A Descriptive Study of EFL students’

Listening Comprehension levels and their

use of Listening Strategies when faced with
Audio-visual material
A research project submitted to Universidad de los Lagos for the degree of
Profesor de Enseñanza Media con Mención en Inglés
By
Yanara Belén García Momberg
Bernardo Andrés Mardones Sepúlveda

English Language Teaching and Translation Programme

Universidad de Los Lagos
Osorno, Chile
Professor Victor Peña Villarroel
October 29th, 2021
 Abstract

The insufficient levels of listening comprehension in Chilean secondary EFL

students are reflected in the SIMCE Inglés results in 2017, indicating that Chilean students’
listening comprehension achievements are low, and one plausible explanation for this might
be that the materials that students are being exposed to are not suitable to foster the
development of this communicative skill. Hence, this descriptive study aims to determine
EFL students’ listening comprehension levels and their use of listening strategies when
faced with audio-visual material. For this reason, 15 ninth grade students who learn English
as a foreign language in a subsidized school in Puerto Natales, Chile, participated in this
study. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data
which, for the aim of the study, were limited to a survey, a test (r=0,78), and a focus group.
As the main findings of this research, we identified that most of the students use the
listening strategies stated by Wilson's taxonomy (2008); nevertheless, it might be possible
that they do not have awareness of their employment. Moreover, related to the resources
used in class, most of the students agreed on the fact that the use of audio-visual material
rather than audio material would greatly help them enhance their listening comprehension
skills. To conclude, this study contributes to the learning field in our context since the use
of listening strategies and audio-visual material might help EFL Chilean students to
properly develop their listening comprehension. Finally, further research is suggested with
a larger sample to make generalizations and to determine the students' listening
comprehension and their use of listening strategies and audio-visual material when facing
listening activities.

Keywords: Listening Comprehension, Listening Strategies, Audio-visual Material.

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 Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Literature review 7
2.1 Definition of Listening Comprehension 7
2.1.1 Listening activities 8
2.1.2 Difficulties when listening 9
2.2 Learning Strategies and Listening Strategies 10
2.2.1 Learning Strategies 10
2.2.2 Cognitive strategies 10
2.2.3 Listening Strategies 11
2.3 Audio-visual material in Listening comprehension 12
2.3.1 Videos: 13
2.3.2 Pictures: 14
2.3.3 Sitcom/TV series: 14
3. Methodology 16
3.1 Participants involved in the study 16
3.2 Problem Statement and Variables 16
3.3 Research Design and Methodological Approach 17
3.4 General and Specific Objectives, and Research Questions 17
3.5 Instruments used for data collection 18
3.5.1 Test (Quantitative data) 18
3.5.2 Survey (Quantitative data) 19
3.5.3 Focus Group (Qualitative data) 20
3.6 Ethical Considerations 20
3.7 Procedure 21
3.8 Data Analysis 21
4. Results and Discussion 23
4.1. The students’ listening comprehension level according to the CEFR. 23
4.2 The students' self-reported use of listening strategies when faced with listening
activities. 30

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 4.3 The students’ perceptions of audio-visual material when listening
comprehensibly. 33
5. Conclusion 42
6. References 44
7. Appendices 48
7.1 Listening Comprehension Test (Student) 48
7.1.2 Listening Comprehension Test (Answer Key) 57
7.1.3 Links of the Videos 65
7.1.4 Script: “The Solder Excursion Diversion” - The Big Bang Theory 65
7.1.5 Script: “Introducing Ireland” 66
7.1.6 Track 39 66
7.2 Survey 67
7.3 Focus Group 72
7.3.1 Focus Group Transcript 73
7.3.2 Asentimiento informado para persona entre 14 y 18 años 81

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 1. Introduction
Listening comprehension seems to be an important yet difficult skill to teach in our
classrooms. Even though the Government of Chile has emphasized the acquisition of
English as a foreign language, its complexity to be taught in our classrooms in the national
context can be observed through the results of the SIMCE Test (Sistema de Medición de
Calidad de la Educación). In the SIMCE Test conducted in 2017, 54% of the Chilean
students in 11th grade did not reach the A1 level according to the Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR) when they should have developed such level in the 6th
grade (Ministerio de Educación de Chile, 2020). Moreover, in the context of the
development of the national plan “English in English” and according to the results provided
by Agencia de Calidad de la Educación (2018), students in Magallanes Region obtained an
average of 30 points, which shows that although they are above most of the regions’ scores,
these are still low results since the ideal score was 100 points. One of the factors that may
contribute to this fact is that our learners may not be exposed to the target language,
creating a barrier that hinders their learning process, making understanding the English
language less effective. Indeed, recent studies have established the relevance of the
opportunities to be exposed to native spoken English when learning this language (Gámez,
2015). Following this idea, it is of high importance to expose students to authentic English,
and a useful device to do this is using audio-visual material, which gives the listener more
information about the context and situation, by native speakers along with the use of
listening strategies as these facilitate the students’ better comprehension. Therefore,
considering the SIMCE national results regarding students’ English language listening
comprehension scores, developing secondary students’ listening comprehension skills by
using listening strategies and audio-visual material might be fundamental in high schools.

Listening to English along with the use of listening strategies can be highly
demanding in terms of the use of cognitive resources as this process requires complete
attention from the students (Al-Jamal, 2007), but being exposed to the language also
implies an opportunity for students to develop this complex skill. Moreover, the use of
visuals might have positive results on listening comprehension since it is transcendent for
verbal comprehension of videos (Swaffar & Vlatten, 1997). Considering this aspect, the

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aim of this research is to determine EFL students’ listening comprehension levels and their
use of listening strategies when faced with audio-visual material.

With regard to the research questions, these are: What are the students’ listening
comprehension levels according to the CEFR? Which listening strategy students report as
the most and least used? and Which are the students’ perceptions regarding audio-visual
material when listening comprehensibly? In terms of the participants, they were 15 ninth
grade students from a subsidized school in Magallanes Region. Finally, concerning the
design and instruments, this research project is a descriptive study in which three
instruments are used to collect data: the test, the survey and the focus group.

This report contains a literature review section that provides the theoretical
background about the variables chosen for the study. Besides, this research project
describes the methodology that will be used, the instruments and the procedures that were
undertaken, the results and discussion, conclusion and appendix section.

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 2. Literature review
In this section, the theoretical framework that supports our research is discussed.
We organized it into four main topics to help the reader to better understand the constructs
that support this research project. In the first section, information about listening
comprehension, as well as problems that can be observed in an EFL (English as a foreign
language) classroom when doing listening comprehension activities are provided. After
that, information about the learning strategies that students can use within the learning
process will be found in the second topic. Then, the third topic provides information about
the listening strategies that students can use while listening in order to make their learning
process more effective. Finally, information about the use of audio-visual material as a tool
to develop the students’ listening comprehension is provided.

