Judy Wei - LALS PhD Candidate - A listening textbook in the EFL classrooms at a Chinese university

How does the textbook represent listening instruction?

Recent studies on L2/EFL listening instruction suggest a mismatch between research-based principles for teaching listening and how listening instruction is represented in textbook and classroom practice. In this seminar, I report on my research into the teaching of listening in an EFL classroom at a Chinese university, focusing on the extent to which the mandated textbook aligns with recommended good practice in teaching listening.

Diep Tran - LALS PhD Candidate - What do we talk about when we talk about assessing listening?

This study examines the extent to which a listening test actually engages the subskills it claims to assess.

Due to its elusive nature, listening is arguably the most difficult language skill to assess. It is never easy to make sure that a listening test really measures the cognitive processes it claims to measure. This study investigates the cognitive validity of a high-stakes listening test, examining the extent to which this test measures its intended construct. Think-aloud protocols were used to collect verbal data of the participants’ thinking process as they tackled test tasks.