Utilizing authentic informal English to develop listening comprehension skills of tourism English majors in Korea

• Main Author: Ju, Yang-don
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1999
• Subjects: English language > Conversation and phrase books; Language and languages > Study and teaching; Comprehension; Listening; Teaching > Aids and devices; College teaching; College graduates > Korea; Tourism; English Language and Literature
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/798
• Institution: De La Salle University

This research aims to design instructional materials utilizing an informal, conversational variety of English to determine the effectiveness of said materials in developing listening comprehension skills among tourism English majors in Korean colleges.To produce instructional materials using informal English, the researcher went through the conceptualization and design of the materials with several steps: needs analysis, syllabus design, developing the instructional material, pilot study, students' open-ended questionnaire for book revision, professors' suggestion for book revision, teacher's journal entry during the pilot study, revision of materials. In addition, the researcher gathered data to finalize the materials through students' interview, teacher's journal entry during the experiment, students' evaluation, and professors' evaluation.The study found out that students who are exposed to informal English listening materials exhibit greater gains in listening comprehension skills in informal English than those exposed to formal English listening materials. Furthermore, they also gain listening comprehension skills in formal English as much as those exposed to formal English listening materials. Finding from the students interview and evaluation questionnaire was that they felt their overall listening comprehension ability in both formal and informal English was improved as a result of using instructional materials utilizing informal English. Majority of them thought that their ability to comprehend reduced forms, get general information, utilize non-verbal cues and make inferences improved. When asked about the effectiveness of the textbook, they answered that the textbook was helpful to them especially in getting cues to understand authentic materials such as TV shows, movies or conversational talk. Furthermore, they also mentioned their preference for the varied activities in the textbook. Positive evaluations of the textbook as a whole and the varied activities found in it were also given by the professors who reviewed the book for content and construct validity.Thus, it can be concluded that the absence of the features of authentic conversation e.g. false starts, repetitions, reduced forms, colloquialisms, etc. in the formal texts found in listening materials make it difficult for students to make sense of authentic materials when they are exposed to them.Moreover, the results of this study underscore the use of authentic listening texts by way of video materials presenting real conversational English, unsimplified, spoken at a normal pace and in typical accents.