EffEctivEnEss of computEr-assistEd pronunciation Gist Education and LEarninG rEsEarch JournaL. issn 1692-5777. no. 8, (January - JunE) 2014. pp. 29-47. The Effect of Video-Based Tasks in Listening Comprehension of Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners1 Los Efectos de las Actividades Basadas en Videos en la Comprensión Auditiva de los Estudiantes Iraníes de Inglés Intermedio Abdullah Sarani, Esmail Zare Behtash and Saieed Moslemi Nezhad Arani2* University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Chabahar Maritime University, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran Abstract This study aims at finding the effect of video-based tasks in improving the listening comprehension ability of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL (English Foreign Language) learners. After determining the level of learners, an experimental and control group, each of 20 participants, were nominated to contribute to the study. From the time the pre-test was administered to each group, the experimental group was taught by a course of instruction based on video tasks for teaching listening comprehension. The control group was directed by a course of instruction only based on audio materials. Paired Samples T-test computation was utilized by SPSS software to calculate the level of significant difference in pre- and post-tests. Results show that teaching listening on the basis of video-based tasks has a significant effect on learners’ listening comprehension in realizing and understanding the authentic language more effectively. Keywords: task, Task-based Language Learning (TBLL), listening 29 comprehension, motivation, video-based tasks 1 Received: January 6, 2014 / Accepted: April 20, 2014 2 [email protected] No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad Resumen El estudio tiene como objetivo conocer el efecto de usar actividades basadas en videos para mejorar la habilidad/destreza de comprensión auditiva de los estudiantes iraníes de inglés nivel intermedio. Después de determinar el nivel de inglés de los estudiantes, se crearon dos grupos, un grupo experimental y un grupo de control, cada uno conformado por 20 estudiantes, los cuales fueron seleccionados para contribuir al estudio. Desde el momento en que fue administrado el test diagnóstico a cada uno de los grupos; el grupo experimental recibió actividades basadas en videos para la enseñanza de la comprensión auditiva. El grupo de control recibió instrucción basada únicamente en materiales de audio. Para el cálculo de las muestras apareadas del test t se utilizó el programa de análisis estadístico (SPSS) versión 20, el cual permitió conocer el nivel de diferencias significativas en el test diagnóstico inicial y los posteriores. Los resultados revelan que la enseñanza de la destreza auditiva basada en actividades utilizando videos tiene un efecto significativo en la comprensión auditiva de los estudiantes para desarrollar y entender el idioma de una forma más auténtica y eficaz. Palabras clave: tareas, aprendizaje basado en tareas (TBLL), comprensión auditiva, motivación, actividades basadas en videos Resumo O estudo tem como objetivo conhecer o efeito de usar atividades baseadas em vídeos para melhorar a habilidade/destreza de compreensão auditiva dos estudantes iranianos de inglês nível intermédio. Depois de determinar o nível de inglês dos estudantes, criaram-se dois grupos, um grupo experimental e um grupo de controle, cada um conformado por 20 estudantes, os quais foram selecionados para contribuir ao estudo. Desde o momento em que foi administrado o teste diagnóstico a cada um dos grupos; o grupo experimental recebeu atividades baseadas em vídeos para o ensino da compreensão auditiva. O grupo de controle recebeu instrução baseada unicamente em materiais de áudio. Para o cálculo das amostras em pares do teste t se utilizou o programa de análise estatístico (SPSS) versão 20, o qual permitiu conhecer o nível de diferencias significativas no teste diagnóstico inicial e os posteriores. Os resultados revelam que o ensino da destreza auditiva baseada em atividades utilizando vídeos tem um efeito significativo a compreensão auditiva dos estudantes para desenvolver e entender o idioma de uma forma mais autêntica e eficaz. 30 Palavras chave: tarefas, aprendizagem baseada em tarefas (TBLL), compreensão auditiva, motivação, atividades baseadas em vídeos No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad Introduction An umber of studies indicate that tasks can have a great effect on learning as well as pedagogy; that is, using tasks is practical both for teaching and learning effectively. It is clearly stated by Nunan (2004) that “The concept of ‘task’ has become an important element in syllabus design, classroom teaching and learner assessment. It underpins several significant research agendas, and it has influenced educational policymaking in both ESL and EFL settings” (p. 1). Accordingly, task-based language teaching has strengthened many other principles and practices. Yousefi, Mohammadi, and Koosha (2012) propose a number of approaches of task-based exploration: psychological, interactional, socio-cultural, structure-focused, and cognitive, information-theoretical approach. It seems that the first and the third approaches are most closely