Explicit Listening Strategy Training for Lower-Proficiency EFL Learners
Description
This data set is from a quasi-experimental study designed to determine whether or not an explicit listening strategy instruction program can effectively improve lower proficiency EFL learners’ listening skills and self-efficacy as L2 listeners. The sample (N=129) was divided into three groups. The first group (n=43) consisted of two classes and they received 19 hours of strategy training and additional comprehensible listening input (STI). The second group (n=48) received 11 hours of strategy training (ST) only and included three classes. The third group (n=38), receiving no explicit listening strategy instruction, was the control group (CG) and consisted of two classes. Data was gathered at pre- and post-training stages which included (1) a listening comprehension test, (2) a listening cloze test, and (3) TOEIC® listening section scores. Student perceptions of their self-efficacy as L2 listeners were collected with the listening self-efficacy questionnaire (LSEQ) created by Graham and Macaro (2008). Student responses (on a 100-point scale) to the four LSEQ questions are reported in this data set. After our review of the data, we were unable to find any strong empirical evidence that the lower-proficiency EFL learners’ listening performance improved as a result of the explicit listening strategy training.
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Steps to reproduce
To appraise changes in listening performance, we created pre- and post-training listening tests. The listening tests featured a conversation between two, non-native English speakers (Mexican male and Guatemalan female). The test was presented to students on a double-sided A4 sheet of paper. The first section (side one) asked six multiple-choice listening comprehension questions. Then, for the second listening, students were asked to turn over the sheet and complete a cloze task based on the conversation transcript. Immediately following the cloze test, students’ perceptions of their listening abilities and confidence were measured using a digital, Japanese version of Graham and Macaro’s (2008) Listening Self-efficacy Questionnaire - LSEQ. Students also sat a standardized English proficiency test, the TOEIC listening and reading test. Students sat a version of this test one week prior to and one week after the treatment period. All statistical analysis was undertaken using the JASP 0.9.1.0 (jasp-stats.org) software. The independent variable was the treatment group and there were three sets of dependent measurements taken at the pre- and post-treatment stages: (1) listening comprehension test scores, (2) cloze test scores, and (3) TOEIC listening section scores. We carried out an ANCOVA to assess whether membership in either of the three groups had an influence on scores at the end of the treatment. Similarly, we also carried out an ANCOVA to establish which group had the greatest shifts in listening self-efficacy (research question three).