A Study On The Application Of "Critical Listening" In Teaching Of English Listening In Senior High School

Language competence and thinking disposition belong to the key competencies which are proposed by the National English Curriculum Standards for General High School(2017)in which listening skill is one of the crucial skills of language competence and critical thinking is the foundation of thinking disposition.From the literature review,a variety of problems are revealed in listening instruction,such as less time for lesson of listening teaching,single teaching activities,difficult and boring from students' view and much more attention to listening practice while less attention to developing learners' listening skills and critical thinking.As a result,it is urgently to research,grope and develop innovative teaching methods with the intention to alter traditional listening class and then improve learners' listening skills."Critical listening" as an innovative teaching mode cannot only cultivate students' listening skills but also develop students' critical thinking abilities.Meanwhile,a research on "CL" manifests "CL"has positive effects on students' listening degree and critical thinking abilities.However,application and studies of "CL" are less compared with its application and studies in universities.Thus,this study gropes to apply "CL" into senior high school,explore the effects of "CL" on listening skills,critical thinking dispositions and offer some enlightenment to English listening teaching of senior high school.Subjects are from two intact parallel science classes(n=39+38)from a high school in N city,in which one is the experimental group(n=22 male+17 female)and the other is the control group(n=20 male+18 female)."CL" instruction is continued biweekly and listening materials are topics of controversy.The experiment lasts for three months with the control group instructed by traditional method.Three tests are to test students' listening skills with SPSS,a statistical instrument,to analyze variance between the two groups and variance of a group at different times.Questionnaires are conducted to explore variance between the two groups and variance of a group at different times with SPSS to analyze the questionnaires.An interview is performed with its purpose to get the information of students' perceptions to "CL",including students' attitude toward "CL" and how does "CL" influence their listening skills andCTDs.From this interview,audience of students toward "CL" and how "CL" affects students' listening skills and CTDs can be easily inspected.This study intends to answer the following three questions:(1)Are students' listening skills improved after the experiment? If yes,to what extent are they improved respectively?(2)Is "CL"effective to each sub-disposition of critical thinking dispositions of students? If yes,to what extent are they improved respectively?(3)What are the students' perceptions to"CL" teaching mode?The results project that:(1)Difference exists between the two groups(p<.05)after the experiment with scores of experimental group higher than control group in summary and getting main idea,inference and understanding opinion,attitude and purpose but no significant difference(p>.05)about obtaining specific facts between the two groups.As for the three dimensions,students' scores in post-test is higher than pre-test of experimental group.(2)In terms of CTDs,scores of questionnaires of the experimental group from six dimensions,including truth-seeking,open-mindedness,self-confidence,inquisitiveness,analyticity and cognitive maturity are higher than the control group except systematicity.This indicates significant difference(p<.05)exists between the two groups except systematicity(p>.05).However,systematicity has been enhanced from the interview.As for the six dimensions,scores of the experimental group in Q2 are higher than Q1.(3)Analysis of the interview finds that83% students are willing to accept "CL" and positive answers from students are given to the effects of "CL" on their listening skills.In the mean time,learners' CTDs have been influenced unconsciously by "CL" from their response.Based on the results,this study offers the following implications to listening instruction for senior high school:(1)"CL" positively affects students' listening skills because of the positive correlation between "CL" and students' listening skills.Therefore,it is recommendable to adopt "CL" mode in senior high schools.(2)The"CL" is beneficial to develop students' CTDs.Thus,the "CL" can be applied in senior high schools to unconsciously develop students' CTDs as well as listening skills.(3)Results of the questionnaires reveal students are willing to accept "CL" teaching mode and "CL" improves students' listening skills and CTDs.Hence,it is advantageous to adopt "CL" teaching mode to foster students' CTDs and listening skills.