五年制师范学生听力障碍与学习策略研究AStudyofListeningBarriersandStrategiesforFive-year-programNormalSchoolStude.doc

五年制师范学生听力障碍与学习策略研究A Study of Listening Barriers and Strategies for Five-year-program Normal School Students摘 要作为第二语言习得提供可理解的语言输入，是第二语言习得中非常重要的一个环节，因此听力理解是英语学习中的重点也是难点，尤其对于当前英语学习的特殊群体五年制师范学生来说，存在诸多挑战。当前，五年制师范学校学生的英语听力水平比同等学力学生的平均水平要低，且学习的动机水平不高，参与的积极性也不够。本研究从山东省四处五年制师范学校四个不同年级中随机选择120名学生（每个年级30名）作为研究对象，通过问卷、采访及“自我报告”的形式，采用定性和定量相结合的研究方法，探究五年制师范学生在英语听力学习中遇到的主要障碍。应用二语习得理论中的学习策略提出了相应的克服这些障碍的对策，以期达到提高学生英语听力水平的目的。本文共分六章。第一章：首先对本研究的目的、意义、必要性及研究拟采用的方法做出简要阐述，然后对本文的组织结构做出说明。 第二章：对英语听力教学的历史沿革、发展状况和专家学者对英语听力学习中存在困难的研究进行梳理并阐述本研究的理论依据。第三章：对研究方法做出说明。主要包括研究的问题、研究的对象、研究采用的工具、数据采集方法及数据分析。第四章：数据分析得出的结论。调查发现五年制师范学生听力中常遇到以下障碍：情绪障碍、习惯障碍、信念障碍、设备及环境障碍、语言水平障碍、策略障碍及材料障碍等。第五章：基于调查结论，提出有针对性的克服上述障碍的方法、建议及有关英语听力学习的策略。强调应通过锻炼语音的准确性，扩大词汇量及丰富材料背景知识等途径提高英语基础知识；学会应用一些有效的听力策略，如选择要点，记忆储存，预测推断等；给五年制师范学生提供经过选择的、多样的、适合学生水平并能引起他们兴趣的真实听力材料；努力激发学生的学习兴趣，提高他们的自信心，降低他们的焦虑感，帮助他们克服情绪障碍；营造轻松愉快的氛围，积极地进行听力学习。第六章：对本研究做出尽量客观地反思与评价，本研究的局限性亦被指出。关键词：听力理解，听力障碍，五年制师范学生，学习策略AbstractThis study is undertaken to make an investigation into listening barriers encountered by five-year-program normal school students. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to find out 1) the obstacles encountered by five-year-program normal school students and 2) the strategies to overcome these obstacles.In the study the subjects involved were 120 students in different grades from four five-year-program normal schools in Shandong Province. They were asked to complete a written questionnaire which was carefully self-designed based on Oxford (1990), OMalley and Chamots (1990) language Learning Strategies. Students also self-reported in written format their attitudes, thoughts, responses to each distractor in either Chinese or English. In addition, references were taken from unstructured face to face or telephone interview with some subjects. Data was collected quantitatively and an inductive procedure was adopted dealing with the subjects choices to derive categories of the obstacles encountered by learners in five-year-program normal school in listening, then the data was analyzed qualitatively. At last, learning strategies based on L2 acquisition theory were proposed so as to overcome these obstacles and to promote students English listening comprehension. The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter One is a brief introduction to the study and it mainly includes the purpose, significance, necessity，methodology and organization the study. Chapter Two serves as the theoretical basis and literature review which includes the history & development of listening pedagogy and the research related listening comprehension problems made by some experts and scholars. Chapter Three presents a detailed description of the way the study is conducted which contains the research question, the subjects, the instrument, data collection and data analysis. Chapter Four reports and discusses the results of the study. The results of the study reveal that students in five-year-program normal school are mainly embittered by the following frustrations while listening: emotional barriers, habitual barriers, belief barriers, equipment & contextual barriers, English proficiency barriers, strategic barriers and material barriers, etc.Based on the major findings, implications and suggestions are made in Chapter Five with a view to overcoming the barriers in listening and helping learners in five-year-program normal school listen more effectively. Listeners should promote their linguistic competence by improving speech sound, enlarging vocabulary and enriching background knowledge. In addition, students in five-year-program normal school should learn to use some effective listening strategies such as strategies for choosing gist, for memorizing and storing, for predicting and inferring. What is more, students should listen to diversified and comprehensible material carefully chosen and examined from the point of suiting the material to the existing listening level of them and interesting them. Three facets are mentioned which should be taken into account regarding the choice of listening materials: content (types and styles), difficulty, and delivery method. Also, it is pointed out that the teachers should strive to reduce students negative emotional factors by creating their motivation, enhancing their self-confidence and lowering their anxiety.Chapter Six makes a conclusion on the whole thesis. Limitation of the study, prospect for further research and consideration are also pointed out in this part.Key words: listening comprehension, listening barriers, five-year-program normal school, strategy ContentsAcknowledgementsi摘 要iiAbstractivContentsviChapter One Introduction11.1 Introduction to the research11.1.1 Purpose and significance of the study11.1.2 The necessity of the study31.1.2.1 Difficulties from the characteristics of listening itself and listeners41.1.2.2 Existing listening problems in five-year-program normal school51.1.2.3 Others81.1.3 Methodology91.2 Organization of the thesis9Chapter Two Literature Review & Theoretical Basis102.1 Literature review102.1.1 The development of listening pedagogy102.1.2 Research related listening comprehension difficulties102.2 Theoretical basis132.2.1 The cognitive framework132.2.1.1 Andersons models for language learning142.2.1.2 Schema theory152.2.2 Humanism16Chapter Three Methodology183.1 Introduction183.2 Research design183.2.1 The research question183.2.2 Subjects183.2.3 Instrument193.2.4 Data collection and analysis203.3 Summary21Chapter Four Findings and Discussion224.1 Introduction224.2 Major barriers reported by five-year-program normal school students224.2.1 Barrier 1: Emotional barriers224.2.2 Barrier 2: Habitual barriers244.2.3 Barrier 3: Belief barriers264.2.4 Barrier 4: Equipment and environment