related to the goal of this study, which is psychological. It seems that the presence of audio, in addition to visual information, may convey some sort of feeling for listeners in which they feel they are experiencing a real context with all its details. It is also important to consider the fact that standardized tasks are designed for specific purposes, so they are based on a structure-focused approach, resulting in expected outputs. The pedagogic considerations of task-based listening are mentioned by Ellis (2003) as well: “The research based on listening-and-do tasks has shown that such tasks are effective both as listening comprehension devices and as a means of presenting new linguistic material to students” (p. 66). This idea of teaching and keeping learners exposed to problem- solving tasks for language teaching easily and effectively can be applied in listening comprehension ability. As Spearritt (1962) states, “Formal training in listening has been virtually nonexistent; any listening skills that pupils have acquired have come incidentally in the course of studying other subjects” (p. 22). Accordingly, tasks can create variety and enjoyment for teaching and learning listening comprehension. Ruso (2009) considers that increasing learners’ motivation and performance can be achieved by using task-based instruction during the course of instruction. It is worth mentioning that nearly all students with different proficiency levels are not satisfied by the gained level of listening 31 comprehension ability. After passing a long course of instruction, still they have problems in listening comprehension, and may say “I could not understand the spoken texts or any other types of audio materials.” The problems this study treats are those of finding the effect of task- based instruction on listening comprehension, and proposing the use of video-based tasks as suitable for instruction in teaching listening comprehension. Ellis’s idea about the helpful role of employing tasks No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad in listening comprehension ability proves that task-based instruction can have a positive effect in increasing listening comprehension ability. According to Ellis (2003) “Like researchers, teachers can use listening tasks to present the student with input enriched with specific features they (students) wish to target” (p. 37). The importance of learning and teaching English as a foreign language has created a daily demand towards applying effective strategies for teaching and learning the four main skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), as they are the ultimate goal of learning a language. Many difficulties and obstacles on this road oblige us to every- day revisions and apply new methods of teaching for better adaptation and superior output. The importance of listening comprehension is also emphasized by Spearritt (1962) “Yet listening undoubtedly plays an important part in the process of communication. Various studies have indicated that, in terms of the amount of time the four communication skills are employed, listening is the most important skill” (p. 2). Regarding this, the listening skill has created problems in both teaching and learning listening comprehension. Students often complain that even with intensive practices, they cannot comprehend any type of spoken texts fully. The idea of intensive practices is different from tasks, where an effective task can have supportive results after just involving learners with the task once or twice, than providing them some prepared practices and asking them to do them hundreds of times. Highlighting the importance of task-based listening, we can refer to the idea of Ellis (2003) where he believes “… the task-based listening research has contributed to our understanding of how specific input properties affect comprehension and language acquisition” (p. 65). Through different studies published in different contexts, such as India by Mohanraj (1994), Turkey by Tavil (2010), and French by Graham (2005), it is implied that task-based instruction can improve listening comprehension ability meaningfully. Still, task-based instruction, by all of its proponents, has not satisfied some others on its methodology. Regarding this, the real gap is what Ellis comments, (2003) “However, task-based curriculum still involves making decisions about content (i.e., what tasks to include in the syllabus) and methodology 32 (i.e., how the tasks will be used in the classroom), thus, it is important to maintain the distinction in discussions of task-based teaching” (p. 79). Continuing this view of modification, this study considers video- based tasks for teaching listening comprehension. Warschauer (2002) also comments, “Communicative language teaching and learning has proven that the use of video can accelerate the understanding of learners to the real use of language” (p. 4). No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad The goal behind this study is to investigate the effectiveness of video-based tasks instruction on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ listening comprehension ability. This intends to see if there is any noteworthy effect of video-based tasks instruction on improving listening comprehension ability of EFL learners. The