Investigating the Effect of Podcasts on English Majors' Listening Comprehension

[[abstract]]過去這十年各教育機構廣泛使用播客做為教學輔助工具。許多國外文獻報告指出播客可以促進英語學習者的聽力理解能力。然而，在台灣相關的研究並不多，尤其是利用播客來改進英語學習者的聽力上，有更進一步探討的需要。因此，本研究主要的目在探討英語系學生在進階聽力與會話課堂上使用播客所帶來的學習成效和他們對播客的態度。 四十二位來自台灣南部一所科技大學應用英語系的學生參與本次研究。在研究資料蒐集方面，研究者在學生參與五週播客聽力訓練前後，分別執行前測與後測。此外，也使用問卷調查和訪談的方式來深入瞭解學生對使用播客學習的態度與觀點。 本研究結果顯示播客能夠有效提升英語學習者的聽力理解能力。從研究數據可以看出參與者在後測聽力表現比前測的表現有顯著的進步。更具體的是，學生在後測聽力的兩個測驗部分中，也有顯著的進步。其中第一部分包含重點理解能力，以及第二部分的細節理解能力。從整體的問卷結果得知參與者對在進階聽力與會話課上使用播客都抱持正面態度。此外，透過訪談分析發現面談學生覺得利用播客來訓練聽力是一個很好的方法 ，他們還表示輔助教材在播客聽力練習上是非常有幫助的。根據研究的結果，本研究提出有關在課堂上使用播客的具體教學建議。[[abstract]]Over the past decade podcasts have been widely used as a supplementary teaching tool in diverse EFL/ ESL educational settings A number of studies conducted abroad have shown that podcasts could lead to better listening comprehension in English However due to the lack of relevant research in Taiwan it is necessary to examine whether audio-based podcasts can help improve EFL learners’ listening skills as suggested by other studies The current study therefore aims to investigate the effect of podcasts on listening comprehension of English-major undergraduate students and their attitudes toward podcast learning in an advanced listening and conversation class The participants recruited in the study were 42 English major students from a technological university in southern To collect data the pre- and post-test were conducted before and after the podcast listening practice that lasted for a period of five weeks Subsequently a questionnaire was distributed to evaluate the participants’ attitude toward the use of podcasts after the experiment Additionally individual oral interviews were conducted to explore students’ perceptions of podcast learning in greater depth The results of the present study strongly indicated that podcasts could effectively improve English majors’ listening comprehension Based on the statistical findings the participants’ listening performance was significantly better in the post-test than in the pre-test Specifically students also made a significant progress on the two individual parts of the post-test including main idea comprehension in the first part and supporting details comprehension in the second part In addition the overall findings of the questionnaire survey showed that most participants had positive attitudes toward the use of podcasts in the advanced listening and conversation class The interview analysis discovered student interviewees considered that it was a good idea for improving their English listening skills through podcasts Moreover they commented that the supplementary materials were very helpful in supporting their podcast listening practice Finally important pedagogical implications are proposed for the current stud