The Effect of Repetition on Listening Comprehension: A Study of College Students Learning English in Taiwan

• Main Authors: YI-LING CHUNG, 仲怡玲
• Other Authors: CHUN CHUNG LIN
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/40010280229368933455

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 西洋語文研究所 === 90 === Some evidence has shown that repetition could make input more comprehensible and enhance comprehension in second language learning. This study nevertheless attempted to examine the effect of repetition on the listening comprehension of college students in Taiwan. Repetition in this study particularly means repetition of listening to a text. The subjects of this study were fifty freshmen at Tamkang University. Instruments consisted of a questionnaire on the subjects’ background information, a TOEFL listening test, the English test of the Joint University Entrance Examinations for the Academic Year of 2001, and an audiotaped article and 10 multiple-choice comprehension questions. After data collection, the difference between the pre-test and post-test was compared and analyzed. Findings are summarized as follows. Firstly, in terms of the frequency of listening, females took more times listening to the tape than males. Secondly, there was no significant difference between repetition and listening comprehension. That is to say, no strong relationship could be established between repetition and enhancement in listening comprehension. Third, there was a negative relationship between listening proficiency and listening frequency. In other words, the subjects who listened more times did not really have higher achievement in listening comprehension. Conversely, the subjects who listened two times gain higher scores than the three-time listeners in the listening comprehension test. Fourth, the investigation of the relationship between repetition and gender, and between repetition and prior experience with listening courses found no correlation. Last, there was significant correlation between listening proficiency and reading proficiency. Based upon the findings in this study, the researcher suggests that listening skills should be emphasized in the language teaching process. Teachers should be cautious to use repeated listening to help students improve listening comprehension, since it does not really enhance comprehension. Furthermore, pre-listening activities such as providing vocabulary may contribute to listening comprehension.