CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Being able to listen well is an important part of communication for everyone.

A student with good listening comprehension skills will be able to participate more

effectively in communicative situations. Students spent their greater time in

listening in different places like in their home, market, school, etc. This means that

listening is one of the most important in five macro skills and is a part of learning in

all curricular areas.

In reality, listening is used for more than any other single language skill in

normal daily life. On average, it is expected to listen twice as much as to speak, four

times more than to read, and five times more than to write (Rivers, Weaver 1972;

cited in Fouad 2012).

According to Chastain (1971), Listening comprehension is the ability to

understand native speech on structured situations. Listening comprehension

encompasses the multiple processes involved in understanding and making sense

of spoken language. These include recognizing speech sounds, understanding the

meaning of individual words, and/or understanding the syntax of sentence in which

they are presented. Listening comprehension can also involve the prosody with

which utterances are spoken, and making relevant inferences based on context,

real-world knowledge, and speaker-specific attributes.

There are various definitions of listening comprehension, its implication and

its significance came from several scholars and researchers:

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 Brown and Yule (1983) explained listening comprehension as a process of

understanding, repeating what was heard, figuring out the meaning of an exact

word, and then knowing what an expression refers to.

Rost (2002) described listening comprehension as a process of trying to

understand what spoken language refers to in ones experience or in the real world.

Goss (1982; cited in Fouad 2012) defines listening comprehension as mental

processes in which the listeners attempt to construct a meaning out of the

information receive from the speakers. In addition, listening as a mental process

requires a great deal of cognitive effort in the part of the listener such as

interpreting the sounds, figuring out the meaning of the words and activating the

background knowledge.

Similarly, Wipf (1984) defines listening as a complex mental process that

entails, receiving, interpreting and reacting to sounds being received from a sender

and finally retaining what was gathered and relating it to the intermediate as well as

the broader socio-cultural context of utterance.

Povotsky (1978; cited in Fouad 2012) found in result that, lent support to the

Delayed oral Method by comparing two groups of Russian learners. The control

group received instruction that required intensive exposure to aural materials. At

the end of the treatment, the experimental group not only excelled on the listening

skill but also on the speaking skill.

Also, Morely (1972) defines listening comprehension as the ability not only to

discriminate auditory grammar, but also to reauditorize, extract essential

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information, remember it and relate it every which entails processing sound and

construction of meaning.

On the other hand, to achieve comprehensible input that would enhance

listening skill, there are several theories and studies that identified language

learning strategies. Oxford (1990 cited in Murcia 2006), proposed taxonomy of

learning strategies for second language use. Strategies specific to listening

proficiency are based on the list which include the categories of metacognitive,

cognitive, and socio-affective strategies.

Based on the study of Goh (2000), it was investigated that the learners

strategy knowledge through a questionnaire, and she found out that the more

proficient listeners had a higher degree of awareness of their listening process.

Moreover, previous research has indicated that more skilled learners use more

metacognitive sstrategies (i.e, planning, monitoring, and self-evaluation) than less

skilled learners (Baker and Brown, 1984; O Malley and Chamot, 1990; Rubin 1987).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to determine the Listening Proficiency Levels and Strategies

Of The Selected Grade 8 Students Of La Salette Of Roxas College, Inc. S.Y. 2016-

2017.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the listening comprehension levels of the respondents?

SITUATION ANALYSIS

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 We, the researchers, would like to conduct this study because authors such

as Tapscott (1999, 2009), Howe and Strauss (1991, 2000), Prensky (2001a, 2001b,

2009, 2010), Oblinger and Oblinger (2005), Palfrey and Gasser (2008) and others

have argued that because todays generation of young people have been immersed

in a world infused with networked and digital technologies, they behave differently

to previous generations. It is claimed that they think differently, they learn

differently, they exhibit different social characteristics and have different

expectations about life and learning. Digital Natives are used to receiving

information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their

graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like

hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification

and frequent rewards. Because of this, students seem to give little attention in

listening skills.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Listening comprehension is a set of highly integrated skills, all which play an

important role in the process of language acquisition and the development of

related language skills. According to Murcia (2006), novice or beginning stage is

very short duration. Almost immediately upon hearing the new language, learners

begin to sift and soft the acoustic information by forming categories and building a

presentation of the L2 system. Intermediate students are refining their

understanding if the grammatical system of their second or foreign language,

listening can be used to stimulate awareness of detail and to promote accuracy.

