The Role of a Mobile App for Listening Comprehension Training in Distance Learning to Sustain Student Motivation

In this article the importance of listening comprehension for language students is discussed and the possible benefits of using a mobile app to motivate its practice and development are considered. The Audio News Trainer (ANT) is presented as an example of this type of app that uses the news domain as the source of audio recordings. Three research questions related to the use of this app are outlined regarding the effectiveness of the news domain for motivating the practice of listening comprehension, whether social media (such as Facebook) can increase the motivation, and how the students’ exposure to the target language can be prolonged here. An experiment is undertaken that provides data (obtained by interaction with the app and from pre- and post-questionnaires) which appear, based upon initial analyses, to support both the use of ANT to motivate the prolonged practice of listening comprehension and also the potential of social media-based interaction in second language learning nowadays

The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl).In this issue, podcasts are looked at as a pedagogical game changer. Using the award-wining podcast Serial as their catalyst, this issue's essayists look at podcast's emerging role in higher education, how multimodal learning can help students find their voices, the podcast's place in the curriculum at a criminal justice college, and how podcasts can inspire students to reflectively assess their own writing. Our reviewers take a critical look at the podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and Revisionist History

PODCAST UTILIZATION TO ENHANCE STUDENT'S LISTENING SKILL

Listening skill is one of language skills which is crucial to promote language users’ communicative competences. It is essential for the teachers to utilize appropriate media to create a supportive learning atmosphere.Podcast as one of ICT tools can be optimized to provide the students with periodical listening sources to help practicing the student’s listening skill. This research explored Podcast utilization in listening class and aimed at finding out whether or not Podcast utilization could enhance students’ listening comprehension and compare the students’ listening comprehension between the students who were taught using Podcast and the students who were not taught using Podcast. A quasi experimental research was applied as the research design. This research involved eighty-eight students selected using purposive sampling technique. Listening comprehension test was administered to obtain the data. The obtained data were analyzed by using Paired Sample T-test and Independent Sample T-test. The result of Paired Sample T-test showed that there was a significant progress in student listening comprehension after they got treatment by using Podcast. The result of Independent Sample T-test revealed that the progress of experimental group exceeded the progress of control group in their listening comprehension. It proved that utilizing Podcast could enhance students’ listening skills.Keywords:Podcast, listening skills, ICT utilizatio

IMPROVING LISTENING SKILL USING PODCAST FOR ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS OF UPY

The study is about to improve the students listening skill by uisng podcast as one of material sources taken from the internet. The objective of this study are to identify some steps that are going to be implemented in teaching listening using podcast to improve the students’ listening skill of English Department students of UPY, and to describe the improvement of students listening ability using podcast in their learning. This research is an Action Research. There were three cyles in this research. Every cycle consists of planning, action, obervation and reflection. The participants are the fourth semester students of Englisg eductaion Program of UPY. There are two kinds of data in this research. They are quantitative and qualitative data. In this classroom action research, the qualitative data are taken from the result of observation, interview, and questionnaire done by teacher and collaborator while the action is being carried out. Meanwhile, the quantitative data are taken form test. In the first one the researcher gives pre-test and at the end of the lesson the researcher gives post-test in order to know whether podcast can improve the students’ skill in listening. The result is then analyzed using descriptive statistics to know the difference of scores before and after the cycle. The result of the research showed that t applying top-up and bottom up strategis and another approach to incorporating listening strategies in a listening lesson involves a cycle of activities as steps in guided metacognitive sequence in a listening lesson, i.e.: Pre-listening activity, First listen, and Pair process-based discussion using materials sources from podcast were effective and improved the students’ listening skill. It could be seen from the average of result of their pre test, post test I dan post test II that significatly increased. Meanwhile, the dialogue and story from podcast were able to help them in developing their skill in listening to the native speakers’ sound by knowing the correct pronunciation, writing, and knowing various vocabularies. By studying in groups, the students could study better because they could share their knowledge without feeling afraid of making mistakes in re-telling what they have listened. They also felt happy in learning using podcast

USING PODCAST TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ LISTENING AND SPEAKING ACHIEVEMENTS

Abstract: This study aimed at investigating whether or not there were significant differences in English listening and speaking achievements between the twelfth grade students of MAN 3 Palembang who were taught by using Podcasts and those who were not, and this study aimed to get the students’ feedback about the use of Podcasts to improve their English listening and speaking achievements. There were 60 twelfth grade students of MAN 3 Palembang in the academic year 2014/2015 as the sample and they were divided into experimental (N= 30) and control groups (N= 30). Both groups were given pre- and post tests, but only the experimental group was given the treatment. To collect the data, listening and speaking tests were administered to students in both groups, and a questionnaire was administered to the students in the experimental group. The obtained data were analyzed by using paired and independent sample t-tests. The results showed that there were significant differences in both listening (mean difference= 23, p= 0.000) and speaking (mean difference= 17, p= 0.000) achievements between the experimental and control groups. Next, the results of questionnaire indicated that Podcasts served meaningful, appropriate, interesting tasks, activities and authentic materials which could attract the students’ attention, increase their motivation, and improve their comprehension. Hence, based on the results of this study, Podcast was an effective and innovative technology-based learning tool in English classroom, especially in integrating listening and speaking. Key words: Listening, speaking, Podcast, twelfth graders, technology-based learnin

