This study aimed to explore the impact of pedagogical agents in computer-based listening instruction on EFL students' listening anxiety levels and listening comprehension skills. A total of 66 Korean college students received computer-based listening instruction. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: American agent condition, Korean agent condition, or no-agent condition. Additional data sources were included in the experimental design in order to investigate students' learning experience more thoroughly. Results indicated that there were no statistical differences in listening anxiety levels and listening comprehension skills between students who worked with the agent and students who worked without the agent. In addition, there was no statistical difference in listening anxiety levels between students who worked with the Korean agent and students who worked with the American agent. However, survey findings indicated a few differences between the agent condition and the no-agent condition when students were asked to describe their learning experiences. Students from both groups enjoyed the lesson overall; however, their comments revealed some differences. Students in the agent condition regarded the agent as an important contribution to their enjoyable learning experience, and specifically chose the presence of the agent as the reason they would want to work with the program again, while students in the no-agent condition mainly enjoyed the useful functions integrated into the computer-based lesson, and indicated they would work with the program again because it was interesting and helpful. Although there were no statistical differences between the groups, these results seem to illuminate that the guidance provided by the pedagogical agent during the lesson positively affected students' learning experiences, which is in line with previous study findings. The findings from the survey can also provide suggestions regarding what aspects of pedagogical agents should be kept or improved for language learning. More data would strengthen the impact of the results. However, these findings offer practical and theoretical implications for using pedagogical agents in foreign language education.

This dissertation explores the effect of visuals on test-takers’ L2 listeningprocesses. It uses a mixed methods design, following a concurrent transformative model (Creswell & Poth, 2018). There are three components to the study. The first is a comparison of group performance, aiming to shed light on how test-takers’ test performance may be affected by the inclusion of visuals. A total of 190 undergraduate students in China took part in this component. After being randomly and evenly placed in two groups according to their estimated proficiency level, their listening ability was assessed by a pre-test. They then took one of the two versions of a post-test, one where the participants could both see and hear the speakers, and the other one where they could only hear the speakers. A comparison of the two groups’ post-test scores using ANCOVA showed that the audio-visual participants scored significantly higher than the audio-only participants on the post-test. This indicates that the inclusion of visuals significantly enhanced the participants’ test performance. The second component of the study is a retrospective cued recall that investigatestest-takers’ specific listening processes. Ten participants in each group were randomly selected to join this part to the study. Their post-test test-taking processes were recorded and served as the stimuli for them to recall their viewing patterns, note-taking practice, identification of authentic features, and question-answering approaches. The comparisons between the two groups showed individual and group similarities, along with differences in every aspect of the listening processes. The last component is an analysis of the notes taken by the test-takers. Thequalitative participants’ notes taken during the post-test were rated regarding the correct levels of information noted, overall organization, and irrelevant and incorrect information noted. Using Spearman’s correlations, the note quality was correlated with the post-test scores in each condition. No significant correlations were found. This indicates that there was no substantive relationship between the participants’ note quality and test scores. Based on the results of the study, I advocate for the practice of including visualsin L2 listening tests, and an expansion of the construct definition of academic lecture listening to include the assessment of test-takers’ ability to understand visual cues. I also propose a five-dimension authenticity scale to measure the authenticity level of L2 listening input used on L2 listening tests. The study also has several other practical implications that are useful for L2 listening research, test development, and teaching and learning. Key limitations are acknowledged and discussed, and future research directions are suggested. / Teaching & Learning

This dissertation study explored the feasibility of using authenticated spoken texts to test L2 Chinese listening comprehension. The spoken texts used in the study were created using an “authenticating” technique, in which scripted spoken Chinese texts were infused with characteristics of real-world, unscripted spoken Chinese. In the first part of the study, 101 “naïve” L1 Chinese speakers reported their attitudes toward various characteristics of the scripted spoken texts and the authenticated spoken texts in a survey questionnaire. Comparisons of the L1 Chinese participants’ attitudes showed that they believed that the authenticated spoken texts were more authentic-sounding than the scripted texts in every measure. This indicates that the authenticity of scripted spoken texts normally used in L2 listening tests can be enhanced by using the text authentication technique. In the second part of the study, L2 listeners’ test performance and listening and test-taking processes during the post-test were examined. For the quantitative data, 184 intermediate and advanced adult L2 Chinese learners completed two listening tests (one pre-test assessing their listening proficiency and one post-test) and questionnaires tapping into their use of listening strategies and test-taking strategies. For the qualitative data, stimulated verbal recalls and verbal reports were employed to elicit another 16 L2 listeners’ verbalizations of their listening and test-taking processes. The comparison of the test scores showed that the listening test using authenticated spoken text as listening input was significantly more difficult than the same test using scripted spoken texts. The comparisons of the questionnaire results showed that the test-takers did not differ in their use of listening strategies and test-taking strategies. Aligned with the quantitative results, the verbal recalls showed that the two groups, despite hearing spoken texts with different degrees of scriptedness, did not adjust their use of listening strategies and test-taking strategies. However, the authenticated spoken texts elicited a greater reliance on lower-level processes compared to the scripted spoken texts. The last part of the study involving the same 16 L2 qualitative participants investigated text-related sources of bottom-up listening difficulties of the two experimental groups through a series of diagnostic listening procedures using L2 oral and written (typing) repetition tasks. It was found that, first, compared to the scripted group, the authenticated group had more phonological decoding difficulties due to connected speech; second, even though the authenticated group had more word segmentation difficulties, this type of listening difficulty seemed to be less severe for both groups compared to the difficulty of phonological decoding; and third, other features commonly found in unscripted spoken Chinese such as filled pauses and false starts did not seem to greatly impede participants’ bottom-up listening processes. The results from the three parts of the study and my experience creating authenticated spoken texts suggest that L2 Chinese test developers should include at least some authenticated spoken texts in their listening tests, because (a) they are more “authentic-sounding”; (b) high-proficiency L2 listeners with extensive Chinese second language learning experiences find them harder to comprehend than scripted texts; and (c) they elicit cognitive processes that better represent the processes in real-world listening. Additional practical and theoretical implications pertinent to test development and L2 Chinese listening instruction are also provided. / Applied Linguistics

