An Investigation of Factors Influencing English Listening Comprehension and Possible
Measures for Improvement
Introduction
Traditionally, the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) was applied to college English
teaching in China. Although students have learned a great deal of grammar and vocabulary
from the GTM, their listening comprehension is still weak and needs to be trained.
Thus, it
has been considered ineffective and insufficient for learners to foster their listening and
speaking.
Recently, the English communicative approach has been used in university so
students’ communicative competence has been noted and emphasized. Besides, the need for
students’ listening ability is increasingly perceived so listening teaching has drawn much
attention to the instructors who teach English; however, listening skills instruction still needs
to strengthen.
Also, each learner’s listening level is varied due to the fact that there are
numerous factors influencing learners’ English listening.
At the beginning of 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Education started teaching reform
with a new conception of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).
It included the
new college English curriculum which stresses the development of students’ communicative
competence, especially listening and speaking.
Hence, this research was motivated by
TEFL, which would end up improving students’ overall English competence based on
listening and speaking abilities.
Further, it would bring about the effects on students’
listening comprehension and teachers’ listening instruction.
Purpose of this Study
The aim of this study conducted in TEFL in China was to explore the factors that
affected college students’ English listening comprehension (ELC) and the strategies which
might improve their ELC.
In other words, it was designed to help Chinese students to learn
how to listen as well as develop the listening strategies to enhance their ELC.
Literature Review
Based on the intention of this study indicated above, this section would review some
literature involving ‘Theoretical Foundation of Listening Comprehension (LC),’ ‘The Nature
and Process of LC,’ ‘Strategies of LC,’ and ‘Factors Influencing LC in China’.
Theoretical Foundation of Listening Comprehension (LC)
According to Asher, Postovsky, Winitz, and Krashen in seventy years, they
emphasized listening as a key factor in facilitating language learning.
The definition and
importance of listening were discussed as Table 1.
Table 1
Definition and Significance of Listening
Researchers / Scholars
Definition
Howatt & Dakin (1974)
Statements
Listening referred to the ability to identify and
comprehend what a speaker is saying, which
includes understanding a speaker’s accent or
pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, as well
as meaning.
Ronald & Roskelly (1985)
Listening as an active process covering
predicting, checking, revising, and generalizing.
Importance
Wilt (1950)
Listening plays a life-long role in the process of
communication among people－45% of the
time spent on listening and 30% on speaking.
Krashen (1985)
Listening is seen as a vital input skill in
people’s language development－people
acquire language through comprehending the
information they hear.
The Nature and Process of LC
Because listening is an important component in overall English capacity, educators
must actively explore the nature and process of listening comprehension (LC) in order to
improve their listening teaching and students’ LC.
The Nature of LC.
From the viewpoint of constructivist linguistics, listening
teaching began with isolated language structure.
Namely, teachers first let students
understand the meaning of vocabulary by distinguishing sounds and control the meaning of
discourses by comprehending sentence meaning.
Nevertheless, with the development of
functional language theory since the 1970s, language was recognized as a communicative
tool. Consequently, listening teaching is not simply aimed to make students hear a sound, a
word or a sentence.
Instead, it is to cultivate their listening ability to realize what the
message actually means from a speaker and to achieve effective communication with each
other.
The Process of LC.
Listening is a complex, active, and mental process in which
listeners link what they hear with what they already understand. Rost (2002) defined the
process of listening comprehension as receiving the message transmitted from the speaker,
constructing the meaning, negotiating meaning with the speaker, and interpreting the accurate
meaning.
Strategies of LC
Listening strategies can contribute learners to process the listening input and
comprehend an oral text effectively. There were three categories of listening strategies－
top-down, bottom-up, and interactive processes.
Top-down strategies.
Top-down strategies refer to the use of listeners’ background
knowledge of the topic or the type of text in understanding what is heard.
That is, listeners
use their background knowledge to predict the main idea, infer what will come next, and
summarize or interpret what is heard.
Bottom-up strategies.
Bottom-up strategies refer to understanding the meaning of
the message by combining sounds, words, and grammar from the spoken text.
Interactive strategies.
Listeners tend to employ both top-down and bottom-up
strategies at the same time in listening comprehension.
Namely, they not simply decode the
message from words, phrases, and sentences but also actively adopt their prior knowledge to
predict the meaning of the message, infer what will be spoken next, and then verify their
inference from the speaker’s utterance.
Factors Influencing LC in China
Some factors influencing Chinese students’ LC were discussed as Table 2.
Table 2
Factors Affecting Chinese Students’ LC
Factors
Psychology
Statements

Referring to non-mental factors like interests, attitudes,
attention, and emotions.

