Listening strategies with television texts : a study of Thai university students of English as a foreign language

The aim of the study was to investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner listening strategies. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I was a survey of the difficulties encountered and the strategies used by Thai university EFL learners in listening to the main points of three types of TV texts (news, lifestyle programs, and commercials). This was conducted with two groups of the students in class, using assessment‚Äö-practice‚Äö-assessment procedures. Open-ended questions were used to gain the data, and quantitative data analysis was employed for the findings. Speed and vocabulary were the key difficulties, and inferencing was the main strategy category reported in the two assessment sessions. After the practice sessions, the final assessment indicated that students improved their listening performance with TV lifestyle programs and commercials. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the first and the final assessments of the main points listening performance for TV news. In Phase II, a listening program for developing more effective strategies with TV news was presented and evaluated. The Structured Listening Program (SLP) was undertaken with a group of six upper-intermediate/advanced Thai university EFL students. The main purpose of using the SLP was to retain the characteristics of authentic English texts and assist the learners to make the input comprehensible. The focus was on the explicit teaching of listening strategies targeted at English language TV news. The learners were trained to use listening strategies, moving from directed listening, to facilitated listening and eventually to independent listening. The findings from Phase II demonstrated that the learners became more aware of listening strategies. The SLP encouraged the students to seek more opportunities to listen to a variety of 'real' English outside the classroom Use, Reflection, and Control were three levels of strategy awareness applied in listening to TV news. Students' motivation and confidence in listening to authentic English in natural contexts increased. Students' confidence‚ÄövÑvÆnot only in listening but also in speaking‚ÄövÑvÆwas gradually built up during the SLP. The findings are discussed, and the implications and limitations of the study are documented in the dissertation.