Abstract
This study investigates whether differences in learning strategies affect shadowing performance. Prior studies suggest that shadowing takes up so much attention that some learners need a way to scaffold self-monitoring in order to facilitate shadowing. Therefore, this study sets three conditions and compares their ability to improve shadowing performance. Thirty-five Japanese university students were divided into the following three groups, which were subjected to different conditions: a self-study group (N=12), wherein learners listened to their shadowed voice to check their progress; a pair work group (N=12), wherein learners received feedback from a peer; and a control group (N=11), wherein learners received no feedback on their shadowing performance and participated in a 60-minute shadowing training session. A pre- and post-test analysis revealed that the self-study group outperformed the other two groups. However, the analysis also revealed that in all three conditions, the production of function words failed to meet that of content words.