Students’ cultural attitude toward Chinese history from
written text has affected their English studies.
Thus,
students focus less on LC since they know that they will score
highly only from reading and writing.
Grammar Knowledge

If students’ knowledge of grammar and pronunciation is
inadequate, their ELC will be negatively impacted, despite
understanding the sense of every word in the sentence.
Cultural Knowledge

Language reflects the national culture of its speakers
(Trudgill, 1983) and the substantial ways of their thinking.

If students do not have cultural background knowledge of the
target language, they will be unable to realize the modes of
the target group’s thinking and to achieve LC.
The Investigation of the New Listening Teaching Model
The study carried out at Shanxi University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) in China
was a one-year contrastive teaching experiment from September 2004 to July 2005 to
examine the effect of the new conception of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
as a response to the teaching reform proposed by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
The Goal of the New Teaching Model
The new teaching model was student-centered, with the aim of as follows:
1. Encouraging students to monitor and control their learning processes.
2. Encouraging students to choose their learning content and methods.
3. Encouraging students to assess and reflect on their learning outcomes.
4. Encouraging students to design classroom activities with the teachers.
The Roles of Teachers and Students
Changing the English curriculum needed both teachers’ and learners’ changes in
attitude. At the beginning of this experiment, the changes in teachers’ and students’ roles
were informed to the students as Table 3.
Table 3
The Roles of Teachers and Students during the Experiment
Roles
Teachers
Features

Shifting teacher-centered to student-centered.

Shifting information providers or knowledge distributors to multi-skilled
facilitators.
Students

Shifting knowledge-based instruction to students’ learning supervision.

Shifting the passive receivers of information to active participants in
learning.

Shifting passive recipients of language to explorers of it.

Becoming active constructors of knowledge.
Research Approach
The college English reform group who designed a contrastive teaching experiment was
responsible for the research program, which was to accomplish the goal of the new college
English curriculum of developing students’ communicative competence and the teaching
objectives of the university.
Participants.
The five hundred and fifty non-English major students as well as three
teachers from Shanxi University of Finance and Economics in China participated in this
study. After the students entered the university in 2004, they had to attend the first graded
test.
In the light of their overall scores (60% for the test scores & 40% for the scores of
National Matriculation English Test 全國高考英文測試), they were divide to two levels of
classes－Classes A and B.
Instruments.
There were three classes A and six classes B selected.
The instruments in this experiment were used to collect the data to
investigate whether the listening-based teaching/learning could improve Chinese college
students’ overall English competence. They involved the formative assessment of
teaching/learning process, the students’ autonomous learning, and the final assessment as
Table 4.
Table 4
Instruments of Data Collection
Instruments
Formative assessment
Statements

Including students’ self-assessment, students’ assessment of
each other and the teacher’s assessment of students.

The teacher’s assessment: assessing the students’
performance in four language skills and translating in class
and outside class.
Autonomous learning

Records of students’ study time on the computers.
(continued).
Final assessment

Covering the final course examination and the level test.