regarded level of learners is limited to pre-intermediate EFL learners within the Iranian educational milieu. The question which this study wants to answer can be stated as follows: Does task based instruction on the basis of video-based tasks have a significant effect on improving listening comprehension of Iranian pre- intermediate EFL learners? Researchers of this study, after testing the idea of video-based tasks instruction in some small contexts (such as classrooms, learners groups) and getting possitive effect, planned to conduct the same idea in larger context. This is why the hypothesis is defined as a null hypothesis. H01 Task-based instruction on the basis of video-based tasks does not have any significant effect on improving listening comprehension ability of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. Literature Review The perception of a “task” has become a significant building block in syllabus design, classroom teaching and learner assessment. It adds force to several important research programs, and has influenced educational policymaking in both ESL and EFL settings (Nunan, 2004). Many studies have been done regarding this concept and the idea of task-based instruction. For example, Willis (1996) and Nunan (2004) focus on the importance of tasks through language learning. Ellis (2003) is also one of the pioneers in taking task-based instruction into the teaching of listening comprehension. This idea and practical manifestation of Ellis may be accompanied by the “Factorial Analysis” idea of listening by Spearritt (1962). Different parts of the world are experiencing task-based language teaching (TBLT) through different practical studies such as Carless (2002), Ruso (2009), Yousefi, Mohammadi & Koosha (2012), and others. 33 It is believed by many scholars that listening comprehension has been neglected in the contemporary era in language teaching. This idea is considered by Vandergrift and Goh (as cited in Long & Doughty, 2009). “For year the role of listening in language acquisition and communication was undervalued and neglected. Second and foreign language (SL/FL) listening was often developed incidentally through No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad language exercises where oral language was used” (p. 395). They argue that listening comprehension in second and foreign language teaching found its substance during the communicative language period, in which language is used for face-to-face communication by having listening comprehension as part of its foundation. Accordingly, it seems that listening is a kind of base for comprehensible input and the foremost aspect in inter-language communications. In terms of language expertise, they describe different aspects involved in listening comprehension as well as how to teach effectively. Long and Doughty (2009) describe a variety of theories based on special disciplines. “The review of teaching listening is organized around three main topics: (1) cognitive and social dimension of listening, (2) approaches to teaching listening, and (3) assessment of listening” (p. 395). The present study tries to continue the above mentioned framework in order to define and clear the listening comprehension concept. By examining the literature on the teaching of listening in different settings such as SL (Second Language) and FL (Foreign Language), it is underestood that listening comprehenstion merely used to seize the meaning from the written or spoken situations disregards teaching learners how to listen. For a time, teaching listening was mainly focused on listening itself rather than teaching different strategies to apply in successful comprehension of spoken language. Later on, the pre-listening stage was added to teach listening in order to activate prior knowledge. It was argued that teaching listening comprehension should offer a kind of framework and ladder-like situation which help learners in addition to using their own previous knowledge to be able to realize and try out processes in listening comprehension. In fact, learners should learn how to listen. Further, research in SL/FL shows how teaching listening comprehenstion has been conducted in two main frameworks of bottom-up and top-down approaches. Bottom-up processing in listening demands an awareness of sounds and words in the stream of speech. It means that when there is an enough understanding of lexical items, listeners will be able to use their contextual knowledge to comprehend the input. According to Long and Doughty (2009) “the bottom-up 34 approach to listening acknowledges the primacy of the acoustic signal and focuses on helping learners develop critical perception skills” (p. 399). It should be reminded that bottom-up processing is not exactly a method of teaching. Field (2004) supports this idea and believes, “Strictly speaking, however, the terms refer not to particular levels of processing but to directions of processing. In a ‘bottom-up’ process, small (‘lower level’) units are progressively reshaped into larger No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad ones…” (p. 344). For example, when learners are listening to the spoken language in order to have a clear comprehension, based on their prior knowledge about phonemes, they will interpret that the word exists and is