Poor Listeners Research Articles

GEMINI GOOGLE: A POTENTIAL TOOL FOR ENGLISH LEARNING

Based on previous surveys, it is evident that Food Technology students at Thu Dau Mot University face challenges in learning English, such as limited vocabulary, weak grammar, inaccurate pronunciation, and poor listening and speaking skills. These can lead to declining academic performance and restricted career opportunities. The paper highlights the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in overcoming these challenges. AI tools like Gemini Google can provide personalized learning experiences, improve interaction with the language, and offer immediate feedback. Gemini is specifically chosen due to its free access, Vietnamese interface, and support for over 40 languages. This study demonstrates that Gemini is an effective tool for undergraduate students, particularly those in Food Technology who have weak English backgrounds, to improve their English skills. Gemini improves vocabulary, grammar, speaking, listening, pronunciation, reading, and writing. It offers simple instructions and ideas in both English and Vietnamese, making it ideal for beginners, self-learners, and people with limited English proficiency. Unlike traditional learning, Gemini provides access at any time and from any location, as well as the ability to overcome shyness and blunders. Gemini's large, up-to-date database and user-friendly interface enable personalized learning paths and can be paired with other methods for best language learning. The study also proposes various strategies for utilizing Gemini Google to improve English learning effectiveness in areas like vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and creating a positive learning environment. Furthermore, Gemini's value extends beyond languages, offering assistance in a variety of other areas

Disagreement Is a Short-Hand for Poor Listening: Why Speakers Evaluate Others’ Listening Quality Based on whether Others Agree with Them

Disagreement Is a Short-Hand for Poor Listening: Why Speakers Evaluate Others’ Listening Quality Based on whether Others Agree with Them

Coupling of sensorimotor and cognitive functions in middle- and late adulthood.

The present study explored age effects and the coupling of sensorimotor and cognitive functions in a stratified sample of 96 middle-aged and older adults (age 45-86 years) with no indication of mild cognitive decline. In our sensorimotor tasks, we had an emphasis on listening in noise and postural control, but we also assessed functional mobility and tactile sensitivity. Our cognitive measures comprised processing speed and assessments of core cognitive control processes (executive functions), notably inhibition, task switching, and working memory updating. We explored whether our measures of sensorimotor functioning mediated age differences in cognitive variables and compared their effect to processing speed. Subsequently, we examined whether individuals who had poorer (or better) than median cognitive performance for their age group also performed relatively poorer (or better) on sensorimotor tasks. Moreover, we examined whether the link between cognitive and sensorimotor functions becomes more pronounced in older age groups. Except for tactile sensitivity, we observed substantial age-related differences in all sensorimotor and cognitive variables from middle age onward. Processing speed and functional mobility were reliable mediators of age in task switching and inhibitory control. Regarding coupling between sensorimotor and cognition, we observed that individuals with poor cognitive control do not necessarily have poor listening in noise skills or poor postural control. As most conditions do not show an interdependency between sensorimotor and cognitive performance, other domain-specific factors that were not accounted for must also play a role. These need to be researched in order to gain a better understanding of how rehabilitation may impact cognitive functioning in aging persons.

Connection Heals Wounds: Feeling Listened to Reduces Speakers' Loneliness Following a Social Rejection Disclosure.

Memories of rejection contribute to feeling lonely. However, high-quality listening that conveys well-meaning attention and understanding when speakers discuss social rejection may help them to reconnect. Speakers may experience less loneliness because they feel close and connected (relatedness) to the listener and because listening supports self-congruent expression (autonomy). Five experiments (total N = 1,643) manipulated listening during visualized (Studies 1, 4, 5) and actual (Studies 2, 3) conversations. We used different methods (video vignettes; in-person; computer-mediated; recall; written scenarios) to compare high-quality with regular (all studies) and poor (Study 1) listening. Findings across studies showed that high-quality listening reduced speakers' state loneliness after they shared past experiences of social rejection. Parallel mediation analyses indicated that both feeling related to the listener and autonomy satisfaction (particularly its self-congruence component; Study 5) mediated the effect of listening on loneliness. These results provide novel insights into the hitherto unexplored effect of listening on state loneliness.