2.1 Definition of Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension has been universally defined as a passive receptive

language skill in the past, however, one of the current definitions indicates that listening
plays an active role in language acquisition since it is a key component in the process of
communication (Vandergrift & Baker, 2015). Furthermore, listening comprehension is
essential when learning a foreign language since it is the basis for the communicative
competence, providing aural input and allowing students to enhance the process of
interaction (Renukadevi, 2014).

Also, another accepted current definition is that listening is an active skill because
the listener needs to be actively involved in this process to construct meaning
(Kaivanpanah, Alavi, & AL-Shammari, 2020). The above definition implies that the
listener must be aware of the aural input, decoding the message, understanding it,
identifying the relevant concepts, and comprehending the meaning to achieve a successful
communicative process.

Regarding EFL classrooms in our country and according to the Ministerio de

Educación de Chile (2015), listening comprehension is defined as listening to the target
language and giving meaning to the heard sounds in order to identify and comprehend the

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information orally expressed, together with the support of the context and the knowledge of
the world. Through this skill, it is possible to get in touch with the real use of the English
language.

We believe that the definition given by the Ministerio de Educación de Chile is not
totally complete since it is not enough to listen to the target language produced by the
teacher as many times the aural input students receive does not come from authentic
material. This could affect the students’ listening comprehension development because
even though they are sometimes exposed to native English speakers, they need to be taught
about how to comprehend the listening input strategically to clarify what their purpose
when listening is, and what listening strategy they can use to comprehend effectively.

For the purpose of this study, we will consider listening comprehension as an

interaction-based active process that implies decoding aural input, identifying relevant
concepts, understanding the message, and being aware of what is being said to make the
communicative process effective. Furthermore, listening is the first skill that individuals are
exposed to (Renukadevi, 2014), which implies that it must be developed in an appropriate
way in order to make the processing of the input as comprehensible as possible. For these
reasons, and being aware of the challenges that this skill can imply for the Chilean
educational system regarding listening comprehension, one of the purposes of this study is
to identify students’ use of listening strategies that can facilitate their understanding when
exposed to different listening texts through listening activities.

2.1.1 Listening activities

There is a wide variety of activities to train listening comprehension; however,
authors like Wilson (2008) and Hedge (2001) agree with the different stages when teaching.
As the other communicative skills in a classroom, teaching listening comprehension
requires scaffolded activities sequenced in three parts: pre-listening, while-listening, and
post-listening. According to the literature, pre-listening activities have two main objectives:
“to help to activate students’ prior knowledge, build up their expectations for the coming
information” (p. 982) and to provide the context and information to achieve the specific
listening activity (Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011). While-listening activities are opportunities
for students to interpret and judge based on what they listen to by means of completing a

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chart, answering questions as the students listen, and any type of activity that requires the
students to be focused on the listening material. Finally, post listening activities may
include other communicative skills but these activities give students the opportunity to
connect what they heard with personal experiences, making the activities more meaningful
(Hedge, 2001; Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011).
Furthermore, and considering the results in the SIMCE test conducted in 2017, these
suggest that Chilean students might face some difficulties when faced with listening
activities. The following section defines some of the expected difficulties that students
could encounter when listening comprehensibly.

2.1.2 Difficulties when listening

Listening comprehension has an important role when developing the students’
communicative skills (Asmawati, 2017); however, it might be possible that students face
some difficulties when developing this listening comprehension as they cannot see the input
when exposed to audio material. Wilson (2008) states that density can be a factor when
listening comprehensibly, since this is related to the complexity of the information within
the aural input. On the one hand, while the speaker clarifies ideas and repeats the main idea
of what is being discussed, s/he could be helpful for the students; on the other hand, if the
speaker does not stop for clarification or moves quickly from one idea to another, s/he
might be distracting and confusing for listeners. Another difficulty might be related to the
suitableness of the level of language displayed in the audio or audio-visual material. Wilson
(2008) suggests that the language level could be crucial since the register, the complexity
of grammar structures, and new lexical units might make it difficult for listeners to process
the information accurately. Another problem might be related to trying to understand
every word of the listening material (Asmawati, 2017). This might lead to difficulties,
since translating every single word could be a waste of time because the students may miss
the main idea of what is being said when the recording is over. Likewise, Wilson (2008)
states the relevance of the different kinds of accents in English as, in general, most of the
countries where English is taught teach either British English or American English. Thus,
the different kinds of English imply important differences regarding pronunciation, some
meanings, and expressions which might lead listeners to confusion and misunderstanding.

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Finally, the fluency or speed at which the speakers deliver the information might be a
factor when students listen comprehensibly, as learners may have the idea that the words
are all linked together, sounding in some cases like only one lexical unit (Asmawati, 2017).
The next subsection introduces and explains what learning strategies are.

2.2 Learning Strategies and Listening Strategies

Since the development of learning strategies, cognitive strategies, and listening

strategies might facilitate the students' achievements when performing listening activities,
the following section aims to define learning and cognitive strategies, as well as the
listening strategies in the Wilson’s (2008) taxonomy that the researchers decided to use.

2.2.1 Learning Strategies

Learning strategies can be defined as the various tools that an individual uses to
ease the process of language learning in every communicative skill, making it considerably
more effective (Vandergrift, 1999). Moreover, Wilson (2008) claims that it is a conscious
behavior that allows students to enhance their learning process. According to Vandergrift
(1999), there are three kinds of learning strategies: cognitive strategies, metacognitive
strategies, and socio-affective strategies. This author states that cognitive strategies imply
an interactive process between both the students and the material that they learn at a given
moment, as well as applying a particular strategy to accomplish a task. In brief, the use of
these strategies allows the learner to facilitate the assimilation of the listening input.
Regarding metacognitive strategies, they imply that learners think about their learning
process. This helps them plan how to do a certain task, monitor the process, and evaluate
how well the task has been accomplished (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990). Finally, the last
type is socio-affective strategies and Mehrgan (2013) states that these are the kinds of
strategies that involve social mediation activities through work based on cooperation with
peers. The following subsection focuses on describing cognitive strategies in more detail.

2.2.2 Cognitive strategies

Cognitive strategies are essential for the general language learning process since
these help students improve their learning process, especially while listening or reading.
The cognitive strategies are related to the process where the students perform parallel

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activities that help them understand a task better (Serri, Jafarpour, & Hesabi, 2012). This
means that cognitive strategies are the tools that a learner uses in order to comprehend the
input properly. For example, every time that a student does not understand the meaning of a
word, he uses the context to guess its meaning. For this purpose, the learner is required to
use a specific strategy.

