The present study investigated the effects of concurrent reading and listening--in the form of the Reading While Listening (RWL) technique--as a means of improving word recognition and reading comprehension among intermediate L2 readers and compared these effects to a distinct top-down reading pedagogy in the form of Extensive Reading (ER) approach, an integrated pedagogy of both RWL and ER and a Control pedagogy of silent in-class reading. Drawing upon innate acquisitional mechanisms of phonological recoding as articulated by Jorm & Share's (1983) Self-Teaching Hypothesis (STH), the present research suggested the simultaneous presentation of identical orthographic and aural input as an ideal protocol for the exploitation of such a route to fluent word recognition in reading. Drawing upon innate acquisitional mechanisms of cognitive inferencing and whole language development as proposed by Goodman (1967, 1988), Krashen (1995, 2007) and Day & Bamford (1998), the present study also proposed the ER pedagogical approach as an effective top-down mechanism for cognitive inferencing in reading and whole language development as well as a tool for addressing L2 reader affect. In order to investigate the efficacy of RWL and ER respectively, while also as an integrated composite pedagogy of both RWL and ER, the present study employed a mixed-methods quasi-experimental design incorporating longitudinal classroom treatments of RWL, ER, RWL-ER and Control reading pedagogies over five weeks and among 51 intermediate ESL readers. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses, alongside qualitative data reduction and display, supported the respective and significant efficacy of RWL and ER reading pedagogies over Control treatments on measures of reading rate, comprehension, vocabulary and grammatical knowledge gains as well as reader affect. Moreover, the composite RWL-ER treatment group demonstrated superlative gains above all other treatment types in a manner that supports the distinct advantages of such an integrated reading pedagogy, which pairs acquisitional approaches to both bottom-up word recognition and top-down cognitive skills development in tandem. Pedagogical implications for these findings are discussed alongside limitations and area for future research.

Listening is one of the key skills needed to be proficient in a second language (L2). Some L2 teachers support the development of L2 learners' listening skills by providing input in a different sensory mode (e.g., reading). Nevertheless, developing L2 listening skills using more than one sensory mode, may lead to cognitive overload. In order to provide effective L2 listening instruction, teachers need to know what learning strategies will help students improve their listening skills. This quasi-experimental study examined the benefits of reading a text while listening to it and the effect that reading-while-listening (RWL) has on an L2 learner's listening comprehension. The study was done with intermediate-level, English as a Second Language (ESL) students in two pre-existing classes at the English Language Center (ELC) in Provo, Utah, with one class using a teaching method that included reading and listening together and one class that did no reading, just listening. The results of this study showed that both the control group and treatment group significantly improved their listening comprehension skills over the course of 14 weeks. For the treatment group which had used RWL, however, their listening scores were not significantly different from those of the control group. The pedagogical implications of the findings for second language teachers teaching listening skills are also discussed.

