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Article published In: Seeking Changes in a Challenging Time: New perspectives for proficiency-oriented Chinese teaching and beyond
Edited by Yu Liu, Qiaona Yu and Yu Wu
[Chinese as a Second Language (漢語教學研究—美國中文教師學會學報) 59:2] 2024
► pp. 147–174

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What makes a good L2 listener?

Factors contributing to varied performance in proficiency-based CSL listening comprehension

 | University of Rhode Island
 | Brown University
Published online: 25 February 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.00050.wu
Abstract
Listening poses significant challenges for L2 learners and is difficult to improve (Graham, S. (2011). Self-efficacy and academic listening. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 101, 113–117. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Research shows that L2 Chinese learners’ listening performance lags behind speaking and reading even after four years of college study (Winke, P., Zhang, X., Rubio, F., Gass, S., Soneson, D., & Hacking, J. (2020). The proficiency profile of language students: Implications for programs. Second Language Research & Practice, 1(1), 25–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). However, the factors influencing listening comprehension remain underexplored ( (2015). Investigating the roles of vocabulary knowledge and word recognition speed in Chinese language listening. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 4(1), 47–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Wang, Y., & Treffers-Daller, J. (2017). Explaining listening comprehension among L2 learners of English: The contribution of general language proficiency, vocabulary knowledge and metacognitive awareness. System, 651, 139–150. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). This study investigates the impact of oral proficiency, vocabulary size, metacognitive awareness, and test anxiety on listening comprehension among 89 CSL learners. Results from multiple regression analyses indicate that oral proficiency and vocabulary size are significant predictors of listening performance. For less proficient listeners, oral proficiency was crucial, while vocabulary size was most significant for advanced listeners. The importance of step-by-step vocabulary development and proficiency-guided language output opportunities is discussed.
摘要
听力是最容易让二语学习者产生挫败感，也是一种难以提高的技能（Graham, S. (2011). Self-efficacy and academic listening. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 101, 113–117. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar）。研究表明，在大学学习四年后，中文二语学习者的听力表现仍落后于口语和阅读水平(Winke, P., Zhang, X., Rubio, F., Gass, S., Soneson, D., & Hacking, J. (2020). The proficiency profile of language students: Implications for programs. Second Language Research & Practice, 1(1), 25–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar)。听力涉及到复杂的心理认知过程，然而跟其他三个技能相比，针对影响听力理解因素的研究少之又少 ( (2015). Investigating the roles of vocabulary knowledge and word recognition speed in Chinese language listening. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 4(1), 47–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Wang, Y., & Treffers-Daller, J. (2017). Explaining listening comprehension among L2 learners of English: The contribution of general language proficiency, vocabulary knowledge and metacognitive awareness. System, 651, 139–150. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar)。本研究考察了口语能力、词汇量、元认知意识和考试焦虑对89名中文作为二语学习者听力理解的影响。多元回归分析结果显示，口语能力和词汇量是听力水平最重要的预测因素。对于不善听者，口语能力是唯一显著的预测因素；而对于善听者，词汇量则是唯一显著的预测因素。本文讨论了在教学中，逐步扩展词汇量，以及增加以能力为导向的语言输出机会的重要性。
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Factors that affect listening comprehension
    • 2.2Role of vocabulary in L2 listening comprehension
    • 2.3Metacognitive awareness and test anxiety
    • 2.4Oral proficiency and current state of CSL listening instruction
    • 2.5Research questions
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments
      • 3.2.1Oral proficiency test
      • 3.2.2Chinese Vocabulary Knowledge Test (CVKT)
      • 3.2.3Metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire
      • 3.2.4Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ)
      • 3.2.5Listening comprehension test
    • 3.3Ethical considerations and procedure
    • 3.4Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Descriptive statistics
    • 4.2Listening comprehension variance explained by the four factors
    • 4.3The higher and lower listening proficiency groups
      • 4.3.1The lower listening proficiency group
      • 4.3.2The higher listening proficiency group
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Summary of results
    • 5.2The role of vocabulary knowledge in listening comprehension
    • 5.3The role of oral proficiency in listening comprehension
    • 5.4The role of metacognitive awareness in listening comprehension
    • 5.5The role of test anxiety in listening comprehension
    • 5.6Pedagogical implications
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
References (45)
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