COMPUTER-TESTING OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION

This article describes a listening comprehension computer program and discusses its effects on general second language proficiency, measured in an experiment with large samples. In a research project with small er samples language data were analysed to assess common types of liste ning errors and to determine the effects of the computer monitoring on students progress. Subjects in the main experiment were 352 students of Dutch as a second language following an intensive beginners' course . The experimental group (N = 154) was set a daily listening comprehen sion test on the computer, while the control group (N = 198) was set a daily cloze-test. In the addition project a comparison was made of th e performance of 16 subjects of the experimental group at the beginnin g and the end of the course. Results of the experiment showed a signif icant difference: the experimental group scored much better on a gener al language proficiency test at the end of the course. The analysis of performance data shows that most errors were caused by misinterpretat ion. A possible bias due to incorrect spelling was not found. Steady p rogress was made in the course of the program. Finally, the results on listening tests with verbatim texts that students listened to before the test, and with paraphrased texts that students never heard before were found to correlate highly. The conclusion is that monitoring of l istening comprehension development by daily testing with computers pro motes second language proficiency. Automated testing of listening comp rehension, incorporated in a language course as described, is not only easy and efficient for both teachers and students, but also appears t o make the second language teaching and learning more effective.