Training College Freshmen in Listening Strategies

 

     کلیة التربیة

        کلیة معتمدة من الهیئة القومیة لضمان جودة التعلیم

        إدارة: البحوث والنشر العلمی ( المجلة العلمیة)

    =======

 

Training College Freshmen in Listening Strategies

 

 

 

By

 

Karem AbdElatif Ahmad

A lecturer in the language department, Faculty of Management Sciences, Sadat Academy for Management sciences, Al-Minia Branch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

}         المجلد الثانی والثلاثین– العدد الثانی  – ینایر 2016م  {

http://www.aun.edu.eg/faculty_education/arabic

 

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of training first year, English majors, college of arts and science for boys in Raniah,Taif university,Saudi Arabia in direct language listening strategies on their acquisition and use of these strategies and their language motivation. A training program in direct language listening strategies was used. The present study used a pre- experimental pre- post group design. The research group was exposed to pre and post means of getting data. The research used only one group. This design was chosen to evaluate the impact of the training program on first year, English majors by comparing the performance before and after applying the program.Thirty students were randomly assigned and they were trained in direct listening strategies; Cognitive listening strategies, Meta-cognitive listening strategies, Compensation listening strategies and Social- related listening strategies. Tools of the study included a written achievement test in the acquisition and use of direct listening strategies, a motivation scale,  a training program in direct listening strategies. The whole study lasted the second term of 2011/2012. Instruction, training and administration of the tools were done by the researcher. Analysis of the data by means of "t" Test for both the pre- post tests in acquisition and use of listening strategies indicated significantly better post achievement gains. Also, change in students' motivation was noticed, it was affected by training. Therefore, strategy identification and training should be implemented at all levels of Education. Finally, the study carries important implications and suggestions for further research.

Key words

Listening / Strategy/ Cognitive/ Meta-cognitive/ Acquisition / Motivation

الملخص العربی

تدریب طلاب الفرقة الاولی علی استراتیجیات الاستماع

هدفت هذه الدراسة الی دراسة اثر تدریب طلاب الفرقة الاولی ,قسم اللغة الانجلیزیة،  کلیة العلوم والاداب , علی استخدام و اکتساب استراتیجیات الاستماع فی اللغة الانجلیزیة وکذلک الحافز لتعلمها. تم تدریب الطلاب علی برنامج فی استراتیجیات الاستماع المباشرة , تضمنت الدراسة تصمیم تجریبی من مجموعة واحدة ( 30 طالب ) وتعرضت هذه المجموعة الی اختبارات قبلی وبعدی للحصول علی بیانات. تم التدریس باستخدام المدخل المباشر بواسطة الباحث حیث انه کان مدرس المقرر وتم تدریب الطلاب علی استراتیجیات الاستماع ( المعرفیة , ما بعد المعرفیة, التعویضیة وکذلک استراتیجیات الاستماع المرتبطة اجتماعیا ) تضمنت ادوات البحث اختبار تحصیلی لاستخدام واکتساب استرتیجیات الاستماع وکذلک مقیاس لقیاس الحافز لدی الطلاب لتعلم اللغة الانجلیزیة. استمرت الدراسة الفصل الدراسی الثانی للعام الاکادیمی (2011-2012 ). وقد تم استخدام اختبار( ت ) لتحلیل البیانات واظهرت النتائج تحسن فی اداء الطلاب فی الاختبار البعدی فی تحصیل واستخدام استراتیجیات الاستماع وکذلک الحافزفی تعلم اللغة الانجلیزیة. وتقدم الدراسة تضمینات واقتراحات مهمة لبحوث مستقبلیة.

الکلمات المفتاحیة

الاستماع – المعرفیة – استراتیجیة – المعرفیة – ما وراء المعرفة – الاکتساب –الحافز 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Language learning depends on listening. Listening provides the aural input that serves as the basis for language acquisition and enables learners to interact in spoken communication. Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input. Oxford (1990) defined learning strategies as operations employed by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information.

Macaro (2006) defined learning strategies as a conscious mental activity, or action that has been initiated by a goal.  It is measured against a learning situation and a learning strategy is tied to a specific learning situation but it should be transferable to other learning situations. Consequently a number of strategies need to be orchestrated together so that a learning goal, or task, can be accomplished.

Wenden (1991) divided strategies into three groups: cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-affective.  Listeners use these three types of strategies to capture, store, analyze, verify, and respond to the essential information from the aural stream of speech.  Learners use cognitive learning strategies to process aural information and store the essential content from this information. Cognitive strategies aid the human mind in the comprehension process of decoding written or oral information, constructing a text base and a situation model and integrating the text base and the situation model.  In addition, cognitive strategies facilitate the tasks of cognitive components.