In addition, listening strategies are related to the use of operations that help students
to facilitate the oral input that is given and also that contribute to understand better what is
being said (Vandergrift, 1999). In this way, listening strategies are always conscious
processes that are used to guide the students on what they need to pay attention to.

2.2.3 Listening Strategies

According to the learning objectives established by Ministerio de Educación de
Chile (2015), students should demonstrate comprehension of general ideas in authentic and
adapted oral texts; identify key words, phrases, and expressions; specific and detailed
information regarding people, actions and opinions, places, and time; and infer with the
support of contextual keys, such as theme, participants, visual aids, and phonological clues,
such as intonation, and stress.

As mentioned above, it is highly important to consider that listening not only

implies “hearing” a specific text, conversation, among others, but also this skill needs to be
developed in the most appropriate way regarding what the students need when learning a
foreign language. Based on this, it is essential for learners to use specific strategies
according to their own learning (Mendelsohn & Rubin, 1995). For the development of this
study, the researchers decided to consider as listening strategies the ones described in the
taxonomy proposed by Wilson (2008), which comprises the following strategies:

- Listening for gist: this refers to the occasions when the main purpose is to get the
general idea of what is being said, as well as who is speaking to whom and why, and how
successful speakers are in communicating their point.

- Listening for specific information: this refers to the situations when we do not
need to understand everything, but a specific part only. For example, while listening to a

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list of delayed trains, we are only interested in hearing news about one particular train - the
one we want to know - and so we listen for that.

- Listening in detail: this refers to the type of listening we do when we require

specific information about a topic. For example, we need to find errors or determine
differences between one passage and another. We cannot afford to ignore anything because,
unlike listening to a list of delayed trains, we do not know exactly what information will
help us to achieve our task.

- Inferential listening: this refers to the type of listening we do when we wish to

know how the speaker feels. This process of listening may involve inferring. To conclude,
the effect or intention created in the listener helps to relate pieces of information to the rest
of the text, suprasegmental features to topic and to the context of situation.

(Wilson, 2008, p.9-10)

After explaining the listening strategies that were considered in this research, it
could be possible to say that the appropriate employment of these strategies may have a
positive effect on students’ listening comprehension. Hence, as part of the students'
processes, listening strategies come to facilitate their understanding.

Furthermore, since it implies a significant advantage to see the speakers, and the
context where the message is being conveyed together with the speakers’ body language
(Wilson, 2008), we have also decided to undertake this study including audio-visual
material to help the students’ listening comprehension through strategies that support them
in their own learning process. The following subsection defines audio-visual material and
introduces its different types chosen for the purpose of this study.

2.3 Audio-visual material in Listening comprehension

When someone is learning a foreign language, the use of audio-visual material

might facilitate the learning process. That is the reason why audio-visual material has a
positive effect on students’ retention of information, which is supported by many studies,
experimental psychologists and scholars, such as Herron, Hanley, and Cole (1995). In this
way, teaching with audio-visual material is very important in the classroom because this

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helps to reinforce the main ideas and the information will reach the audience more
effectively (Rather, 2004). Besides, the studies suggest that three days after an event,
people retain 10% of what they heard from an oral presentation, 35% from a visual
presentation, and 65% from a visual and oral presentation (Rautrao, 2012), which is
important to take into consideration due to the fact that many students get distracted easily.

Notwithstanding the role of audio-visual material in listening given in the previous

paragraph, audio materials may be defined in many different ways; however, this definition
points exclusively to the kind of material used in a pedagogical context which might aim to
improve students’ listening comprehension skills. Thus, audio material can be those
“dialogues and monologues of native speakers which are recorded intendedly for the
classroom learning process” (Widiasih & Widodo, 2020). For the purpose of this research
project audio material for beginners will be considered as a monologue or conversation
designed and recorded for listening lessons where the language input that the students
obtain from this pedagogical material can exclusively be heard.
Concerning audio-visual materials, these are resources employed in the classroom
to help students learn more efficiently (Rather, 2004). Furthermore, with regards to the use
of a variety of audio-visual material in the classroom, this might be useful for students’
learning process since they can be used as stimulators and motivators that could maintain
the learners’ attention to the activity that they are involved in. Most of the teachers apply
them because these are helpful tools to achieve the learning outcomes and make the
learning process more effective (Moyano Aldana, 2019). For the reasons mentioned above,
three types of audio-visual material were selected as useful tools for students’ listening
comprehension.

2.3.1 Videos:
These materials may help increase students' listening comprehension since this type
of audio-visual material could encourage them to pay attention to details. In this way,
videos make the input more comprehensible for learners because they may not only listen
to what the speakers say, but also, they can pay attention to the interaction between them
along with the body language, which facilitates their understanding (Buck, 2001). Besides,
videos provide evidence that students' prior knowledge can be activated by watching what

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they listen to (Ockey, 2007). In addition, videos as part of multimedia resources are being
used with more frequency in the EFL classroom because students can get information about
the speakers, facilitating their comprehension of the listening situation (Hoven, 1999).

2.3.2 Pictures:
This type of audio-visual aids is one of the most common ways to encourage
students to get involved in the lesson but they are also commonly used to increase students’
comprehension about the topic that they are exposed to (Morley, 1991). Moreover, pictures
include photographs, illustrations, paintings, among others. This type of audio-visual aid is
helpful when students are exposed to a concept that is known for them to retrieve the
meaning through the picture. Indeed, this gives the learners visual support. According to
Mossaab (2013), “visual aids make the audience involved and presuppose a change from
one activity to another: from hearing to seeing.” (p. 10). Along with these explanations, the
use of pictures can expand the benefits to complete the triangular process that is composed
of motivation, clarification, and simulation (Patil, 2010).

2.3.3 Sitcom/TV series:

Another important type of audio-visual material that can be used in the classroom to
facilitate listening comprehension is situation comedy, since this could seem an interesting
way to reinforce listening with EFL students. There are many sitcoms that are popular
around the globe, including our country, such as; “Friends”, “How I met your mother”,
“The Big Bang Theory”, among many others that come to show a realistic setting, using
common characters involved in comedic circumstances. In addition, the comic aspect is one
of the most important features of the sitcom since they are distinguished from other
traditional types of teaching material, for example; course-books or audio recordings being
commonly used in classrooms (Mills, 2013, Chen, 1998). For all these reasons, using
humor as part of an English class helps creating a positive environment which might be
reflected on motivating and engaging students, improving their attention, enhancing and
activating their learning, and making this process a more enjoyable one (Bell, 2009;
McNeely, 2015; Nettleton, 2013). In this regard, sitcoms offer the possibility to have an
insight into how real language occurs while the characters interact with each other.