understandable. Speech segmentation, as its name implies, is defined as underestanding or realizing different factors, boundaries, and features in words through speech. Different studies have been conducted to show the importance of speech segmentation, especially for listeners in SL/FL contexts. Culter (2001) believes that when individuals are listening to a new language that is rhythmically different from their own, they can constrain their own language segmentation procedures. It is obvious that prosodic features such as stress and intonation are important cues for defining boundaries of a word. Regarding so, Harly (2000) concludes that apprehending speech units rather than syntactic clues could be very helpful in underestanding of English. Field (2005) also states “inserting word boundaries before stressed syllables can help to identify words in a stream of speech” (p. 6). However, it is also argued that if learners are aware of the difference between their own lagnguage segmentation and the second language, this consciousness will help them beneficially. The top-down aspect of listening comprehension can be defined as helping learners understand the nature of listening comprehension in order to become more independent in applying strategies (Goh, 2008). In the top-down approach, promoting learners’ metacognitive awareness is the key aim. For example, at the end of the course of instruction, learners should be able to use different types of strategies outside the class as successful listeners. Metacognitive knowledge in top-down processing refers to the learners’ understanding of the ways in which different features act and cooperate. Based on Long and Doughty (2009) “this knowledge can be devided into into person knowledge, task knowledge, and strategy knowledge” (p. 401). Person knowledge refers to personal factors that support or hinder learners’ listening such as anxiety or motivation. Task knowledge states that the purpose of a listening task, its demands, text organization and structure, features that could obstruct the task, and type of listening skills are essential to achieve the listening purpose. These useful strategies which 35 enhance listening comprehension are called strategy knowledge, such as strategies applied to deal with listening problems and to check listeners’ interpretations. After Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) it is said that Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a new and up-to- date generation of CLT point of view toward language teaching No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad methodology. According to Ellis (2003), “tasks are an important feature of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)” (p. 27). It seems that if we are capable of making language in the classroom meaningful, students can process language more naturally. Prabhu (as cited in Ruso, 2009) defines a task as “an activity which required learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process” (p. 24). Ruso also emphasizes the following: Using tasks in teaching is a popular method and the implication of using these tasks in a classroom context is observable after conducting research, many people have studied the implementation of TBL and tasks within their classrooms and have advised using tasks in language classrooms suggesting that the motivation of students’ rises through assigned tasks, on looking at the positive results that the use of tasks may bring about in the EFL classroom, it can be said that using a variety of tasks in class gives positive results. (p. 4) A fundamental pedagogic concern in Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) showed that a task can be fit into a sequence of instruction. Willis (as cited in Ellis, 2003) Willis envisages a “task cycle” consisting of three broad phases: (1) pre-task, (2) task, and (3) language focus” (p. 33). The term task cycle, in fact, refers to the steps or phases that one task should involve in order to be as effective as it can be. Through these three stages, the basic concentration can be upon the form. Ellis explains, “In the pre-task phase one option is for the teacher to highlight useful words and phrases. The task phase ends with a “report” where the learners comment on their performance of the task. In the final phase, learners perform consciousness-raising and practice activities directed at specific linguistic features that occurred in the input of the task and/or in the transcripts of fluent speakers doing the task” (p. 33). In the context of the present study, the idea underpinning the use of task-based instruction with video-based tasks is based on the viewpoint that “with video, the student can not only hear the speakers; he can see the speakers, the background situational cues, the paralinguistic features, and the non-verbal communication of the exchange” (Wilkinson, 1984, 36 p. 1). In audio-based materials, which are very commonly used, there is no visual element and the script be required to contain more verbally explicit language than is usual in real life to make-up for the absence of the visual cues. According to Candlin (1982) “the danger is, of course, that students get used to more than usually explicit language and find real life interaction very difficult to cope with, being less