Rubin (1987) mentioned that Learners employ a group of strategies, known as socio-affective strategies, when they talk with others about what they have heard or when they identify and reflect on their emotions.  Learners do this when they ask other learners or the teacher questions, or verify with other learners their understanding of an oral text. They also employ these strategies when they identify and reflect on their emotions to measure their ability to understand a text. The following table includes a List and Description of Metacognitive, Cognitive, and Socio-affective Strategies: Adopted from Wenden, 1991; O'Malley & Chamot, 1990, and Oxford, 1990.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thompson & Rubin(1996) stated that the listening process is often described from an information processing perspective as "an active process in which listeners select and interpret information that comes from auditory and visual clues in order to define what is going on and what the speakers are trying to express".

 Underwood(1995) organized the major listening problems as follows:lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak , not being able to get things repeated, the listener's limited vocabulary, failure to recognize the signals and  problems of interpretation and inability to concentrate.

Studies Related to Listening Strategies:

Listening is not an easy skill to master. Teachers have sought methods to enhance their students’ listening proficiency. Studies on learning strategies have been conducted widely to find which strategies should be used to enhance each particular language skill. Nakata (1999) studied the influence of listening strategy training on Japanese EFL learners’ listening competence. Results showed that the effect of listening strategy training was more discernible on perception than on comprehension.

Goh (2000) investigated listening comprehension problems in students in college EFL studies. The data were collected from learner diaries, small group interviews, and immediate retrospective verbalization. Findings include ten listening comprehension problems in relation to three cognitive processing phases-perceptions, parsing,                      and utilization.

Anderson (1995) proposed Perceptual processing refers to maintaining attention to spoken input, parsing means encoding the input to establish a meaningful representation in short-term memory, and utilization concerns using the background knowledge to interpret the input for storage.

First, in the perception stage, learners reported most difficulties as: "do not recognize words they know," "neglect the next part when thinking about meaning," "cannot chunk streams of speech," "miss the beginning of texts," and "concentrate too hard or unable to concentrate." Second, in the parsing stage.

Goh (2000) also, found that listeners complained of problems such as "quickly forget what is heard," "unable to form a mental representation from words heard," and "do not understand subsequent parts of input because of earlier problems." Third, in the utilization stage, "understand the words but not the intended message" and "confused about the key ideas in the message" were often mentioned. These reported difficulties partially reflect Underwood's (1989) viewes on L2/FL listening problems. However, as learners attempt to incorporate certain strategies into the listening process, they are likely to face different challenges or problems.

Rubin (1994) classifies research topics on listening strategies in the L2/FL field. These topics parallel those of general learning strategies. They include the types of the strategies used, contrasting strategy use at several proficiency levels, the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, the relation of the strategy use to text, task, and setting, etc. These topics concern the types and applications of listening strategies and the relationship to other learning factors. There has been little research on the barriers that listeners face in acquiring listening strategies. Nevertheless, some of the existing studies do offer an understanding to the general application of listening comprehension strategies .

Murphy (1985) investigated college students by analyzing their oral and written responses to listening selections. Seventeen specific strategies were identified and categorized. The results show that both more and less proficient listeners could be distinguished by the frequency of the strategies they used. For instance, more proficient listeners used the strategies of elaborating, inferencing, anticipating, conclusion drawing, self-description, etc., more frequently than less-proficient learners. Murphy (1985) also explored the sequential patterns of the strategies that both more proficient listeners and less proficient listeners followed. For example, more proficient listeners tended to apply "wide distribution" strategies (i.e., in relation to an open and flexible use of strategies) while less proficient listeners were found in use of "text heavy" strategies (i.e., in relation to reliance on the text and paraphrasing). 

Rost and Ross (1991) examined the use of certain strategies correlated with language proficiency, and, with training, whether the use of listening strategies increased and listening comprehension improved. They focused on EFL listeners' feedback on paused texts. The use of clarification questions in native speaker vs. nonnative speaker discourse was also investigated. The results show that more proficient listeners resorted to "hypothesis testing" (asking about specific information)"forward inference" (inquiring by using information already given before), and continuation signals or backchannel communication more frequently than "lexical pushdowns" (asking about word meanings), and "global reprises" (asking for general repetition, rephrasing, or simplification). After training, listeners at elementary as well as intermediate/advanced levels showed improvement in listening comprehension tasks and were able to ask more hypothesis-testing questions.

Bacon (1992) conducted a series of experiments in foreign language listening. The comprehension processes of learners were examined across different factors. The results show that there are significant differences between male and female listeners in strategies, confidence, and affective response.

Goh (2002) looked into the mental tactics or specific techniques through which a general strategy is operationalized. The learners related new information to a wider familiar context by using tactics such as placing input in a social or linguistic context, finding related information on hearing a key word.

Training Models of Language Learning Strategies:

Cohen(1998) defined Strategy training or development as teaching explicitly how, when, and why to apply language learning and language use strategies to enhance students' efforts to reach language program goals . With respect to explicitness of purpose.

