Impact of repetitive listening, listening-aid and podcast length on EFL podcast listening
Introduction
Listening, one of the four basic skills in language teaching, was relatively ignored for years (Mendelsohn, 1994; Nation & Newton, 2009; Nunan, 1997; Osada, 2004; Richards, 2008; Vandergrift, 2011), perhaps because up until the 1970s language proficiency was judged mainly by speaking and writing ability (Nunan, 1997). Moreover, despite the fact that substantial work has been done to describe the role of listening skills in English as Foreign Language (EFL) or second-language (L2) teaching and learning, few studies have elaborated on the conditions affecting the development of listening skills.
Previous studies have provided a cogent pedagogical framework for the concept of EFL/L2 podcasts and discussed the crucial role of podcasts and podcasting in L2 learning (Alm, 2013; Lee, 2009; Renandya & Farrell, 2011; Rosell-Aguilar, 2007; Siegel, 2012), The efficiency of using EFL/L2 podcasts to improve speaking and listening, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary has been recognized (Lord, 2008), as has the positive role of repetitive listening in EFL/L2 development (Ellis & Le, 2016; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012).
Of the limited number of studies conducted in relation to podcasts, the majority have examined their use in delivering supplementary material in higher education (Maag, 2006; O’brien & Hegelheimer, 2007; Tynan & Colbran, 2006). Very few studies have looked at the design of foreign-language listening instruction using podcasts, and discussed the role of factors such as advanced organizers, visual aids, multilingual soundtracks and captions, restructuring, repetitive listening, attention, and motivation (Alm, 2013; Chang, 2009; Richards, 2005; Robin, 2007; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012), in the process of comprehension of a spoken text. However, none of those major studies provided evidence on the interactive effect of (some) these variables. Even though the role of attention and motivation has been recognized crucial depending on the structure of the listening text (Feyten, 1991; Field, 1998; Low & Sonntag, 2013; Richards, 2005) literature still lacks evidence on their impact related to the learning environment, support tools, and delivery media. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the interactive/joint effect of “podcast length”, “repetitive listening”, and “listening-aid” on improving the comprehension of the spoken text in target language, and to examine the participants' perceptions about impact of learning environment, support tools, and media on attention and motivation based on their listening experiences in the study.
There have been two main approaches to listening in recent years: listening as comprehension and listening as acquisition (Richards, 2008). The former approach received more attention in earlier studies of foreign-language listening, such as a study by Lundsteen (1971), who defined listening as a process of converting spoken language into meaning. In this approach, listening is viewed as a developmental skill that involves the ability to resolve what is being listened to (Feyten, 1991; Richards, 2008), with the facilitation of speech comprehension considered to be the main function of listening in foreign-language learning. Thus, it has been suggested that a good deal of emphasis should be given to listening comprehension in the early stage of foreign-language learning, especially for adults, who are, naturally, already speakers of a native language (Gary & Gary, 1981). Moreover, early research by Postovsky (1974) as well as numerous others (Asher, 1979; Davies, 1978; Gary, 1975; Winitz & Reeds, 1973) indicated that devoting time to listening comprehension prior to oral production rather than providing simultaneous instruction in listening and speaking yielded better results in terms of language comprehension.
In terms of foreign-language learning, acquisition refers to the use of language in the same way as that of a native speaker. Emphasis on foreign-language acquisition surfaced with Krashen’s (1985) “comprehensible input”. Later, Richards (2005), in an elaborate argument comparing the comprehension and acquisition approaches to foreign-language listening, proposed the use of comprehension as a complement to the acquisition. Richards notes that while it is clear that individuals cannot learn anything from listening without understanding, little has been said regarding how comprehension during listening ensures learning, and in this regard, he suggests focusing on the concepts of ‘noticing' and ‘restructuring'.
Noticing is a process that involves the use of attention and motivation. Obviously, as stated by many authors (Feyten, 1991; Field, 1998; Low & Sonntag, 2013; Richards, 2005), learner motivation must be stimulated and attention must be paid to the listening activity. Just how that might be accomplished in diverse listening settings and contexts is something that foreign language-instructors need to take into consideration. Schmidt (1990) discusses in great length the importance of attention and consciousness, stressing that since individuals cannot learn without noticing through the input, factors that stimulate consciousness can help ensure that learners are able to build new features of the language onto their existing language proficiency. Defining ‘intake' as part of the input that the learner notices, Schmidt (1990) suggests that only intake can promote language development. In order to promote intake, Richards (2005) proposes repetitive listening of restructured audio recordings, an idea also brought up in an earlier study by Rodrigo (2003).
