and L. Miller, in Second language Listening: Theory an practice2005, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England.12. Harmer, J., Listening., in The practice of English language teaching2007, Pearson Education: Essex, England. p. 303-322.13. Thiele, A. and G. Scheibner-Herzig, Listening comprehension training in teaching english to beginners. System, 1983. 11(3): p. 277-286.14. Chang, A.C.S., Gains to L2 listeners from reading while listening vs. listening only in comprehending short stories. System, 2009. 37(4): p. 652-663.15. Brett, P., A comparative study of the effects of the use of multimedia on listening comprehension. System, 1997. 25(1): p. 39-53.16. Brown, R., Extensive listening in English as a foreign language. Language Teacher, 2007. 31: p. 15.17. Ferrato, T. and M. White, Ring the bell - It's time for EL! ETJ Journal, 2009. 20: p. 20-21.18. Siegel, J., Thoughts on L2 listening pedagogy. ELT Journal, 2011. 65(3): p. 318-321.19. Harmer, J., Teaching language skills., in The practice of English language teaching2007, Pearson Education: Essex, England. p. 265-282.20. Mayora, C.A., Extensive listening in a Colombian university: Process, product, and perceptions. HOW, 2017. 24(1): p. 101-121.21. Cohen, L., L. Manion, and K. Morrison, Tests., in Research methods in education2011, Routledge: Oxon, England. p. 476-495.22. Richards, J.C., Listening Comprehension: Approach, Design, Procedure. TESOL quarterly, 1983. 17(2): p. 219-240.23. Foddy, W. and W.H. Foddy, Constructing questions for interviews and questionnaires: Theory and practice in social research1994: Cambridge university press.24. Kiany, G.R. and E. Shiramiry, The effect of frequent dictation on the listening comprehension ability of elementary EFL learners. TESL Canada Journal, 2002. 20(1): p. 57-63.25. Harding, K. and P. Henderson, High Season2000, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.26. Walker, R. and K. Harding, in Tourism 12006, Oxford University Press: Oxford, England. p. 93.

Music listening as a potential aid in reducing emotional eating: An exploratory study

Emotional Eating (EE) is understood as a maladaptive self-regulation strategy to satisfy emotional needs instead of hunger. Consequently, EE has been associated with negative health consequences. Enjoyment of food and music share similar neural activations in the brain and are both used by people for regulating affect. This suggests that music listening could potentially be a healthier alternative to EE. The present study was designed to investigate associations between EE, disordered mood, and music-related mood regulation. A total of 571 participants completed measures of EE, music listening strategies, and disordered mood. Associations between seven different music listening strategies and EE were examined, and also whether these regulation strategies were associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Finally, we explored associations between music listening and EE in people with low and high (non-clinical) levels of disordered mood (depression, anxiety, and stress). The findings of this research indicated that music listening for discharge (releasing anger or sadness through music that expresses these same emotions) and EE were positively associated with one another. In addition, EE and the music listening strategies of entertainment, diversion or mental work were associated in people with low levels of disordered mood. When disordered mood was high, EE was higher, but was not associated with music listening strategies. These associations point towards the possibility of some music listening strategies being useful as healthier alternatives for EE.

The Effect of Listening Strategy Instruction on Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening ability

Listening comprehension plays an important role in the process of language learning as it is one of the four major skills in language acquisition. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction on improving listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, forty students studying at Birjand University were participated in the current study. All of thestudents were within the age range of 18 to 22. Then, they were non-randomly divided into two groups, as a control and an experimental group. Theexperimental was taught based on a guide lesson plan regarding listening strategies while the control group did not receive any treatment. The listening section of TOEFL was utilized to measure the listening performance of the participants before and after the treatment. The results of Independent Samples Test indicated thatinstructing listening strategies had no significant impact onlistening comprehension of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners.

