Using pauses to improve listening comprehension for second language learners
Date
2000
Authors
Van Loon, John
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Abstract
This thesis investigates the effectiveness of using pauses moral texts to improve listening comprehension for second language learners of English. The subjects in this experiment listened to three different radio news stones. One story was unmodified and two others were modified with pauses at specific junctures. After listening to each news story, the test subjects were given a written short answer test to measure their comprehension. The experiment parallels earlier work by Blau (1990), which showed that pauses placed m an oral text resulted in a significant improvement in the listening comprehension of second language learners. Blau describes the use of pausing as a means of giving the listener additional processing time without disturbing the natural features of the normal flow of speech (1990 749). As well, Griffiths notes that pauses are assumed to increase comprehension by (a) providing processing time, and (b) grouping words into syntactic constituents ( 1990 56). He also notes that slow speech is slow mainly due to the frequency and length of pauses. The design of this study parallels the Blau study, but also considers the effects of using much shorter pauses and different pause locations. The methodology and research from pausology studies was incorporated into the study design.
This study is focused on two basic questions
(1) Does editing oral text by inserting 500 millisecond pauses at juncture points improve the comprehension test scores for second language (henceforth L2) learners of English?
(2) Does the location of an inserted pause have an influence on the comprehension test scores?
The results from this study show that editing an oral text with 500 millisecond pauses at intonational and syntactic junctures does improve comprehension test scores for second language learners of English. There are also indications that the actual location of the pauses has an influence on comprehension test scores. This study concludes that there is some evidence suggesting that pauses can be a useful tool m facilitating listening comprehension for second language learners who are working with authentic oral texts. This seems to be especially true for lower level learners.