Wenden (1987) asked, "Should students be informed of the value and purposes of the training or not?"Wenden added, in direct instruction, learners are informed of the value, purpose, and importance of the strategies taught. That is, learners are not only instructed in the use of the strategy but also in its rationale. Furthermore, learners are provided with feedback about their performance so that they can estimate the effectiveness of the training .This type of direct and informed training has been favored by a number of researchers, such as Baker,(1986), Weinstein and Mayer (1986).The strategy instruction administered in the present study is of the direct type.

Other than the content and integration criteria, the affective dimension has also gained attention. For example, MacIntyre and Noels (1996) use social-psychological variables to predict the use of language learning strategies. The variables including anxiety, motivation, attitude toward the language community, etc, are considered as important factors when conducting and evaluating strategy instruction. Models have been developed and utilized to teach learning strategies explicitly (Chamot & O'Malley, 1986; Ehrman & Oxford, 2003; Hosenfeld 1981; Jones, 1987; Mendelsohn, 1994; Oxford, 1990; Pearson 1987; Robbins, 1996).

Mendelsohn's (1994) stated that  "strategy-based approach" to the teaching of listening, strategy instruction became the core of the listening program and the organizing framework around which the listening course is designed. Each of the strategy-instruction units concentrates on one or a cluster of associated strategies.

Nunan (2004) stated that metacognitive strategies used to help the learners regulate and orchestrate various activities they must perform in order to achieve knowledge of their own abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses and the value of alternative strategies in improving their performance, and the way in which various strategies interact with each other and influence the outcome of their learning. These strategies included prediction, monitoring, evaluating and problem solving, which are believed to enhance the development of students' self-regulated listening. He said also that learners don't remember the whole text, like a tape recorder, but only remember bits and pieces of information.  Even the parts remembered won’t be the exact words of the original message.  He suggested that humans store the meaning in their minds, but not the linguistic forms.  He defined a listener as a model builder who constructs an interpretation of the meaning.

 Mendelsohn (1995) offers some principles for the structure of a unit in such a course: attend to awareness and consciousness-raising, use pre-listening activities, focus the listening, provide guided activities, practice with real data, and use what has been comprehended.

Another established instruction model is proposed by Oxford (1990). She provided a guideline for instructors in the teaching of learning strategies. It included eight steps, in which the first five involved planning and preparation, and the last three concern conducting, evaluating, and revising the training program. These steps are: determine the learners' needs and the time available, select strategies well, consider integration of strategy training, consider motivational issues, prepare materials and activities, conduct "completely informed training," evaluate the strategy training and revise the strategy training.

 

Motivation and listening strategies:

Motivation has been widely accepted by both teachers and researchers as one of the key factors that influence the rate and success of second/foreign language learning.  Gardner (1985), defines L2 motivation as “the extent to which an individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity.

Yashima, & Shimizu (2004) carried out a study on Japanese adolescent learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English as an L2, results show that those who have higher WTC scores tend to communicate more in the classroom and to ask questions or  talk to teachers more frequently outside class. Those who have more interest in international vocation/activities seem to be more willing to communicate in English and voluntarily engage in communication more frequently.

Dörnyei (1994) specifies four factors with regard to the course:

1-      Interest: Related to intrinsic motivation, this reflects whether an individual has a desire to know more about the language or the language task.

2-      Relevance: This is measured by the extent to which a student feels the instruction is connected to personal needs or goals.

3-      Expectancy: The perceived likelihood of success can greatly affect students.

4-      Satisfaction: Also important to the student is the outcome of an activity, which can include both extrinsic rewards such as praise or a good grade, and intrinsic rewards, such as enjoyment or pride.

Ellis (1994) asserted that motivation affects the extent to which language learners persevere in learning, what kinds of behavior they exert, and their actual achievement.

Gardner (1994) was one of the pioneering researchers in second language acquisition (SLA) to focus on motivation. He chose to define motivation by specifying four aspects of motivation:

Gardner (1985) focused on classifying reasons for second language study, which he then identified as orientations He found two main orientations through his research:

1-  Integrative: a favorable attitude toward the target language community; possibly a wish to integrate and adapt to a new target culture through use of the language.

2-  Instrumental: a more functional reason for learning the target language, such as job promotion, or a language requirement.

The dependant variables were:language listening strategies, improved use , acquistion of the strategies and motivation achievement.

Strategy training studies have shown that the most effective training approaches are explicit rather than implicit, the one that shows learners how to use a particular strategy and how to transfer it to new situations and emphasized the importance of identifying our students listening strategies and strategy training.

