Improving Your Listening Comprehension 🎧

Exploring the Benefits of Text-To-Speech (TTS) and Native Content for Language Learners

Last week, I wrote about how you can train yourself to hear a sound that doesn't exist in your first language. Building on that idea, I think a natural next step would be to discuss improving listening comprehension in a second language.

📠 The Basics 

Listening comprehension plays a crucial role in effective communication and acquiring information. According to Hunsaker (1990), approximately 80% of our knowledge is gained through listening. Additionally, listening is considered the initial stage in the language learning process and is vital for early language development (Gestanti, 2017).

Listening provides learners with insights into the target language's phonology, vocabulary, grammar, semantics, and discourse structure, laying the groundwork for speaking in a foreign language. Simply put:

• It allows you to understand and participate in conversations.

• It helps you catch the nuances of the language such as intonations, stresses, and rhythms.

• It enhances your overall linguistic proficiency and aids in pronunciation.

Studies suggest that students dedicate over half of their time learning a new language to listening (Nation & Newton, 2009). Moreover, listening is also seen as a "highly complex problem-solving activity" (Byrnes, 1984), indicating the need for specific techniques and strategies to make the process more effective.

Photo taken from Levels of Linguistics

🎧 Ways to Improve Listening Comprehension

Strategy #1: Get Regular Second Language Exposure at a Comprehensible Level

The strategy implies immersion in a second language environment where the language level is not too advanced. When we align our listening content with our current proficiency level, we can understand what we hear even if there are a new words thrown into the material. Over time, consistent exposure will likely lead to enhanced understanding and improved listening skills in the second language.

Additionally, it’s ideal that we focus on content that is not only easy for us but also aligns with our interests. For instance, if you are interested in folk tales, watching short clips about them rather than sports commentaries would engage to do this activity more consistently.

Strategy #2: Subject Yourself to the Discomfort of Higher Level Practice

Ericsson (2006) asserts that deliberate practice helps individuals to actively strive for improvement beyond their current performance levels, a concept distinct from the effect of mere experience. This strategy involves engaging in activities that may feel uncomfortable or challenging in order to improve a specific skill or capability. It's about stepping outside of your comfort zone in a planned, focused way.

Deliberate practice has a clear goal: improving performance. This might make it less enjoyable than other learning activities, as it requires more effort and discipline. I found a great article on Hacking Chinese about applying i+2 with scaffolding strategies.

🤦‍♂️What if I can’t find the listening materials that I need?

...can I just make it myself?

This question came to mind when Clayton, a subscriber to this newsletter, recently emailed me. He asked about the effectiveness of using text-to-speech versus native recordings for developing listening comprehension skills. I looked into some research and compiled a list of pros and cons. Here's what I dug up: 

Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology has attracted considerable interest from second language educators due to its ability to produce expressive and emotional outputs. The voice output quality of TTS is exceptional as it utilizes real voices from the included speakers in the software, and even incorporates emotive and expressive tones (Harashima, 2006). Handley's (2009) study indicates that TTS applications exhibit high levels of accuracy and naturalness in phonetic pronunciation. However, Handley also uncovered that this accuracy doesn't extend to the prosodic aspects of speech.

In a study by (Kim, 2015) to investigate the effects of using native video resources on the development of English listening skills they found that it only showed a significant positive effect on students with intermediate or advanced English proficiency levels. There were no significant differences found in the low proficiency group because it was challenging to find native material that fit their level and had comprehensible input. 

This suggests that TTS may be more beneficial for lower-level learners, particularly when reading sentences or short passages aloud because it can help them understand the pronunciation and rhythm of the language they're learning. On the other hand, native content might be better suited to intermediate and advanced learners because it provides genuine, real-world language use, allowing them to understand context and nuance better.

Text-to-speech for Listening Comprehension

Pros:

• Easy availability: TTS tools are widely available and can be easily used with any text.

• Flexibility: Learners can adjust the speed of speech, helping them to understand better.

• Convenience: TTS can be integrated into various digital platforms, allowing learners to listen anytime, anywhere.

Cons:

• Lack of naturalness: TTS may not perfectly mimic the pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm of a native speaker.

• Pauses and stress: TTS might not accurately reproduce the natural pauses and stress that come with native speech.

Native Speaker Recordings for Listening Comprehension

Pros:

• Authentic pronunciation: Native speaker recordings provide the most accurate representation of pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm.

• Real-world language use: These recordings often include colloquial language, idioms, and cultural references, providing a richer learning experience.

• Understand context: Native speakers naturally pause and stress certain words or phrases, which can help learners understand sentence structures.

Cons:

• Availability: It might be harder to find native speaker recordings for specific content.

• Inflexibility: The speed of speech is fixed and cannot be adjusted to aid comprehension.

• Variations: Dialects and accents can vary widely among native speakers, potentially causing confusion for learners.

While writing this felt a bit like homework to me, I really enjoyed learning a bit more on the topic and hope you found it helpful! I do a lot of passive listening through TV shows, movies, and just conversations around me but think its about time to add a little i+2 with formal Japanese.

Also, feel free to message me if there’s a topic you’re interested in or curious about! I hope you’re enjoying the fall season as much as I am.