TEACHING LISTENING THROUGH BEHAVIORAL APPROACH

This paper talks about teacher’s techniques or behaviors that may enhance the acquisition of listening skills. Listening is receiving language through the ears. Listening involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences. When you listen, you use your ears to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm and pauses) and you use your brain to convert these into messages that mean something to us. Listening in any language requires focus and attention. It is a skill that some people need to work at harder than others. People who have difficulty concentrating are typically poor listeners. Listening in a second language requires even greater focus. In this article you will learn some techniques and behavior as a teacher that has an effect on the performance of the students. KEYWORDS: listening, behavior, strategies, and techniques

Situating east Indonesia's EFL Learners attitudes toward the extensive listening practices

Learning English as a foreign language is very challenging for both teachers and students in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara of Indonesia. The challenges are primarily caused by their lack of exposure to the authentic environment of English. In dealing with this phenomenon, the appropriate listening practices expect to help the learners to obtain and construct their knowledge of English as well as to acquire more comprehensible input. This article reports an investigation on the EFL learners� attitudes toward the extensive listening practices. It applied mixed-method research procedures involving 55 students of the English language and education program of Universitas Katolik Indonesia Santu Paulus Ruteng. The data were collected through a survey coupled with Focus Group Discussions with 15 participants. This research revealed that the learners' attitudes are identified into two main categories called positive and negative attitudes. In this case, 38 % of the participants have positive attitudes toward extensive listening practices and 62% of the participant reflected the negative attitude toward the extensive listening practices. Learners with a positive attitude had a very strong awareness of the significance of listening skills in L2 learning. To improve their listening skills, they develop their listening practices outside the classroom consistently. Meanwhile, learners with negative attitudes were categorized as dependent learners who practiced their listening skills during the listening course only. This group of learners was less aware of the significance of listening skills in L2 learning and their listening practices were highly dependent on the teachers' instruction. It showcased that both of the learners� internal and external factors were strongly contributed to this poor extensive listening practices.� The EFL teachers are then strongly suggested to strengthen the learners� awareness on the significance of Listening Skills in L2 learning as well as design more instructed extensive listening practices outside the classroom.�

Child protection assessment: The point of view of service users in an Italian study

AbstractIn the Child Protection context, assessment is a very delicate phase that often indelibly marks the whole process of helping. In the Italian context, it is very important to deepen this topic: first because it is rarely studied and second because parental skills assessment is carried out by social workers almost exclusively after a request of the Local Authority. This qualitative research aimed to investigate the experiences and the feelings of 16 people assessed about parental skills; furthermore, the study aimed to focus on the quality of their relationship with social workers. The findings have largely confirmed the evidence of international literature: most of the respondents described a difficult path, characterized by strict procedures, poor listening and lack of participation. Some interviewees even think that professionals act to promote private interests, including economic ones. Parents' reflections revealed also positive experiences; respondents underlined the value of a participatory approach, characterized by transparency, constant dialogue and partnership among service users and professionals involved.

Alternative Frameworks in Learning the Speaking Skills of English Language Among Prospective Teachers: Looking for best Possible Reasons

The present study was conducted to diagnose alternative frameworks and to explore its best possible reasons in English speaking of prospective teachers. The present study was a case study. Diagnostic oral test and interviews were used as research tools. The three hundred (300) prospective teachers of B.Ed. (1.5 years) and BS (Hons) classes were selected purposively as a sample for an oral diagnostic test. The fifteen (15) prospective teachers who possessed more alternative frameworks were selected purposively for a semi-structured interview. Data were analyzed qualitatively using a thematic approach. Moreover, data triangulation was used to compile the results of the test and interview. The study explored the pronunciation, grammar, article, and alternative prepositional frameworks in learning the speaking skills of the English language among prospective teachers. Poor listening, traditional teaching methodology and interference of mother language were the major reasons for these alternative frameworks.

