Taiwanese high school EFL teachers’ perceptions of their listening instruction

Abstract

In 2015 an English listening test was included in the Taiwan College Entrance Examination. This paper reports on a small-scale study looking at the related pedagogical practices of senior high school teachers in Taiwan. First, the paper provides an overview of the second language listening pedagogy research literature, which indicates that strategies instruction has been found to outperform a comprehension-based approach (where learners listen then answer comprehension questions) both in terms of listening comprehension and development of learner affective characteristics, such as confidence and motivation. The paper then reports on the study which gathered data from Taiwanese teachers through a questionnaire and interviews to investigate their perceptions of their listening instruction. The results of the study suggest; 1) the common use of a comprehension-based approach; 2) that teachers commonly encounter affective problems among their learners, and; 3) that teachers often have a rather rudimentary knowledge of how to remediate their learners’ comprehension and affective difficulties. The study provides useful initial insights into the state of listening instruction in Taiwan high schools, and suggests a possible need for strategies instruction.