Promoting the listening comprehension of Japanese students through listening strategies : A case study of a Thai language listening course

This paper is a summary of methods used in teaching listening by utilizing listening strategies to promote the listening comprehension of Japanese students studying the Thai language. The subjects were 15 students who enrolled in the course Thai 14, Listening 2, semester 2, academic year 2018, Osaka University. The course met for 90 minutes once a week for 15 weeks per semester. The research objectives of the course were: 1) to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of listening instruction using teaching strategies for listening comprehension; and 2) to investigate the subjects’ satisfaction with the teaching strategies used. Listening is a major component in language learning because it provides language input for the learner, so listening comprehension is considered to be an essential component of language learning. A number of scholars in language teaching have proposed different methods for teaching students how to learn to listen based on the three steps of listening : pre-, while- and post listening. Three models of learning for listening have been proposed: 1) a bottom-up process, 2) a top-down process and 3) an interactive process. The teaching model developed and used in this study focused on all three steps of listening and combined the above three models of the learning process. Original texts and authentic learning were also essential components in this study. Listening comprehension exercises are being implemented during all stages of learning, and the task observation forms of the instructor will be analyzed in order to assess the development of the students’ listening skills. In the last week of semester 2, the students will complete a questionnaire and an interview. Research results will be reported in qualitative form.研究ノー