Listening strategy instruction for EMI learners to understand teacher input in science classrooms
DanielFung
The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Listening strategies have mostly been investigated in contexts where learners listen to audio recordings. However,
a much more prevalent and indispensable listening task in the classroom is listening to teacher input, particularly in the English
Medium Instruction (EMI) classroom where the goal of learning is directed towards comprehension of content subject knowledge
(e.g., science, geography). Research has also shown that teacher talk dominates EMI classroom interaction, making it even more
important to understand how learners comprehend teacher input. However, little research has been conducted in this area, and even
less attention has been devoted to exploring how learners can learn to listen in this classroom context through strategy
instruction. This paper reports on a study that implemented a listening strategy instruction programme for a class of secondary
school EMI students. The study started with a needs analysis, followed by strategy instruction sessions, and lesson observations
and stimulated recall interviews. This paper presents data from two EMI students as focal participants and explores how they
improved their strategic behaviour when comprehending teacher input in the EMI classroom. Both students widened their strategic
repertoires, but the high achiever benefited more from the strategy instruction programme than the weaker student. This paper ends
with pedagogical implications, highlighting the importance of listening strategy instruction for EMI learners.
For almost half a century, language learning strategy (LLS) research has received considerable attention. Since the proposal
of the notion of the good language learner (GLL) by Rubin (1975) to refer to a learner who
would use strategies effectively to facilitate the learning and/or use of the second language (L2) (Griffiths, 2018; Macaro, 2010), researchers have explored what
these strategies are and how they can facilitate students’ learning. Strategies can be defined as conscious goal-oriented mental
actions (Macaro, 2022) that students use to facilitate their completion of a language
learning/use task (Oxford, 2017) and to compensate for the inadequacies (e.g., limited
linguistic resources) in completing the task (Field, 2019). Since the introduction of the
notion of the GLL, the field of LLS has sparked much discussion and debate such as criticisms of how LLS is conceptualised and the
shifted focus to self-regulation. The current “third wind” (Thomas et al., 2022, p. 417) of
strategy research seeks to reinterpret LLS and the GLL from novel perspectives (see Thomas et al.,
2021 for a diachronic analysis of how the field has evolved). This study contributes to this “third wind” of research by
exploring how students can learn to become GLL through listening strategy instruction in the English Medium Instruction (EMI)
classroom — an area that has hitherto been underexplored. The significance of delving into this area is explained as follows.
References
An, J., Macaro, E., & Childs, A.
(2021) Classroom
interaction in EMI high schools: Do teachers who are native speakers of English make a
difference?System, 98, 102482.
Curdt-Christiansen, X. L., Gao, B., & Sun, B.
(2023) How
to kill two birds with one stone: EMI teachers’ needs in higher education in China. Applied
Linguistics
Review, 14(6), 1513–1538.
Dalman, M., & Plonsky, L.
(2022) The
effectiveness of second-language listening strategy instruction: A meta-analysis. Language
Teaching Research.
Dörnyei, Z.
(2007) Research
methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford
University Press.
Evans, S., & Morrison, B.
(2018) Adjusting
to higher education in Hong Kong: The influence of school medium of instruction. International
Journal of Bilingual Education and
Bilingualism, 21(8), 1016–1029.
Field, J.
(2019) Second
language listening: Current ideas, current issues. In J. Schwieter & A. Benati (Eds.), The
Cambridge handbook of language
learning (pp. 283–319). Cambridge
University Press.
Fung, D., & Lo, Y. Y.
(2023) Listening
strategies in the English Medium Instruction (EMI) classroom: How students comprehend the teacher
input. System, 113, 103004,
Fung, D., & Macaro, E.
(2021) Exploring
the relationship between linguistic knowledge and strategy use in listening
comprehension. Language Teaching
Research, 25(4), 540–564.
Galloway, N., & Rose, H.
(2021) English
medium instruction and the English language practitioner. ELT
Journal, 75(1), 33–41.
Goh, C. C. M.
(2002) Exploring
listening comprehension tactics and their interaction
patterns. System, 30(2), 185–206.
Goh, C. C. M., & Hu, G.
(2014) Exploring
the relationship between metacognitive awareness and listening performance with questionnaire
data. Language
Awareness, 23(3), 255–274.
Goh, C. C. M., & Vandergrift, L.
(2022) Teaching
and learning second language listening: Metacognition in action (2nd
ed.). Routledge.
Graham, S., & Macaro, E.
(2008) Strategy
instruction in listening for lower-intermediate learners of French. Language
Learning, 58(4), 747–783.
Graham, S., & Santos, D.
(2015) Strategies
for second language listening: Current scenarios and improved pedagogy. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Graham, S., Santos, D., & Vanderplank, R.
(2008) Listening
comprehension and strategy use: A longitudinal
exploration. System, 36(1), 52–68.