The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of music and sound effects to recorded stories increased the comprehension and retention of information for fourth grade students. The data were analyzed by a two-factor analysis of variance, with repeated measures for both comprehension and retention tests, for the total population. Each reading level group was analyzed separately by an analysis of variance. Of eight hypotheses tested, six showed a significant difference. The conclusions drawn from this study indicated that the addition of music and sound effects 1) Increases the listening comprehension and retention of fourth grade students; 2) Is more effective for retention for students with a high reading level; and 3) Is more effective for initial listening comprehension for students with low reading level but the effect is not significant for retention.

Denna studie har undersökt huruvida det är möjligt att träna sin hörsel i att lyssna analytiskt. Den har också syftat till att undersöka huruvida bilder påverkar hur människor identifierar och bedömer ljud. Efter en litteraturstudie samt en hypotestestande undersökning på området har jag sett tendenser som tyder på att det går att träna sin hörsel i denna typ av lyssning. Jag har också sett indikationer på att bilder kan påverka hur vi identifierar ljud.

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Thesis (M.Ed. (Language Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / We live in a world in which communication plays a very crucial role in everything we engage in. The fact that the new Constitution of South Africa (Act No.200 of 1993) has given official status to the 11 major languages (something which was formerly granted only to English and Afrikaans) is irrefutable. In spite of all that, the English language has remained a major national language, as well as a Medium of Instruction in schools and universities in South Africa. However, effective communication has since been one of the most critical concerns in South Africa because English has been labelled as a nightmare. This is because the majority of learners at schools experience difficulties in acquiring Communicative Competence Skills in English, which is their Second Language (SL).The reality is, for one to communicate effectively, an individual should acquire Communicative Competence, which will enable him to engage with other people. To tackle this problem, there are effective and efficient strategies that need to be addressed. Literature reviews point out (a) the importance of the English First Additional Language (EFAL); (b) the challenges learners face at schools in acquiring Communicative Competence in English Second Language (ESL); and(c) solutions to overcome this situation. This study aimed at investigating the challenges experienced on the development of listening and speaking in EFAL. The study employed a qualitative Case Study design to investigate the challenges experienced on the development of listening and speaking in EFAL. Data for this qualitative case were obtained from interviews with learners and teachers. Observations were made at the two selected schools, and questionnaires were administered as well. The findings revealed various challenges that impede learners from developing Communicative Competence Skills in ESL. Learners do not understand English because their vocabulary in the language is limited. They also have challenges in pronouncing English words, and they cannot express themselves accurately in ESL because it is not their home language. Consequently, their proficiency in the language is low and impinges on their comprehension levels. It is recommended that teachers should ensure that they create a beneficial environment for learners to acquire Communicative Competence. Teachers should, in addition, introduce activities which will enable learners to communicate frequently. Learners should be given opportunities where they can read frequently, because reading improves vocabulary and helps one to become familiar with sentence structure, word order and correct pronunciations. Furthermore, learners should invest in a good dictionary to check unfamiliar words. Learners should build active listening and speaking skills that improve lines of communication with others and should be aware of their own communication barriers. They should learn different phrases/strategies that improve how they respond, and they should not fear to be offended. They should, furthermore, feel comfortable when they express their emotions and look at the speaker directly when communicating. Most importantly, learners should put aside distracting thoughts and should also listen to the speaker’s body language

Increasing involvement with students at the University of Namibia has indicated their overall difficulty with comprehending and recalling information from oral content lectures. It has also been observed that in general very little attention is given to the development of listening skills in L2 ESP and EAP courses. For this study, I conducted a quasi-experiment to determine whether the recognition and interpretation of discourse markers will enhance students' listening comprehension in academic lectures. Students were tested to determine their comprehension of content information in a video-taped lecture. Qualitative data were collected by means of a questionnaire. After an intervention period of eight weeks, where the experimental group received strategy training in the recognition and interpretation of discourse markers in spoken texts, both groups were again tested. Their results were statistically compared. I also looked at related findings of other researchers. Finally, aspects for possible future research will also be considered. / English Studies / MA - (Specialisation in TESOL)

Increasing involvement with students at the University of Namibia has indicated their overall difficulty with comprehending and recalling information from oral content lectures. It has also been observed that in general very little attention is given to the development of listening skills in L2 ESP and EAP courses. For this study, I conducted a quasi-experiment to determine whether the recognition and interpretation of discourse markers will enhance students' listening comprehension in academic lectures. Students were tested to determine their comprehension of content information in a video-taped lecture. Qualitative data were collected by means of a questionnaire. After an intervention period of eight weeks, where the experimental group received strategy training in the recognition and interpretation of discourse markers in spoken texts, both groups were again tested. Their results were statistically compared. I also looked at related findings of other researchers. Finally, aspects for possible future research will also be considered. / English Studies / MA - (Specialisation in TESOL)