An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Extended Online Thematic Listening Tasks on the Development of Listening Comprehension

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of employing extended online thematic listening tasks on the development of listening comprehension in an English course focusing on reading and writing skill development. To accomplish this aim, extended online thematic listening tasks were designed and implemented in English as a Foreign-Language (EFL) college level General English course. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to examine students’ gains in overall listening proficiency. Moreover, students’ mid-term and final exams were compared in order to track student progress. Data on student perceptions of online thematic tasks was also collected and analyzed. Findings suggest that extended online thematic listening tasks may constitute a dynamic forum which fosters significant gains in listening comprehension, test performance, and development of learning strategies. In addition, the findings reveal that students’ initial enthusiasm toward extended online listening tasks faded and the efforts that they put into the tasks gradually decreased as the semester progressed. Therefore, time availability and management become an important pedagogical issue in e-learning.

Effects of web-based metacognitive listening on Chinese university EFL learners' listening comprehension and metacognitive awareness

“…But when these problems happen in a web-based selflearning environment, they are more likely to generate learners' negative emotions and undesirable experiences due to limited scaffolding from others. Therefore, language teachers need to offer more guidance or scaffolding for learners to sustain learning in the webbased environment (Kung & Chuo, 2002;Lu, 2010;Sun et al, 2011). Previous literature has also noted the benefits of the support on learners' person knowledge.…”

“…Previous studies have shown mixed findings on this issue. For instance, Absalom and Rizz (2008) and Sun, Chang, and Yang (2011) have indicated that the learners who received online listening tasks could perform better in listening comprehension or retain more information than those who did not. However, in Chen and Zhang (2010), the learners who received an advanced online listening system did not make greater gains than those who received traditional listening instruction.…”

“…2). Meanwhile, researchers (e.g., Kung & Chuo, 2002;Leloup & Ponterio, 2007;Sun et al, 2011) have agreed that teachers need to give students appropriate supports in online learning and try to integrate online learning tasks with classroom instruction. Besides, the exploration of listening training in blended learning could promise to facilitate autonomous listening (Maher, 2019;Penland, 2015).…”