Graham, S., Santos, D., & Vanderplank, R.
(2010) Strategy
clusters and sources of knowledge in French L2 listening comprehension. Innovation in Language
Learning and
Teaching, 4(1), 1–20.
Graham, S., Santos, D., & Vanderplank, R.
(2011) Exploring
the relationship between listening development and strategy use. Language Teaching
Research, 15(4), 435–456.
Griffiths, C.
(2018) The
strategy factor in successful language learning: The tornado effect. Multilingual
Matters.
Kobayashi, A.
(2018) Investigating
the effects of metacognitive instruction in listening for EFL learners. The Journal of Asia
TEFL, 15(2), 310–328.
Kuckartz, U.
(2014) Qualitative
text analysis: A guide to methods, practice & using software. Sage
Publications.
Kuckartz, U.
(2019) Qualitative
text analysis: A systematic approach. In G. Kaiser & N. Presmeg (Eds.), Compendium
for early career researchers in Mathematics
education (pp.181–197). Springer.
Lo, Y. Y., & Macaro, E.
(2015) Getting
used to content and language integrated learning: What can classroom interaction reveal?The
Language Learning
Journal, 43(3), 239–255.
Macaro, E.
(2010) The
relationship between strategic behaviour and language learning
success. In E. Macaro (Ed.), The
Continuum companion to second language
acquisition (pp. 268–299). Continuum.
Macaro, E.
(2022) Learner
strategies in English Medium Instruction context. In B.
Di Sabato & B. Hughes (Eds.), Multilingual
perspectives from Europe and beyond on language policy and
practice (pp. 63–82). Routledge.
McKinley, J., Zhang, L. J., Elola, I., Hennebry-Leung, M., Zheng, Y., Greenier, V., Thomas, N., & Matzler, P.
(2024) Fifty
years of System research and projections for the
future. System, 121, 103210.
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H.
(2020) Intercoder
reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines. International Journal of
Qualitative Methods, 19.
Oxford, R. L.
(2017) Teaching
and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in
context. Routledge.
Plonsky, L.
(2019) Language
learning strategy instruction: Recent research and future
directions. In A. U. Chamot & V. Harris (Eds.), Learning
strategy instruction in the language classroom: Issues and
implementation (pp. 3–21). Multilingual
Matters.
Rubin, J.
(1975) What
the “good language learner” can teach us. TESOL
Quarterly, 9, 41–51.
Thomas, N., & Rose, H.
(2019) Do
language learning strategies need to be self-directed? Disentangling strategies from self-regulated
learning. TESOL
Quarterly, 53(1), 248–257.
Thomas, N., Bowen, N. E. J. A., & Rose, H.
(2021) A
diachronic analysis of explicit definitions and implicit conceptualizations of language learning
strategies. System, 103, 102619.
Thomas, N., Rose, H., Cohen, A. D., Gao, X., Sasaki, A., & Hernandez-Gonzalez, T.
(2022) The
third wind of language learning strategies research. Language
Teaching, 55(3), 417–421.
Vandergrift, L.
(2003) Orchestrating
strategy use: Toward a model of the skilled second language listener. Language
Learning, 53(3), 463–496.
Vandergrift, L., & Cross, J.
(2018) Listening
to learn versus learning to listen. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.), The
TESOL encyclopedia of English language
teaching (pp. 1–6). John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vandergrift, L., & Tafaghodtari, M. H.
(2010) Teaching
L2 learners how to listen does make a difference: An empirical study. Language
Learning, 60(2), 470–497.
Yau, A. H. Y., Fung, D. & Tsang, A.
(2024) Effects
of supplementary and mainstream education on the secondary–tertiary transitional challenges in English medium higher
education. Educational Research for Policy and
Practice, 23(2), 289–311.
Yeldham, M.
(2022) Examining
the interaction between two process-based L2 listening instruction methods and listener proficiency level: Which form of
instruction most benefits which learners?TESOL
Quarterly, 56(2), 688–712.
Yeldham, M., & Gruba, P.
(2016) The
development of individual learners in an L2 listening strategies course. Language Teaching
Research, 20(1), 9–34.
Zhang, L. J., & Shen, Y.
(2023) What
two decades of research into L2 listening in System tells us: Looking back for looking
forward. System, 112, 102970
Zhou, S., Fung, D., & Thomas, N.
(2023) Towards
deeper learning in EMI lectures: The role of English proficiency and motivation in students’ deep process of content
knowledge. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
Zhou, S., & Rose, H.
(2024) A
longitudinal study on lecture listening difficulties and self-regulated learning strategies across different proficiency
levels in EMI higher education. Applied Linguistics Review.
Zhou, S., & Thompson, G.
(2023) A
longitudinal study on students’ self-regulated listening during transition to an English-medium transnational university in
China. Studies in Second Language Learning and
Teaching, 13(2), 427–450.
