Effects of simultaneous listening and reading on second language learners' comprehension

This experiment was designed to study the effects of simultaneous listening and reading on second language (L2) learning. Sixty-four ESL students participated in the experiment. A computer program, which was able to counterbalance testing materials, was created to administer the test developed through the Criterion-Referenced Language Test Development Procedure (Lynch & Davidson, 1994). The two independent variables in the experiment were (a) mode with three levels (simultaneous listening and reading, listening only, and reading only), and (b) speed with two levels (fast and slow).; The main effects of both independent variables were significant. Mode-by-speed interaction was not significant. The results of the experiment indicated that simultaneous listening and reading was able to improve students' comprehension only under certain conditions. In general, adding written text to listening improved comprehension. Students with strong reading and weak listening skills benefited from adding written text most. Adding audio to reading generally reduced comprehension, and students with strong reading and weak listening skills were affected most. The reduction of comprehension was the greatest for them. Adding audio to reading did not affect the comprehension of low-proficiency students very much. There was no support for the hypothesis that L2 learners concentrate on their stronger channel in speeded simultaneous listening and reading. Presentation speed affected comprehension scores considerably. Slowing down the speed improved comprehension under every condition tested.; This study found that simultaneous listening and reading does not always improve L2 comprehension. Under some conditions, multichannel input can cause interference which lowers students' comprehension. Slowing down the speed and reducing the number of channels of input can sometimes be effective ways to improve L2 comprehension.