Listening Strategy Use: A Case Study of Two High-proficiency and Two Low-proficiency English Majors

Autor: Tsung-Yi Chou, 周宗毅
Rok vydání: 2007
Druh dokumentu: 學位論文 ; thesis
Popis: 95
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.
Databáze: Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations
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