The effect of metacognitive strategy instruction on L2 learner beliefs and listening skills

This pilot study investigated the effect of semester-long strategy-based instruction on learner beliefs and skills in the processing of aural input by adult learners of English as a second language at metacognitive and procedural levels. The study addressed two frequently encountered learner beliefs thought to impede L2 processing of aural input: The little words aren’t important; intonation is merely decorative. Working on the premise that learner beliefs underpin learner strategies for processing aural input and are reflected in learner productive and receptive skills, pre- and post-instruction instruments measured both learners’ awareness of connected speech processes and the functions of intonation, and their ability to segment a continuous speech stream, and to process utterances for speaker intent. Findings using repeated measures analysis of variance support strategy-based metacognitive training in connected speech and stress and intonation to promote listening skills awareness, aid word segmentation, and facilitate understanding utterance content and intended meaning.Published versio

Podcast Effects on EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Undoubtedly the Internet sources are absolutely beneficial to the senior high school students since they carried the target language together in itself. The present study aimed to explore podcast effects on EFL learners’ listening comprehension. This study involved sixty students chosen from the eleventh grade students of the science department at SMU Negeri 1 luwu in 2017/2018 academic years. They divided into two groups, namely the experimental and control group. The listening comprehension test and the open-ended questions administered to fulfil the objectives of the study. The quantitative data were analysed by utilizing paired and independent samples t-test, and the qualitative data was analysed through an open coding technique by identifying, naming, and describing the phenomena of the gathered data. The quantitative results indicated that the use of podcast was more effective than the use of non-podcast. It was proven by the value of the mean score from both of the groups (53.73 ˃ 37,46). The different (df) of  those two mean scores was statistically significant based on the the t - test value at 0.05 significance level. The probability value was smaller than significant level (0.000 < 0.05). In other words, the result of hypothesis testing found that t-value = 4.791 was higher than t-table = 2.000 (p=0.05, df =58). Ha was accepted and Ho was rejected. In addition, the result of open-ended question analysis highlighted that podcast was attractive in the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language listening comprehension.Podcast, Listening Comprehension, Learning Interes

Podcasts’ effects on the EFL classroom: a socially relevant intervention

ICT tools have gained particular importance in the English as a foreign language classroom in order to promote students’ interaction, exchange of opinions, negotiation of meaning, or digital competence. Technological development and the impact of multimedia and virtual spaces on students’ lives make educational institutions and teachers explore new tools and strategies to learn the target language. Podcasts present content available on the Internet and can become an influential teaching strategy that may improve the teaching–learning process of EFL. This study aims to investigate the effect of audio podcasts, which deal with social inequality issues, on secondary education students’ EFL linguistic competence. A sample of seventy-eight students was randomly distributed into a control and an experimental group during a term in a high school in Madrid (Spain). As instruments for data collection, the grades obtained in the different skills in the pre and post-tests and the different task performance scores were analysed in both groups. The methodological framework is defined as a quasi-experimental design that provides quantitative data. The results confirm the hypothesis that the creation and use of podcasts are beneficial for improving EFL linguistic competence, especially speaking and listening skills. Practical implications aimed at organising English classes to improve EFL proficiency are discussed. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

SAUDI EFL LEARNERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTEGRATION OF VIDEO-PODCASTS IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION

The use of podcasts is growing in the instructions of listening comprehension. However, the success of computer technology generally depends on learners positive attitudes towards it. The present study explored attitudes of Saudi EFL undergraduates toward the use of video-podcasts integration in listening comprehension. Moreover, the study also examined students’ attitude from the perspective of the number of video-podcasts they received in their instructions. Samples included 90 English major male undergraduates divided into three groups. The three groups received five (5), ten (10) and 15 video-podcasts in their listening classes before they answered an attitude questionnaire. ANOVA results revealed that the students had positive attitudes towards the use of video-podcasts in listening. However, no significant difference was found between the attitudes of the three experimental groups who received varied number of video-podcasts in their instructions.   Article visualizations

Investigating the Effect of Using Educational Podcasts on Listening Comprehension of Language Learners

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using educational podcasts on listening comprehension of male language learners in Tehran. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all male language learners of Tehran language colleges who were studying in the academic year 2020-2019. The present study sample consisted of two target languages that were selected purposefully. There were 60 samples, of which 30 were in the control group and 30 in the experimental group. The type of research was quantitative and quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. To understand the required data, a researcher-made audit comprehension test was used. It was used to analyze the obtained data using SPSS software. The results showed that the use of educational podcasts is significantly more effective in increasing the listening comprehension skills of language learners of language schools F = 165/001 than the usual method. Based on the results, it is recommended to use educational podcasts in teaching audio-visual comprehension of learners, which is one of the main problems in language teaching