Advanced levels students are able readers and written language has become a

variable source of input, listening should still occupy a central place in their

language use. Superior is able to understand the main ideas of all speech in a

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standard dialect, including technical discussion in a field of specialization, can follow

the essentials extend discourse which is propositionally and linguistically complex,

as in academic or professional settings, in lectures, speeches, and reports. Listener

shows some appreciation of aesthetic norms of target language, of idioms,

colloquialisms, and register shifting, able to make inferences within the cultural

framework of the target language. Understanding is aided by an awareness of the

underlying organizational structure of the oral text and includes sensitivity for its

social and cultural references and its effective overtones. Rarely misunderstands

but may not understand excessively rapid, highly colloquial speech or speech that

has strong cultural references and distinguished was able to understand all forms

and styles of speech pertinent to personal, social, and professional needs tailored to

different audiences. Show strong sensitivity to social and cultural references and

aesthetic norms by processing language from within the cultural framework. Texts

include theater plays, screen production, editorials, symposia, academic debates,

public policy statements, literacy readings, and most jokes and puns may have

difficulty with some dialects and slang. Consequently, an awareness and

deployment of effective listening comprehension strategies can help learners make

the most of the language input to which they are exposed.

Cited in the book of Murcia (2006) dual perspective into account, Richards

(1990) proposes a model of materials design for second or foreign language

listening comprehension that combines language functions (interactional and

transactional) and language processes ( top-down and bottom up). He observes that

extent to which one or the other process dominates is determined by (a) whether

the purpose for the listening is transactional or interactional, (b) what kind of

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background knowledge can be applied to the task, and (c) what degree of familiarity

listeners have with the topic. He concludes, too often listening texts require

students to adopt a single approach in listening, one which demands a detailed

understanding of the content of discourse and the recognition of every word and

structure that occurs in a text. Students should not be required to respond to

interactional discourse as if it were being used for a transactional purpose, nor

should they be expected to use a bottom-up approach to an aural text if a top-down

one is more appropriate.

PARADIGM OF THE STUDY

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Listening Evaluate the Listening

Comprehension Level Comprehension of the
of the selected Grade selected Grade 8
8 students of La students
Salette of Roxas
College, Inc.

6
 FEEDBACK

Figure 01. Paradigm of the Study

To show the flow of the study, the researchers will employ Input-Process-Output-

Model. This explains that the researcher will be using a recorded passage to gauge

the listening proficiency levels and listening strategies of the respondents. The two

mentioned variables are the expected output of the study. Wherein, it will be done

through administering comprehensions questions and listening comprehension

checklist for the identification of listening level and strategies needed to

comprehend the given selection.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Listening is the beginning of understanding. And until now, this gains great

significance to any lifes endeavor. Therefore, as this study explores the

comprehension levels and strategies of the respondents, it hopes to be beneficial to

the following:

Students

This study is to give opportunity to the students to improve their performance

growth in the tasks that the language offers them.

School administrator

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 The result of this study would give them solid basis for taking actions to

improve the listening skills and to remedy the problems encountered by the

teachers concerned.

Curriculum makers and planners

It serves as guide for them to plan, design and develop curriculum beneficial

and effective towards L2 learning.

Teachers

The result of this study may provide teachers with vital information that could

enable them to make the necessary adjustments in their approaches, methods and

strategies of teaching.

Researchers

The undertaking of this study helps the researchers to become more

independent and confident. This study benefited the researchers by enriching their

skills involved in the conduct of the study.

Future researchers

The result of this study may serve as a benchmark for future researchers who

will undergo further studies related to listening comprehension and other related

studies.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

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 This study entitled Listening Proficiency Levels and Strategies of The

Selected Grade 8 Students of La Salette of Roxas College, Inc. S.Y 2016-2017 used

descriptive method that explained the listening proficiency levels and strategies of

language learners. It selected 30 respondents through simple random sampling

using fish bowl technique. Relationship of the variables mentioned is considered

limitation of the study. Furthermore, it shall be limited too to the issues concerning

validity, reliability and generalizability.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms are conceptually, operationally, and theoretically defined

for better and common understanding of the readers.

Checklist. A list of items required, things to be done, or points to be considered,

used as a reminder.

Cognitive strategy. Are problem solving techniques that learners use to handle

the learning tasks and acquisition of knowledge or skill (Derry and Murphy, (1986).

Comprehension. This is the ability to grasp the entire meaning of reading

selection, which includes four dimensions; literal, interpretative, critical and

application.

Comprehension Level. It refers to the level of language learners towards listening

comprehension. The American council on Teaching of Foreign Language categorizes

it as novice, intermediate, advanced, superior and distinguished.

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Language Learning Strategies. It refers to techniques that learners utilize to

improve the use of the target language information.

Listening Comprehension Rubric.A scale with descriptive criteria at each score

point or level used in assessing learners listening level. (Refer to Appendix)

Listening Comprehension Questionnaire (LCQ). A test use to test learners

understanding to a particular selection which centers on the four dimensions: literal,

interpretative, critical, and application and evaluation.

Listening Dimensions. These are the dimensions being tested by LCQ (Listening

Comprehension Questionnaire). The dimensions are:

Literal- Questions that answered the 4Ws (What, Who, When, and Where)

Interpretative- Can answer the Why and How question.

Critical- These are questions that can put a respondent into a situation.

