TY - JOUR

T1 - Repeating the listening text

T2 - Effects on listener performance, metacognitive strategy use, and anxiety

AU - Holzknecht, Franz

AU - Harding, Luke

PY - 2024/3/31

Y1 - 2024/3/31

N2 - In second language listening assessment and pedagogy, practitioners hold different views on whether to repeat a listening text in contexts where inferences about listening ability are to be drawn from task performance. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of repeating the listening text (double play) on listener performance, listening strategies, test-taking strategies, test-taking anxiety, and listening anxiety. Three hundred six Austrian secondary school students responded to four listening tasks drawn from the Austrian Matura exam and completed questionnaires measuring strategic behavior and anxiety in a counter-balanced research design. Data were analyzed using many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM), factor analysis, and inferential statistics. Findings confirmed that double play led to higher levels of listener performance across two task types (multiple-choice items and note completion), however, scores were higher in the single play condition compared to the first play of double play. Students also reported lower levels of anxiety, and the use of more listening strategies and fewer test-taking strategies in double play compared to single play with small effect sizes. We discuss the importance of balancing an empirically derived understanding of the effects of repeating the listening text with considerations of the purpose of an assessment, and the characteristics of the target language use domain.

AB - In second language listening assessment and pedagogy, practitioners hold different views on whether to repeat a listening text in contexts where inferences about listening ability are to be drawn from task performance. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of repeating the listening text (double play) on listener performance, listening strategies, test-taking strategies, test-taking anxiety, and listening anxiety. Three hundred six Austrian secondary school students responded to four listening tasks drawn from the Austrian Matura exam and completed questionnaires measuring strategic behavior and anxiety in a counter-balanced research design. Data were analyzed using many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM), factor analysis, and inferential statistics. Findings confirmed that double play led to higher levels of listener performance across two task types (multiple-choice items and note completion), however, scores were higher in the single play condition compared to the first play of double play. Students also reported lower levels of anxiety, and the use of more listening strategies and fewer test-taking strategies in double play compared to single play with small effect sizes. We discuss the importance of balancing an empirically derived understanding of the effects of repeating the listening text with considerations of the purpose of an assessment, and the characteristics of the target language use domain.

U2 - 10.1002/tesq.3249

DO - 10.1002/tesq.3249

M3 - Journal article

VL - 58

SP - 451

EP - 478

JO - TESOL Quarterly

JF - TESOL Quarterly

SN - 1545-7249

IS - 1

ER -