Final course examination: including a written test and an
oral test.
Teaching approach.
In the new teaching model, the teaching approach was
listening-based learning for overall linguistic capacity development.
The teachers’
face-to-face instruction with reading and writing, students’ autonomous learning by the use of
computers, as well as listening and speaking training in small groups were applied to the
experimental classes.
The details were described as Table 5.
Table 5
Three Types of Teaching Approach
Types
Statements
Teachers’ face-to-face instruction
The teachers instructed students with reading & writing
face to face in the ICT-assisted classroom for 4 hours
each week.
Students’ autonomous learning
Arranged at the computer center with the teacher’s
guidance for 2 hours once every 2 weeks each term.
Listening and speaking training in Each conducted as face-to-face sessions for 2 hours
small groups
once every 2 weeks each term.
However, there were three non-experimental classes put together to be a big class for
two hours once each week during face-to-face instruction.
Textbook.
With regard to the teaching material, the students in the experimental and
non-experimental classes both used the textbook of New Horizon College English series
(Volumes 1-4) in the Reading and Writing course; yet, the experimental classes still had to
study Advanced English (Volume 5).
During the first term to the third term, the students in the experimental classes studied
New Horizon College English (Volumes 2-4).
Volume 1 was given to them to do self-study.
At the end of the third term, they had to take part in College English Test-4 (CET-4).
In
addition, they had to study Advanced English of Volume 5 during the fourth term. The
students who passed CET-4 were able to participate in CET-6 at the end of the fourth term.
Oppositely, the students in the non-experimental classes studied New Horizon College
English (Volumes 1-4) from the first term to the fourth term. At the end of the fourth term,
they had to take part in CET-4.
Figure 1was a summary of the use of textbook between both
classes based on descriptions above.
Experimental classes
Non-experimental classes
Studying New Horizon College English
First to third term: Volumes 2-4
First to fourth term: Volumes 1-4
Volume 1: Self study
At the end of 3rd tem: Attending CET-4
At the end of 4th tem: Attending
CET-4
During the 4rd tem:
Studying Advanced English
At the end of 4rd tem: If the students passed
CET-4, they were able to attend CET-6
Figure 1. The use of textbook in the Reading and Writing course
* CET: a national EFL test in China
* CET-4: If you pass, it represents that you reach the English level of non-English major undergraduates.
* CET-6: If they pass, it represents that they reach the English level of non-English major postgraduates.
The textbook of New Horizon College English has web-based teaching software.
The
experimental classes had an additional seventy-six class hours of study time when they were
able to use the computers.
Of seventy-six class hours, there were sixteen hours allocated to
them for autonomous learning, which was guided by the teacher at first.
Once the teacher
felt that the students were well-prepared to work autonomously, they arranged their study
time to do assignments or to engage in self practice.
Teaching Processes in Class and out of Class
There were three stages in the new teaching model of listening comprehension (LC).
During the three stages, teachers and students identified the teaching objectives, choose
teaching content, as well as design the teaching activities together.
The purpose of these
stages was to help students enhance their listening ability and self-confidence to deal with
communication situations they may encounter.
Moreover, it was also to make students
realize that promoting LC required their active involvement.
Stage 1: Pre-listening activities (Pre-listening activities).
Before listening, the
activities were selected as preparation for listening for the teacher such as
1. Setting a purpose for listening and deciding what to listen for.
2. Deciding if the students need more linguistic knowledge (grammar, vocabulary or
pronunciation) and prior knowledge (with the listening topic or the type of text) to
understand what will be heard.
3. Deciding if the top-down listening strategy (focus on comprehension) or the
bottom-up one (focus on vocabulary and phrases) is adopted.
4. Telling students the type of text listened to and the role played.
5. Providing students with opportunities for group or pair work and for building up
relevant background knowledge before listening or class discussion activities.
Stage 2: Activities while-listening (Classroom teaching).
The activities
while-listening related to what was heard were done during or immediately after listening like
1. Deciding what students need to understand.
2. Encouraging students to monitor their comprehension when they listen.
3. Using questions to direct students’ attention at the elements of text important to their
comprehension.
4. Designing activities to guide students through the text.
5. Encouraging students to examine why their responses were incorrect and providing
them an immediate feedback.
Stage 3: Post-listening Activities (Learning after class).
After listening, the
Teacher wrote some questions which students had to answer on the blackboard.
For
students, they were motivated to talk and participate in the task actively.
1. Asking students to compare their notes and discuss what they understood in pair or
group work.
2. Encouraging students to respond to what was heard.
3. Asking pairs to write down the main points, and then to compare and check
whether all the main points were covered.
4. Evaluating students’ comprehension to the text.
5. Deciding if the listening strategies used fitted in with the purpose or the task.
Modifying them if necessary.
Data Assessment
There were three kinds of data collected comprising the formative assessment,
students’ autonomous learning, and the final assessment.