Application/Evaluation- These are questions that the respondents employed to

know how to value.

Listening Skill. It is the ability of the students to understand the English language

as heard by him and communicated to him orally.

Listening Strategy Checklist.It presents the three major taxonomy of language

learning: Cognitive, Metacognitive and Socio-affective (Oxford, 1990). Each of the

categories lists micro listening strategies used by L2 learners.

Metacognitive Strategy. Beyond or with cognitive, provides learners with ways to

coordinate their learning.

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Second Language (L2). Integration is the process in language Proficiency that

selects incoming meaning input from lower processes such as word recognition and

parsing and integrates these inputs into a coherent meaning representation in the

mind of the comprehender.

Socio-Affectiive Strategy. Techniques employ to collaborate with others to verify

understanding, or to lower anxiety.

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the summary of related literature and related studies

collected by the teacher. Such, materials, both conceptual and research literature

are related to the present research undertaking either in purpose or in research

design.

Foreign:

The interest in listening comprehension strategies has involved in a number

of studies (O Malley, Chamot, and Walker, 1987: Oxford and Crookall, 1989:

Wenden and Robin, 1987). Cited in Oxfrod (1990) defines language learning

strategies as the techniques that learners utilize to improve the use of the target

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language information. O Malley and Chamot (1989) categorize strategies into two

groups: cognitive, metacognitve. However, a third category, socio-affective, was

added to describe the learning that takes place when learners interact with

classmates s the teachers for clarification or use specific techniques to lower their

anxiety. Skilled-learners where found to be more strategies than their less skilled

counterparts. Also there were differences in the types of strategies skilled and less

skilled learners used. Here are the types of strategies discuss separately.

Cognitive Strategies

Cognitive strategies are behaviors, techniques, or actions used by learners to

faciliatate acquisition of knowledge or a skill ( Thompson and Rubin 1996).

Thompson and Rubin go on to list such cognitive strategies in include elaborating,

inferencing, predicting, listening to the known (cognates, transfer, grammar), and

visualization. They also note that these strategies arise as responses to specific

processing problems that leaners encounter. An article which presents findings

from research into listening strategies of ESL learners offers the following

definition. Cognitive strategies are more directly related to a learning task and

involve direct manipulation or transformation of the learning materials (Brown and

Palinscar, 1982; O Malley and Chamot, 1990), language learners use cognitive

strategies to help their process store and recall new information (Goh, 1998). Two

broad types of cognitive strategies have been the subject of L2 listening research:

the bottom-up and top-down. Bottom-up strategies include word-for-word

translation, adjusting the rate of speech, repeating the oral text, and focusing on

prosodic features of the text. The top-down strategies, on the other hand, includes

predicting, inferencing, elaborating and visualization. The first strategy, trying to

comprehend without translating, is used when the listener attempts to understand

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the L2 input without translating to L1. This strategy directs the listeners attention

to the meaning and structure of target language. The second cognitive strategy is

focusing on the main words to understand the new words. The listener creates

meaning by applying his/her knowledge of words from the target language to

sentences. The strategy is very useful, especially for beginning listeners, who rely

on their small vocabulary repertoire to build their comprehension. The third

cognitive strategy is relying on the main idea to comprehend the whole text. The

strategy helps the listeners locate the theme first and details later on.

Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognitive Strategies are management techniques employed by learners

to have control over their learning through planning, monitoring, evaluating and

modifying (Rubin 1987). According to Oxford (1990), the conscious use of

metacognitive strategies helps learners get back their focus when they lose it.

However, learners do not use metacognitive strategies very frequently despite the

importance of self-monitoring and self-evaluation. Baker and Brown (1984) identified

two types of metacognitive ability: knowledge of cognition and regulation of

cognition. The first type is concerned with the learners awareness of what is going

on, and the second type relates to what learners should do to listen effectively. O

Malley (1989) found that skilled listeners use more repair strategies to redirect their

attention back to the past when there is a comprehension breakdown , whereas less

skilled listeners give up and stop listening. Vandergift (2003) found that skilled

listeners used twice as many cognitive strategies as their less skilled counterparts.

Socio-Affective Strategies

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 The last category of strategies is socio0affective, which encompasses the

attempts to create and promote positive emotional reactions and attitudes towards

language learning (Chamot and O Malley 1987). Vandergift (2003) defined socio-

affective strategies as the techniques listeners employ to collaborate with others to

verify understanding, or lower anxiety. According to Gardner and Macintype (1992,

1993), the affective strategies used to control learning experiences are very

important because the learning experiences are very important because the

learning context and learners are directly related.

Based from the report of Martin (1982), learners orient themselves to the

listening task by becoming accustomed with the various characteristics of the input,

such as sound quality, rate of speed, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Second,

learners decode input and attempt to fit meanings together to determine the main

idea of the input. Once the main idea is established, learners can then draw upon

their previous knowledge. Martin also noted that the strategy use occurs in the

second and third phases of the listening process.