barriers274.2.5 Barrier 5: Language proficiency barriers284.2.6 Strategic barriers324.2.7 Material barriers384.2.8 Other barriers424.3 Summary43Chapter Five Implications and Suggestions445.1 Introduction445.2. Promoting students linguistic competence445.2.1 Enhancing students basic knowledge445.2.1.1 Improving students speech sounds445.2.1.2 Enlarging students vocabulary465.2.2 Enriching students background knowledge485.3 Teaching students effective listening strategies515.3.1 Strategies for choosing gist525.3.2. Strategies for memorizing and storing535.3.3 Strategies for predicting and inferring555.4 Selecting diversified & comprehensible listening materials585.5 Producing emotional barriers615.5.1 Creating students motivation625.5.2 Enhancing students self-confidence635.5.3 Lowering students anxiety645.6 Summary66Chapter Six Conclusion67 Bibliography69Appendices73Chapter One Introduction1.1 Introduction to the researchEnglish listening is a compulsory part for the students in five-year-program normal school that is included in each test. This research is about learners reported perception on barriers affecting listening comprehension. Although the obstacles cannot be observed and defined precisely and directly, we can study them by asking learners to tell us about them. This is what the present research tries to demonstrate. It reports the findings of a questionnaire study that reveals learners perceptions and beliefs about listening comprehension obstacles encountered by the students in five-year-program normal school, aiming to identify the corresponding listening strategies used by this particular group of learners to improve students English listening competence. 1.1.1 Purpose and significance of the studySignificance: Firstly, the significance of the study stems from the importance of listening in foreign language learning. Listening is of great importance to both learning in general and second language learning in particular. In 1983, Krashen and Terrell wrote that listening comprehension plays a fundamental role in second and foreign language acquisition and is critical to the communication process. Rost (1994) listed several reasons to show the important role listening plays in second language learning and instruction: First, listening provides comprehensible input for the learner which is essential for any learning to occur. Second, listeners need to interact with speakers to achieve understanding. Third, listening exercises help learners draw their attention to new forms (vocabulary, grammar, interaction patterns) in the language. Thus listening comprehension provides the right conditions for language acquisition and development of other language skills (Krashen, 1995). Secondly, listening is the most frequently used language activity because the average adult spends approximately three times as much time listening as reading (Rankin 1929). W. M. Rivers and M. S. Temperley (1978) stated, “45 percent of the time adults spend in communication activities is on listening, 30 percent on speaking, 16 percent on reading and 9 percent on writing.” Bird (1953) stated that college students spend 42 percent of their time in listening, 25 percent in speaking, 15 percent in reading and 18 percent in writing.Thirdly, in recent years, with the reform and development in all walks of life and the implementation of the opening policy to the outside world in China, English has become one of the most important communicative tools, not merely a kind of the knowledge of a language. As China develops faster and opens more, people have more opportunities to contact with foreigners, and their appetite for improving listening ability has become insatiable. Thereby, listening naturally becomes a basic life skill for students in five-year-program normal school.Fourthly, after graduation, the five-year-program normal school students will become primary school teachers. We all know in primary school children learn English mainly by listening, then imitating and doing activities, which requires the students in five-year-program normal school first themselves are good listeners. Only so may they be competent for teaching their pupils. Fifthly, English listening takes quite a proportion in class instruction and in the paper examination. Wilt (1950) pointed out that 57.5 percent of the daily classroom time is spent in listening. Rost (1994, p141-142) also pointed out listening is vital in language classroom. Now in most five-year-program normal schools of Shandong Province, students are expected to pass the PETS at least Level B, and in the written examination of PETS of any level, the proportion of the listening part is 20%. Only when students have passed the PETS can they get the graduation certificate. So, learning of listening may help improve students score and graduate easily, smoothly.Purpose: The present research aims to provide evidence to identify the listening comprehension obstacles encountered by the particular group of learners five-year-program normal school students, with the hope that such a study will shed some light on acquainting teachers with these problematic areas in listening comprehension so that necessary treatment measures which will be suggested as an implication of the study can be taken. It is assumed that the ideas derived from this research will provide insights for learning and teaching listening comprehension skills. Listening becomes in this case as Field (1998: 112) put it, “a diagnostic activity”, the function of the teacher is to identify and redress learners weakness. Thus, the crucial question is not to say that listening comprehension is an important skill, but to diagnose its problems and promote its development.Since English listening comprehension plays such an important role in English learning process, it is quite necessary to have a further