Restructuring refers to increasing the amount of intake from listening by designing and presenting the listening text in a way that the learner can easily assimilate. Van Patten (1993) defines restructuring as handling the process of integration of intake into a language system. While understanding native speakers can be challenging for learners below a certain level of proficiency in the target language, the acquisition approach relies heavily on the use of somewhat challenging authentic listening texts voiced by native speakers in order to engage learners in learning. Thus, restructuring relies on the use of oral or written guidance to stretch the learners’ ability to understand (Richards, 2005). A common example of oral restructuring involves interventions made by either the speaker or instructor during the delivery of the listening text, whereas written restructuring may include providing support such as a complete transcript of an authentic listening text, additional meanings of expressions, explanations and sample sentences in written form. We use the term ‘listening aid’ to refer to this type of written support material that can serve as a vehicle to support the organization of input by facilitating assimilation and accommodation of new words, phrases and concepts.
According to the literature, the provision of support or help options such as advanced organizers, visual aids, multilingual soundtracks, and captions has been found to contribute to L2 listening comprehension (Chang, 2009; Jafari & Hashim, 2012; Mohsen, 2016; Montero Perez, Van Den Noortgate, & Desmet, 2013). It may be that providing learners with a listening aid that includes the transcript of the text as well as explanations of vocabulary, including idioms and other expressions, along with sample sentences can reduce the time learners spend on decoding/comprehension by helping them to elaborate, a process that increases meaningful associations between elements of new knowledge by connecting them to each other and to elements of prior knowledge (Lewalter, 2003; Reigeluth, 1979; Willoughby, Wood, Desmarais, Sims, & Kalra, 1997). Indeed, several studies have reported that reading while listening (i.e. reading the transcript of an audio text) improves overall L2 proficiency (Brown, Waring, & Donkaewbua, 2008; Osada, 2001; Vandergrift, 2007). Specifically, greater gains in L2 listening proficiency and vocabulary have been reported when a transcript of the text is read while listening when compared to listening alone (Chang, 2008, 2009; Montero Perez et al., 2013). However, a study by Gobel and Kano (2014) reported that although reading the text while listening significantly improved reading rates and vocabulary recognition, it did not significantly improve overall L2 proficiency. Besides, there are studies that echo cognitive overload with multiple or mutual uses of advance organizers or annotations and captions for listening comprehension (e.g., Aldera & Mohsen, 2013; Chung & Huang, 1998). Therefore, the conditions of use and the modes of listening aids need to be examined carefully (Jafari & Hashim, 2012).
Podcasting has been defined as a technological modality that provides downloadable audio, video, pdf and presentation files by subscription via computers or mobile devices using RSS technology (Faramarzi & Bagheri, 2015). Advantages such as portability, ease-of-use, access to materials and flexibility have made podcasts a popular technology for use in education, as has their ability to promote EFL/L2 learning by supporting self-paced learning, motivation and personalized listening (Gromik, 2008; McGarr, 2009; Rahimi & Katal, 2012; Rosell-Aguilar, 2013, 2007; Thorne & Payne, 2005). Podcasts allow users to listen to material with the options of pausing, rewinding and repeating at will (Rosell-Aguilar, 2013), providing learners with the opportunity to listen to comprehensible input (Krashen, 2003 as cited in Rosell-Aguilar, 2013) conducive to concentrating on language characteristics (Rosell-Aguilar, 2015). Podcasts, especially those available in mp3 or mp4 format, can be delivered through various devices, including laptops, iPods, Smartphone, iPads and tablet PCs (Constantine, 2007).
Rosell-Aguilar (2007) makes a distinction between two types of podcasts – those that are self-developed by teachers or students, and existing podcasts, which include both authentic material as well as podcasts developed by language-learning courses. The current study focused on instructionally restructured podcasts prepared specifically for foreign/second-language learners' language acquisition through listening. The internet offers a wealth of free podcast resources that can provide authentic listening experiences to foreign-language learners. These podcasts usually reflect real-life conditions, using casual expressions and idioms in authentic conversations to support language acquisition. While the native rate of speech in authentic podcasts is usually perceived as “too fast” for listening by L2 learners (Renandya & Farrell, 2011; Siegel, 2012), authentic podcasts with diverse rates of speech speed can be found, especially for early-stage foreign-language learners. Moreover, because authentic podcasts may not be appropriate for all levels of learners, authentic materials may be instructionally altered to support the listening comprehension of early-stage foreign-language learners in order to enhance the amount of learner intake at one time. Texts may be spoken at both a native rate of speaking and at a slower rate in order to facilitate comprehension of idiomatic, cultural and context-related expressions. They may also provide additional meanings of vocabulary, including extra examples, and may model for learners how prior knowledge and experience can be used to connect to new linguistic and paralinguistic cues. In some cases, podcasts include only one such feature, such as a slower rate of speaking.
