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CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION
This chapter consists of three parts. In the beginning, I will summarize the major findings of the present study. Then, I will discuss the pedagogical implications based on the results. Finally, I will present the limitations of the present study and suggest some topics for future research.
5.1 Summary
The major findings of the present study are as follows:
First, it was found that test formats had significant effects on listening comprehension of senior high school students. That is, senior high school students performed significantly better on picture-format listening tests than on non-picture-format listening tests.
Second, text types were also found to have significant effects on listening comprehension of senior high school students. That is, senior high school students significantly scored higher on statements than on dialogues.
Third, the subjects at different proficiency levels differed in the frequency of using listening strategies. The high-proficiency subjects tended to use listening strategies more frequently than the low-proficiency subjects. In other words, there was a positive relationship between the subjects’ listening performance and their use of listening strategies with an exception of the affective strategy. More specifically, the high-proficiency subjects used the compensation strategy, metacognitive strategy, and social strategy significantly more frequently than the low-proficiency subjects.
Fourth, test formats were found to be related to listening strategies. The subjects’
performance on picture-format tests was positively related to the metacognitive strategy but negatively related to the affective strategy. The subjects’ performance on non-picture-format tests was also found to bear a positive relationship with the
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metacognitive strategy.
Last but not the least, text types were related to listening strategies. The subjects’
performance on statements was positively related to the metacognitive strategy but negatively related to the affective strategy. However, the subjects’ performance on dialogues was positively related to the metacognitive strategy and the social strategy.
5.2 Pedagogical Implications
The pedagogical implications derived from the results of the present study are as follows:
Firstly, the findings about test effects suggest that teachers should use picture or visual cues to motivate lower-level students in class. That is to say, teachers should make good use of various sources such as pictures in magazines, posters, comic strips, cartoons, and motion pictures when teaching listening.
In addition, the findings about text effects indicate that to give students a simple start, teachers should use statements first, and then dialogues. Besides, they should systematically train students to respond to dialogues because dialogues are relatively challenging for students. For instance, teachers can incorporate more discussion activities, ask students to work in pairs or groups so that students can have more chances to interact with others.
Moreover, according to the findings about listening strategy use, teachers should teach students how to use listening strategies when working on listening tasks. Among the six strategies, teachers should put stress on the use of compensation, metacognitive, and social strategies and provide related training in enhancing listening comprehension. As reported earlier, the metacognitive strategy was found to be the strategy with greatest potential in elevating listening performance regardless of test formats and text types. Therefore, teachers should put special emphasis on the
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metacognitive strategy and offer detailed and systematic training in planning, monitoring, and evaluating. However, one thing that should be noticed is that the affective strategy is not recommended to use, especially when students are taking picture-format tests or listening to statements. Another implication is that to perform better on dialogues, teachers should encourage students to use the social strategy. For instance, teachers can encourage students to raise as many questions as possible whenever they encounter difficulties in listening comprehension instead of being shy and intimidated, ask students to accomplish listening tasks in teams, and try to provide students with different contexts.
5.3 Limitations of the Present Study and Suggestions for Future Research
There are some limitations of the present study. First, the subject pool was not big. It only consisted of 65 students at the same senior high school. The small population and the limited proficiency levels may have certain effects on the results.
Therefore, it is suggested that more students from the same or different schools should be asked to participate in the future research so that the results will be more convincing, objective and reliable. Second, only two instruments (i.e. the LCT and the questionnaire) were used in the present study. In the future study, instruments such as immediate recall protocols, interviews, and listening logs can be adopted. Teacher researchers can incorporate activities especially tailored for improving strategy use into their regular courses or specifically provide listening training courses to examine the instruction effects of strategy training. Another limitation is that the texts discussed in the present study only contained statements and dialogues. In fact, there are a variety of text types. Therefore, monologues or longer texts such as passages can be explored in the future to have a broader picture of text effects on listening comprehension.
