Second language listening comprehension: The role of anxiety and enjoyment in listening metacognitive awareness

Emotion in second language acquisition (SLA) has recently received greater attention because it is largely implicated in daily conversations, which may affect second or foreign language (L2) use including listening comprehension. Most research into emotion and L2 listening comprehension is focused exclusively on anxiety, with an attempt to reduce its negative effects on individuals’ listening performance. With the arrival of positive psychology in SLA, researchers began to take a holistic view of a wider range of emotions including enjoyment that language learners experience during their L2 communication. The current study explored the relationships among listening anxiety, enjoyment, listening comprehension performance, and listening metacognitive awareness among a group of 410 international students in a Canadian university. Correlational analyses showed that listening anxiety was negatively correlated with enjoyment. However, these two variables shared only 18% of their variance, indicating that listening anxiety and enjoyment are related but independent emotions. This study suggests that anxiety and enjoyment in L2 listening are not the opposite ends of the same emotional continuum, but each serves a different purpose. L2 learners should work to find intriguing and enjoyable experiences in language learning, rather than focusing merely on reducing anxiety.

Defining Oracy: Second Language Listening and Speaking Motivation in Higher Education and the Role of Demographic Factors

Since listening and speaking are two integral skills for effective second language (L2) communication, enhancing learners’ motivation to listen to and speak in the target language will engage them in the learning process, eventually leading to improvements in these two skills. Yet despite its importance, L2 listening and speaking motivation is underexplored in the current literature. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study adapted, validated, and administered one L2 listening motivation scale and one L2 speaking motivation scale to 863 undergraduate students from different regions of China. Correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and inferential statistical analyses (e.g., ANOVA) were used to compute the data. The results revealed that the learners were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to listen to and speak in English. A strong association between L2 listening motivation and speaking motivation was observed. Furthermore, gender, geographical, and disciplinary differences were found in the two kinds of motivation, and overseas experience also affected the learners’ motivation. The results provide insights into L2 learner motivation in specific linguistic domains and yield pedagogical implications for L2 teaching and learning.

Second Language Listening Comprehension Gain From Aural vs. Audio-Visual Inputs: The Case of EFL Arab Learners

This study aims at finding out which medium is best for the acquisition of L2 listening skills, aural or audio-visual listening comprehension. Sixty EFL Arab learners were asked to sit for pre- and post-tests. The post-test proved a significant improvement in the performance of the students of the experimental group who were exposed to audio-visual medium. This outperformance of the experimental group appeared in their ability to distinguish the meanings of several words in the pre- and post-tests. They were able to identify most of the L2 vocabulary, grammar and syntax because of using the audio-visual materials. The experimental group managed to understand the linguistic information and they were also able to answer the questions in both given tests correctly. On the contrary, the performance of the control group was clearly poor in terms of the L2 vocabulary, grammar and syntax and the reason is referring to the use of the traditional material which is the aural one. The subjects of the experimental group were interested in learning listening by using audio-visual materials because it helps them to develop the listening skills faster, unlike the subjects of the control group. Therefore, the results show that multimedia is effective in enhancing the skills of listening comprehension of female Saudi EFL learners.

Development of L2 listening metacognitive awareness via online metacognitive listening practice

Metacognitive intervention of listening has prevailed in L2 (Second Language) listening research in the past decade. However, rare research has linked metacognitive intervention with online listening. This study examines L2 learners’ development of metacognitive awareness of listening through online metacognitive listening practice. A set of online metacognitive listening exercises were constructed, based on a metacognitive cycle that regularly guides learners through metacognitive processes of listening. Thirty-nine low-proficiency Chinese university EFL listeners from one intact class participated in the study and did online listening practice as individual outside-class homework for 14 weeks. The development of metacognitive awareness was measured by MALQ and enriched by the learners' reflective notes. Results reveal an inverted U-shape pattern in the development of metacognitive awareness and that the factors of metacognitive awareness develop asynchronously. Some factors appear more susceptible to listening task difficulty and more unstable in the development process.

Second language listening instruction and learners’ vocabulary knowledge

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.

An Optimal Choice of Cognitive Diagnostic Model for Second Language Listening Comprehension Test

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) show great promise in language assessment for providing rich diagnostic information. The lack of a full understanding of second language (L2) listening subskills made model selection difficult. In search of optimal CDM(s) that could provide a better understanding of L2 listening subskills and facilitate accurate classification, this study carried a two-layer model selection. At the test level, A-CDM, LLM, and R-RUM had an acceptable and comparable model fit, suggesting mixed inter-attribute relationships of L2 listening subskills. At the item level, Mixed-CDMs were selected and confirmed the existence of mixed relationships. Mixed-CDMs had better model and person fit than G-DNIA. In addition to statistical approaches, the content analysis provided theoretical evidence to confirm and amend the item-level CDMs. It was found that semantic completeness pertaining to the attributes and item features may influence the attribute relationships. Inexplicable attribute conflicts could be a signal of suboptimal model choice. Sample size and the number of multi-attribute items should be taken into account in L2 listening cognitive diagnostic modeling studies. This study provides useful insights into the model selection and the underlying cognitive process for L2 listening tests.