 

 

Need for study:

Reviewing the literature and conducting some interviews with students as well as some staff members helped the researcher reach these points and to see the need for the present study:

• Findings of the previous studies suggest that it is feasible and beneficial to implement language listening strategy instruction in ESL / EFL content classroom and that training had positive factors.
• Research on strategy use shows successful language learners use a variety of strategies to become more self –directed and improve their performance, O'malley 1985,Oxford 1990.
• Second language research has supported the effectiveness of using listening strategies and has shown that the right use of listening strategies lead to improved proficiency or overall achievement or in specific skill areas.
• Successful language learners in general use more and better learning strategies than do poorer ones and they are able to combine effective strategies (Oxford, 1990).
• Research shows that learners who receive strategy training generally learn better than those who do not (Oxford, 1990).
• Although some technical mysteries still exist, research and practice both indicate that strategies can increase learners language proficiency, self confidence and motivation.( Coskun 2010)
• Teachers generally do not know which strategies their children are using unless they conduct some kind of formal or informal research. More research is essential in the area of second language (L2) foreign language strategy identification and training (Oxford,1990).
• The researcher as the chairman of the English department noticed the bad results of the first term exams (2011/2012) in relation to achievement in the listening course in the first year in the English department as well as low motivation in contrast with the beginning of the year.
• After conducting some interviews and discussions with the students and the English staff, the researcher noted the need to identify the language listening strategy employed by those students and train them in the missing ones because of the relationship between strategy use and achievement, proficiency and language motivation.
• No studies have been conducted on first year, English majors, the colege of Arts and science in Raniah , Taif universty . concerning the identification or training in listening strategies.
• Studies conducted before were either training or survey ones; very few were a mixture of training and survey.
• Very few studies were conducted in Saudi students concerning listening strategies.

Statement of the problem       

The study aimed at identifying the listening strategies employed by first year, English majors of Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif university, Saudi Arabia. Then, it investigated the effects of instructing first year students in direct language listening strategies on their acquisition and use of these strategies and their language motivation. Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions: 

1-      What are the student listening strategies utilized so far after seven years studying English as a foreign language in primary, prep and secondary school? (Pilot, survey study).

2-      Would instruction in direct language listening strategies help first year, English majors acquire and use them more efficiently?

3-       Would instruction in direct language listening strategies help first year, English majors motivation?

Objectives of the study:

In the present study, an attempt was made to answer the previously stated questions.

Hypothesis:

The following hypotheses were tested:

The first phase of the study  (survey study).

1-    There are statistically significant differences between means of scores on the strategy inventory for listening strategy between direct and indirect listening strategy for first- year English majors, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif university, Saudi Arabia.(favoring the indirect strategies)

The second phase of study (training study)

1-            There would be a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the students on the pre- post test of the acquisition of language listening strategies.( favoring the post application).

2-            There would be a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the students on the pre- post test of the use of language listening strategies. (favoring the post application).

3-            There would be a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the students on the pre- post measurement of language motivation.( favoring the post application).

Limitations of the study                                                                           

1- This study is limited to 30 first year- English majors, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif university, Saudi Arabia.

2-The instructional units will be limited only to five major parts:

Part one: theoretical background on language listening strategies:

a-      What is a listening strategy?

b-       Why is teaching listening strategies important?

c-      What are the four groups of direct listening strategies?

Part two: Cognitive listening strategies are limited to:

a-      Reviewing what you know.

b-      Learning general academic words.

c-      Preparing to listen and taking notes.

Part three: Meta-cognitive listening strategies are limited to:

a-      Predicting and thinking about everything you know about the topic.

b-      Recognizing lecture language that signals the topic and big picture of a lecture.

c-      Recognizing lecture language that signals a transition.

d-     Recognizing lecture language that signals a definition.

e-      Recognizing lecture language that signals an example.

f-       Recognizing lecture language that signals an explanation.

g-      Recognizing lecture language that signals when information

   is important.

h-      Recognizing lecture language for generalization and support.

i-        Recognizing lecture language that signals repetition.

j-        Recognizing lecture language for cause and effect.

k-      Recognizing lecture language that signals comparisons and contrasts.

Part four: Compensation listening strategies are limited to:

a-      Recognizing changes in pronunciation.

b-      Recognizing linguistic clues.

c-      Recognizing other clues.

Part five: Social- related listening strategies are limited to:

a-      Asking for clarification.

b-      Developing cultural understanding.

c-      Becoming aware of other thoughts and feelings.

Part six: Summative Evaluation:

a-      Strategy Inventory for language listening strategies.

b-      An achievement test in acquisition and use of listening strategies.

c-      A scale in English language motivation.

2-      Subjects of the study are thirty students, first year English majors , Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.

First  year students were chosen for the following reasons:

1- The first year of college Education represents a transition point from learning in the secondary stage where students were totally dependent on their teachers to the college stage, where they will find a new way of teaching and learning.

2- First year is the best stage to receive training in effective listening strategies to help the students to start their college life in the right and appropriate way.

3- First year English majors, Raniah's college of science and Arts for 

    boys,Taif University, Saudi Arabia have not received training in  

     effective listening strategies.(As far as the researcher knows).

4- First year English majors should be trained on such strategies to be 

     able to use them during their study and after graduation.

