Effects of Shadowing and Dictation on Listening Comprehension Ability of EFL Learners

This article calls for a rethinking of the effectiveness of shadowing and dictation as means of developing listening comprehension ability in Japanese high school EFL classrooms. The participants were assigned to two groups: (a) one performed shadowing and dictation after completing listening drills and (b) the other engaged in grammar drills after the same listening drills. Both groups completed a 10-minute listening comprehension activity during regular classes. After 10 months, a posttest was conducted to check the improvement in the listening comprehension ability. The results revealed that group (a) outperformed group (b). The findings suggest that in the context of Japanese high school EFL classrooms, the listening comprehension instruction that combines shadowing and dictation can improve students' listening cmprehension ability