Dichotic listening is associated with phonological awareness in Australian aboriginal children with otitis media: A remote community-based study

ObjectiveRecent literature has highlighted a link between hearing loss as a result of otitis media in the early years of life and impacted binaural processing skills in later childhood. Such findings are of particular relevance to Indigenous Australian children, who tend to experience otitis media earlier in life and for longer periods than their non-Indigenous counterparts. There is also growing interest in the effects of reduced auditory processing ability on a child's early learning of language and, specifically, on phonological awareness that contributes to word reading skills. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between hearing thresholds, dichotic listening skills and phonological awareness in children with pervasive otitis media (OM) from remote Indigenous communities of Australia who generally do not speak English as a first language. MethodsParticipants included one hundred and one children between the ages of 4.8–7.9 years (mean 6.1 years) from three separate remote Northern Territory communities. Evaluations included otoscopy, air conduction PTA, and tympanometry. All children were also assessed on the Dichotic Digits difference test (DDdT) and the Foundations of Early Literacy Assessment (FELA), assessing children's dichotic listening and phonological awareness respectively. ResultsThe results showed that 56% of the children had middle ear dysfunctions (type B and type C on tympanometry results) in at least one ear on the day. Partial correlation showed a significant correlation, between dichotic scores and FELA with age as covariate (r = 0.45, p < 0.001). One way ANOVA showed females exhibited a significantly higher performance compared to males on FELA [F (1, 99) = 5.47, p = 0.021]. The overall regression model was found to be significant in predicting total FELA scores [F (7, 77) = 7.56, p < 0.0005]. Age and gender as well as dichotic listening scores explain 40.7% of the variance. ConclusionsThe results reinforce the importance of managing the ear health of Indigenous children, clarifying the impact this has on listening and phonological awareness. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating children's listening abilities, and how poor listening can impact phonological awareness. The findings have important implications for ensuring optimal listening and learning conditions in schools in remote NT communities.

The Others Are Too Loud! Children's Experiences and Thoughts Related to Voice, Noise, and Communication in Nordic Preschools.

BackgroundHigh noise levels affect hearing, voice use, and communication. Several studies have reported high noise levels in preschools and impaired voice quality in children. Noise and poor listening conditions impair speech comprehension in children more than in adults and even more for children with hearing or language impairment, attention deficits, or another first language.AimThe aim of this study was to explore how children in Finland, Sweden, and Iceland describe the preschool environment in relation to noise, voice, and verbal communication; what were their experiences, knowledge and ideas in relation to voice, noise, and communication. Children’s awareness of effects of noise, reactions, and coping strategies were also studied. In addition, country and gender differences were analyzed.MethodsEighteen Icelandic, 14 Finnish, and 16 Swedish children were interviewed using a common interview-guide. Swedish and Finnish children were interviewed in focus groups and Icelandic children individually. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically by the native speaker. The interviews were translated to English to be re-analyzed for inter-judge reliability of identified themes. Inter-judge reliability was calculated using percentage absolute agreement.ResultsThe interviews resulted in 1052 utterances, 471 from focus groups, and 581 from individual interviews. Three themes were identified, Experiences, Environment, and Strategies with two to three subcategories. Inter-judge agreement for the themes was excellent, 92–98%. Experiences occurred in 55% of the utterances. The subcategories were bodily and emotional experiences and experiences of hearing and being heard. Environment occurred in 20% of the utterances, with subcategories indoor vs. outdoor and noise. Strategies was found in 15%, with subcategories games and problem oriented actions. The only significant difference between the countries was for the theme Strategies where the Swedish children produced more utterances than the Finnish. No gender differences were found.ConclusionChildren are aware of high noise levels and mainly blame other children for making noise and shouting. They describe reactions and strategies related to noise like impaired communication and effects on hearing but are less aware of effects on voice. Expressed thoughts were similar across countries. No gender differences were found.