Formative assessment.
The formative assessment included three aspects of student
activities－students’ self-assessment, students’ assessment of each other, and the teacher’s
assessment of students.
term grades respectively.
The results from the first two assessments took up 5% of the overall
What’s more, the results from the teacher of each class assessing
students’ performance served as 10% of the overall term grades.
Students’ autonomous learning.
computers automatically.
The computer recorded the students’ study time on
At the end of term, students’ the hours of study formed 20% of
overall term grades.
Final assessment.
The final assessment referred to the final course examination (a
written test and an oral test) and the level test.
The final course examination was organized
by the Foreign Language Faculty of SUFE in July 2005.
The examination content of the
experimental and non-experimental classes was the same. However, the content of listening
comprehension section covered dialogue, short passages and a picture description.
The
results from the final course examination and the level test took up 50% and 10% of the
overall term grades separately.
After that, the Foreign Language Faculty of SUFE compared and analyzed the teaching
results of both experimental and non-experimental classes.
Preliminary Findings
By analyzing and comparing the results of the final listening comprehension
examination section, there was a significant difference between the experimental classes and
the non-experimental classes.
The experimental class A scored more highly than contrastive
class A. Also, the experimental class B scored more highly than contrastive class B.
These findings showed that the listening activities implemented in the experimental classes
were effective and beneficial in developing Chinese students’ listening comprehension (LC).
Further, LC levels had effects on improvement in other language skills.
However, through
classroom observations, there were three possible explanations of why the experimental
classes had better performance in LC than the non-experimental ones as follows:
1. The experimental students were aware of the importance of LC and had the
conception of listening-first.
2. Students learned listening strategies actively and applied those to English learning.
3. Students could utilize their leisure time to listen to other listening materials by
the use of various facilities to improve their listening ability.
My Own Comments
I do not think that this paper was good enough.
clearly and completely.
The author did not write it very
I have some inquiries, and felt that several parts need to improve.
Number one, the author mentioned in the abstract that 550 college students selected
were non-English major, but mentioned in the body that they majored in English.
Thus, I
am confused about this problem. After reading this paper, I consider that the former should
be right.
Number two, it was indicated that 550 college students were organized to two-level
classes－Classes A and B. What differences between two levels were there?
That is, how
to determine which students distributed to classes A and which ones to classes B?
Number three, the author noted that 550 college students were divided three classes A
and six classes B. Did these classes all belong to experimental groups?
non-experimental groups?
Did they include
That is because the author did not tell us definitely which classes
belong to experimental groups and which ones to non-experimental groups.
In other words,
how many experimental groups and non-experimental ones were there in this research?
The
author mentioned that the three natural classes were put together to have a large-size
class….in the part of Research Approach. What did these natural classes represent?
Also,
when I read the preliminary findings, the author pointed out the contrastive classes A and B.
Therefore, I am very puzzled about this problem.
Number four, the author mentioned that the experimental classes were instructed by
the use of the new teaching model to teaching practice.
non-experimental students instructed?
textbook?
Instead, how were the
Did they just take normal English class and study the
Number five, the author indicated that experimental classes A were required to study
the textbook.
Then how were experimental classes B instructed?
Did they use the same
textbook as experimental classes A?
Number six, this experiment was conducted for one year. Why did the experimental
and non-experimental classes study the textbook for four terms?
Number seven, did the author collect and analyze data from the formative assessment,
students’ autonomous learning, and the final assessment?
these data (e.g. t test or…..)?
diagrams and statistics).
If yes, how did the author analyze
I think that the author should show the analytic results (e.g.
If the diagrams and statistics were displayed in this paper, the
author convinced us of the research findings the most.
In terms of my opinions, if learners want to improve their LC, they had to devote much
effort and time to cultivating it. Cultivating the habit of listening is important, but how to
make use of strategies or skills to improve LC is more important than the former.
I believe
that most of students are sure to ask their English teachers how to enhance listening and
reading abilities.
I also believe that the answers from their teachers are often the same, that
is, ‘more listening and more reading’. However, I guess that the answers they want to get
were what skills or strategies employed to achieve LC.
how to engage in reading and listening.
In Taiwan, few teachers instruct us
For students, by the use of more listening and more
reading, there are still some students who could not promote both abilities. With regard to
these viewpoints, I think that many students mistake both implications.
They do not mean
that the students simply play the CDs or open the books, and then it is over.
Presently, the
strategies or skills which could reinforce English learners’ listening ability are needed most.