Using Authentic Aural Materials to Identify Learning Strategies Most Frequently Used in the EFL Classroom

Leila Ghaderpanahi and Azin Rahimi, Iran

Leila Ghaderpanahi has been working as an EFL instructor at University of Tehran, University of Azad and University of Al-Zahra, Iran for six years. She got her M.A. in teaching English as a foreign language at University of Al-Zahra in September 2005. She holds a B.A. in English literature. She is currently interested in research on learning strategies, English for specific purposes and foreign language methodology. E-mail: leilaghaderpanahi991@yahoo.com

Dr. Azin Rahimi received her B.A. from an American college, Damavand College, in Tehran, Iran in English literature. She obtained her M.A. in English literature from Shiraz University. She received her PhD in Teaching from Allameh Tabatabaii University. Her interest is in critical pedagogy and humanistic approach to teaching. She has been teaching for more than twenty years in different universities. Right now, she is a full time assistant professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. E-mail: a_rahimi@tums.ac.ir

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Introduction
Research question
Participants
Instruments and procedure
Outcomes
Discussion
Conclusions and implications
References
Appendix A: Learning strategy questionnaire
Appendix B: ANOVA for learning strategy use

Introduction

The assessment of listening comprehension for academic purposes is an area which has not received much attention from researchers (Read, 2005). Rankin (1952) suggests that adults spend more than 40 percent of their communication time listening, in contrast with 31.9 percent speaking, 15 percent reading, and 11 percent writing. Clearly, much of the educational process is based on skills in listening. Students have to spend most of the time listening to what the teacher says, for instance, giving lectures or asking questions. According to Wolvin and Coakley (1979), the amount of time that students are expected to listen to in the classroom ranges from 42 to 57.5 percent of their communication time. Taylor (1964), on the other hand, estimates that nearly 90 percent of the class time in high school and university is spent in listening to discussions and lectures. Since listening occupies such a large percentage of the communication time of most people, it is therefore advantageous to possess effective listening skills in order to meet listening demands that occur daily.

Studies examining the learning strategies of good and poor ones have shown a differential use of strategies pertaining to text type (Henia, 2005). Language learning strategies are thoughts and behaviors that students use to improve their knowledge and understanding of a target language (Cohen, 1998). There are three types of learning strategies: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and social and affective strategies (Chamot, 1993; Oxford et al. 1989; Vandergrift, 1997).Cognitive strategies involve unconscious interactions with the material to be learned, such as inferencing, resourcing, and note-taking. Metacognitive strategies, on the other hand, involve conscious management and control over the learning process, such as planning, paying attention, and monitoring. Metacognitive strategies are conscious and flexible plans that learners apply to particular texts and tasks (Henia, 2005). Social and affective strategies involve interacting with another person or using affective control to assist learning, such as questioning, working with peers, and lowering anxiety (O’Malley et al., 1989; Oxford et al., 1989; Vandergrift, 1997).

The definitions of authentic materials are slightly different in literature. What is common in these definitions is exposure to real language and its use in its own community. Rogers (1988) defines it as ‘appropriate’ and ‘quality’ in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs and interest and ‘natural’ in terms of real life and meaningful communication(p.467).Selecting appropriate materials and activities for language classroom requires much attention. Materials include text books, video and audio tapes, computer software, and visual aids. They influence the content and the procedures of learning. The choice of deductive versus inductive learning, the role of memorization, the use of creativity and problem solving, production versus reception, and the order in which materials are presented are all influenced by the materials (Kitao, 2005). Authentic materials refer to oral and written language materials used in daily situations by native speakers of the language (Rogers& Medley, 1988). Some examples of authentic materials are newspapers, magazines, and television programs. It is necessary for students who are going to study in an English-speaking environment in future to learn how to listen to lectures and take notes, to comprehend native speakers in various kinds of speech situations, as well as to understand radio and television broadcasts (Paulston & Bruder, 1976).This is also true for students who pass English courses in universities. This study identified the learning strategies EFL students used when they experienced authentic listening materials.

Research question

The research question in the present study is the following:
What kinds of learning strategies are most frequently used by EFL students listening to authentic aural materials in the classroom?

