Tolerance of ambiguity and L2 listening comprehension

Cubillos, Jorge H.In-class listening activities are generally one of the most stressful tasks for L2 learners. Many L2 learners feel discouraged if they do not understand every single word in oral discourse. For this reason, learners can disengage from listening activities very easily. The present study investigates the relationship between the concept of tolerance of ambiguity (TA)—which refers to the degree of acceptance of uncertainty—and listening comprehension in a second language. This study involved 32 participants enrolled in two elementary Spanish courses at the University of Delaware in the fall semester of 2016, and it was carried out following an explanatory mixed-method research design. While the control group (n=16) was exposed to regular listening instruction based on comprehension checks, the experimental group (n=16) was trained to develop listening comprehension strategies aimed at increasing the students’ level of TA (i.e., attention to supra-segmental and extra-linguistic features of language, promoting the deployment of cognitive strategies for the identification of global themes, stimulating social strategies for the processing of the second language content through partner discussions, and promoting metacognitive awareness of the listening process). Descriptive statistics were used to determine the initial TA level of participants, a dependent-samples t-test was conducted to analyze the change in TA of the experimental group throughout the semester, and finally, a multiple regression analysis was performed to estimate the relationship between TA and listening comprehension.University of Delaware. ǂb Department of Languages, Literatures and CulturesM.A