From the statement of Young (1977), learners need to follow a specific

pattern of strategy. He says that learners first employ either inferencing to guess

the topic of the text through contextual and acoustic cues, or elaboration to activate

their background knowledge of the topic. Once background knowledge had been

activated, learners employ summarization to reinforce their interpretation of the

text. At this point, learners employ strategies such as self-monitoring and self-

evaluation to monitor and control comprehension or evaluate strategy used. First

and foremost in addition to finding similar pattern of strategy used, both of these

studies confirmed and emphasized the active nature of listening comprehension.

Learners take an active role in orienting themselves to the listening task, assessing

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their background knowledge and comparing their interpretation of the input with

the actual input. They also evaluate and monitor their strategy use. This information

is critical for the presentation of listening materials.

Taking from the statement of Mendelsohn (1994, 1995), teaching second

language listening should encourage employing the same strategies that they use

in first language. Moreover, this strategy brings to a conscious level and helping

learners apply them in a second text. The conscious use of strategies allows to be

monitored and facilitates strategy training. Furthermore, monitoring and training

increase the learners confidence and their ability to tackle more difficult listening

passages. In addition, a strategy-based approach will help learners recognize the

value of increasing their repertoires of strategies, thereby allowing them to become

autonomous in their strategies. This type of strategy-based approach wil help

learners replace ineffective one. According to Mendelson, a strategy-based

approach to teaching-listening comprehension does not preclude the need for

extensive practice in listening.

Taking from the consideration of the argument of Vandergrift (1997),

instruction in strategic competence can empower beginning students, providing

them with useful tools for solving communication problems and enhancing

communication. Thereby, he proposed three steps to be included in strategy

instruction: (a) present student with appropriate expressions to ask for assistance

and indicate non-comprehension; (b) develop and use training videos that allow

learners to observe and discuss strategy use; (c) model and practice reception

strategies in class, particularly in group and cooperative activities that require the

learners to negotiate meaning. Furthermore , Vandergrift(1996,1997, 199) proposed

a different set of steps to guide learners through the listening process and foster the

15
development of meta cognitive strategies in particular: (a) familiarize learners with

idea of strategies ; (b) teach learners to become strategically smart ; (c) teach

evaluating strategies; (d) teach monitoring strategies; (e) teach evaluating

Strategies ;(f) help learners deal with anxiety ; (g) talk the learners in the target

language ; and (h) expose learners to relevant listening texts. In addition Vandergrift

(1997b) during the first two years of language study, with the learners gradually

taking over the Meta cognitive role from their instructor.

Trying to differentiate between strategies and tactics Goh(1998), define

strategy as a general approach to solving a comprehension problem and tactic as a

specific action or step taken to solve the comprehension problem. moreover, Goh

found that more proficient listeners used more strategies than less proficiency

learners the more proficient listeners employed 10 cognitive and 8 meta cognitive

tactics. Based on these findings, Gohobserved that less proficient listeners may be

more hampered by using fewer tactics , especially meta cognitive tactics, than they

are by using fewer strategies . furthermore ,Goh (2002) identified a total of 44

different tactics used by the learners: 22 cognitive tactics grouped under eight

cognitive strategies and 22 meta cognitive tactics grouped under six meta

cognitive.

The Listening Process

As a communicator, the listener engages in a sequence of behaviors that are

generally accepted to characterize the decoding process: receiving , attending,

perceiving, interpreting, and responding.

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Receiving

The listener receives messages . During reception, the listener employs

auditory and visual sensory receptors. While the listening process can include

hearing sounds, listening and hearing are not synonymous function that many

individuals assume. The auditory reception of the message is itself a detailed

process involving the intricate mechanism. the sound must enter the middle ear ,set

into vibration the tympanic membrane , and be conducted through the inner ear to

the brain .problems with the hearing mechanism can compound the receptive

process . Research at the National Institutes of Health suggests that as many as one

out of every nine Americans has some type of hearing loss . Exposure to loud

music , especially through head sets , has been identified as a major contributor to

this situation. While many researchers and practitioners have focused their

definitions and models of listening on listening to auditory-only stimuli , listening

also involves the visual channel when the source of the stimulus is in the presence

of the listener. The visual channel is an influential communication media , the other

senses ( smell,taste,touch) impact the listener as well.