explicit” (p. 14). Video, clearly, does not comprise this shortcoming. The language No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad situation presented on video can be both authentic and meaningful because an important part of the overall message is conveyed by the visual image. As well, the technical features of video (freeze frame, review, and preview) provide the teacher with the control required to facilitate student analysis and comprehension of the language presented (Candlin, 1982). It seems that no matter how authentic or meaningful the language presented on video is, it is not true in real life. In real life situations, a student must not only listen and understand, he or she must also initiate language. However, Candlin (1982) argues that “because video is such a dynamic medium, well designed video-based activities can provide an effective stimulus to take students from a passive listening comprehension to an active oral interaction” (p. 1). Wilkinson (1984) started to use videos with the purpose of applying activities that define the “pedagogical and technical features of video and involve students in interactive viewing situations that develop both receptive and productive skills” (p. 83). Through this study he used those learning activities which are increasingly more communicative as the video progresses, that students contribute energetically during the total watching, not simply at the end. These activities were regarded as “information retrieval” activity (introducing characters), “discussion/ consensus” activity (Powers of Observation), “view and speculate” activity (Possible Motives), “jigsaw viewing” activity (Who’s Guilty?), and “report/debate” activity (The Accusation). Another theoretical study, done by Aulia (2005) evaluates utilizing video in the testing of listening. He argues: It is inevitable since it was introduced in language testing assessment the use of video in listening comprehension still leaves some pros and cons, some pros are the use of video in pedagogy and the ability of video to bring salient pragmatic competence and paralinguistic features of the video, whereas the cons are the distractions that happen due to video and the inability of video to avoid the ambiguity of interpretation. (p. 6) Wagner (2004) administered a video listening test and reports that “the results seem to provide some evidence for the validation of a two- factor model of listening based on the ability to comprehend explicitly 37 stated information, and the ability to comprehend implicit information in aural texts” (p. 1) However, this pilot study mainly focused on testing of listening comprehension using videos. On the other hand, it seems that no studies have been done on the basis of teaching listening comprehension through the video-based tasks. This gap is exactly what this study wants to explore and to discover. No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014) thE EffEcts of vidEo-basEd tasKs sarani, bEhtash, nEzhad Methodology Research Design The conducted plan for this investigation is experimental. Two groups of subjects (participants) with the same level of proficiency were nominated to embark on the study, an experimental group and a control group. Each group involved twenty subjects. Pre- and post-tests were administrated at the beginning and end of the course of instruction, and then the data was statistically analyzed. Materials The related instruments and materials for this research proposed as following. Standard English video clips (Top Notch TV Programs), video-based tasks (such as true-false, multiple-choice, fill-in-the blank, etc.), pre-and post-tests of listening comprehension directed to both groups of students from the same intermediate proficiency level. The required video-based listening comprehension tasks were developed based on the task-based instruction criteria and also were extracted from Top Notch TV program worksheets. For the experimental group the content was designed for 10 sessions of instruction in different learning objectives. Data Collection Instruments This division of subjects into control and experimental groups was made based on the placement test, which was implemented among nearly 60 students from different universities in Zahedan, Iran. Two classes were created: “Class A,” or the experimental group and “Class B,” the control group. Subjects were assigned to either group randomly. Both groups were given 10 sessions of instruction of 60 minutes for each session. Then, before the first session, the pre-test of listening comprehension was administrated to both groups: to “Class A” as a video-based listening test and “Class B” as an audio-based listening test. Class “A,” the experimental group, was given the pre-test of 38 listening based on the planned video materials. Five video clips were selected randomly accompanied by their tasks and activities from the textbook. For Class “B,” the same pre-test with identical learning objectives was given, based on the audio only. After gathering the primary data from the pre-test, the tasks and activities were implemented using ten sessions of video material for the experimental group “Class A.” Meanwhile, the control group, “Class B,” used the audio-based material No. 8 (January - June 2014) No. 8 (January - June 2014)