5- The first year of college represents a transition point from complete   reliance on the teacher to self- reliance in the area of learning English language.

Definition of terms:

Strategies:

Brown (2000) defines strategies as “potentially conscious plans for solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in reaching a particular communicative goal".

According to the present study, strategies are defined as "A set of coherent tactics employed to improve the listening skills of the trainees.

Cognitive Strategies:

According to the present study "cognitive strategies are defined as ‘actions or behaviors’ that learners invoke during language learning, language use or language testing.

Metacognitive Strategies:

According to the present studyMetacognitive strategies are considered self-management. Theoretically, they have a certain influence on or govern cognitive strategies.

 Compensation Strategies:

 According to the present study"Compensation strategies are claimed to help learners, especially beginning and intermediate learners, deal with difficult tasks beyond their knowledge. They are also helpful for advanced students when they come across the same situation".

 Cooperative listening strategy:

According to present study is a successful teaching strategy in each student with different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding and to communicate through listening.

 Linguistic clues:

 According to the present study "Linguistic clues are the clues taken purely from knowledge of the target language, including knowledge concerning grammar, vocabulary, stress patterns, etc. For example, a learner hears the words “shovel”, “grass”, “mower” and “lawn”. So, he guesses that the talk must be about gardening".

Using other clues:

Learners use clues that come from other sources that are not from knowledge of the target language. For example, observation of nonverbal behavior such as tone, facial expression, emphasis, body language, and background noise is a way to use nonlinguistic clues to promote comprehension.

Taking notes:

According to the present study" Taking notes is an important strategy which is not generally taught in class. Learners can take notes in both their mother tongue and their target language at the same time. Taking notes on the key points should be more effective than jotting down every word they hear like what they do in a dictation exercise.

Asking questions:

According to the present study" Asking for clarification or verification: Learners ask the other interlocutor, usually the more proficient speaker, to slow down, repeat, simplify, or explain what they do not understand to assure their comprehension of the messages conveyed".

Empathizing with others:

According to the present study" Developing cultural understanding: Learners study the culture of the speakers of English to ease their language learning process, and help themselves gain more insights into what they listen to"

 

Material and Methods

1-The Experimental Design:

The present study started in the second term of the academic year (2011-2012) and lasted for two months. Four hours a week were devoted to teaching listening using the direct method in teaching.

2- Group of the Research:

a-      The Pilot group: A group of thirty students in Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia, first year students.

b-      The Main group: Thirty students in Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia, first year students.

1.     3- Variables of the Research:

- The independent variable is: Training first year students in Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.

-            The dependent variables are:

-            Students' acquisition listening strategies.

-            Students’ use of listening strategies.

-            Students’ English language motivation.

4- Tools of the research:

     a- Program based on listening strategies.

     b- The acquisition of listening strategies test.

     c- The use of listening strategies test.

     d- The English language learning motivation scale.

1- Language Learning listening Strategies (prepared by the researcher).

 Reviewing the literature and previous studies helped the reserarcher in constructing and compiling the language learning strategies, The researcher compiled a list of listening strategies with a grading scale (Studied, Yes, No) , (Taught, Yes, No) and ( Used ,Yes, No) to be responded to by methodology experts as well as language experts and students in English department. The aim is to collect information about whether these strategies are already taught or not and whether they should be taught or not, the researcher distributed the list to a group of (30) students, English majors and (7) staff members in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Arts. The responses showed that the students had not studied or used more than (85%) of these strategies in their listening, they just use translation. Also the teaching staff members in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Arts said that they did not teach (80%) of these strategies and even when they teach them they taught them separately and indirectly. They recommended teaching them within a course to be more fruitful. The present study is an attempt to help teachers and students of first year English majors to develop their listening skills through the acquisition and use of some listening strategies.

 

 

Instructional units in direct listening strategies (prepared by the researcher).

Designing the instructional units followed these procedures:

1- Building and compiling the list of direct listening strategies using the following sources:

a-Reviewing the literature

b- Previous studies.

c- Infomal interviews of first year English majors of, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.

d- Results of the questionaire distributed to the (30) students and the (7) English professors and English experts.

2- Deriving and stating the general and behavioral objectives of the instructional units .

3- Evaluationg the frame of the instructional units by jury of (5) to decide how far objectives, contents areas, activities and tools of evaluations and how far all suit objectives and group study.

4- Building of the whole instructional units, judging the general form and content.

A description of the instructional units in its final form is as follows :

A –The instructional units are divided into 6 parts; part one is a theoretical background on direct listening strategies. The other five parts explain the strategies. 

Designing the program went through the following procedures :

-Preparing the frame work of the program: The frame work of the program included general and behavioral objectives, content areas, teaching tools, teaching techniques activities and evaluation items.

- Evaluating the frame of the program by a jury of TEFL specialists to  decide how far objectives content areas, and evaluation tools suit each other and how far the program suit group of the study and then suggested modifications have been made.