Profile of hyperlexia: Reconciling conflicts through a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract It is believed that children with poor decoding skills and adequate listening comprehension skills exhibit a dyslexia-type syndrome. However, there is no consensus relating to the other problem that arises: children who have exceptional decoding but poor listening comprehension. Sometimes, these children have been labeled as “individuals exhibiting hyperlexia.” There is no clear understanding of the following aspects of hyperlexia: a) population criteria (e.g., typically vs. atypically developing children), b) specific criteria (e.g., precocity, definition of “good decoding”) on their associations with reading, and c) the applicability of reading theories to hyperlexia (e.g., phonemic awareness is critical in decoding; both decoding and listening comprehension contribute to reading comprehension). Therefore, we conducted a systematic and meta-analytic review to explore these questions. We found that despite good decoding and verbal short-term memory skills, individuals with hyperlexia exhibit poor listening, verbal working memory, and reading comprehension skills. Also, all but three studies identified hyperlexics from atypical developing populations; however, criteria to define “good decoding” varied and the onset of precocious decoding behavior was not consistently reported. Our meta-regression analysis suggests that decoding still predicted the performance of reading comprehension after controlling for listening comprehension, suggesting that the variations of defining “good decoding” led to different reading comprehension profiles (e.g., mild vs. severe reading comprehension deficit). Further, listening comprehension but not decoding is related to phonemic awareness, which may be due to the difficulty of understanding phonemic awareness tasks. However, it may also suggest that the current decoding theory is not applied to hyperlexia. Future suggestions for hyperlexia research are provided.

The role of the administration in team building and development of an organisation

Team building is one of the most widely used group-development activities in organizations. Team building has been scientifically shown to positively affect team effectiveness.[10] Goal setting and role clarification were shown to have impact on cognitive, affective, process and performance outcomes. Most teams go through several stages of development as part of their natural path of growth. At the initial stages of development, unclear objectives may create confusion, low morale, poor listening and a general lack of commitment. This emphasizes improving team members’ understanding of their own and others’ respective roles and duties. This is intended to reduce ambiguity and foster understanding of the importance of structure by activities aimed at defining and adjusting roles. We also help motivate the team members and build stronger working relationships between all individuals. This speeds up the normal development of the team, helps set it on the best course and brings it quickly to a stage of agreement, progress and clarity.

Music-based rehabilitation in cochlear implant users: Insights from brain-plasticity research

Music-based rehabilitation in cochlear implant users: Insights from brain-plasticity research

Students’ Perceptions of School Acoustics and the Impact of Noise on Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: Findings of a Questionnaire Survey

This paper will present the design and findings of an online questionnaire survey of 11–16 year olds’ impressions of their school's acoustic environment, and of an experimental study into the effects of typical levels of classroom noise on adolescent's performance on numeracy and cognitive functioning tasks. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaire found that pupils who reported additional learning needs such as hearing impairment, speaking English as an additional language or receiving learning support reported being significantly more affected by poor school acoustics than pupils reporting no additional learning needs. Pupils attending suburban schools featuring cellular classrooms that were not exposed to a nearby noise sources were more positive about their school acoustics than pupils at schools with open plan classroom designs or attending schools that were exposed to external noise sources. The study demonstrates that adolescents are reliable judges of their school's acoustic environment, and have insight into the disruption to teaching and learning caused by poor listening conditions. Furthermore, pupils with additional learning needs are more at risk from the negative effects of poor school acoustics.

The effects of hearing loss on neural processing and plasticity.

The effects of hearing loss on neural processing and plasticity.

The self-advantage in visual speech processing enhances audiovisual speech recognition in noise.

