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Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge

  • Michael Yeldham EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 24, 2021
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 61 Issue 3

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examined how second language (L2) learners’ vocabulary knowledge interacted with the two main process-based listening instruction methods of (1) strategy training and (2) interactive training that combined strategy training with that of bottom-up skills, to influence the learners’ development as listeners. The participants were lower-proficiency listeners, and the quantitative component of the study reanalyzed data from a previous study by the author that had compared the effectiveness of the two instruction methods for these learners, and also factored in the learners’ level of vocabulary knowledge (higher vs lower). Among a range of dependent variables considered important for listener development, the study found an interaction effect between instruction method and vocabulary knowledge for the learners’ confidence, or self-efficacy, as listeners. In particular, among the higher vocabulary knowledge learners in the study, those in the strategy course demonstrated much greater improvement in their self-efficacy than those in the interactive course. Insights from elsewhere in the study, particularly analysis of qualitative data gathered for this study, helped to explain why. As self-efficacy is often considered an important requirement for effective listening, and also a precursor for future listener development, the result of the study has relevance for listening instruction.

Keywords: bottom-up listening skills; listening strategies; second language listening instruction; vocabulary knowledge
Corresponding author: Michael Yeldham, School of Foreign Language Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China, E-mail:
Appendix A

Strategy content of both courses, and how the strategies were commonly taught.

Strategy/strategy focus Activity/exercise
Top-down strategies
1. Guess unknown words, information (T)a Guess meaning of words/information in texts;

(E) Guess information concealed by white noise (Mendelsohn 1994).
2. Predict words, information (T) Predict words/information in a text, then check accuracy of predictions (Vandergrift 2007);

(T/E) Predict endings of short utterances (Mendelsohn 2006).
3. Infer unstated aspects of texts; utilize context to assist comprehension (E) Infer topic, setting, mood, etc. in short texts;

(T/E) Use contextual cues (e.g., topic, setting, mood, speakers’ relationships) to assist comprehension (Mendelsohn 2006).
4. Utilize discourse markers to predict, guess information (T/E) Use discourse markers to guess information and predict ensuing content.
Bottom-up strategies
1. Utilize stressed words (T) Use stressed words in a text to direct one’s comprehension (Mendelsohn 2006);

(T) Jot down key words to assist comprehension (Field 2008).
2. Identify stressed wordsb (E) Underline stressed words on text transcript, with a focus on using stressed syllables to detect word onset.
3. Utilize discourse markers (T) Use discourse markers to help direct one’s comprehension;

(E) Use discourse marker cues to reorder jumbled sentences
Metacognitive/General strategies
1. Develop, monitor text mental model (T/E) Listen section-by-section to a text, forming, then verifying or changing, one’s mental model of it (Mendelsohn 1994, 2006);

(E) Monitor texts that contain: (1) anomalous sentences; (2) initial misleading schema.
2. Practice metacognitive control of one’s strategies Use a pedagogical cycle based on Vandergrift (2007).
3. Learn listening strategies A range of strategies were outlined to the learners.

  1. a(T): These were mostly taught embedded in the regular class texts; (E): These were mostly taught through standalone class exercises. bThis is considered more of a strategy than a skill as the focus here was on consciously using stressed syllables to identify word onset (Field, 2003).

Appendix B

Bottom-up skills in the IntT course, and how they were commonly taught.