Attending

After the message has been received through auditory and visual channels ,

it must be attended to in the working memory (Baddeley& Hitch, 1974) . at this

point, the listener is required to focus on the auditory and /or the visual stimuli and

concentrate on the message received. While researchers differ as how the short-

term memory system receives and holds the information, they do agree that the

attention span is quite limited. Cognitive psychologists recognize that attention is a

17
limited resource of fixed capacity of sensory systems and memory mechanisms

combined .the human attention span today undoubtedly has been limited further by

the impact of the media. Many people raised in the television generation , for

example , have come to expect a-7 to 10 minutes program format with time out for

a commercial break. This shortened attention spam affects ones capacity to listen

to lectures , to participate in conversation , and generally to function as a listener in

all sorts of settings . A listeners ability to attend to a message is influenced

significantly by attention energy. Kahneman (1973) has determined that attention

energy may be distributed according to (1) the difficulty of the mental task;

automatic, unconscious communication rules ( such as focusing on the speaker who

uses the listeners name); and (3) conscious decisions ( such as focusing on ones

supervisors message rather than on that from a coworker)

Perceiving

Attention to the message is affected not only by the listeners energy in short

term memory system but also by the listeners perceptual filter. The perceptual filter

serves to screen the stimulus so that ones predispositions alter the message

received. The listeners frame of reference --all of ones background ,experience,

roles, and mental , and physical states makes up the perceptual filter. The frame

frame of reference establishes the perceptual expectations that listeners bring to

the communication so that, essentially , we see and hear what we want to see and

hear. The listener who understands how the frame of reference shapes his or her

listening behavior can function at a more sophisticated level. This understanding

should extend to understanding the other communicator/s why they are

18
responding as they do. Getting to this level of emphatic perception affords the

listener a solid of reference for interpreting the message.

Interpreting

Once the message has been received and perceived by the listener through

the auditory, visual, and attention processors , the message must be interpreted by

the listener. This stage of listening process involves fitting the verbal and/or

nonverbal messages for the meanings. Lundsteen (1979) describes this

representational process as one of internal speech . Decoding the verbal and

nonverbal language varies according to each individuals perceptual filter and

linguistic category system, so the original intent of speakers message may be

misinterpreted , distorted , or even completely changed as the listeners meaning is

assigned. The assignment of meaning to the message is influenced not only by the

linguistic category system but also ones cognitive processing. This mental activity is

framed by the hemispheric dominance of an individual ; by his or her inductive,

deductive or intuitive orientation; and by long term memory. As the message is

processed , it is analyzed , visualized, and associated according to the linguistic

categories in the long term memory store . As individuals are called on to handle a

vast amount of information during the course of any givn day, techniques to process

and recall information become critical.

Some cognitive psychologists use schema theory to describe this complex

task of decoding and interpreting the messages . Schema theory posits that

humans carry schematamental representations of knowledge--in their brains.

These organized information structures consist of nodes(concepts,events,objects)

19
and links (relationship of the nodes). New information that listener receive is first

run through existing schemata, or scripts, and then interpreted. Schemata

represents the generic concepts that are stored in memory and relate persons or

objects to attributes or relate actions to anticipated consequences. Smith (1982)

suggests that schemata serve important listening functions in (1) telling us what we

should attend, (2) serving as the framework for interpreting incoming information,

(3) guiding the reconstruction of the messages in memory. Cognitive responses to

the message , thus, serve to frame the listeners interpretation of the information

received.

Responding

After assigning ones own meaning to the message , the listener responds to

it. This phase of listening process involves moving the received, attended to, and

interpreted message from the short-term memory into a long-term memory store

for potential retrieval. As memory development specialists stress , retention

requires strategy .Familiar techniques such as the use of mnemonic devices,

looking , clustering , and chunking are considered by researchers studying the

dynamics of short term memory and recall. The listeners response also is external ,

manifested in the feedback that the listener provides to the source of the message .

though listening constitutes an intricate internal process, attention to feedback is

essential to good listening. Research by Leavitt and Mueller (1968) demonstrates

that with increased feedback , responses that might take the form of a listeners

effectiveness on the feedback , both listener and speaker gain confidence that the

message is communicated with accuracy and experience satisfaction with the

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communication . other communicators in an interaction base their assessment of a

listeners effectiveness on feedback , responses might take the form of performance

on a comprehension test , question asked, attentive behaviors , or even compliance.

Thus , while some listening scholars argue that feedback goes beyond listening and

takes listener to back into senders role in the communication transaction, we rely on

feedback , albeit unfairly at times , as an indicator of listening accomplished the

complex listening process, including reception , attention, perception,

interpretation, and response may be illustrated as a process model of overlapping

circles (figure 16.1) while stages of listening occur in some sequence , in the

listeners real timenthe dimensions probably occur in close simultaneity . at the

core of the process are communication influencers---variables of the speaker ,

message,channel, environment, and individual listenerthat affectthe outcome at

every stage of this process. It should be apparent , then, that listening behavior is

one of the most complex of all human behaviorsand certainly far beyond the

auditory processing that has been the focus of so many of the earlier listening

scholars.

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 focus
energy

Attention
visual Frame of
taste
reference
smell
taste

Reception message
Perception
speaker
touch
auditory
Influences empathy

environmenttnt channel
nt
listener

external verbal
cognitive

Interpretati
Response
on
Non-verbal
internal

Figure 02. Listening Model

Listening comprehension is a very important skill that children will use throughout

their life. It is also very important skill for a number of reasons .first, being able to

recall and understand information is an important pre reading in order to be strong

reader later on child must be able to recall information when it is presented orally.