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 Unlike videos, sitcoms and TV series can be mainly considered authentic material.
This is because they show daily situations about the real world where conversations take
place spontaneously. Furthermore, some of the videos provided in textbooks are designed
for teaching purposes, usually based on fictional and adapted situations. Some features
about authentic material, such as sitcoms, are that a text has a communicative purpose
beyond teaching language. For example, a typical conversation where the speakers overlap
their words, use a normal rate of speech, and a relatively unstructured language, which are
characteristics of a daily communicative situation (Wilson, 2008), and these features can be
seen in TV series and sitcoms.

Even though these types of audio-visual material might help listeners when
performing a listening activity, audio material seems to be the most traditional kind of
material that students might be exposed to when developing listening comprehension.

To conclude, this study was undertaken considering listening comprehension as the

main variable. Besides, the other variables were focused on the use of listening strategies;
such as listening for gist, listening for specific information, listening in detail and
inferential listening, as well as the use of videos, pictures, and sitcoms as audio-visual
material. For this reason, the following section presents the methodology adopted to carry
out this study, objectives and research questions of the study, as well as the instruments
used for data collection, procedure, and data analysis.

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 3. Methodology
This section refers to the methodology of this descriptive study. Relevant numerical
and non-numerical data are provided through a mixed-methods approach to be analyzed.
Additionally, the participants, the problem statement along with an account of the specific
instruments and procedures used for data collection and data analysis are described.
Moreover, information regarding the research objectives and questions is provided.

3.1 Participants involved in the study

The participants of this study were a group of ninth-grade students (n = 15) enrolled
at a subsidized school located in Puerto Natales, in the year 2021. There were 4 girls and 11
boys, all of them Chilean and whose ages ranged from 13 to 14 years old. At the time of the
study, all of them had studied English since it is part of the compulsory National
Curriculum established by Ministerio de Educación from fifth grade. Thus, the group of
students had studied English with a focus on communicative purposes, although none of
them had ever been abroad. Due to the world pandemic, the English lessons were online
and lasted 60 minutes twice a week.

As stated above, there were 15 students in the class; nonetheless, not all of them
took the three data gathering instruments. The following table shows the number of
participants who took each of the instruments.

Table 1: Participants per data gathering instrument

Participants/Instrument Test Survey Focus Group

Participants 10 15 6

3.2 Problem Statement and Variables

Based on the information previously stated, the problem statement of this research
is the following: Have secondary students from a given school in Puerto Natales developed
a proficient level of listening comprehension by using listening strategies and audio-visual
material? For this purpose, the variables considered were:

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Variable I: Listening comprehension.

Variable II: Listening strategies.

Variable III: Audio-visual material.

3.3 Research Design and Methodological Approach

There are different methods and approaches that can determine the procedures in
order to measure the variables of a research study. In fact, Patton (1990) as quoted in
Bitchener (2009) says that ‘the design and approach of a study are determined by the
purpose of the study, the questions being investigated and the sources available’ (p, 115).
Based on this, a descriptive design; that consists of describing and characterizing a
phenomenon or concrete situation by explaining a peculiar feature (Tripodi & Bender,
2010) was carried out as the current conditions in the country did not allow the researchers
to undertake a quasi-experimental study. Therefore, the researchers did not have the
possibility to intervene within the research period.

Concerning the types of descriptive research, there are three: survey research,
observational method, and case study. This research project is focused on the last one,
which is defined as a detailed investigation that provides an analysis of the context and the
processes involved in the study (Meyer, 2001). Moreover, a mixed-methods approach was
adopted to strengthen the study in which both quantitative and qualitative data were
gathered (Dörnyei, 2007). Thus, a triangulation of both data allowed the researchers to
make an application, examination and integration of quantitative and qualitative data to
maximize the implications of the findings (Cresswell & Clark, 2007; Dörnyei, 2007).

3.4 General and Specific Objectives, and Research Questions

The main objective of this study was to determine EFL students’ listening
comprehension levels and their use of listening strategies when faced with audio-visual
material. Based on this general objective, three specific objectives were stated as follows:

1. To describe the students’ listening comprehension level according to the CEFR.

17
 2. To analyze the students' self-reported use of listening strategies when faced with
listening activities.
3. To identify the students’ perceptions of audio-visual material when listening
comprehensibly.

Subsequently, the following research questions were considered:

1. What are the students’ listening comprehension levels according to the CEFR?
2. Which listening strategy students report as the most and least used?
3. Which are the students’ perceptions regarding audio-visual material when listening
comprehensibly?

3.5 Instruments used for data collection

To achieve the general and specific objectives of this study, it was necessary to
collect reliable data. For this reason, the researchers administered a test, as well as a survey
to the students. Besides, a focus group was also conducted in this research to provide
evidence of students’ perceptions regarding the use of audio-visual material when listening
comprehensibly.

With regard to the instruments, it is important to take into consideration that when
working with a mixed-methods approach, quantitative and qualitative data should be
collected. In regard to quantitative instruments, the researchers administered the test to the
participants in order to measure their listening comprehension level, as well as a survey to
identify the students’ awareness of their listening strategies. Finally, as a qualitative
instrument, a focus group was conducted to collect data concerning students’ perception of
the use of audio-visual material when performing listening comprehension activities in the
English lessons.

3.5.1 Test (Quantitative data)

To assess the students’ listening comprehension level, they were administered a
KET (Key English Test) format adapted test. With this instrument, it was possible to gather
evidence of the students’ performance when using listening strategies and audio-visual
material. Regarding the test, this had 36 points as a total ideal score. It was carefully

18
designed with the purpose of evaluating the students’ English listening comprehension
achievements according to the CEFR. In addition, the items used in the test were directly
connected with the listening strategies that the students may use: listening for gist, listening
for specific information, listening in detail, and inferential listening (Wilson, 2008), so it
was simpler to identify which strategies they used the least and the most. In part one,
students were exposed to an extract of the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory'' to complete a
multiple-choice item. Also in this part, the researchers checked the influence of images on
students’ understanding, as well as in the second part in which they had to watch a video
entitled “Introducing Ireland”. For the last part of the test, students were exposed to an
audio text with pictures because the researchers wanted to compare the results and the
influence of videos on students’ listening comprehension. Consequently, the items
presented in the test from I to V were designed to evaluate participants’ ability to identify
specific information, detailed information, the main idea(s) and also to infer what was said
according to some prosodic features. Finally, to secure validity two experts validated the
instrument and their suggestions were taken into account.

The reliability of the test was assessed by piloting with a group of students with
similar characteristics to those of the target sample. The reliability of the test was verified
by means of the Kuder-Richardson 21 formula, giving as a result 0.78 which is greater than
the minimum 0.65.

