Using authentic materials to develop listening comprehension in the

Table 7 Interviews with Students on Learning Strategy Use

Interview Questions Key Words N

What do you usually do when you don't understand what people are saying to you?

• 
  Ask people to say again 6
  
• 
  Ask people to slow down 3
  
• 
  Ask people to give meaning of word 3
  
• 
  Ask people to spell word 2
  
• 
  Guess 1
  

What do you do to improve your listening ability?

• 
  Watch television 7
  

What are the learning strategies that you use in learning the English language?

• 
  Use dictionary ⁵
  
• 
  Guess what people will say next ²
  
• 
  Translate to native language when ²
  

listening to English

• 
  Not translate between English and ²
  

native language

The results from the interviews showed that all seven students spent time watching television every day so that they practiced listening to the target language. The interviews also revealed some learning strategies that the students used in learning English. Most students mentioned using a dictionary to consult meanings when they encountered an unfamiliar word. Kim and Yuki usually tried to guess what the other person would say next. Some students, Choi and Kim, generally thought in their own native language when they listened to the target language. Some other students, Cheng and Enrique, on the other hand, tried not to translate between their first language and the second language they were learning. The students’ remarks on the strategies that they applied in learning the English language are the following:

Akiko: “I had to study by myself, watching TV, listening radio, uh the tapes.”
Cheng: “I listen to the verb and the nouns more carefully First I, uh, use English-
English dictionary; and sometimes the explanation I’m very confused, so I learn from the Chinese, English-Chinese dictionary to take notes in class.”
Choi: “[I think in] Korean language [when listening].”
Enrique: “I try to hear and think in English so I can answer I speak [English] in my
home . . . I use the dictionary [in the classroom], watching TV I don’t
understand words, I ask my father or other what is that mean.”
Kim: “I don’t understand, just guess if I don’t understand something, but it’s like uh,
it’s like some, I think it’s, I-I may, maybe if I-if I felt it’s not comfortable or some difficult meaning, and then is I pay attention-I pay attention. But it’s like easy conversation, it’s not pay attention; this is just like ‘How do you do,’ ‘Fine, good’ like this-this. I don’t want to dictionary, but sometimes it’s-sometimes it’s I
want because exactly, I want to exactly know meaning sometimes I use the
dictionary, but I cannot bring the dictionary, so just guess-just guess; and then is I ask about something somebody. I ask about somebody and then is maybe they- they say about similar. Just I heard about, I match about my knowledge base.”
Sonya: “Uh, I use dictionary. I-I use my husband and my kids.”


Yuki: “Uh, when I was uh, when I watch the television, I use um English-Japanese . . . but uh, when I uh, when I take class, I use English-English dictionary. I, uh if I don’t have dictionary, I ask what mean. I expect what you say.”


Results from the interview with teacher. The interview with teacher revealed information about the learning strategies that she emphasized in the language class. As opposed to the students’ belief about the necessity of hearing and understanding every single word, the teacher attempted to emphasize the importance of getting general ideas and being able to answer general questions. Additionally, the teacher always instructed the students to expect what they were about to hear while they were listening. Table 8 presents the findings from the interview with teacher regarding language learning strategies that the teacher told the students in her Academic Listening and Vocabulary Development class.