Second, children who have strong listening comprehension skills also tend to be

good listeners overall. As adults we often spend too much of our time talking and

not enough time to listen .listening is a skill that a child will use throughout his/her

22
entire life. And finally, strong listening comprehension skills also promote thinking

and problem-solving skills. When listening to a story the children begin to develop

their own thoughts and ideas about the situations presented in the story .Rost

(2005) , points out that listening strategy are under learners conscious control and

listeners can be thought to compensate for incomplete understanding missed

linguistic or schematic input, misidentified clues.

In a comprehensive research on correlation between intelligence and

listening ability, Childers(1970) concludes that listening abilty is modifiable skill

which is less a function of intelligence and more functional of learning and

emphasizes the idea that listening ability is sufficiently independent as to be

susceptible to improvement through systematic application of certain techniques

and materials. Way (1973) , who suggested that it is possible to train listening skills

and to construct the teaching situation in such way that listening techniques and

skills develop fully and toward a more mature level. Likewise, Benson(1989)

highlights that whereas in the past , listening had been seen mainly as model for

the production of speech (listen-speak,read-write), it should be now be an end itself.

Indeed, it canbe argued that just like any good investment , effective listening

provides the students with valuable long term benefits : competence , confidence,

productivity in their academic , personal, and professional lives.

The neglect of the listening skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) is

the most crucial for the learning and acquisition for second language. However, past

research has thus far revealed that a large proportion of the L2 research findings

indicates that listening is the most important widely use English skill in normal daily

life.(Morley 2001;Rost 2001) and it develops faster than oher language skills , which

23
in turn suggests that can facilitate the emergence of other language skills (Oxford ,

1990).

The importance of listening in language learning was brought into attention

when Garry(1975) stated that focusing in listening comprehension , especially in the

early phases of second language learning/teaching creates four different types of

advantages : cognitive, efficiency , utility, and affective. The cognitive advantage of

an initial exposure to listening gives learners a more natural way to learn the

language. Listening should be stressed before speaking because recognition

knowledge is required to process and decode the aural input , whereas retrieval

knowledge is required to encode and generate speech . the second advantage is

more efficient when learners are not immediately required to speak and are only

required to listen to the language. The third advantage is utility, on the usefulness

of the receptive skill according to research in the fields of communication , while

communicating adults spend 40-50% of communication time listening 25-30%

speaking, 9% writing and 11-16% reading( Rivers in Gelman and Moody ). The last

advantage of emphasizing listening from the beginning is effective advantage.

Learners feel embarrassed and sometimes discouraged when they are forced to

make early oral production . when this pressure does not exist , learners can relax

and stay focused on the developing the listening skill , which helps the emergence

of other language skills.

Much of L2 literature gives support to the importance of listening and how

comprehensible input facilities the learning of the second language . Krashen and

Terrell(1984), argue that the priority of listening in second language learning is the

same as the priority of the listening only stage of a child needs to acquire his/her

first language . Dunkel (1986) also indicates that the developing proficiency in

24
listening is the key to achieving proficiency in speaking. However, despite the fact

that the listening has been now subjected to research for more than three

decades ,concensus on a definition of listening has never been reached among

language researchers.

According to Chastain (1971) listening comprehension is the ability to

understand native speech at normal speed in unstructured situations. Morley (1972)

defines listening comprehension as the ability not only to discriminate auditory

grammar , but also to reauthorize, extract essential information , remember it , and

relate it , everything that entails processing sound and construction of meaning

Neisser (1976) views listening comprehension as a temporarily constant process in

which the listener anticipates what will come next . Goss(1982) defines listening

comprehension as a mental process in which the listeners attempt to construct a

meaning out of the information received from the speakers. Wipf (1984) defines

listening as a complex mental process that entails receiving , interpreting and

reading to sounds being received from a sender , and finally retaining what was

gathered and relating it to the immediate as well as the broader socio cultural

context of utterance.

Although these definitions differ to some extent, they basically consider

listening as a metal process that requires a great deal of cognitive effort on the part

of the listener such as interpreting the sounds, figuring out the meaning of the

words , and activating the background knowledge . however, a perfect match

between input and knowledge does not always exist; comprehension gasp are

frequent and special efforts to infer meaning are required for second language

learners in particular.

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Related studies

As observed by Rivers (1966), long an advocate for listening comprehension .

Speaking does not of itself constitute communication unless what is comprehend

by another person Teaching the comprehension of spoken speech is therefore of

primary importance in the communication aims to be reached. The reasons for the

nearly total neglect of listening are difficult to assess, but as Morley (1972) notes

perhaps, an assumption that listening is a reflex like breathing listening seldom

receives overt teaching attention ones native language has masked the importance

and complexity of listening with understanding in a non-native language. in

reality, listening is used for more than any othe single language skill in normal daily

life . according to Rivers (1981) and Weaver (1972) we can expect to listen twicw as

much as we speak , four times more than we read, and five times more than we

write.