3.5.2 Survey (Quantitative data)

A survey was conducted in order to obtain information about the listening strategies
that students report that they usually use when they face listening activities. This survey
was adapted from the survey designed by Ramírez (2020). Before administering the
instrument, it was necessary to secure its validity and reliability by piloting it with a group
of students who shared similar characteristics with the students participating in this research
project. The instrument was validated by two experts as well. After piloting the survey, the
researchers made changes related to some possible misunderstanding in the statements.
Concerning the total of statements these were 16, of which 15 were focused on the use of
listening strategies, and the participants selected one of the possible answers from 1 to 4 in
a Likert scale, and one of them required the students to rank audio-visual material

19
according to their preferences. As mentioned above, there were four indicators used in
order to obtain reliable results and avoid biased information. The indicators were [1] never,
[2] hardly ever, [3] sometimes, and [4] always. In addition, in the last statement, the
participants had to rank from their [1] most preferred to their [5] less preferred type of
audio-visual material. Finally, it is important to point out that the survey was written in
Spanish to assure students’ full understanding of the statements, so their answers provided
reliable information.

3.5.3 Focus Group (Qualitative data)

Barbour (2008) claims that focus groups are a kind of tool that provides qualitative
information about the subjects involved in the research process, allowing the researchers to
analyze experiences of individuals and groups of individuals, taking into consideration the
interaction that takes place within the focus group. The five questions prepared for this
focus group were in Spanish, to guarantee the students’ full participation. Since Dawson
(2009) suggests that it is better to use odd numbers of participants, seven students chosen at
random were asked to participate in a focus group to express their opinions about the
strategies that they use when exposed to listening material; however, one of the students
reported to be unable to participate at the last minute. Before conducting the focus group,
the researchers explained the reasons why the students had been asked to join such
instance. It was necessary to record the meeting on a video format carried out through
Google Meet with the students’ permission before starting the activity. Also, to secure the
students' anonymity and confidentiality, their names were omitted. Finally, two experts
validated the instrument and their suggestions were taken into consideration to improve the
questions from the focus group.

3.6 Ethical Considerations

In order to maintain the participants’ anonymity, their identities were kept under the
principle of confidentiality, the reason why their names were erased from this research.
Also, the participants were informed some time before starting the study and the aim of this
research was clearly explained to them. Since this research project required recording a

20
focus group, the participants and their parents were previously informed about the purpose
of this study through an informed assent and consent.

3.7 Procedure

To give an answer to the questions previously stated, three different instruments to

gather information were conducted. As this research was based on a mixed-methods
approach, qualitative and quantitative data were used to collect relevant information
through diverse instruments that helped with the result analysis of the variables.

 The test was administered online to the students. It provided data regarding the
level of English that the students had, according to the Common European Framework of
Reference (CEFR). To answer the test, students had a maximum of 60 minutes. The scores
obtained by the students were transformed into CEFR levels with the help of the Cambridge
English Scale, in order to classify them into A1 or A2 level.

Regarding the survey, the participants answered 16 statements after lessons in a

Google form, 15 of which were answered by selecting one out of the four indicators in the
Likert scale, plus one statement where they were required to rank the given options. This
survey provided information about the most and least used strategy, as well as their
preferences regarding different types of audio-visual material. For this purpose, the
researchers analyzed central tendencies, specifically the mean, and the level of dispersion
by calculating the standard deviation of the answers.

Concerning the focus group, the students commented on five questions, from which
answers were transcribed in order to identify the students’ perceptions of audio-visual
material when listening comprehensibly by means of the software Atlas.ti version 7.5.4.
The analysis was carried out by both researchers through a qualitative content analysis, in
which five different categories were raised to undertake the analysis. For this reason, the
two researchers analyzed the data separately and compared their results to discuss them and
reach an agreement regarding the categories and analysis.

21
3.8 Data Analysis

The data analysis was determined by the research questions that guide this study.
The test results were tabulated and later subjected to analysis using mostly descriptive
statistics concerning the mean as part of the central tendency measure, and the standard
deviation related to the level of dispersion. After that, the students’ results were classified
according to the CEFR levels, as well as the levels that Ministerio de Educación (2015)
establishes that ninth grade students should reach. Considering that we made some
modifications in the items of our listening test based on the KET format to increase the
ideal score in order to secure reliability, it was necessary to homologate the scores obtained
per student by using the Cambridge English Scale by using a simple rule of three. Thus, the
140 points in the CEFR to assess A2 level were equivalent to the total score of our test,
which was 36 points.

In regard to the survey, the data collected was tabulated and then analyzed
considering the mean as a central tendency measure, that helped us identify which of the
listening strategies proposed by Wilson (2008) were reported by the students as the most
and least used when exposed to listening activities. Moreover, the standard deviation
meaning the level of dispersion was used to observe how heterogeneous or homogeneous
the students’ responses were.

With respect to the focus group, this was conducted by the researchers to identify
the students' perceptions regarding audio-visual material. For this reason, the information
given by the students was transcribed to then carry out a content analysis using the software
Atlas.ti version 7.5.4. to help the researchers with the main categories that were raised from
the focus group. After doing this, sub-categories and emergent categories were recognized
from the data gathered which helped to answer the research question related to this
instrument.

22
 4. Results and Discussion
This section discusses the data collected through the three different instruments.
Quantitative results gathered by means of a test and a survey, along with qualitative results
from the content analysis of the focus group are examined to address the research questions
stated in the methodology section. Moreover, the attainment of the general objective is
examined as well.

4.1. The students’ listening comprehension level according to the CEFR.

The first step aims to answer the following research question: What are the
students’ listening comprehension levels according to the CEFR? Figure 1 below depicts
the overall results per item in the test. The first item required students to read five
statements and answer whether they were true (yes) or false (no). The second one was a
multiple-choice activity, and both items were designed considering the same type of audio-
visual material, a sitcom. The third one was a completion activity where students were
provided with the missing words, the fourth item required students to reorder five
statements, and both items were based on a touristic video about Ireland. Finally, the last
item was a multiple choice based on a recording suggested by Ministerio de Educación
(2015).

Figure 1: Percentage of Achievement in the Test per Item

23
 As previously mentioned, Figure above illustrates the general results per item in the
test administered to the students. This will support the analysis explained below regarding
the students’ performances and the use of listening strategies.
Figure 2 below shows the percentages of achievement in the test taken by 10
students during said period. Moreover, 15 students were expected to take the test;
nevertheless, 5 of them did not attend the lesson when the test was administered, so they
were not considered for the purpose of this analysis.