Listening Skills Development in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language and The Usage of Metacognitive Strategies

The aim of this study is to determine the state of using metacognitive strategies to develop listening skills in teaching Turkish as a foreign language to Syrian children. This research is a descriptive study designed with the survey method. In June 2017, the Certification Program for Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language was organized for Turkish educators who work in Adana, as a part of “The Project of Supporting Syrian Children’s Integration into the Turkish Education System”. In this context, all Turkish educators who work in Adana composed the population of this study while 108 Turkish educators constituted the sample of the study. In this study, the data were collected by the “Metacognitive Listening Strategies Opinion Form” developed by the researcher and analyzed with descriptive statistical techniques. The findings of the study showed that most of the metacognitive strategies that can be used before listening are rarely used and that the response rates as to “always” or “often” in the questionnaire are quite low. It was observed that Turkish educators usually “rarely” used strategies apart from the strategy of “underlining words the meaning of which they do not know” in the listening process.The findings further indicated that more strategies were used before and after listening than during listening and that the most frequently used strategies by learners were summarizing the listening text in their own words, expressing the theme and main idea of the text they were listening to, telling which section/s in the listening text they mostly focused on, and answering the listening comprehension questions.

A Comparative Study on Students’s English Listening Strategies In SV-UGM and CDTC

This study attempts to identify the use of listening strategies by technical and vocational college non-English majors, explore the relationship between listening strategies and listening proficiency and investigatethe difference between good and poor learners in the use of listening strategy to provide some pedagogicalimplications for teachers to guide the students to select, manage and adjust their listening strategies effectivelyin order to improve autonomous learning abilities, learning efficiency and English proficiency. The subjects inthe study are 75 first-year vocational college non-English majors from Chengdu Textile College and SV-UGM.First, all the participants took the model listening comprehension test. Second, the participants were given halfan hour to complete the questionnaire after finishing the model test. Thirdly, 10 students from both groups ofparticipants were interviewed individually for further information in the use of listening strategies and alsoexplore the relationship between the students’ listening strategy use. Finally, all the data was collected, andwas processed by SPSS22.0, then was analyzed as answers to the research questions. The result shows thatIndonesian students are more inclined to ask questions for explanation and verification. Furthermore, theyfocus on cooperative learning, which promotes a greater use of learning strategies than individual learning.However, Chinese learners are inclined to study English by themselves and get used to independent study. Theywould ask for help unless they meet some problems which cannot be solved by their own effort.

Fostering Positive Listening Habits among EFL Learners through the Application of Listening Strategy and Sub-skill Instructions

The article presents a research project carried out at University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi, on the integration of explicit listening strategy and sub-skill instructions into listening lessons. A strategy and sub-skill integrated syllabus was devised and implemented in eight consecutive weeks. The research aimed at investigating how students improved their listening habits after being taught listening strategies and sub-skills explicitly, as well as their engagement with and perception of this new teaching method. Data were collected via individual interviews, observations, and narrative frames. The results revealed some positive effects of the intervention on students’ listening skills and habits: students knew to use strategies in listening, which led to the acquisition of listening sub-skills and improvement in their listening comprehension. Factors affecting students’ engagement with and their perceptions of the new teaching method were also substantially explored. Based on the findings, relevant pedagogical implications were proposed with the aim of equipping English teachers with practical guidelines on how to integrate explicit strategy and sub-skill instructions into their listening classes.

The Correlation among Korean Listening Comprehension Ability, Listening Self-efficacy, Listening Strategy, Listening Comprehension Anxiety, and Listening Exposure Time for Thai Korean Learners