The image of L2 listening instruction is changing . At one time , listening was

assumed to be a passive activity, meriting little classroom attention. Now listening

is recognized as an active process, critical L2 acquisition and deserving systematic

development as a skill in its own right. (Morley 1999). The utility of listening

instruction has been underscored by language learners who want to learn to

understand spoken texts in the target language and to interact with native speakers

(e.g., 2002).

Visual are another aid to listening,.Ginther(2002) investigated the relative

effect of two kinds of visuals on listening kinds of visuals on listening performance

on the the computerized TOEFL test. Context visuals (pictures that set the scene for

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the upcoming verbal exchange) prepare listeners for the text or verbal exchanges ,

whereas content visuals (related to the actual content of the verbal exchange)

support the text. Results indicated that the content visuals decreased

comprehension. It appears that advance organizers that provide no directly related

information (e.g., context visuals) are not helpful to the listener these visuals still

require processing themselves thereby consuming intentional resources and limiting

the amount of working memory available to the listener for attending to the

required information. This interpretation also provides theoretical support for the

results obtained by Herron et al.(1998).

Segalowitz and Segalowitz (1993), maintain that automatization of word

recognition skills ,i.e,. fluent bottom up processing is critical for successful listening

comprehension. Motivated by this theoretical promise ,Poelmans (2003)

investigated the effects of training in top-down comprehension skills(traditional

listening) over against bottom-up recognition training. Contrary to expectations

she found no significant differences between the two groups in the final

comprehension measure. Poelmans attributes this finding to a discrepancy between

the contents and exercises for the training and testing conditions , as well as

insufficient training. The contextualized nature oh the stimulus materials may also

explain the findings. Training in word recognition skills that acknowledges the

contextual nature of listening is another area for the future research.

However, Osada (2001) attributes lack of success listening to an

overemphasis on bottom-up skills. Based on his analysis of answers to questions

and idea unit analysis , he found that low-proficiency Japanese students of English

tended to adopt a mental translation approach to listening . he argues for more on a

top-down approach because, given the constraints of working memory, beginner

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level learners cannot construct meaning when they process connected speech on a

word-by-word basis only.

The literature base in listening strategy instruction has grown little in recent

years, however, studies on the differences between more skilled and less skilled

listeners by Goh(2000,2002), Hasan (2000), Marescham (2002), Peters (1999),

Vandergrift (2003) have produced some useful insights. Grounding their research in

earlier work by OMalley and Chamot (1990), the findings of Goh,Marescham, Peter,

and Vandergrift highlight the importance of the effective use of met cognitive

strategies for successful listening comprehension. In a study of adolescent learners

of French, Vandergrift (2003) found significant quantitative differences for four

strategies (1) total meta cognitive strategy use, (2) comprehension monitoring,(3)

questioning elaboration( flexibility in considering various possibilities before

deciding on a framework for interpretation), and (4) online translation ( by less

skilled listener). A quantitative analysis of think-aloud protocols reinforced these

differences and, in addition , found that the successful listener used an effective

combination of the meta cognitive and cognitive strategies , a finding also reported

by Goh (2002) and Marescham(2002).

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLGY AND PROCEDURE

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 This chapter deals with methods and procedure in the gathering of needed

data for the future day. This includes the research design, respondents, sampling

procedures, research instruments and the statistical tools which will be utilize.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The descriptive method of research will be used in this study. The descriptive

method according to Nunan (2009) emerges following creative exploration and

serves to organize the findings in order to fit with explanations and then test or

validate their explanation. It is used to analyze, interpret and report the present

status of a selected group. Further, it includes inductions, classifications, analysis

and enumeration of measurements. It is concerned in determining condition that

will prevail in a group chosen for study and method for qualitative description of

general characteristics. According to Polit and Hungler (1999), it involves the

collection of data that will provide an account or description of individuals, groups or

situations. In the study, this method will be used to describe the listening

comprehension levels of the respondents as well as exploring the comprehension

strategies that help the respondents to understand the passage.

RESPONDENTS AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE

Thirty (30) out of ___ students coming from Grade 8 A and B of La Salette of

Roxas College, Inc. will be chosen as respondents of the study. The researchers will

use simple random sampling through fishbowl technique for the selection of

samples. Simple random sampling is the basic sampling technique where we select

a group of subjects (a sample) for a study from a larger group (a population). Each

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individual will be chosen entirely by chance and each member of the population will

have an equal chance of being included in the sample (Easton and MacColls

Statistics Glossary v1.1).

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

1.Listening Comprehension Questionnaire (LCQ)

According to deVaus (1996), questionnaire is a technique in which various

persons are asked to answer the same set questions.