Skill Activity/exercise
Connected speech, word segmentation, segmental skills
1. Identify various aspects of connected speech (T/E) Transcribe segments of texts that target assimilations, elisions, reduced function words, reduced verbal phrases, and general stretches of connected speech (Field 2003);

(E) Identify and mark resyllabifications, liaisons on text transcript;

(E) Identify resyllabifications from alternative options (e.g., may doubt vs made out)

(T) Listen and examine text transcript for various characteristics of connected speech
2. Identify stressed words (E) Identify stressed words, underline them on text transcript
3. Discriminate segments (E) Distinguish minimal pairs and verb suffixes in short utterances
Intonation skills
4. Identify/utilize accentual intonation (or sentence stress) (E) Identify how sentence stress in texts signals contrast, emphasis, new/old information (Gilbert 2005);

(E) Engage in dialogs, and ask/answer questions, using sentence stress patterns
5. Identify attitudinal intonation (E) Utilize intonation signals to identify speakers’ attitudes/emotions
6. Identify grammatical intonation (E) Use tone unit and stress patterns to discriminate sentences which have same wording but different meanings (Gilbert 2005)

Appendix C

Reliability information for instruments used to collect the dependent variable data.

Dependent variable Assessment instrument used No. of items before reliability testing No. of items after reliability testinga Reliability figure
Comprehension of main ideas Questions from GEPT I deemed to assess this 20 7 0.70
Comprehension of details Questions from GEPT I deemed to assess this 25 13 0.67b
Connected speech skills CST questions 11 6 0.74
Intonation skills CST questions 19 6 0.74
Word segmentation skills Partial dictation 63 63 0.97 (inter-rater), 0.97 (intra-rater)c
Infer meaning Questions from GEPT I deemed to assess this 12 6 0.75

  1. aReliability of all instruments was established through item-total correlation analysis (except the dictation, which used inter-rater, intra-rater reliability procedures). bMinimum test reliability is usually 0.70 (Kline 1999), but Bachman (2004) contends this can be lowered for tests with only a small number of items, as was the case here. cThe dictation had been used in Yeldham (2009), where inter-rater reliability was established. Intra-rater reliability was established in this study after I marked the data then re-marked 10% of it three months later.

Appendix D

Pre-test and post-test group mean scores for the dependent variables.

Dependent Variable Instrument used Vocab. group Course Pre-test

M (SD) 		Post-test

M (SD)
Listening ability
Listening comprehension GEPTa LVK StratT 19.83 (4.78) 21.89 (6.09)
IntT 23.83 (4.49) 24.42 (7.54)
HVK StratT 21.62 (4.33) 22.85 (5.83)
IntT 21.20 (5.86) 23.45 (4.66)
Comprehension of main ideas GEPT main ideas questionsb LVK StratT 3.50 (2.09) 4.06 (1.31)
IntT 3.58 (1.56) 4.50 (1.17)
HVK StratT 3.54 (1.71) 4.08 (1.26)
IntT 3.80 (1.11) 4.40 (1.35)
Comprehension of details GEPT details questionsc LVK StratT 5.89 (2.91) 7.22 (2.78)
IntT 7.33 (2.06) 7.58 (2.78)
HVK StratT 6.69 (2.14) 7.54 (2.15)
IntT 6.30 (2.64) 7.60 (2.09)
Listening skill/strategy
Connected speech CST questionsd LVK StratT 3.17 (1.88) 3.44 (1.62)
IntT 3.25 (1.42) 3.75 (0.87)
HVK StratT 3.46 (1.39) 4.08 (1.32)
IntT 2.90 (1.45) 3.75 (1.11)
Intonation CST questionse LVK StratT 3.44 (2.04) 4.50 (1.50)
IntT 3.42 (1.88) 4.67 (1.50)
HVK StratT 4.23 (1.59) 4.92(1.19)
IntT 4.10 (1.67) 5.25 (0.85)
Word segmentation Partial Dictationf LVK StratT 48.61 (7.45) 51.56 (5.93)
IntT 50.25 (6.65) 53.25 (6.18)
HVK StratT 51.23 (6.04) 52.31 (5.27)
IntT 50.90 (6.02) 52.55 (6.03)
Infer meaning GEPT inference questionsg LVK StratT 3.56 (1.42) 3.83 (2.09)
IntT 4.67 (1.23) 4.33 (1.97)
HVK StratT 3.77 (1.54) 4.54 (1.45)
IntT 4.05 (1.32) 4.05 (1.19)
Confidence-motivation
Confidence Questionnaire questionsh LVK StratT 1.89 (1.08) 2.94 (0.73)
IntT 2.25 (0.87) 3.42 (0.51)
HVK StratT 1.69 (0.48) 3.15 (0.38)
IntT 2.05 (1.00) 2.90 (0.72)
Motivation Questionnaire questionsh LVK StratT 2.22 (1.06) 3.11 (0.68)
IntT 2.25 (0.75) 2.83 (0.84)
HVK StratT 1.92 (0.86) 3.00 (0.58)
IntT 2.35 (0.75) 3.00 (0.80)
Extracurricular listening Questionnaire questionsi LVK StratT 0.83 (1.92) 2.08 (2.68)
IntT 1.50 (1.78) 1.00 (1.49)
HVK StratT 1.35 (1.86) 1.31 (2.84)
IntT 2.05 (2.93) 1.65 (3.53)