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of listening comprehension ability, self-efficacy, comprehension anxiety, and exposure time on Korean language understanding. In order to achieve our goal, listening examinations and surveys were conducted among 95 students from a university in Thailand, studying Korean language. As a result, it was revealed that the most influential factor on one`s listening ability was self-efficacy. In addition, when the correlation between listening self-efficacy and other factors was examined, it was shown that there existed a statistically significant relationship. Particularly, listening comprehension anxiety had the most significant correlation with listening self-efficacy. Similarly, cognitive strategy demonstrated a significant correlation with listening self-efficacy. On the other hand, the effects of self-efficacy and other factors on listening scores such as the degree and types of strategy that students used were also studied. The findings revealed that, in most cases, strategy-intensive group`s test results were influenced more by exposure time, while the less intensive group`s scores were influenced more by their self-efficacy. Finally, after analyzing the effects of time spent on conversing with friends and watching Korean television on listening self-efficacy, it was discovered that both factors had statistically significant relationships with listening self-efficacy. Through this study, such results can be integrated and applied to education in various ways. The most important part for listening comprehension ability is enhancing self-efficacy and in order to do so, the appropriate education methods should be used to reduce listening comprehension anxiety, stimulate strategy use, and increase listening exposure time. (Ewha Womans University)

Listening Logs for Extensive Listening in a Self-regulated Environment

Learner journals or diaries have been used in various educational contexts to motivate learning and learner reflection. This study examines how learner journals, especially listening logs for extensive listening in a self-regulated environment, affected university students’ listening proficiency, and how the students reported on their listening activities. Forty-two students who took an English listening practice course at a university kept a weekly listening log for a semester. They wrote their listening experience with various listening materials on different topics they chose. The TOEFL tests as pre-and post-tests were conducted to find out the effects of listening logs. A paired-samples test indicated there was a significant difference between the two tests. Analysis of listening logs showed that writing listening logs regularly influenced the students’ improved listening comprehension and facilitated motivation. Also, students reflected on their listening strategies, and became accustomed to listening to a variety of listening resources. In addition, students often mentioned learning logs built confidence in their own listening and helped them to manage their learning. Finally, the study discusses the educational implications for listening logs and makes suggestions for future research.

Strategy Use Awareness in Academic Listening Practices Relative to L2 Motivation among Chinese Tertiary Students

Academic listening has been widely studied from the perspective of note-taking, attention to discourse markers, and schematic knowledge. Learner variables, such as motivation, degree of anxiety, and learner beliefs, have all received increasingly attention from researchers, but have not yet been sufficiently explored in second language (L2) listening. This paper investigates the correlations between second language learning motivation and learners’ strategy use awareness in academic listening practices. Quantitative data was obtained using questionnaires issued to 79 second year English-major students after a TOEFL lecture listening practice. The results suggest that teacher classroom instruction and feedback, task significance, and learners’ commitment encourage the listeners to apply more listening strategies. Pedagogical implications drawn from the results are discussed, concluding that L2 listening teachers should develop motivation-based strategy instruction with emphasis on creating a learner-centred constructivist learning environment. In addition, a skill-oriented approach is proposed in order to improve course design in L2 listening instruction. This would train students to consciously use strategies to improve their listening comprehension in an EFL ( English as a Foreign Language) context. Suggestions are provided at the end for future research.

CURRENT APPROACHES TO TEACHING LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASS AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The current approaches to teaching of foreign/second language listening offered by foreign researchers are considered in the article: cognitive and social dimensions of the process; two main strategies of foreign language listening: top-down and bottom-up approaches; metacognitive approach to teaching listening and its advantages. The following innovations can be creatively used by teachers in the educational process: the formation of students' ‘perception base’ and ‘perception automatisms’ for distinguishing and recognizing foreign spoken speech units; using the method of interaction and active negotiation of general meaning and details of the text among students; regular administration of the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire to teach students different strategies of foreign language listening comprehension; teaching students to develop their own strategies for foreign language listening. The analysis of modern approaches to teaching listening suggests that metacognitive approach is aimed to develop not only students’ language skills but also their reflective thinking abilities; it provides students’ personal involvement in the learning process and has a positive effect on their motivation. Foreign language teachers can use the research results to create their own system of teaching foreign language listening comprehension.

