The Effect of Shadowing on the English Listening Comprehension Ability of Taiwanese Senior High School Students

• Main Authors: Hsi-Tzu Ma, 馬錫資
• Other Authors: Dr. Feng-Lan Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41220623847508069849

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 英語學系 === 102 === The present study aimed to explore the effect of shadowing instruction on English listening comprehension ability of Taiwanese senior high school students. The participants included 78 students in two sophomore classes of a senior high school in central Taiwan, respectively divided into a treatment group (n=38) and a control group (n=40). The experiment lasted ten weeks, with two weeks distributed to pre- and post-tests and eight weeks to listening training. Both groups spent one class period (50 minutes) each week using the same materials to practice listening; the only difference between the two groups was that the treatment group received shadowing instruction while the control group did not. The instruments involved TOEIC listening mock tests, shadowing materials, as well as pre- and post-experiment questionnaires. The quantitative data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, t-tests, Chi-square test, ANOVA, and McNemar test; the qualitative data were transcribed verbatim for further discussion. The results showed that both groups made significant improvement on the post-test. The treatment group made statistically greater improvement than the control group, which supported the positive role of shadowing on learners’ listening comprehension. In addition, the participants perceived shadowing to be helpful in reducing some of their listening difficulties. All in all, the qualitative analyses were the counterpart of the quantitative results. Based on the results of the study, five pedagogical implications for shadowing instruction were provided. Firstly, shadowing is recommended to be incorporated into EFL classes as a training technique to upgrade learners’ listening proficiency. Secondly, teachers are expected to reinforce their professionalism so as to maximize the effectiveness in teaching listening. Thirdly, vocabulary teaching can be involved in the shadowing activity to eliminate learners’ bottleneck in vocabulary insufficiency. Fourthly, shadowing practice can be merged with speaking or reading activity to facilitate learners’ integrated English competence. Finally, multiple instructional materials should be provided to strengthen learners’ intrinsic motivation for listening.