- Building the whole program.

- Judging the whole program by the same jury for its general form and content.

-The content of the program included six parts. It contains 27 lessons. The program begins with general objectives and branches out into a number of behavioral objectives. Each lesson starts with a number of behavioral objectives and includes a guided practice and an independent practice. In each lesson the teacher models the strategy using the think aloud technique. The lessons end with evaluation exercises to assess pupils' progress. The researcher adapted the material of the program from different resources.

Criteria of selecting the materials:

According to Texas center for reading and language Arts (2000) there are certain criteria for selecting the material:

1. Be at the students' level which means the students' ability to decode about 80to 90% of the words correctly.
2. Have themes and supporting details.
3. Have one main idea in the topic.
4. Provide context that help students connect information.
5. Familiarity of the topics to the students.
6.  Suitability for testing the listening skills.
7. Linguistic difficulty and length.

Evaluation technique:

Two types of evaluation were used in the present research: formative and summative. The procedures of formative evaluation consisted of a set of questions given to the students after each lesson to assess the students' acquisition. 

The second type of evaluation is summative it is considered the end of the experiment taking the form of the post administration of the tests .

Duration of the suggested program:

Two months four hours a week, two sessions a week.

Instructional Aids:

 -A computer or a laptop for the listening part was used. 

 - Classroom board.

Validity of the suggested program:

Verifying the validity of the program, a copy of the objectives, the program, and the tools teaching techniques was submitted to a panel of jury to determine the face validity of the program and to decide on:

- Deriving and stating the general and behavioral objectives of the program.

- Judging the validity of the objectives by a jury of five staff members as for:

-    Linguistic stating of the items.

-    Belongingness of behavioral objectives to the general goals.

-    How far the objectives can be achieved.

-    How far the objectives suit the subjects of the study.

-    Appropriateness of the methodology used in the teaching.

Piloting the program:

The researcher conducted a pilot study that lasted one month. The researcher implemented the first six lessons of the program. The pilot study aimed at ensuring the clarity of instructions, suitability of the linguistic level of the material to the subjects and determining the time the pupils need to complete each lesson as well as the approximate time needed for the whole program. Tools of the study were also administered to the pilot study.

An achievement Test in the Acquisition and use of listening strategies:(prepared by the researcher)

Objectives of the test:

 It was designed to assess students' achievement level in the acquisition and use of listening strategies.

Construction of the test:

It is a two –part – test.  The first part test consists of 40 true false items. These items represent the specific objectives of the program and measure acquisition of direct language listening strategies. (knowledge). Twenty items are true and twenty items are false but they are mixed up to prevent predictability of the answers. The total score is (40), the second part tests application (use) of direct listening strategies in actual situations. These are twenty different ones. Three scores are designed to each one, thus the total score for this part is (60). The total test score is 100.  These situations are taken from (Lecture Ready parts 1, 2, 3) Strategies for Academic listening, Note taking and Discussion) by (Sarosy &Sherak, 2007). Time of the test is 3 hours. An answer key is provided. This achievement tests covers all the direct language learning listening strategies taught in the instructional units.    

Procedures of designing the test:

1. Identifying the objectives of the test.
2. Suggesting items of the test and judging them by jury members.
3. Modifying the test according to the jury members' suggestions.

4. Piloting the test to ensure the clarity of instructions, suitability of linguistic level to the subjects.

Pre-Testing:

Validity:

A jury of 3 college staff members examined the tools of study and approved their face validity and suitability to the level of subjects and to the set objects.

Reliability of the test:           

In order to establish its reliability, the test was administered to a pilot sample of the first year students in Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, TaifUniversity, Saudi Arabia.one month later the test was re-administered by using the test retest method. The reliability coefficient of the test is (0.78).

Instructions of the test:

Test instructions are written in English. They are brief simple to understand and free from any possible ambiguities.  

Scoring the test:

        Two scores were allotted for each correct answer.

Time of the test:

        The average time of this test was (90) minutes.

A-  The strategy inventory for language learning strategy (SILL) Oxford 1990.

The researcher chose first year students (30) English department, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia for piloting the test. They were asked to respond to the scale. The test retest method with two weeks interval between the first and the second application of the scale was used to calculate the reliabilty coeffecient. It was reported to be (0.82).

B – The Achievement test in the acquistion and use of direct  language listening strategies.

        The test retest method with two weeks interval was used to caculate  

        the reliability coeffecient of the test. The same previous sample of   

        students was used. They were instructed briefly in direct listening

        strategies. The reliability coeffecient was found to (0.78).

The first fase of the study (the survey study):

Thirty first year students, English department, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia were involved in the present study.repeaters were excluded as well as students who attended private schooling. Most of them had the same years of studying English.

