Abstract
The Effect of Visual Support on Listening Comprehension in Turkish Elementary EFL Learners
The role of visual materials in listening tasks has long been a matter of interest for researchers with the development of technological tools. However, studies have often reported inconclusive results as to the efficiency of video-mediated activities compared to audio-only materials. The aim of this study is thus to investigate whether listening materials with visual support have a significant effect on listening comprehension scores, and to elicit learners’ opinions on both channels of input. 39 high school students at a public school participated in the study. Three video excerpts of different topics have been used to assess the listening comprehension. The scores of learners have been analyzed though SPSS version 21.0. The results indicate that the mode of input, video and audio, in listening tasks significantly influences the listening comprehension scores of the learners. The higher scores of the video group support the claims of multimodal approach, comprehensible input theory and cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Interview findings show that learners favor visual materials more than audio-only materials. It has been concluded that videos are more favorable than audio materials and seem to lead to a better comprehension, but videos may distract the attention of the learners as well.
Keywords
listening tasks, listening comprehension, visual materials, audio materials.