exploration into English listening process and listening comprehension obstacles confronted by students in five-year-program normal school.1.1.2 The necessity of the study For too long listening has been relegated to the Cinderella skill in second language learning. All too often, for most people, being able to claim knowledge of a second language means being able to speak and write in that language. Listening has been often called “stepchild of language learning” (Whiteson1974). And it has often been considered to be something that could just be “picked up”. Wilkinson and Atkinson (1965) stated that “oral expression has often left to the speech and drama teacher; listening comprehension has usually been left to nobody at all.” Although listening has been a relatively neglected skill in terms of research and how it is introduced to language learners, it is now beginning to receive more attention. Recent research and some publication demonstrated the vital role of language input, providing support for the importance of developing listening comprehension ability. Krashen and Terrell (1983) wrote that listening comprehension plays a fundamental role in second and foreign language acquisition and is critical to the communication process. Listening comprehension is now generally acknowledged as an important facet of language learning. The necessity of the study will be stated in terms of three aspects: 1) Difficulties from the characteristics of listening itself and listeners. 2) Existing problems in the current learning of listening in five-year-program normal schools. 3) Others 1.1.2.1 Difficulties from the characteristics of listening itself and listenersFirstly, tape goes at the same speed for everybody that is unlike other language study. In speaking, learners can at least exercise some controls by using the grammatical structures and vocabulary with which they are familiar and they may also turn to non-verbal mechanism such as gesture, facial expressions and other visual clues to compensate for the language deficiency. Concerning reading, though learners cant dominate drills and vocabularies, they can look up the unfamiliar vocabularies in a dictionary, read at their own pace, go back to the previous paragraph, even pause to analyze the sentence structure to re-examine the material thoroughly and work out the meaning of the material. In writing, one can manipulate the applied words, phrases and drills, and express his own ideas by making full use of the familiar and right phrases and sentences. However, all of this appears powerless in the process of listening. Listening text exists in time rather than spaceit is ephemeral in nature (Flowerdew, 1994, p.10). Spoken material is often heard only once. Of course, we can stop tapes and rewind them. But repeats cannot be asked for when listening to the radio or watching television. So, normally, the listeners have little or no control over the speech rate of the speaker. That is, the speaker is the center of attention for listeners. They feel that the utterances disappear before they can sort them out. It is perhaps this relentlessness of taped materials that frequently makes learners feel hopeless and panic. Secondly, choice of vocabulary is in the hands of the speaker, not the listener, although sometimes listeners can get the meaning of a word from its context, very often, for people listening to a foreign language, an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech. Thirdly, most of the listeners have the wrong opinions that they must make great efforts to memorize and understand every word they hear. The only result is that ineffective comprehension is produced as well as feelings of fatigue and failure. Finally, listeners who are used to listening to carefully graded and scripted materials have difficult in understanding natural native speech. The scripted materials are characterized by slow pace, carefully articulated pronunciation, grammatically correct sentences, more formal language with no background noise while natural native-sound speech is usually characterized by redundancies such as incomplete utterances, repetitions, pauses, fillers, false starts, re-corrections and the random order of information, which often makes listeners at their wits end encountering authentic materials. 1.1.2.2 Existing problems in the current learning of listening in five-year-program normal school We can see clearly the present situation of the teaching of listening in most five-year-program normal school is not encouraging. The listeners have had the least practice in this area (Nauman, 2002). There are many reasons responsible for this.l Lack of “good students”With the expanding of colleges and universities, most students go into senior high schools; only those who do badly in their learning in junior middle schools and fail in the entrance examination are sent to five-year-program normal school. The main work in five-year-program normal school, I think, is the management of the students. The schools lay great emphasis on “taking good care of the students” by all kinds of means, and problems existing in students are then followed: many students in five-year-program normal school do not study hard due to lacking learning motivation and some lose their interest in English or even give up learning English. They often say they learn English rather passively motivated extrinsically by examinations. Some who want to study English also lack of effective learning methods and strategies, accordingly, their overall language proficiency is not high, even rather low.l Lack of teaching resourcesFirst, in most five-year-program normal school, there are big classes with more than forty students. But the English teachers are limited. Often a teacher must give lessons to four or five different classes. And the students individual l