Individuals lip read themselves more accurately than they lip read others when only the visual speech signal is available (Tye-Murray et al., Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 115-119, 2013). This self-advantage for vision-only speech recognition is consistent with the common-coding hypothesis (Prinz, European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 9, 129-154, 1997), which posits (1) that observing an action activates the same motor plan representation as actually performing that action and (2) that observing one's own actions activates motor plan representations more than the others' actions because of greater congruity between percepts and corresponding motor plans. The present study extends this line of research to audiovisual speech recognition by examining whether there is a self-advantage when the visual signal is added to the auditory signal under poor listening conditions. Participants were assigned to sub-groups for round-robin testing in which each participant was paired with every member of their subgroup, including themselves, serving as both talker and listener/observer. On average, the benefit participants obtained from the visual signal when they were the talker was greater than when the talker was someone else and also was greater than the benefit others obtained from observing as well as listening to them. Moreover, the self-advantage in audiovisual speech recognition was significant after statistically controlling for individual differences in both participants' ability to benefit from a visual speech signal and the extent to which their own visual speech signal benefited others. These findings are consistent with our previous finding of a self-advantage in lip reading and with the hypothesis of a common code for action perception and motor plan representation.

Observed Mental Processing Patterns in Good EFL Listeners and Poor EFL Listeners

The purpose of this study aims to gain a better understanding of EFL learners’ actual use of learning strategies in listening comprehension. One hundred and sixty-five sampled students from different disciplines participated in the study. They completed the whole process of survey and assessment, which included an MEPT English proficiency test, think-aloud protocol and immediate recall interviews. The study involved two groups which were distinguished based on listening comprehension scores from the MEPT; namely, those who scored greater than 70% and those who scored lower than 50%. By examining apparent differences in the strategies used by each group during the listening interpretation, the study found that even within these differences a common thread could be seen. There were three major commonalities that emerged as students worked to develop meaningful patterns from the listening content. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the data. First, good EFL listeners use more strategies than poor EFL listeners. Secondly, both groups appear to switch strategies at the point in which the one they were using fails to fulfill its purpose; however, the poor listeners gave up trying sooner. Thirdly, both groups appear to be using the available information to develop a discernible pattern. This study suggests that strategy use is not the most important factor that separates good listeners from poor listeners. Rather, failure to recognize audio linguistic clues and cultural scripts seem to be more important causes of comprehension failure.

Auditory Processing Performance and Nonsensory Factors in Children with Specific Language Impairment or Auditory Processing Disorder

The nature of auditory processing deficits is at the heart of understanding auditory processing disorder (APD) in children. This article reviews evidence that confounding nonsensory factors, including maturation, processing efficiency, and cognition, influence auditory processing in children with APD or language learning impairment. Experimental evidence is presented to show that performance thresholds on nonspeech auditory processing (AP) tests, such as tone detection tasks in noise or in quiet, are poorer in children clinically diagnosed with APD or specific language impairment (SLI), compared to typically developing mainstream school (MS) children. However, with the exception of backward masking, these group differences disappeared for all AP tests after accounting for nonverbal IQ. Intrinsic attention, indexed by variability in AP test performance, was examined alongside AP threshold performance. Generally there was no difference in intrinsic attention across the three participant groups (MS, SLI, APD), but frequency discrimination (FD) was an exception. Thus, although reduced intrinsic attention has been shown to be a factor in the presenting symptoms of APD, including poor listening, speech intelligibility, and communication, there is, surprisingly, no robust evidence that intrinsic attention in children identified with APD or SLI is any poorer than that in typically developing children.