Figure 2: Percentage of Achievement in the Test per Student

As illustrated in Figure 2, none of the students reached a 100% of achievement
when performing the test. For this, we homologated the test scores and the percentages of
achievement to classify the students’ performances according to the CEFR levels; therefore,
percentages of achievement below 56.9% would not even reach Pre-A1 level, around 57%
and 71.3% are in Pre-A1 level, around 71.4% and 83.3% reach A1 level, and percentages of
achievement around 83.4% and 100% reach A2 level.
According to the Ministerio de Educación (2015) students should attain A2 level
when finishing eighth grade; however, as Figure 2 depicts only student 5 attained 88.9% of
achievement reaching the expected level. This demonstrates that this student can
understand concrete information when the speakers convey the message clearly and slowly,
as well as phrases and expressions which are part of common areas such as; basic personal
and family information, shopping, and local geography, amongst others (Council of
Europe, 2001). On the contrary, six students whose ranges are around 72.3% and 83.3% are
part of the A1 level according to the CEFR. This implies that they are able to recognize
concrete information about familiar topics (e.g., places and times) and everyday
24
expressions in which the message is conveyed with long pauses, and pronounced in a slow
and clear way to be understood (Figueras, 2012).
Concerning the three students who obtained the lowest percentages of achievement
in the test, they were classified as below Pre-A1 level. At Pre-A1 level, students are
expected to understand simple words, particularly as the context is provided (Council of
Europe, 2001); however, it might be possible that these students have not properly
developed the use of strategies that they need when facing listening activities. This may
also suggest a possible lack of exposure to the language which results in students being
unprepared to deal appropriately with listening comprehension activities even though visual
context is provided. Also, it could be possible that the students have different backgrounds
compared to the rest of the students regarding the development of listening as a
communicative skill. Another possibility might be that most of the students are accustomed
to listening to audio material where the speakers use a slower pace when talking. This
might be plausible because it could be difficult for some students to understand what the
speakers say as their speech might sound like long words linked together (Asmawati,
2017), which could be confirmed by what the students reported in the focus group (See
Extract 6).

The following Figure depicts the percentages of achievement that the students
obtained in item I, which was intended to assess the use of the strategies listening in detail
and listening for specific information. For this, the total score was 5, with 1 point per
statement.

25
 Figure 3: Percentage of Achievement per Student in Item I
This was an item with five statements where the students were required to answer
“Yes” or “No”, depending on the statement based on an extract of the sitcom The Big Bang
Theory used as audio-visual material. As the students were required to pay attention to
specific information, the item was related to the strategies stated by Wilson (2008);
listening for specific information and listening in detail. Since six of the students answered
correctly, it might be correct to infer that the use of audio-visual material helped them
obtain more information and answer accurately. Their performance might suggest that
students can focus on specific aspects of what they are listening to, which may be
facilitated by the exposure to audio-visual material as it appears that the information is
reached by the learners effectively (Rather, 2004). Along with this, the humoristic factor
that sitcoms offer might have had a positive effect on the students as the listeners were
possibly more involved and engaged in an enjoyable activity (Bell 2009, McNeely, 2015,
Nettleton, 2013).

The next Figure shows the participant's performance in item II with a total of 10
points. The purpose of this item was to assess the use of listening for gist, listening for
specific information, and inferential listening.

Figure 4: Percentage of Achievement per Student in Item II

In the Figure illustrated above, the students were exposed to the second part of the
video used in item I. Regarding the item itself, this was composed of 5 questions and
statements where the students had to select the correct answer for each of the questions or

26
statements. This item, as previously stated, aimed to identify three specific strategies in
which the students had to be able of recognize the main idea from what is being said, some
specific parts of the material where the students do not need to understand the entire video
but those parts only, and finally they had to recognize the speaker’s feeling which implies
inferring listening (Wilson, 2008). According to the results, these indicated that the
participants had an acceptable performance (see Figure 1) since they were able to employ
the listening for gist, listening for specific information, and inferential listening strategies
proposed by the author when performing this multiple-choice item even though we did not
have the possibility to be conscious if the students were completely aware about their use.
Consistent with this, we could speculate that the use of audio-visual material is very
important in the classroom because it helps to reinforce the main ideas and the information
will reach the audience more effectively (Rather, 2004). Hence, this might suggest that
using this type of material when students are exposed to listening activities, may contribute
to better results when listening comprehensibly.

The Figure below shows the students’ achievement concerning item III from the
test. Therefore, the total score was 5 points that aimed to evaluate the use of listening
specific information.

Figure 5: Percentage of Achievement per Student in Item III

In this item the students answered a set of 5 incomplete statements that they were
required to fill in considering the information delivered on a touristic video called
“Introducing Ireland”. As the students were required to complete the statements, they knew
the possible options beforehand and expected to hear certain words from the audio-visual

27
material. According to what is shown in Figure 5, the students had acceptable results since
4 out of the 10 students reached the total score; however, 2 students had fewer points than
expected. On the one hand, it is possible to say that the well performance of the students
could has direct relation to the fact that videos provide evidence that students' prior
knowledge can be activated by watching what they listen to (Ockey, 2007), which might be
an enormous help for the students since even though they did not see the speaker, the video
showed pictures, and gave the context of what was being said. On the other hand, in regard
to the students who had not the expected performance, this might suggest that they were
neither accustomed to face this type of material, nor to this kind of listening activity.

The Figure below depicts the students’ percentages of achievement with regards to
item IV from the test. Thus, the total score was 10 points that aimed to evaluate the use of
the strategy listening for specific information.

Figure 6: Percentage of Achievement per Student in Item IV

The fourth item was intended to assess listening for specific information (Wilson,
2008), in which the students had to listen to and watch the second half of the video
“Introducing Ireland” to reorder 5 different sentences. For this item, the total score of the
item was 10, with2 points per statement.

As Figure 6 depicts, the results indicated that none of the participants could reach
the ideal score in this item, being the least achieved item (see Figure 1), which probably
happened because it was difficult for them to retain the information from the video, or
perhaps they are not accustomed to doing this type of activity either. Reordering sentences

28
might be particularly difficult as it implies that the students need to pay careful attention to
what, in this case, the speaker of the audio-visual material is saying while they try to read
twice or more to fully understand the different statements, which might be a cognitively
demanding activity for them. This may suggest that the students are accustomed to being
focused on specific information, which might have been supported by the context provided
from the video. Ministerio de Educación (2015) states that students should have developed
level A2 once they finish eighth grade. Likewise, the Council of Europe (2001) states that
when having developed A2 level, learners should be able to identify different topics of
discussion, agreements or disagreements among the speakers, and social conversations
when the speakers employ a clear and slow pace, among others. Therefore, it might be
assertive to conclude that the speaker of the video “Introducing Ireland” might speak too
fast to allow the students to pay attention to what is being said and reorder the sentences at
the same time.