The objective of the survey study was to identify the learning strategies used by first year students, English department, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia after six years of studying English as a foreign language. The researcher chose the first year for the following reasons:First year students in this academic year (2011-2012) joined the English departement willingly after passing a languge exam prepared by the resercher (head of the department). Such an exam has 40 multiple choice items. Twenty of them coverd points studied in the secondary school and the other twenty covered general English language  ability. Most of them had a good score. Score ranged from (20-35) out of 40. Their general percentage for the secondary school graduation were higher than 80% and their score in English as a subject. Results in the first term exams in the English departement first year were frustrating. About 20 students succeeded and 10 succeded with follow up subjects most of them in listening. The reseracher being in charge of the departement held interviws and discusions with the students. Questions related to staff members, content, material, exams, teaching methods as well as learning strategies were tackled. Most of their complaints were about the way to study listening and how to approach English as a foreign language. The researcher conducted an informal interviw to identify the reasons behind the low achievement level in the first term exam in listening. The majority of the responses (90%) affirmed the lack of direct langauge lisitening strategies.The researcher resorted to a systematic way of diagosing their language learning strategies to be able to train and instruct them in the missing ones. So, the researcher applied the strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) desinged by Oxford,1989 at the bginning of the second term. The scale was applied to 30 first year students in 50 minutes after giving the students an idea about the scale and how to fill it. The sacle divided into 6 parts (A,B,C,D,E,F) Which represent direct langauge learning strategies (A):Memory strategies, (B): Cognitive strategies (C): Compensation strategies .(D) Meta.cognitive strategies.(E) Affective Strategies and (F)  Social strategies.  The students had to choose from 1 – 5 scale ranging from 1:never or almost never to of me 5:always or almost always true of me for each item.The reserrcher calculated the average score of each section of the six, followed by gathering the averages of sections A,B,C separetately and the same sections D,E,F for the thirty students. Means of standard deviation for the total averages of direct and indirect strategies for calculated. "t" test was uesd. The aim was to decide which type of strategies did they use and which ones needed strategy training.

Table (1) shows a siginficant difference favouring the indirect strategies of the thirty students. The first hypothesis is affirmed.

Table (1)

"T" Value ,Means And Standard Deviations Of Direct And Indirect Langauge Learning Strategies Of First Year English Majors In The Survey Study

• T. Value (one tailed test ) when (n) is 30 is significant at (0.01) = (2.36).EL.Bahy, 1979).

Thus, the findings suggest the need to train first year students, English department, Raniah's college of science and Arts for boys, Taif University, Saudi Arabia in direct listening strategies.

The second phase of the study: The training phase

The thirty first students involved in the survey study were involved in the training stage. They were only one group.

3- The language motivation scale  (prepared by the researcher).

The motivation scale was applied for two reasons

A-    To identify students reasons for studying English.

B-    To make sure they have the same pattern of motivation (instrumental, integrative).

The scale is divided into two sub scales: One including 29 items expressing instrumental motivation ranging from a minimum score of 29 to a maximum score of 145 and 21 items representing integrative motivation ranging from a minimum of 21 items to a maximum of 105. A single score was calculated for each respondent on each sub scale. This was accomplished by adding the respondents' answers on the five –point likert scale for each item assigned to the sub scale. Construction of the scale began with interviews with students very similar in age and interests to those eventually to be included in the study sample. The goal was to collect information on purposes for studying English. Reviewing the literature and previous studies helped the researcher in constructing the scales items.

It's a 50-item scale with a 5-point Likert type that ranges from "not important" to "Highly important". Items reflect reasons for studying English as a foreign language. They reflect the instrumental (29) statements integrative (21) statements motivations for taking English as well as the range of motivation. The motivation scale had a reliability coefficient of (0.78) which is a reasonable level of reliability. The test re-test method was used. The scale was also enjoyed face validity. Numerical values were assigned for favoring statements on a 5-1 weighing. For unfavorable statements or qualities, weights were reversed.

Findings, Discussion and recommendations:

Findings and discussion

Testing hypothesis one:

The first hypothesis was affirmed through the survey study. Students' strategies were almost indirect which makes it necessary to train them in direct listening strategies.

Testing hypothesis two:

Hypothesis two predicted a significant difference between means of scores obtained by the subjects in the post measurement of direct listening strategies (acquisition and use). Analysis of the data using "t" test showed a significant difference favoring the post achievement of the students. "t" value (10.96) is significant at level (0.01). This means that instruction and training had a good effect in acquiring and using direct listening strategies. Thus, the second hypothesis is affirmed. See                   table (2).

Table (2)

T – Test Results Of The Mean Scores Obtained By Students On The Pre- Post Test In The Acquisition And Use Of Direct Listening Strategies

Maximum score is 100

Testing hypothesis 3:

Hypothesis 3 predicted a significant difference between means of scores favouring the post measurement of language motivation. Analysis of data using "t" test of significance showed significant differences favoring the post measurement of the scale. Thus the third hypothesis is also affirmed. (See table 3.4).