Various forms of multimedia learning have been shown to aid learners time and time again. One form of multimedia learning that has not been thoroughly studied is reading while listening (RWL). This is especially the case when it comes to the immediate impacts on reading comprehension from practising RWL. Furthermore the recent advancements of Text-To-Speech (TTS) have started to challenge the established notion that real human recorded spoken word is always preferable for learning, also known as The Voice Effect. This study looked at Swedish University students with English as their second language (L2) and examined how their reading comprehension in L2 was performing in three different groups. The groups were Reading Only (RO), Reading-While-Listening with spoken word (RWL-SW) and Reading-While-Listening with text-to-speech (RWL-TTS). The RO group was then compared to The RWL groups. The two RWL groups were also compared on test scores as well as perceived enjoyment and aid from the narration as reported by the participants. Our results did not exhibit any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension between the RO group and the RWL groups. When looking at the results of the reading comprehension test the RO and RWL-TTS groups got the exact same number of correct answers. This suggests that RWL did not have any notable impact on reading comprehension. Furthermore no statistical significant difference was found between the two RWL groups in test scores or perceived enjoyment and aid from the narration. What’s interesting to note is that RWL-SW performed slightly worse than RWL-TTS on the comprehension test. The reported perceived enjoyment and aid from the narration was also notably similar to each other. This suggests that The Voice Effect did not have relevance in this test. / Olika former av multimediainlärning har visat sig hjälpa eleverna gång på gång. En form av multimedieinlärning som inte har studerats grundligt är läsning medan man lyssnar (RWL). Detta gäller särskilt när det gäller de omedelbara effekterna på läsförståelsen av att använda på RWL. Dessutom har de senaste framstegen med text till tal (TTS) börjat utmana den etablerade uppfattningen att verkligt mänskligt inspelat talat ord alltid är att föredra vid inlärning, även kallat “Rösteffekten” (The Voice Effect). I den här studien undersöktes svenska universitetsstudenter med engelska som andraspråk (L2) och hur deras läsförståelse i L2 presterade i tre olika grupper. Grupperna var Reading Only (RO), Reading-While-Listening med en mänsklig talare (RWL-SW) och Reading-While-Listening med text-to-speech (RWL-TTS). RO-gruppen jämfördes sedan med RWL-grupperna. De två RWL-grupperna jämfördes också med avseende på testresultat samt upplevd njutning och hjälp från berättandet enligt deltagarnas rapporter. Våra resultat visade ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad i läsförståelse mellan RO-gruppen och RWL-grupperna. När man tittar på resultaten av läsförståelsetestet fick RO- och RWL-TTS- grupperna exakt lika många korrekta svar. Detta tyder på att RWL inte hade någon anmärkningsvärd inverkan på läsförståelsen. Dessutom hittades ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad mellan de två RWL-grupperna när det gäller testresultat eller upplevd njutning och hjälp av uppläsningen. Vad som är intressant att notera är att RWL-SW presterade något sämre än RWL-TTS på läsförståelsetestet. Den rapporterade upplevda uppskattningen och hjälp från uppläsning var också anmärkningsvärt likartade. Detta tyder på att “The Voice Effect” inte hade någon betydelse i detta test.

The main aim of this research was to explore lecturers’ and students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of teaching listening skills to English foreign language (EFL) students at three Ethiopian universities with the purpose of proposing guidelines and recommendations for effective teaching and learning of EFL listening skills. The research was prompted by a number of research projects which indicated that listening skills and the teaching of listening in the Ethiopian context were not effective resulting in students who are ill equipped for listening effectively. A mixed method approach was followed as a design for the empirical research study. A pragmatic research paradigm, using both quantitative and qualitative methods and then blending the two methods was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 72 lecturers and 158 students at three Ethiopian universities by means of close-ended questionnaires using a five-point Likert scale instrument. For the qualitative phase of the study data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with lecturers and students. Observations of listening lessons presented in the classroom and in the language laboratory were done by means of completing an observation checklist and note-taking. These were used to triangulate data. The analysis of the data obtained by means of the questionnaires and the observation checklist were done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data obtained by means of unstructured interviews (which were transcribed verbatim) were coded and divided into themes. The research findings indicated that the lecturers’ perceptions of the activities used during the pre-, while- and post-listening phases and the use of listening material were more positive than those of students and that females perceived the effectiveness less positive than males. The data obtained by means of interview questions confirmed what was found in the quantitative part of the study. Observations carried out in the three universities showed that the teaching of listening skills was mostly poorly done and that the listening material used was not suitable and did not interest students. The use of bottom-up and top-down strategies were found to be used inadequately in the teaching of EFL listening skills. The teaching methods and strategies used, as well as activities provided during each listening phase were found to be generally poor. A model for teaching EFL listening in the classroom was proposed in this study. Lecturers and students expressed their challenges in teaching and learning EFL listening skills and also made recommendations for best practices on how to improve the teaching and learning of EFL listening. These challenges and recommendations for best practices mostly centred around lecturer-related, student-related and institutional-related factors. This study has suggested recommendations pertaining to the lecturers, students, institutions of higher education, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and schools. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)