Since the study will try to identify the levels of Listening Comprehension, the

researchers will design Listening Comprehension Questionnaire through

consideration of the different dimensions of listening. The identified dimensions of

listening are based on Encarta (2009) and Alcantara, et. al.(1996).

Literal, Interpretative, Critical and application/Evaluation will be the focused

dimensions. Each has5 questions with a total of 20 items. In the literal, items has

constructed through Multi-choice format where questions are concerned with 4Ws

(Who, What, When and Where). On the other hand, the succeeding dimensions are

constructed through an open-ended response test. In the interpretative, the

respondents will answer questions concerning the how and why questions. On the

other hand, the critical dimension will focus on questions that can put them in the

situation. Lastly, in the application/evaluation dimension, respondents will answer

questions that will be focusing on the values they will learn and how will they apply

it in real life.

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 The researchers will construct at least 30 questions about the story of Shrimp

and Sparrow to be later culled and approved by the adviser.

2. Listening Comprehension Rubric (LCR)

According to Krashen and Terrell (1983) and by Dulay, Burt andKrashen

(1982), rubric reflects the generally accepted sequence of second language

acquisition. The rubric designed by the researcher is based on American Council on

the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL 1989) used for rating the listening

proficiency level of the subjects in the study. The researcher will level the rubric

from 1-5 with the particular descriptions. Levels 5 to 1 will be named distinguished,

superior, advanced, intermediate, and novice.

a. Scoring the Listening Comprehension Rubric

Table 01: Score Range and Descriptive Category of the Listening

Comprehension

Level of the Respondents

LEVEL SCORE RANGE DESCRIPTIVE CATEGORY

5 9-10 Distinguished

4 7-8 Superior

3 5-6 Advance

2 3-4 Intermediate

1 1-2 Novice

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 The scores that will be given by the raters in the rubric for each participant

will be tabulated and computed for the average and weighted mean to determine

which level each participant belongs the rating.

Table 02: Mean Ranges and Descriptive Category of the Listening

Comprehension

Level of the Respondents

LEVEL SCORE RANGE DESCRIPTIVE CATEGORY

5 8.50-10.00 Distinguished

4 6.50-7.49 Superior

3 4.50-6.49 Advance

2 2.50-4.49 Intermediate

1 1.00-2.49 Novice

Furthermore, for the researchers to identify the general listening

comprehension level of the students; the identified level of the respondents will be

multiplied to the band where they belong. Then the result will be subjected to

averaging divided by the total number of respondents.

Listening Strategy Checklist (LSC)

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 Checklist is a tool used to check tasks accomplished by the students. In the

study, this will be use to identify the strategies will be used by the respondents in

L2 learning.

The listening Comprehension Checklist Designed by the researchers is

comprised of 15 language learning strategies which will be served as the basis of

the respondents in assessing themselves on how they learn the target language. It

will be categorized into three namely Cognitive, Metacognitive and Socio-Affective

based on the taxonomy of language learning of Oxford (1990).

The researchers will adapt a checklist from a combination of questions

gathered from the previous studies one of which is Teaching L2 Learners How to

Listen Does Make a Difference: An Empirical Study by Vandergrift and Tafaghodtari

(2010) and the other L2 Learners Strategic Mental Processes during a Listening

Test by Taguchi (2001). Originally, there are 21 listening strategies but the

researchers will only select 15 and contextualize it to the locale of the study.

Data Collection and Procedure

Each of the 30 respondents will be called in a room where they will answer

the Listening Comprehension Questionnaire.

First, the respondents will be set to relax themselves and explain to them that

their participation and honesty is highly required for the validity and objectivity of

the results of the study.

Next, the researchers will askthe participants to listen carefully to the

recorded reading of The Sparrow and the Shrimp. In this phase, respondents will

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be simply asked to be quiet and be attentive to specific details as well as the gist of

the story.

On the taking of the test, the researchers will assist each respondent for

them to ensure that they understand the questions given and for the researchers to

determine how fast the participants can answer the questions.

When all the respondents have accomplished the questionnaire, the listening

strategy checklist will be administered next. The researchers will guide the

participants in dealing with the checklist to yield with an objective result.

When both instruments are duly accomplished, the researchers will analyze

and tally the responses.

The listening comprehension rubric will serve as guide in assessing the level

of each participant. One (1) second language teachers, including the three (3)

researchers, will rate the listening proficiency of the respondents. This will be done

for the objectivity of the rating and coincides with the idea of triangulation- a typical

strategy for improving the validity and reliability of research findings. The ratings

given by the raters will be computed for the average to get level of the listening

proficiency level of each respondent.

Finally, the data collected from the questionnaires and the listening

comprehension rubric will be summarized for statistical treatment.

Statistical Analysis and Interpretation of Data

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 The responses that will be collected from each respondent will be tabulated

by the researcher to undergo statistical treatment and analysis.

To identify the listening comprehension level of the respondents, frequency,

percentage and weighted mean will be used.

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