A Study On Improving Listening Comprehension Through Strategy-based Instruction In High Schools

In the modern world, people from different countries are communicating more and more frequently. Foreign languages, especially English, have become a very important communication tool with which Chinese make contact with foreigners in every field of social life. The fast development of the modern society requires that we should master the fundamental skill of using English. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four essential skills of language competence. The mastery of a foreign language requires balanced development in these four areas. However, in China, English listening teaching has been neglected for a long period of time. Besides, the traditional listening teaching mode lacks guidance to students about effective listening strategies. What teachers focus on are the outcomes of listening, rather than listening itself, product rather than process, since success is usually measured by correct responses to questions and answers. Such listening teaching mode neglects the students and their language creativity, and isn't suitable for the wider and wider scope of international exchange that China is expanding, and can't meet our country's needs for the talents of high quality. Therefore, strategy training aimed at greater learner autonomy should be an integral part of EFL listening class in high school.Current educational psychology has been greatly influenced by cognitive psychology that views learning as a process instead of a product.The focus on learning strategies represents unique contributions of such a viewpoint to educational practice. Based on the cognitive theory, an exploratory diagnostic model of a Strategy-based Approach to EFL Listening that features three stages of strategy training has been proposed to challenge conventional listening teaching method. This thesis proposes the hypothesis that the instruction on the use of listening strategies would result in improved listening comprehension and the hypothesis that there would be clear indications of students' ability to employ listening strategies after four-and-a-half-month training. In order to prove this assumption, the author conducted an experiment, during which the control group was taught in the traditional way, and the experimental group with Learning-Strategy-Based Approach. After an experimental training for four and a half months, both groups were given a posttest and checked on their strategy use. The results showed that the experimental group scored much higher than the control group (96.625>92.653). T-test indicated that there were considerable differences between the achievements of the two groups (p<0.01). The types and frequency of their strategy use were also considerably different from each other (p<0.05). The research suggests that listening strategy training could contribute to the learners' language proficiency. The Learning-Strategy-Based Approach has proved to be an effective way to improve students' listening ability in real-life communication.