分析的主要依據有三:一、由上而下的策略;二、由下而上的策略;三、後設認知策略。研究結果發現無論受測者屬於哪種程度,「由上而下」及「後設認知」兩種策略均被使用。在「由下而上」策略中,只有母語逐字翻譯策略被使用,其中以兩位較低程度受測者使用的最頻繁,而且兩位較低程度受測者也表明英語聽力的最大障礙源自「字彙知識不足」及「沒有經常接觸英語聽力」。除了文章大意理解,本研究也發現字彙知識及經常接觸英語聽力在教學上的重要性。最後,研究者也針對未來相關研究方向提出見解。 This study aims to explore English listening strategy use between two pairs of high- and low-proficiency learners. Three areas are addressed: 1) listening strategies between the two pairs, 2) in what way are the two pairs different or similar in listening strategy choice, and 3) participants’ beliefs about choosing certain listening strategies over others.
Participants were four female English majors enrolled in a freshmen listening course at Tamkang University. Two were high proficient; the other two were low proficient. The primary instruments include two lectures, interviews via think-aloud protocols, and listening strategy questionnaire. Participants first filled out the questionnaire before working on the think-aloud protocols. They listened to two recorded English lectures followed by reporting verbally what and how they had comprehended the lectures. All the verbal productions were tape-recorded and transcribed for qualitative analysis.
Three listening strategy categories were used as the measure for analysis—top-down, bottom-up and metacognitive strategies. The results indicated that all four participants, despite their different language proficiency levels, demonstrated the use of top-down and metacognitive strategies. The less proficient pair, in particular, reported a greater reliance on translation and word-by-word decoding strategies. Moreover, the less proficient pair considered deficiency in vocabulary knowledge and limited exposure to natural speech two stumbling blocks to listening comprehension. Such findings highlight the importance of contextual clues, vocabulary knowledge and constant exposure to natural speech in consolidating students’listening abilities. Suggestions for future studies were also proposed.