Table (3)

T – Test Results Of The Mean Scores Obtained By Students On The Pre- Post Test In The Instrumental Motivation Scale

 

 

 

 

Maximum score is 100.

Table(4)

T – Test Results Of The Mean Scores Obtained By Students On The Pre- Post Test In The Integrative Motivation Scale

Discussion

In the current research, results indicate that there is significant difference in the subjects’ use of listening strategies. That is, subjects employed significantly more strategies after they received the instruction of listening strategies. The results support those of some previous studies on strategy instruction. For example, O’Malley et al. (1985b) indicated that strategy training can be effective on integrative language tasks for ESL students. Moreover, Thompson & Rubin (1996) found that American students learning Russian who received listening strategy instruction improved significantly over those who had received no instruction. Vandergrift (1999) has also proposed that teachers can nurture the development of listening strategies for L2 learners. Thus, the present study has confirmed the facilitating effect of strategy instruction on the use of EFL listening strategies.

As for the influence of strategy training on the use of individual listening strategy, some findings were discussed below. First, results show that there is no significant increase of strategy use for the memory strategies ‘using imagery’ and ‘semantic mapping.’ Several subjects also noted in their learning diaries that this strategy did not help since it was difficult to form an image for the vocabulary when they did not even know the word meanings. Therefore, strategy instruction seems to be not so effective for EFL listeners to learn remembering by means of visual images. Besides, the present study found that subjects’ use of some cognitive strategies did not increase significantly after the strategy instruction. These strategies which include ‘reasoning deductively’, ‘analyzing expressions’, ‘analyzing contrastively across languages’, ‘translating’, and ‘transferring’ all belong to the strategy set ‘analyzing and reasoning.’ It seems to be somewhat difficult to teach EFL learners how to apply logical thinking to listening comprehension. On the other hand, significant increase of strategy use was found for such cognitive strategies as ‘practicing naturalistically’, ‘using resources for receiving and sending messages’, ‘taking notes’ and ‘highlighting’ since they were more concrete and mechanical in nature and thus can be taught more easily and effectively.

 According to the results, after the strategy training subjects used significantly more affective strategies on lowering one’ anxiety, encouraging oneself, and taking one’s emotional temperature. This finding is consistent with Nakata’s (1999) which revealed that the effect of listening strategy training was more obvious on perception than on comprehension, especially for EFL learners of low proficiency. It is suggested that listening strategy instruction can make EFL learners have more positive perception toward the task of learning listening comprehension.

In addition, the present study indicated that subjects used more social strategies on cooperating and empathizing with others after they received listening strategy training.

As for the relationship between motivation and strategy use, it appears clearly; students who are highly motivated to learn a language are likely to use a variety of strategies. Effective strategy use probably leads to high motivation. Motivation is related to language learning purpose which is another key to strategy use. Results of previous studies indicated that the degree of expressed motivation was the single most powerful influence on the choice of language learning strategies (Oxford &Nyikos 1989). These results agree with some previous studies; Carrier (2003) and Coskun (2010) suggested that, teachers should train students to use listening strategies. Training students to use listening Strategies would be of a great help.

Implications and recommendations for further research in listening strategies:

In the light of the results and conclusions of the present study, the following recommendations are suggested:

1- Students enrolled in first year, college of arts and science for boys in Raniah, Taif University, Saudi Arabia should be trained in effective direct language listening strategies through a comprehensive program.  

2- Objectives of English preparation programs should be re-examined to include courses in developing listening strategies and skills.

3 - Graduated  students should receive training in using listening  strategies to improve their own listening ability and to change their views about listening as a neglected skill.  

4 -It is suggested that curriculum designers and practitioners rely heavily on materials that encourage language use. Function oriented topics should be extensively included in the curriculum.

5- Classroom materials and practices should gear toward preparing  Egyptian students to use English to function in actual listening situations.

6- Teachers of English should develop their students' oral listening skills by giving them proper time to interact with each others naturally and freely.

Suggestions for Further Studies:

The following topics are suggested as areas that need further investigations:    

1-      Training of domain- specific listening strategies rather than general strategies.

2-      Further research is needed to determine whether or not listening strategies are culture- bound.

3-             Empirical studies are needed to investigate if strategy use is influenced by personality factors (e. g. age, gender, learning style, etc.)

4-      Determining the long term effect of training in effective listening strategies.

5-      Determining to what degree first language speaking ability influence students' respectively to strategy instruction and foreign language speaking skill development in general.

6-      Re-experimenting the present training program with other kinds of strategies, other training models and samples of students.

7-      Finding out the listening strategies employed by Egyptian students in Arabic and comparing them with those of the English language.

8-      Empirical research is needed to examine the relationship between strategy use and language proficiency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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المراجع العربیة :

1ـ فؤاد البهی السید , علم النفس الإحصائی و قیاس العقل البشری ,الطبعة الثالثة                      ( القاهرة: دار الفکر العربی ,1979) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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