EFL/L2 podcast research has examined different aspects of L2 proficiency, such as the four skills, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. A comprehensive review of the literature on the effects of podcasting found that podcasts contribute to improvements in L2 listening and speaking as well as in the development of grammatical constructs, pronunciation, and vocabulary (Rahimi & Katal, 2012), although the results are not unanimous. For example, Lord (2008) found that collaborative production of L2 podcasts improved pronunciation skills and attitudes of undergraduate students (Lord, 2008), whereas Ducate and Lomicka (2009) found no significant improvements in the pronunciation of university-level L2 learners who participated in a 16-week program that included the production of 5 scripted pronunciation recordings.
According to the results of an earlier study (Abdous, Camarena, & Facer, 2009) that shows that higher education students reported the academic benefits of integration of L2 podcasts by using them for multi-purpose (e.g. for project assessment, peer interviewing, dictations, and discussions), however, later, students in the supportive-podcast-use group showed better improvement compared to students in the integrated-podcast-use group (Abdous, Facer, & Yen, 2012). These results highlight the important role of out of class L2 podcast listening to support listening. These supportive activities require intensive/extensive listening of L2 podcasts, which sometimes involves repetitive listening. Other studies emphasize the crucial role of restructuring, guidance and repetition in authentic L2 podcast listening, specifically with regard to the cognitive benefits of repetitive L2 listening (Alm, 2013; Robin, 2007; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012), and another study notes that undergraduate students offered the opportunity to “self-select” L2 podcasts for listening reported this to be an enjoyable experience that influenced their listening strategies (Alm, 2013). However, there are studies reporting the need to optimize the length of podcasts. Li (2010) found that podcast length affected the secondary school students' perceptions on using podcasts for listening purposes. The literature lacks extensive evidence on the optimum length of podcasts. Chan, Lee, and McLoughlin (2006) used podcasts for freshmen on information technology subjects and selected 3-5 min-long podcasts for they were the average length of a song. They further suggested conducting research studies on the optimum length of podcasts for diverse needs and uses. Moreover, the literature also lacks empirical evidence showing how to optimize L2 podcast listening through the efficient use of repetition and a listening-aid with podcasts of different lengths.
Section snippets
Problem statement and aim of the study
Because listening usually occurs in a lecture-dependent system where learners are inactive, they can easily become bored while listening. Such concerns about boredom while listening have been discussed by authors like Richards (2005). Listening as a usually demotivating activity for adult learners, it is important for researchers to identify how to optimize the time spent listening through appropriate use of repetitive listening and listening aids in conjunction with EFL podcasts, rather than
Research design
This study collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was obtained using a repeated-measures experimental design to examine the effects of the independent variables ‘repetitive listening’, ‘podcast length’ and ‘listening aid’ as well as their interactions on the dependent variable ‘listening comprehension’. As Table 1 shows, a 4 × 3 × 2 factorial design (Field, 2013) was used, with 4 levels for repetitive listening (1, 3, 7 and 15 repetitions), 3 levels for podcast
Effect of podcast-length, listening-aid, and repetitive-listening on listening comprehension
Three-way repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of podcast-length, repetitive listening and use of a listening aid. Assumption of sphericity was controlled for with Mauchly's W test, and results are presented in Table 3.
As the table shows, assumption of sphericity was violated for the interaction of the 3 variables [χ2(20, N = 29) = 38.489, p < .01]; therefore, Greenhouse-Geisser corrected values (ε = .708) are reported for this interaction. This is in line with Field (2013),
Discussion and conclusion
There have been several factors mentioned to increase comprehension during EFL/L2 listening (Alm, 2013; Chang, 2009; Richards, 2005; Robin, 2007; Vandergrift & Goh, 2012). Restructured EFL podcast is a common way of facilitating assimilation of the listening text. However, even with restructured EFL podcasts learners still struggle to understand the listening text. In this case, researchers offer repeated listening (Richards, 2005) of these podcasts, which usually ends with boredom. In this
Acknowledgements
This research project was funded by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK, Grant No:113K727). We also thank Akdeniz University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit for their support.
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