Student and Instructor Beliefs about L2 Russian Listening Comprehension Difficulties
Lidia Gault, Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition, UW-Madison
Listening is an integral part of learning second or foreign spoken languages (L2s). L2 listening used to be considered a passive skill; however, this view has shifted toward acknowledgement that L2 listening is a complex physiological and cognitive process, which is “the least explicit” and “the most difficult to learn” (Vandergrift, 2004, p.4). This study examines U.S.-based second- and third-year students’ and instructors’ beliefs about L2 Russian listening comprehension (LC) challenges. The study employs a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, using a vignette methodology in a survey and a semi-structured follow-up interview. Preliminary findings based on the pilot study (n = 19) indicate that fast speech rate and authenticity were believed to be the primary contributing factors in L2 listening. Neither students (n=7) nor instructors (n=12) perceived an unfamiliar accent as a factor. The results are discussed in relation to existing experimental research findings on factors contributing to L2 listening comprehension difficulties, with pedagogical implications for L2 LC instruction.
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