Effects of listening comprehension training on listening and reading

In this study the effects of providing text strategy instruction in a listening mode on listening and reading comprehension of experimental and control groups of 9- to 11-year-old poor readers were examined. All students were very poor in decoding and poor in reading comprehension. In addition, half of the group were also poor listeners, whereas the other half consisted of students with normal listening test scores. The experimental program employed auditorily presented texts, and the students were trained in the strategies of clarifying, summarizing, predicting, and questioning. The program's teaching format consisted of a combination of reciprocal teaching and direct instruction. Measurements occurred according to a pretest-posttest-retention test design. The results indicated significant program effects on strategic listening and strategic reading posttests, and the results were maintained on retention tests that were administered 3 months after termination of the program. However, transfer in terms of an improved performance on more general and standardized listening and reading comprehension tests was not demonstrated.