The typology of second language listening constructs: A systematic review

Abstract

This study reviewed conceptualizations and operationalizations of second language (L2) listening constructs. A total of 157 peer-reviewed papers published in 19 journals in applied linguistics were coded for (1) publication year, author, source title, location, language, and reliability and (2) listening subskills, cognitive processes, attributes, and listening functions potentially measured or investigated. Only 39 publications (24.84%) provided theoretical definitions for listening constructs, 38 of which were general or had a narrow construct coverage. Listening functions such as discriminative, empathetic, and analytical listening were largely unattended to in construct conceptualization in the studies. In addition, we identified 24 subskills, 27 cognitive processes, and 54 listening attributes (total = 105) operationalized in the studies. We developed a multilayered framework to categorize these features. The subskills and cognitive processes were categorized into five principal groups each (10 groups total), while the attributes were divided into three main groups. This multicomponential framework will be useful in construct delineation and operationalization in L2 listening assessment and teaching. Finally, limitations of the extant research and future directions for research and development in L2 listening assessment are discussed.

Using structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between receptive vocabulary knowledge and receptive language proficiency: A new light on an old issue

“…He emphasized that during the listening process, listeners are exposed to an auditory input with a host of linguistic features including sounds, grammatical structures, stress, intonation, lexical resources, and prior knowledge of a given topic. It can be summarized from the literature that there are three main approaches to define listening comprehension: attribute based, cognitive based, and subskill based (Aryadoust & Luo, 2022). Attribute-based approach involves the stimuli and non-cognitive factors such as background knowledge, and difficulty levels of auditory inputs.…”

Fairness of using different English accents: The effect of shared L1s in listening tasks of the Duolingo English test

“…In fact, the observed shared-L1 benefit specifically makes sense because the current DET listening tests included dictation and yes/no word-identification tasks, which are a common method for general intelligibility measures (Kang et al, 2020). Most interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit research (e.g., Aryadoust & Luo, 2022; Bent and Bradlow, 2003; Nishizawa, 2023) tends to employ this type of construct operationalization (i.e., transcription or dictation), which could lead to parallel findings, to some extent. On the contrary, other listening assessment studies often use passage-based listening comprehension tests, which could require different aspects of cognitive processes, and therefore, subsequent outcomes can be more compounded.…”

Cognitive diagnostic assessment of EFL learners’ listening barriers through incorrect responses

“…Similarly, for items 13 and 15, B3 “barrier in understanding syntactic or semantic structures” was recommended. But considering that psychometric analysis should not be the only sources for Q-matrix revision ( Aryadoust and Luo, 2022 ), the study also included expert judgment. The experts were asked to analyze the items and suggested barriers, and then to reach a consensus after discussion.…”