Participants

The site of the study was set at Al-Zahra University in the north of Tehran in Iran. Thirty female undergraduate psychology majors, who were enrolled in an EFL class at Al-Zahra University, participated in the study. The students attended the class two days a week, for two hours, from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. The average age of the students was 19 years. The students had all been learning English for an average of 6 years, beginning in guidance school. The teacher-researcher informed the students about the basic procedures of the research study. The students were notified that participation in this research would consist of their regular attendance in the language class, two interviews, and completion of a questionnaire. In order to ensure that student performance was not influenced by the goals of the study, the teacher-researcher did not explain the purpose of the study to the students.

Instruments and procedure

In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the EFL class cooperated in the research and participated in two interview sessions for data collection. The first interview was conducted during the first week of the language program in order to obtain information about the students’ educational background and their English-language listening experiences. The second interview was conducted during the last week of the language program in order to determine the students’ attitudes and points of view on the use of authentic aural materials in EFL listening.

Class observation was also a means by which data for the current study were collected. Class observations were conducted from the beginning through the end of the data collection schedules, for a total of 25 days. The purpose of class observation was for the researcher to notice the authentic materials implemented in the classroom and to closely observe the students’ listening and learning practices with relation to the teacher’s instruction. The teacher- researcher kept an eye on the activities that were taking place in the classroom. Notes were taken on class activities and were categorized for the forthcoming analysis.

The textbook used in this particular EFL program was Insight into IELTS by Jakeman and McDowell (1999). The listening module of the book was to provide EFL students with opportunities to listen to authentic texts. After listening to each listening part, the students were to perform various tasks in order to develop academic-listening skills: listening for the main idea, note-taking, orientating to the text, listening for specific information, identifying detail, seeing beyond the surface meaning, following signpost words and being aware of stress, rhythm and intonation.

The students were asked to respond to a language learning strategy questionnaire during the second interview. The learning strategy questionnaire was distributed to identify the behaviors employed by the students when they listened to the target language. The language learning strategy questionnaire was derived from the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) developed by Oxford (1994). This 10-item self-report instrument used a five-point Likert scale, ranging from very rarely true to almost always true, to assess the frequency the students used different techniques for English-language listening (see appendix A).

Generally, the teacher-researcher started each lesson with a few pre-listening exercises like discussion about the illustrations in the textbook, pronunciation of vocabulary items, and matching definitions with vocabulary item. Then the teacher-researcher normally introduced an audio-tape related to the listening tasks.

When the teacher-researcher began to play the tape for the first time, she generally paused the tape after a few sentences, to ask the students to identify the vocabulary items they had practiced during the pre-listening phase, before she continued the tape. After the students had listened to the tape for a few times, they did some exercises related to what they had heard. The exercises during the listening phase primarily involved indicating the main idea and the supporting details. Then, the teacher-researcher played the tape one or two more times so that the students could practice taking notes.

The teacher-researcher also assigned certain tasks that the students had to perform or complete, during the listening activity, such as answering questions and getting specific information about some points related to the listening material.

Outcomes

The analysis of data obtained from learning strategy questionnaire, interviews with students, class observation, and the one-way ANOVA on the mean strategy use revealed a significant difference among the means of using the ten strategies (F = 12.94, P < .05) (see appendix B). The results indicated that the learning strategies EFL students frequently used were paying attention when someone was speaking English, asking the other person to say again if they did not understand something, and making guesses to understand unfamiliar words. Table 1 presents the overall findings of the students’ responses to the learning strategy questionnaire.

Table 1: Responses to Questionnaire on Learning Strategy Use

Discussion

The study showed that the students participating in this research used all three types of learning strategies to facilitate their comprehension and language learning. Cognitive strategies frequently used by the EFL students were inferencing: using available information to guess meanings of unfamiliar words, resourcing: using available reference sources such as a dictionary, and note-taking: writing down key words to assist the listening task. Metacognitive strategies used by the students were directed attention: deciding in advance to attend to the listening task and maintaining attention while listening; seeking practice opportunities: deciding to practice listening skills by listening to “Insight into IELTS” tapes. Social and affective strategies used by the students in this study were questioning: asking another person to say again or to slow down.

Language learning strategies are good indicators of how learners approach tasks or problems encountered during the process of language learning (Hismanoglu, 2005). The language learning strategies used by different language learners vary according to many variables including motivation, gender, cultural background, and learning style (Gardner, Tremblay, & Masgoret, 1997; Grainger, 1997; Green & Oxford, 1995; Nyikos & Oxford, 1993; Oxford 1994).

