Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Concern surrounding the low levels of academic literacy amongst incoming first year students has prompted universities and other tertiary education institutions in South Africa to implement tests of academic literacy. At Stellenbosch University, the English version of this test is known as TALL (Test of Academic Literacy Levels) and was developed to assess reading and writing abilities in an academic context. The results are used to ‘stream’ students into programmes which assist them in acquiring the various skills deemed necessary for their academic success. This study examines, on the one hand, the significance of listening in the assessment of academic literacy levels; on the other hand, it explores the potential for an academic listening test (ALT) to assist TALL in more accurate screening of students, particularly the borderline cases. The design and operationalisation of ALT is based on the theories and approaches of several researchers in the field. The study began with the compilation of the test specification and design of ALT. This was followed by empirically piloting a project where qualitative data concerning the validity of ALT was collected by means of a questionnaire. The next phase involved assessing the academic listening competency of a sample of first year university students. This assessment comprised an initial test administration followed by a second administration of the same test a month later in order to ascertain consistency of measurement over a period of time. The quantitative results obtained from both administrations were then statistically analysed to determine the reliability and validity of ALT. The final phase of the study involved the correlation of these results with those of TALL to determine the level of criterion-related validity as well as to establish whether ALT could be a useful added dimension to TALL.

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study contributes to the growing field of CALL. The Authorware programme focus on postbeginner students’ listening skills in an attempt to increase the number of students that complete their studies at Stellenbosch University. The study investigates different types of listening, which forms the backbone for the accompanying programme.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of specific textual and contextual materials to bridge the gap between the student's present level o proficiency in a target language and the level of proficiency required to perform a listening comprehension task in that language. This study also tested for interaction between the use of the textual and contextual materials and the learning modality of the students. In addition, confounding effects by either learning modality and foreign language classroom anxiety were controlled.Listening comprehension was assessed by a fourteen-item multiple-choice test in Spanish developed by the researcher. Learning modality was established by the Edmonds Learning Style Identification Exercise developed by H. Reinert. Foreign language class anxiety was measured by the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Elaine Horwitz, Michael Horwitz, and Joann Cope.A group of 198 college students enrolled in nine second-semester Spanish classes at Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana participated in the study. Three classes were randomly assigned to each of the three treatments: the contextual cue, the textual cue, and neither one.A three factor 3 x 3 x 2 fixed effects factorial design was used to analyze the data gathered in the study. Four null hypotheses were tested. The .05 level of significance was established as the critical probability level for the non-acceptance of the hypotheses.Findings1. There are significant effects attributable to a textual cue on recall measures of listening comprehension.2. There are no significant effects attributable to a contextual cue on recall measures of listening comprehension.3. There are no significant interactions between the use of the textual cue and the learning modality of the students.4. There are no significant interactions between the use of the contextual cue and the learning modality of the students.5. There are no significant effects attributable to learning modality on recall measures of listening comprehension.6. There are significant effects attributable to foreign language classroom anxiety on recall measures of listening comprehension.Conclusions1. Textual cues support listening comprehension tasks but contextual cues do not.2. The effect of a semantic cue can not be affected by the learning modality of the student.3. Learning modality by itself does not affect student comprehension of a listening task.4. Foreign language class anxiety inhibits student performance during a listening comprehension task. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, March, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

本研究主要探討四方面。第一、探討試題預覽是否有助於聽力成績表現。第二、進一步探究試題預覽的效益是否因聽力程度不同而有所差異。第三、了解學生以試題預覽方式參加聽力測驗的實際經驗與看法。第四、研究試題預覽是否是一個可行的評量聽力的測驗方式。 參加本實驗的受試者為來自竹山國中120位三年級的學生。首先，他們被分為能力相當的兩組，每一組再被細分為高、中、低三個能力組別，接著研究者分別對兩組受試者施以聽力測驗，不同之處在於實驗組提供試題預覽。最後，實驗組的受試者須填寫一份關於他們對此測驗方式 (試題預覽方式) 的經驗及觀感。 本研究之主要發現如下: 1. 受試者在聽力測驗中顯著受益於試題預覽。 2. 高、中程度的受試者比低程度的受試者從試題預覽中獲得較多的助益。 3. 由問卷統計結果得知大部分受試者對於試題預覽表達正面的態度。 4. 試題預覽促進聽者預測聽力內容及使用由上而下的聽力理解方式是一個可行的評量聽力的測驗方式。 最後, 本研究建議老師們在實施聽力測驗時應以試題預覽的方式進行。再者, 老師們可以以試題預覽做為訓練聽力時的教學活動。另外, 老師們必須考慮學生聽力程度的不同並為低程度者設計額外的聽力訓練活動以便提升其聽力理解能力。 / The present study chiefly focuses on four issues. The first issue concerns whether test question preview method can make test takers get better scores on listening comprehension tests or not. The second issue examines whether the effectiveness of test question preview varies with the students’ proficiency levels or not. The third issue aims to probe test takers’ practical experience of taking the listening comprehension test with question preview test method. The fourth issue explores if question preview method is practical in measuring the students’ listening comprehension. The participants of this study were 120 third-year students at Chu-shan Junior High School. Firstly, they were divided into two homogeneous groups, each group were further subdivided into three subgroups- high, medium and low proficiency. Then the researcher administered the experimental test to both the experimental group and the control group; the only difference in the treatment was that question preview was used to the experimental group. At last, the experimental group was asked to fill in a questionnaire designed to investigate the experience of taking the listening test with test question preview method. The major findings of the study are as follows: (1)The junior high EFL students benefited significantly from the test question preview. (2)Listeners of high and medium proficiency level gained much assistance from the question preview than those of low proficiency level. (3)Questionnaire responses confirmed the positive effects of the test question preview. (4)The test question preview promoted information prediction and top-down information processing of test takers; therefore, it is a practical method for assessing learners’ listening comprehension. Therefore, it is suggested that teachers incorporate question preview method in the tests of listening comprehension. In addition, it is necessary for teachers to use question previewing as a teaching activity when training students’ listening skills. Finally, teachers should pay more attention to the differences in students’ listening ability and design some other additional activities for low proficiency listeners to promote their ability of understanding the previewed questions and improve efficiency of listening.