The last item was designed to assess the use of listening for specific information,
listening for gist and inferential listening. The figure below illustrates the students’
performance in this item that had 6 points as a total score.

Figure 7: Percentage of Achievement per Student in Item V

For this item, the students were required to answer 6 multiple-choice questions in
which they were exposed exclusively to audio-material. We used a recording about tourism
and costumes from the website of Ministerio de Educación (2015) to assess the students’
listening comprehension skills. As Figure 7 depicts, 6 out of the students reached a 100% of
achievement when performing in this idem, being the item with the best results (see Figure

29
1). Overall, the scores obtained by the students were high and this might be explained by
the type of listening material used as well as the visual support that they had in the options
since according to Mossaab (2013), “visual aids make the audience involved and
presuppose a change from one activity to another: from hearing to seeing.” (p. 10).
Moreover, as the recording was suggested by Ministerio de Educación, the speakers tended
to speak at a slow pace, which might make it easier for the students to understand the
information. This might have a positive effect as the students obtained good results in item
V.

Although the question What are the students’ listening comprehension levels
according to the CEFR? was answered by providing significant data through the test
regarding the classification of the participants based on the CEFR levels, the employment
of listening strategies by the listeners was implicit in each of the items along the test, which
might be corroborated through the analysis of the survey. For this reason, this information
takes us to the following research question which investigates the students’ self-reported
most and least strategy used.

4.2 The students' self-reported use of listening strategies when faced with listening
activities.

In this section, we present the results of the quantitative data analysis obtained from
the survey answered by fifteen students, as well as the relevant findings to address the
research question: Which listening strategy students report as the most and least used?
Furthermore, it is necessary to discuss the listening strategies that the students frequently
use according to Wilson’s (2008) taxonomy: listening for gist, listening in detail, inferential
listening, and listening for specific information. Finally, we also suggest possible
explanations and interpretations from the mean and the standard deviation scores.

Student’s average listening strategy use

Figure 8 shows the mean per listening strategy obtained, considering all the
students' responses.
Figure 8: Mean Scores per Strategy

30
 On the one hand, Figure 8 shows that the students’ most employed strategy is
listening for gist with a mean of 3.36. This suggests that they tend to focus on the general
idea when listening to English, maybe since identifying the main topic or idea of the aural
text might be one of the most used activities when being exposed to listening material or it
could be because it may be easier for the students to focus on a general idea in a language
that they do not master. This seems to be consistent with the results of the test as items II
and V assessed the use of listening for gist among other strategies, and the participants
obtained the highest scores in these items on average (see figure 1). Item V included the use
of audio material where the speakers used a slow pace, which might help students obtain
good percentages of achievement in this item. On the other hand, the students’ least used
strategy is the inferential listening with 2.8, the lowest mean score. This may suggest that
students are not aware of the use of this strategy and the reasons may vary. Perhaps they do
not know what it implies or it may be the most difficult to develop for them. It might be
possible that it is difficult for students to infer certain information without seeing the
speakers and maybe they have been exposed mainly to audio material rather than audio-
visual material. Also, it might be possible that the students are accustomed to paying
attention to more concrete features described in an audio material rather than inferring
which is expected to be confirmed by the focus group. Regarding inferential listening, the
low score might be contradicted by the results obtained in items II and V since, as
mentioned above, the participants obtained the highest scores in these two items; however,
most of the statements on both items were focused on listening for gist and listening in
detail rather than inferential listening. Besides and as stated above, the speakers in item V
used a slow pace, which might facilitate the students’ understanding and retention of
information.
Finally, the mean score provides information about the most and the least used
strategy by secondary students. This is supported by the idea that at some levels,
specifically at school, students are not highly concerned with paying attention to every

31
word that they hear. Instead, they pay more attention to ideas that help them unpack the
main idea of the text (Siegel, 2018).
Moreover, Figure 8 indicates the scores of the strategies placed in the middle;
listening in detail (3.00) and listening for specific information (3.33). This might be
explained because a factor that perhaps affects the students’ understanding is their low
levels of vocabulary (Graham, 2006), which can be supported with the information given
by the students in the focus group to corroborate what is indicated in the self-report. This
makes sense since some students might try to focus much on every word said by the
speaker even though it is possible that the words said are unknown to the listeners.

Figure 9: Standard Deviation per Strategy

Figure 9 shows the standard deviation regarding the students’ answers according to
the four listening strategies; listening for gist, listening in detail, inferential listening, and
listening for specific information. For this, the standard deviation is the measure of
dispersion and provides information about how concentrated the data is around the mean
(Reichardt, 2010). Thus, the more concentrated their answers are, the smaller the standard
deviation is.

As shown in figure 9, there were two strategies in which the standard deviation was
leveled out and more homogeneous; listening for specific information and listening in
detail with a standard deviation of 0.72, demonstrating that students’ answers were more
similar among them. This may suggest that the students are more accustomed to doing the
kind of exercises that imply listening for certain keywords or specific characteristics of the

32
listening material, which is consistent with some activities proposed in the textbook that the
students work with.

Regarding inferential listening (0.73), the standard deviation may suggest that the
students think similarly about the fact that using this strategy is more difficult for them, as
their answers were more homogeneous regarding this strategy. It is not simple to identify
some features of the speakers when the students cannot see them, as the ability to make
inferences from the input requires more time to be developed (Beattie & Ellis, 2017).

Their answers regarding listening for gist (0.77) were the most heterogeneous,
which can be contradicted by the fact that it was reported as the most used strategy by
students, revealing that students’ responses were more varied and different among each
other. This suggests that while it may be easier for some students to understand the main
idea of what they listen to, it is more difficult for others. This might be related to the
exposure of the students to listening material as it could be more difficult for them to
practice listening comprehension in the current virtual context, since they are less exposed
to English in class than before. Finally, it might be possible that the level of dispersion
reflects individual differences amongst the students when using the listening strategies
proposed by Wilson (2008).

As this section aimed to analyze the students’ self-reported use of the listening
strategies in Wilson’s taxonomy, it is important to identify the learners’ perceptions
regarding the use of audio-visual material to help them listen comprehensibly. That is why
the following section seeks to gather information about the students’ beliefs when using
this kind of material.

4.3 The students’ perceptions of audio-visual material when listening comprehensibly.

In this part, we present the results obtained from the focus group, as well as the
findings that are relevant considering the research question: Which are the students’
perceptions regarding audio-visual material when listening comprehensibly? Furthermore,
the students’ perceptions concerning the most appropriate material when facing listening
tasks are discussed, providing possible explanations and interpretations in regard to the
most suitable material that the students would use for a better comprehension. An overall

33
set of categories of analysis and their frequency of appearance in the results can be
observed in the following table.