Conclusions and implications

The process of listening comprehension is highly complex. The knowledge and skills necessary for listening comprehension must be all utilized simultaneously. Before we can sort out what we have just heard, the speech disappears. What is worse, we can not get the speech repeated. We must comprehend the text as we listen to it, retain the information in memory, integrate it with what follows, and continually adjust our understanding of what we hear in the light of prior knowledge and incoming information. Given this heavy processing load, listeners may lose concentration rather quickly and sometimes give up listening all together. Less proficient learners of English as a foreign language have even more serious problems. Many of them are fully occupied with identifying the words used in the speech, and there is almost no space for top down processing. A situation like this is a long way from the successful listening.

To avoid the above mentioned difficulties of listening comprehension, one of the effective ways is to reduce the speech rate. Most learners having difficulty in comprehending aural texts identify the reason for their failure as being due to the rapidity of speech. For them, the speech is too fast to follow. Modified forms of speech, such as caretaker talk and foreigner talk, are all characterized as slow speech with longer and more frequent pauses at constituent boundaries.

Many EFL students experience difficulty making the transition from hearing classroom language to understanding natural speech in the real world (Schmidt-Rinehart, 1994). Implementing aural authentic materials in the language classroom exposes EFL students to real-language use from the beginning of language study.

Jensen & Vinther (2003) noted that exact repetition is a modification device that is relatively infrequent in natural interaction but is psycholinguistically interesting because it enhances the degree to which learners are exposed to input, promoting in this way their abilities for noticing formal features. Classroom listening must prepare students for real listening; aural authentic texts will expose students to real language from the beginning of their language study (Bacon, 1992; Morton, 1999). However, in order to ensure transfer to real-life conversational situations, the teacher has to provide language material that is presented with authentic native accents and intonation at a speech of utterance that is normal for native speakers of the language (Grittner, 1980). Students working with authentic materials will gain valuable practice in the specific skill of making sense of live speech without necessary understanding every word of structure; then, an increase in listening comprehension is a natural consequence of this practice (Herron & Seay, 1991).

The present study indicates that students found the sessions, devoted to practicing authentic texts, beneficial and enjoyable. During these sessions, students were exposed to a variety of authentic texts such as IELTS texts and audio tapes. Meanwhile, the teacher was constantly present, providing ongoing guidance as well as individual counseling for different minor problems the students met at the early stages, motivating them to listen, and helping them gain confidence in listening to foreign language.

In conclusion, since a goal of classroom listening is to prepare students for real-life listening outside the classroom, it is necessary to implement authentic aural materials at all levels of language instruction and listening-comprehension training.

From the pedagogic point of view, using authentic aural texts may be an effective teaching tool for EFL teachers in science institutions and particularly those teaching undergraduate students in universities. It is clear that using authentic aural texts in the specific context it was used, had a positive effect on students’ processing of listening comprehension, and could be presented as a supplemental teaching tool.

Another implication of this study is that more time is needed to develop discipline specific listening skills and encourage using authentic aural texts inside the classroom so as to prepare students for independent listening. Also, since most of our students come from a teacher-centered learning background, they need help in moving from the state of dependence on the instructor to becoming independent listeners in the target language. This independence in listening can be achieved if students are first introduced to the techniques of listening, and, second and most importantly, if they are given a real chance to practice these techniques and gain familiarity in their use. Already there is a general consensus that one learns to listen by listening. The teacher can herself role-model or bring a main course lecturer to talk about his or her experience in listening to English. This can come, for example, in the form of a think-aloud demonstration in order to model what is required for academic listening. Another role of the teacher is to set up the listening tasks for students to practice listening. These tasks can come in the form of challenging activities that motivate students to interact with the text and use their discipline-specific background knowledge to discuss certain points raised in the listening materials.

For most students in this study, EFL classroom is the place where they primarily experience the target language and practice the language skills. In order to prepare the students with the language they tend to learn, EFL teachers have to talk in a normal way using normal rate of speech so that the students would not experience much difficulty listening and understanding other native speakers.

