LINGUIST List 14.2660

Thu Oct 2 2003

Diss: Applied Ling: Hwang: 'Listening...'

Editor for this issue: Takako Matsui <takolinguistlist.org>

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  • kcjugong, Listening Comprehension Problems

    Message 1: Listening Comprehension Problems

     Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2003 09:30:11 +0000
    From: kcjugong <kcjugongyahoo.co.kr>
    Subject: Listening Comprehension Problems


    Institution: University of Essex, UK Program: Ph.D Program in English Language Teaching Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2003

    Author: Myung-Hee Hwang

    Dissertation Title: Listening Comprehension Problems and Strategy Use by Secondary Learners of English (FL) in Korea

    Linguistic Field: Applied Linguistics

    Subject Language: English (code: ENG)

    Dissertation Director 1: Steven McDonough Dissertation Director 2: Philip Scholfield

    Dissertation Abstract:

    The present study investigates the listening behaviour of Korean learners of English with regard to their listening problems and strategy use. Twenty learners at two levels of listening proficiency participated in the study. They verbalised while listening to four spoken texts of two levels of difficulty. This was followed by retrospection of their previous verbal reports, the focus being on the listening problems they encountered. A total of eleven types of listening problems and twelve causes of the problems were identified and classified for further analyses. Three null hypotheses were formulated based on three research questions and were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

    The main findings are as follows. First, Korean learners of English experienced predominant problems at the perceptual stage. This was especially noted in the less proficient ones and with more difficult texts. The more proficient learners, because of their greater linguistic proficiency, were better able to progress to a higher level of processing, regardless of the difficulty of the text. The less proficient learners could advance to a higher level of processing when listening to easer texts. Second, the more proficient learners accessed a wider variety of strategies in their repertoires, with more success across the two types of texts. The less proficient learners' strategy use was rather limited in its types when listening to more difficult texts, but they could access their strategic resources with more success when listening to easier texts. The learners' access to a strategy repertoire and their successful utilisation of it depended on how much successfully they comprehended the input. A unique finding of this study is that learners' listening difficulties could be caused by their use of strategy. This is in opposition to the once popular claim that strategy is inherently good and that problematicity is a defining feature of a strategy. Based on the findings above, the following classroom applications are suggested. The priority, in EFL classrooms, should be placed on improving the learners' basic decoding skills rather than on teaching strategy use. Input within the grasp of the learners' comprehension, in the form of extended discourse spoken in natural oral English, should be introduced. The implementation of pre-listening sessions is also recommended.