The Effects of Listening Instructions Using Materials with Background Noise on EFL Learners’ Listening Abilities

Abstract

　　This study aimed to examine how listening instructions using materials with background noise affect EFL learners’ listening comprehension and their perceptions about background noise. Two classes of Japanese university students took part in the study. The experimental group received listening instruction using listening materials with background noise and the control group received the same listening instruction using materials without noise. The experiment was conducted over the course of ten weeks, and the participants took pre- and post-listening tests to measure their listening comprehension and perception skills. Participants also answered pre- and post-questionnaires about their listening comprehension confidence levels and their perceptions of the noise. The results showed several findings. First, the effects of listening instructions using materials with noise on students’ listening skills did not differ from the effects of listening instructions using materials without noise. Second, students’ level of confidence in their listening comprehension with background noise improved in both groups, suggesting that the listening materials with noise did not affect their confidence level about listening with background noise. The results suggest that the language learners were still negatively affected by the presence of noise after receiving the listening instruction with noise.