The teacher must also have access (especially in the early sessions) to a laboratory with adequate facilities. It is no exaggeration to say that for many of the students understanding English is a mater of importance, and some departments are already showing signs of readiness to invest in whatever teaching and learning resources might improve their students’ proficiency in the target language. EFL teachers need to take advantage of this generally positive atmosphere in order to provide appropriate courses that respond to the specific needs of their students.

References

Bacon, S.M. (1992). Phases of listening to authentic input in Spanish: A descriptive study. Foreign Language Annals, 25, 317-334.

Chamot, A.U. (1993). Student responses to learning strategy instruction in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 26, 308-321.

Cohen, A.D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. London: Longman.

Gardner, R.C., Tremblay, P.F., & Masgoret, A. (1997). Towards a full model of second language learning: An empirical investigation. The Modern Language Journal, 81, 344-362.

Grainger, P.R. (1997). Language-learning strategies for learners of Japanese: Investigating ethnicity. Foreign Language Annals, 30, 378-385.

Green, J.M., & Oxford, R. (1995). A closer look at learning strategies, L2 proficiency, and gender. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 261-297.

Grittner, F.M. (Ed.). (1980). Learning a second language: Seventy-ninth yearbook of the national society for the study of educational: Part II. Chicago, IL: The National Society for the Study of Education.

Henia, N. (2005). Evaluating the effectiveness of metacognitive strategy. Retrieved June 21, 2005, from www.elsevier.com

Herron, C.A., & Seay, I. (1991). The effect of authentic oral texts on student listening comprehension in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 24, 487-495.

Hismanoglu, M. (2005). Language learning strategies. Retrieved June 21, 2005, from www.iteslj.org

Jakeman, V., & McDowell, C. (1999). Insight into IELTS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jensen, E. D., & Vinther, T. (2003). Exact repetition as input enhancement in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 53, 373-428.

Kitao, K. (2005). Selecting and developing teaching/ learning materials. Retrieved June 21, 2005, from www.iteslj.org/articles/kitao-materials.html

Morton, R. (1999). Abstracts as authentic material for EAP classes. ELT Journal, 53, 177-182.

Nyikos, M., & Oxford, R. (1993). A factor analytic study of language-learning strategy use: Interpretations from information-processing theory and social psychology. The Modern Language Journal, 77, 11-22.

O’Malley, J.M., Chamot, A.U., & Kupper, L. (1989). Listening comprehension strategies in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 10, 418-437.

Oxford, R. (1994). Language learning strategies. Retrieved October 8, 2004, from www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/oxford01.html

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Paulston, C.B., & Bruder, M.N. (1976). Teaching English as a second language: Techniques and procedures. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.

Rankin, P.T. (1952). The measurement of the ability to understand spoken language (Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1926). Dissertation Abstracts, 12, 847-848.

Read. J. (2005). The use of interactive input in EAP listening assessment. Retrieved June 21, 2005, from www.elsevier.com

Rogers, C.V., & Medley, F.W., Jr. (1988). Language with a purpose: Using authentic materials in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 21, 467-478.

Schmidt-Rinehart, B.C. (1994). The effects of topic familiarity on second language listening comprehension. The Modern Language Journal, 78, 179-189.

Taylor, S.E. (1964). Listening: What research says to the teacher. Washington, DC: National Education Association.

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Appendix A: Learning strategy questionnaire

Please read each statement and answer in terms of how well the statement describes you. Do not answer how you think you should be, or what other people do. Give a response (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that tells how true of you the statement is.

1. The statement is very rarely true.
2. The statement is true less than half the time.
3. The statement is true about half the time.
4. The statement is true more than half the time.
5. The statement is true almost always.

• I think of relationships between what I already know and new things I learn in English.
• I create a mental image of what I heard.
• I watch English language TV programs spoken in English.
• I listen to the radio.
• I try not to translate word-for-word.
• To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.
• I try to guess what the other person will say next in English.
• I pay attention when someone is speaking English.
• If I do not understand something in English, I ask the other person to slow down or say it again.
• I try to learn about the culture of English speakers.

Appendix B: ANOVA for learning strategy use

Table B-1: Results of One-way ANOVA for Mean Strategy Use

Table B-2: Descriptive Strategy Score

Table B-3: Test of Homogeneity of Variances

Table B-4: Multiple Comparisons

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