The Effect Of Field Independence And Field Dependence On Test-takers' Listening Test Performance

Individual difference in language learning has long been identified as one important factor that has influenced the Second Language (L2) learners' outcomes (Altaian, 1980; Ellis, 1981). Cognitive Styles and Learner/Learning Strategies are the two factors that influence individual differences and have effects on L2 proficiency embodied in tests (Altaian, 1980; Skehan, 1989; Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991). In China, there have been quite a number of researches on how cognitive style influences language learners' test results since 1980s. Among these researches, most are comprehensive ones probing effect of Field Dependence/Independence (FDI) on, in terms of mode of test, language learners' writing, cloze, reading, listening, translation test and so on. But results, especially results of FDI on listening test results, differ a lot among these studies, and there aren't any further explanations about factors that are responsible for these differences.So, this thesis aims to correlate Chinese college learners' FDI and both their overall listening test result and the sub-test results to see whether there exist significant correlation in between. And if so, what role does mode of test play in the difference of correlation results between FDI and listening tests. Furthermore, we also try to explore the effect of FDI on cognitive strategies test-takers adopt in taking listening tests.In this sense, we propose one basic but necessary yes-no question: whether Field Dependence/Independence is positively correlated with Chinese test-takers' performance in English listening test. Further, we make the first hypothesis: at the same level of English proficiency, the field independent test-takers generally perform better than field-dependent ones in English listening tests.Second, we need to answer whether there exist any cross-method differences in the effect imposed by FDI on the listening test performance. We further propose the second hypothesis: to one group of test-takers, the degree of the influence imposed by FDI on listening test performance differs across different types of listening tests. The last but not least research question is whether FDI is significantly correlated with cognitive strategies test-takers adopt in taking listening tests. In specific, what strategies FI test-takers tend to take and what strategies FD test-takers tend to take in the process of taking listening tests.30 non-English major male sophomores from National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) constitute the sample group for the pilot test, and another 66 constitute the sample group for the formal investigation.Instruments used in this study include: Cognitive Style Figure Test (CSFT) made by Psychology Department of the Beijing Normal University on the basis of Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT); a miscellaneous listening test paper including four types of sub-tests; a questionnaire inducted from test-takers taped reports in the pilot test; and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 13.0).The present study was conducted in three stages:First, a pilot test on 30 subjects was conducted to test whether the instructions of FDI test were fully understood and the time limitation suitable a month earlier before the formal test. After the test, each test-taker was asked to recall each step of their problem-solving procedure in the listening test in Chinese. Then, through homogeneous induction, we generated the questionnaire basing on the test-takers' recorded utterances. Each option in one item of the questionnaire was endowed with a score like 1, 3, or 5.Second, the data collected and induced from the pilot test were further selected and categorized, basing on the cognitive items in O'Malley and Chamot's typology of learning strategies list.Third, the actual administration of the FDI test, the miscellaneous listening test and the questionnaire were conducted. To carry out the CSFT test, the separated pages of simple figures were handed out to the subjects first. Then, testers directed the subjects how to take the test, i.e. how to find simple figures from complex ones. After that, the first part of the CSFT was handed out to the subjects. In order to prevent the subjects who got the test papers earlier than others from reading the content, all the subjects were asked to turn the paper back right away when they received it. It was the time when they received the starting signal that they just turned over the paper and took the test. Four minutes later, the subjects received the stopping signal and were asked to immediately turn over the papers again. Following the same way, part 2 and part 3 were conducted. Next, the miscellaneous listening test was administered to the 66 subjects accordingly in the following 40 minutes. Right after the miscellaneous listening test, all the subjects were asked to finish a questionnaire consisting 10 items, basing on their latest experience and impressions of their strategies taken in the listening test.Fourth, the Pearson product-moment correlation analyses are conducted between test-takers' scores of CSFT and their total scores on the miscellaneous listening test as well as their scores on each type of listening test, and also the correlation analyses between the CSFT scores and the test-takers' questionnaire scores.Through the study, we draw the following conclusions:1. Field Independence / Dependence, as a facet of cognitive styles, imposes significant effect on listening test performance. At the same level of English proficiency, FI test-takers tend to outperform FD test-takers.2. The power of influence imposed by FDI on listening test performance varies across the listening test methods. Except Conversation Listening, FDI is significantly correlated with the other three types of tests. In specific, the degrees of the influence exerted by FDI are ranked in a top-down order as Compound Dictation, Passage Dictation, and Passage Listening.3. FDI is significantly correlated with cognitive strategies test-takers adopt in taking listening tests. FI test-takers take a set of different cognitive strategies from those taken by FD test-takers. FI test-takers tend to take the analytic, internal referent based and locally perceptive strategies in an active way; FD test-takers tend to take the integrative, externally referent based and globally perceptive strategies in a passive way.