Effects of listening support on the aural performance of Taiwanese EFL college students

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Title:	Effects of listening support on the aural performance of Taiwanese EFL college students
Other Titles:	聽力輔助對臺灣大學生聽力的影響
Authors:	潘怡君;Pan, Yi-Chun
Contributors:	淡江大學英文學系博士班黃月貴;Huang, Yueh-Kuey
Keywords:	聽力輔助;字彙教學;聽力策略;反思學習;listening support;lexical intervention;listening strategies;reflective learning;vocabulary;multiword units
Date:	2012
Issue Date:	2013-04-13 10:27:56 (UTC+8)
Abstract:	本研究旨在探討聽力輔助對台灣技術校院學生在多益聽力成績的效應。聽力輔助在本研究採用的是單字教學及反思學習。在單字教學中，老師透過不同類型活動教導學生聽力所須字詞。而在課後反思學習中，學生在七步驟的聽力練習後，反思自己的弱點並試著找出解決方法。本研究的參與者是兩班共61名台灣大一技術學院學生，隨機分成實驗組及控制組。實驗組學生在18週大一英文課程中接受聽力輔助的介入，而控制組學生在課程中則先聽光碟，老師之後再解釋其內容。本研究採用量化及質化資料分析三個研究題目。量化資料包括八次小考、期中考、期末考、多益摹擬前後測及字詞教學問卷，而質化資料包括聽力學習記錄及訪談。三個研究題目為：(1) 聽力輔助對多益聽力成績的影響, (2) 實驗組學生在聽力輔助介入下所呈現的聽力行為及(3) 實驗組學生對聽力輔助的觀感。量化分析結果顯示，實驗組學生在小考及多益摹擬後測成績顯著高於控制組學生，而且聽力輔助介入效果，實驗組低程度學生大於其高程度學生。另外，質化分析結果顯示，實驗組學生在聽力輔助介入下，啟發他們使用有效的聽力策略。但是，也有策略使用不當的情形發生。這表示，老師必須提供其他額外輔助以改善狀況。有關對聽力輔助的觀感，學生普遍持正面意見。以上這些結果建議，聽力輔助可以用於課程中來增進學生理解多益。不過對於比較長及困難的內容，則須搭配其他形式聽力輔助。本文亦有深入探討，研究結果對英語聽力教學的啟示。雖然本研究對於改善學生理解多益有正面貢獻，但學生後測平均成績在原使總分分100下只拿53分，表示還有進步空間。未來研究可以探討聽力習得部份，也就是以聽力內容為基礎，分析不同聽後學習活動，對強化學生能力以提升後續聽力理解的影響，這方面的研究有助老師設計更完善的聽力課程。 Listening comprehension can be a profoundly difficult skill for foreign language learners (L2) to develop, and thus it is critical for teachers to offer listening support to L2 learners to facilitate their understanding of aural text (Underwood, 1989). The current study conducted an investigation into the effectiveness of providing listening support to Taiwanese EFL technological students in terms of how such support affected their performance on the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), which is regarded as a high-stakes test around the world, particularly in Taiwan and other Asian nations (Gilfert, 1996; Lai, 2008; Miller, 2007; Phillips, 2006). This study utilized lexical intervention and reflective learning as forms of listening support. During the course of lexical intervention, the teacher pre-taught related lexical items by employing a variety of oral activities (e.g. reading aloud and practicing conversation). As for extracurricular reflective learning, the students first engaged in seven-step listening, identified the causes of their incomprehension, and then determined methods for resolving those challenges. Two intact classes with a total of 61 Taiwanese first-year technological college students were randomly assigned to either the experimental (EG) or control (CG) groups. Throughout the course of an 18-week required General English class, the EG received two forms of listening support: lexical instruction and reflective learning. In contrast, the CG received instruction comprised of listening followed by an explanation of the aural text to confirm comprehension. Data for this study was collected both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data included test results drawn from eight listening quizzes, midterm and final exams, and the TOEIC listening test as well as responses to lexical intervention questionnaires. Qualitative data was comprised of reflection sheets and interview surveys. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used to determine answers to the three research questions: (1) What were the effects of listening support on the TOEIC aural performance of Taiwanese technological college students? (2) What types of listening behaviors did the treatment group exhibit? and (3) What were students’ perceptions of listening support in regard to their listening tasks? The TOEIC aural performance of Taiwanese technological college students generally improved as a result of listening support. This determination was reached on the basis of the fact that EG participants earned better scores than their CG participant counterparts on both achievement tests (quizzes) and on the proficiency test (TOEIC listening post-test). In addition, the EG lower-proficiency students benefited more from listening support than their higher-proficiency counterparts did. Furthermore, students activated the use of effective listening behaviors (bottom-up and top-down alike) from listening support. However, counterproductive behaviors were identified during this process, suggesting that students should receive additional support when this occurs. It was also encouraging that students possessed a positive overall opinion of the role that listening support played in relation to their listening task performance. Given the strong and positive effect on L2 listening, educators should utilize listening support in the form of lexical intervention and reflective learning to improve the aural performance of students. It must however be noted that in some situations (e.g. listening to long and difficult text, such as TOEIC Part III: Short Conversations and Part IV: Short Talks), the addition of other alternatives might maximize the effects of listening support. This study provides pedagogical implications drawn from the findings of the three research questions to improve EFL teachers’ understanding of how to instruct listening, a skill that is both critical and difficult to develop. While the study clearly contributes to improving student TOEIC listening scores, there is still room for improvement, as is evident by the fact that the mean score of the post-test was about 53 out of the total score of 100. Further investigation certainly could be conducted on the acquisition phase of listening by using listening texts as the basis for assisting L2 acquisition. Research undertaken to explore the effects of providing post-listening activities drawn from the listening texts will shed light on whether the acquisition phase of listening actually enhances student comprehension in future listening tasks. This line of study not only complements the present study, which focuses on the comprehension phase of listening, but is also quite valuable in terms of its ability to assist teachers in designing EFL listening courses.
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute & Department of English] Thesis

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