The Influence Of Semantic Field And Context Theory On Listening Test Performance

Listening is the basic skill in language learning, which determines the learner’s ability to understand speaker’s and interlocutor’s intention as well as the extent to which they comprehend the listening task within a test. Listening class which is considered to be a complex process and affected by sophisticated factors has aroused various focuses from many researchers.The thesis takes action research as methodology, and the research aims at improving vocational English major students’listening test performance. During the action research process, the focus is to ease the vocabulary burden of the listening tasks and apply semantic field and context theory throughout the listening teaching process. The application of semantic field is to assist the students in constructing their own vocabulary systems. The students then can categorize the new words into their vocabulary range and recognize them according to the constructed connection in the listening task. By providing task-related context information, the students can be involved in specific context, and they are able to activate the link between existed background knowledge in mind and the task-required context information. The two theories supplement each other during the teaching process and the students’vocabulary has expanded. The students can manage theory-related listening skills and put them into use against test-based background. After a semester’s action research, students’listening test performance is comparatively higher than they did before the research. It proves that the action research of applying the semantic field and context theory is positive and efficient. The questionnaires completed by the students after the action research also show that they accept the teaching method and agree on its function.The results of the action research show that the change in the vocabulary teaching part can affect the learners’listening ability and test performance. By combining semantic field and context theory together with the students’actual situation and adding reasonable explanation, the sensitivity towards the listening task and the listening level of the students can both be elevated. The students can step out of the state of passive listening and move on to incorporate the new task into their own knowledge range, and then solve listening questions with the learnt vocabulary and context information.The research questions are answered according to the statistical results of the action research and the main conclusions are presented. The aspects of the action research which can be further discussed because of objective limited conditions are also listed. Meanwhile, the implication for future researchers is analyzed at the end of the thesis.