  1. aMaximum score 45. bMaximum score 7. cMaximum score 13. dMaximum score 6. eMaximum score 6. fMaximum score 63. gMaximum score 6. hA scale ranging from 0 (low) to 4 (high). iHours per week.

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Received: 2021-02-03
Accepted: 2021-08-10
Published Online: 2021-08-24
Published in Print: 2023-09-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. English and Spanish speakers’ interpretations of L2 Chinese applicative double object constructions
  4. (Mis) perception of consonant clusters and short vowels in English as a foreign language
  5. Phraseological complexity and low- and intermediate-level L2 learners’ writing quality
  6. The use of blocking and inhibition training in processing instruction
  7. Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge
  8. Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)
  9. Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German
  10. Acquisition of morphology by L2 children in naturalistic environments: a case of Japanese case markers
  11. N-gram use in EFL learners’ retelling and monologic tasks
  12. The structure of L2 lexical-semantic networks as seen from a social network perspective
  13. Deciphering the role of multilingualism in creativity at university: the influence of context
  14. The associations between working memory and the effects of multimedia input on L2 vocabulary learning
  15. The acquisition of relative clauses by Spanish-Basque learners of L3 English: does dominance play a role?
  16. The impact of pragmalinguistic support on video-conferenced collaborative suggestion-giving task
  17. L2 writing development through two types of writing task repetition
  18. Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages
  19. Immediate and long-term improvement in lexical stress perception: the role of teacher and peer feedback
  20. Exploring the pseudo-longitudinal development of specific morphosyntactic features and syntactic complexity in CLIL young learners
  21. Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: the case of Chinese college EFL students
https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0021
Keywords for this article
bottom-up listening skills; listening strategies; second language listening instruction; vocabulary knowledge

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. English and Spanish speakers’ interpretations of L2 Chinese applicative double object constructions
  4. (Mis) perception of consonant clusters and short vowels in English as a foreign language
  5. Phraseological complexity and low- and intermediate-level L2 learners’ writing quality
  6. The use of blocking and inhibition training in processing instruction
  7. Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge
  8. Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)
  9. Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German
  10. Acquisition of morphology by L2 children in naturalistic environments: a case of Japanese case markers
  11. N-gram use in EFL learners’ retelling and monologic tasks
  12. The structure of L2 lexical-semantic networks as seen from a social network perspective
  13. Deciphering the role of multilingualism in creativity at university: the influence of context
  14. The associations between working memory and the effects of multimedia input on L2 vocabulary learning
  15. The acquisition of relative clauses by Spanish-Basque learners of L3 English: does dominance play a role?
  16. The impact of pragmalinguistic support on video-conferenced collaborative suggestion-giving task
  17. L2 writing development through two types of writing task repetition
  18. Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages
  19. Immediate and long-term improvement in lexical stress perception: the role of teacher and peer feedback
  20. Exploring the pseudo-longitudinal development of specific morphosyntactic features and syntactic complexity in CLIL young learners
  21. Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: the case of Chinese college EFL students
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