“I give up and stop listening”: Fostering metacognitive listening strategy awareness in the English classrooms in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate the instructional effect of metacognitive listening strategies on EFL college students’ metacognitive listening strategy awareness as well as their perceptions of strategy instruction. This study uses a process-based approach for instruction of metacognitive strategies. The instruments in this study include a metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ) and a stimulated-recall on MALQ. The results show that there is slightly positive effect of instruction though there is no statistically significant effect of listening strategy instruction on student’s metacognitive listening strategy awareness. Plus, surprisingly, it is found that students are conscious of their metacognitive strategy use as they listen. It is suggested that teachers use various authentic listening text for fostering EFL college students’ metacognitive listening strategy awareness.

Adopt strategies for listening actively

The material on this page has been excerpted from Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable. The authors explain strategies for active listening in a mentoring situation. Their advice could also apply to many other situations where listening is critical.

Adopt strategies for listening actively

The material on this page is excerpted from Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable. The authors explain strategies for active listening in a mentoring situation. Their advice could also apply to many other situations where listening is critical.

A multimodal analysis of lexical explanation sequences in webconferencing-supported language teaching

AbstractHigher education institutions are increasingly interested in offering more flexible teaching and learning delivery methods that are often independent of place. Where foreign language learning is concerned, telecollaboration is gaining ground. This paper focuses on synchronous webconferencing-supported teaching and examines how different semiotic resources are used during lexical explanation sequences. The context is a telecollaborative exchange between Business students learning French and trainee teachers on a Master’s programme in Teaching French as a Foreign Language. Using multimodal transcriptions of interaction data from two sessions, the sequential analysis provides access to different combinations of semiotic resources. These include using the visual mode to project active listening strategies and the complementary role of the text chat to secure common ground concerning the target item. The analysis sheds light on a ‘thinking break’ strategy employed by the trainees. Descriptive examples demonstrate how verbal explanations were accompanied, firstly, by deictic and iconic gestures and, secondly, by metaphoric gestures used to help forefront different properties of the target item. Finally, changes in gaze and proximity were observed as playing a role in interaction management and in signalling which verbal modality was forefronted. The study illustrates emerging pedagogical and multimodal communication strategies for ‘doing vocabulary teaching’.

Coda and tonal effects on perceived vowel duration

The shape of pitch contours has been shown to have an influence on the perceived vowel duration in that listeners tend to perceive vowels as shorter when they are produced as longer (compensatory listening strategy, Guessenhoven & Zhou, 2013). This study further investigates if the syllable structure allowed in one's native language and the frequency of tone types also affect perceived duration. An AX perceptual experiment was conducted using disyllabic structures (i.e., mepVC) in which the target vowel ([a] and [i]) in four duration steps (180, 210, 240, 270ms) and 5 pitch contours (LL, HH, HL, LH, HLH) and 7 codas ([p], [t], [k], [m], [n], [ŋ], [∅]) are embedded in the second syllable, to be compared with an anchor stimulus with a fixed vowel duration (225ms) and pitch (195Hz). Taiwanese Southern Min speakers, whose native language allows obstruent codas, and Mandarin speakers, whose native language only allows nasal codas, were recruited to participate in the experiment in which they were told to listen to pairs of meaningless words and asked to compare the durations of the second vowels and rate them on a 7-point scale. The results showed that perceived duration cannot be solely explained by compensatory listening strategy. Instead, tone inventory, tone frequency and the syllable structure allowed in the native language all contribute to the perceived vowel duration.

Adopt strategies for listening actively

The material on this page is excerpted from Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable. The authors explain strategies for active listening in a mentoring situation. Their advice could also apply to many other situations where listening is critical.

Adopt strategies for listening actively

The material on this page is excerpted from Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable. The authors explain strategies for active listening in a mentoring situation. Their advice could also apply to many other situations where listening is critical.

Adopt strategies for listening actively

The material on this page is excerpted from Starting Strong: A Mentoring Fable. The authors explain strategies for active listening in a mentoring situation. Their advice could also apply to many other situations where listening is critical.