Listening: The Forgotten Communication Skill

Everyone believes they are a good listener. No one wants to be considered a “bad” listener. People “assume” they automatically can listen if they simply can hear. This is not so, hearing is a physiological act, while listening involves hearing the stimuli, attending to stimuli and trying to make sense of stimuli. Yet we are not as generous about other’s listening abilities as we are about ourselves. Listening surveys often find that we rate ourselves as good to excellent listeners but fair to poor listeners for other people. Very rarely do people actually study, take a course, workshop, or seminar in listening training. Further, many people do not even know there are types of listening other than “active” or “passive” listening. Is there really such a thing as “passive listening?” I would basically define passive listening as “sleeping.” I have taught an undergraduate listening course and many listening training workshops for professionals and medical students for over twenty years, and never has anyone entered the listening course or workshop/seminar thinking they needed listening skill building. I usually convince them otherwise by doing some simple opening exercises involving memory and listening. Then I move on to discussing the types of listening, discussed in detail by Andrew Wolvin and Carolyn Coakley in their book Listening,such as discriminative (listening beyond the content and into emotion); comprehensive (listening to understand, remember and retain, especially during interruptions); therapeutic (diagnostic listening by qualified medical personnel); critical (listening to comprehend and evaluate); empathic (trying to understand the others point of view); and appreciative (listening for cognitive stimulation and enjoyment); plus the many skills involved for each type of listening. Usually an hour into the listening workshop or course, everyone is now “all ears” or officially listening. Another assessment for my students and professionals is the Larry Barker and KittieWatson Listener Preference Profile which provides a way to learn about the listening preferences of yourself as well as others. They suggest that four listening preferences be distinguished: • people-oriented listeners (concerned with how listening influences relationships with others);

Some Factors Underlying Individual Differences in Speech Recognition on PRESTO: A First Report

Previous studies investigating speech recognition in adverse listening conditions have found extensive variability among individual listeners. However, little is currently known about the core underlying factors that influence speech recognition abilities. To investigate sensory, perceptual, and neurocognitive differences between good and poor listeners on the Perceptually Robust English Sentence Test Open-set (PRESTO), a new high-variability sentence recognition test under adverse listening conditions. Participants who fell in the upper quartile (HiPRESTO listeners) or lower quartile (LoPRESTO listeners) on key word recognition on sentences from PRESTO in multitalker babble completed a battery of behavioral tasks and self-report questionnaires designed to investigate real-world hearing difficulties, indexical processing skills, and neurocognitive abilities. Young, normal-hearing adults (N = 40) from the Indiana University community participated in the current study. Participants' assessment of their own real-world hearing difficulties was measured with a self-report questionnaire on situational hearing and hearing health history. Indexical processing skills were assessed using a talker discrimination task, a gender discrimination task, and a forced-choice regional dialect categorization task. Neurocognitive abilities were measured with the Auditory Digit Span Forward (verbal short-term memory) and Digit Span Backward (verbal working memory) tests, the Stroop Color and Word Test (attention/inhibition), the WordFam word familiarity test (vocabulary size), the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) self-report questionnaire on executive function, and two performance subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) Performance Intelligence Quotient (IQ; nonverbal intelligence). Scores on self-report questionnaires and behavioral tasks were tallied and analyzed by listener group (HiPRESTO and LoPRESTO). The extreme groups did not differ overall on self-reported hearing difficulties in real-world listening environments. However, an item-by-item analysis of questions revealed that LoPRESTO listeners reported significantly greater difficulty understanding speakers in a public place. HiPRESTO listeners were significantly more accurate than LoPRESTO listeners at gender discrimination and regional dialect categorization, but they did not differ on talker discrimination accuracy or response time, or gender discrimination response time. HiPRESTO listeners also had longer forward and backward digit spans, higher word familiarity ratings on the WordFam test, and lower (better) scores for three individual items on the BRIEF-A questionnaire related to cognitive load. The two groups did not differ on the Stroop Color and Word Test or either of the WASI performance IQ subtests. HiPRESTO listeners and LoPRESTO listeners differed in indexical processing abilities, short-term and working memory capacity, vocabulary size, and some domains of executive functioning. These findings suggest that individual differences in the ability to encode and maintain highly detailed episodic information in speech may underlie the variability observed in speech recognition performance in adverse listening conditions using high-variability PRESTO sentences in multitalker babble.