| Summary: | Interest is widely acknowledged as the prime motivator in listening. The Web, as home to
the broadcast media on an enticing on-demand basis, offers second language learners a choice
of interesting listening. But, this study maintains, learners can't take advantage of that choice
without tools to bridge their comprehension gaps. In an attempt to bridge that gap, a 'prototype'
web template called the "Bridge" @ <http://www.callcentre.bc.ca/online> was co-designed by
the researcher and Catouzer Inc. using licensed CBC Radio interviews to simulate a lesson
interface to the authentic web listening world, thus providing structure where there was none.
This research examines whether the Web as a cultural context of choice—"nowness"—gives
students more confidence in their own agency to acculturate, and if that agency, in the form of
being able to control the form language takes, stimulates more awareness. In short, does
listening on the Web lead to acquisition?
Five international upper level ESL students from a private school in Vancouver were
recruited to participate in seven autonomous listening enrichment sessions. Prior to the study
they filled out a Listening Habits Survey, and were pre and post-tested using a truncated version
of a TOEFL Listening Test. Data collection was on 8 mm video;students answered
questionnaires on camera alone and/or were interviewed by the researcher face-to-face. The
subsequent 'thin' ethnographies were analyzed using Constellations, a HyperCard software
application for chunking digital data. The stories that emerge address the students' interaction
with the web site environment, illuminating their learning styles and listening strategies, and in
the end corroborating what is often anecdotal observation that yes, students do enjoy and value
using "tools to think with".
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