Category of analysis Subcategory of analysis Frequency

Resources used in listening activities Audio-visual Material 2 (25%)

Audio Material 6 (75%)

Types of activities developed in class Completion activities 1 (14.28%)

Matching activities 1 (14.28%)
Short questions 4 (57.12%)
Oral discussion 1 (14.28%)

Listening strategies Inferential listening 0 (0%)

Listening for gist 2 (33.2%)
Listening for specific information 4 (66.6%)
Listening in detail 0 (0%)

Difficulties when listening Fluency 1 (12.5%)

Unknown words 1 (12.5%)
Pronunciation 4 (50%)
Accent 2 (25%)

Resources for a better comprehension Audio-visual Material 7 (64%)

Subtitles 4 (36%)
Table 2: Categories of analysis and frequency of citations

Table 1 illustrates the main categories that emerged in the discussion during the
focus group and the subcategories that derived from them. Moreover, the table depicts the
frequency of citations, which indicates the occasions that the students referred to the
subcategories when answering the questions. These will be further analyzed below.

Resources used in listening activities

Regarding the resources used by the teacher when the students work on their
listening comprehension skills, the students declared that the main resource used by the
teacher was mainly audio material (75% of citations), which can be highlighted in the
following extract.

Extract 1

34
 ...la mayoría de veces, lo que los profes hacen cuando tenemos un listening es mostrar
un audio, muy pocas veces ponen video con audio. Siempre es el audio solo y lo
repiten tres veces máximo…(Student 1)

In the extract above a student reported that they were mostly exposed to audio
material in which the native speakers are recorded intendedly for the classroom learning
process (Widiasih & Widodo, 2020). For this reason, they mentioned that the teachers
provided pictures or used videos only on a few occasions when the students were required
to perform listening activities. This could be helpful for them as being exposed to visual
information is highly beneficial when learning a language since the emphasis is specifically
on the speakers, which helps the students know who the speakers are, becoming aware of
the context along with their body language (Buck, 2001). In order to support this
information, in the results obtained by the students in the test, it seems that the use of this
kind of material contributes to a good understanding as it is shown in Item V (see Figure 7),
where most of the participants achieved the ideal score. Perhaps this happened because the
use of pictures provided in the options helped them to have a clearer idea about what the
speakers talked about. Thus, it is possible to speculate that teachers appear to waste
opportunities to lead EFL students to better results by means of audio-visual material.

Types of activities developed in class

Concerning the types of activities that the students are required to develop in class,
most of them agreed that the four most common activities are matching activities (14.28%
of citations), where they are required to associate concepts and sentences; completion
activities (14.28% of citations), such as fill-in the blanks while listening to the recording; it
is also usual for them to answer short questions (57.12% of citations) according to what
they listened to. Finally, one student mentioned that they sometimes do oral discussions
(14.28% of citations) about the main topic of the audio material; this can be observed in the
extracts below.

Extract 2

La mayoría de las veces, cuando escuchamos un audio, primero hablamos de lo que

escuchamos un poquito y luego hacemos…respondemos preguntas o completamos
cosas… (Student 1)

Extract 3

35
 No sé, es que igual ya lo dijeron los chicos, porque cada vez que nos hacen escuchar
audios, casi siempre respondemos preguntas o hacemos eso del matching...(Student 6)

According to extract 2 and 3 above, the students expressed that they do matching
activities, completion activities, and answer short questions. These activities are frequently
used in classrooms as part of a wider repertoire of activities that teachers might try, among
many others. Hedge (2001) states that these activities are suitable for the while-listening
stage as they allow the students to be focused on the listening material and develop the
activity simultaneously. Regarding oral discussions, post-listening activities might also
include other communicative skills, such as speaking (Hedge, 2001). For this reason, it
might be possible that students clarify doubts and go deeper into what they listened to.

Listening strategies

As listening strategies may help students understand better what they are required to
listen to, some of them expressed that what they usually try to do is focusing on the main
idea of the aural input and thus trying to identify it, which would be related to listening for
gist (33.2% of citations). This is demonstrated in the extract below.

Extract 4
...me concentro más que nada en el tema del que se está hablando. Trato de identificar el
tema del que hablan...en eso me guío para lograr entender el audio. (Student 2)

On the one hand, Extract 4 illustrates that students try to pay attention to the main
topic since this guides them to better understand what they listen to from the audio. This is
consistent with the strategy listening for gist, since the focus is to identify the general idea
from a specific material, trying to obtain the information about what the speakers say along
with their communicative purpose (Wilson, 2008). Hence, one of the strategies used by the
students, listening for gist, is directly connected to Wilson’s taxonomy, which could
demonstrate the importance that students give to understanding the main idea rather than
understanding word by word. In this way, taking this into consideration may help students
comprehend a specific listening activity better. In regard to the survey, listening for gist was
reported as the most used strategy by the students, which can be consistent with the
information provided by one of them in Extract 4. Furthermore, related to the students'
performance in the test, the better percentages of achievement were in items I, II, and V (see
Figure 1) where this strategy was implicit.

36
 Another strategy could be observed in the students’ perceptions: this is listening for
specific information (66.6% of citation), since some of the students declare that they tend
to focus on descriptions and characteristics given from a specific material. This can be seen
in the following extract.

Extract 5

...también tratándome de imaginar como la descripción que dan, como las

características... (Student 4)

The Extract above shows that some students tend to imagine the descriptions and
characteristics given in the audio material. This may be connected to the strategy of
listening for specific information where the students only pay attention to specific parts of
the material (Wilson, 2008). Consistent with this, the use of this strategy may help students
when answering short questions, as mentioned in the types of activities developed in class,
since learners have to be involved in the information that is presented when answering
about the attitudes expressed in the audio material or when writing down specific points
(Hedge, 2001). For this reason, it appears that the use of listening for specific information is
another strategy that students employ to obtain a better understanding when listening
comprehensibly since, as it was presented in Figure 8 from the survey, this strategy is
reported as the second one most used by the students. Nevertheless, this information could
be contradicted by the fact that the worst results from the test were in Item IV (see Figure 1)
where this strategy was presented as well; however, this might be due to the difficulties that
this item implied as suggested in the analysis of the test.

Difficulties when listening

As the results obtained on the test SIMCE Inglés in Magallanes Region regarding
this receptive skill were low compared to the ideal score (Agencia de Calidad de la
Educación, 2018), it is possible that some students could be facing difficulties when being
exposed to listening material. According to the students on the focus group, some of the
difficulties that they face when understanding oral texts are related to the pronunciation
(50% of citations) and fluency (12.5% of citations) of the speakers, since they seem to
speak fast and connect all the words. This information can be seen in the extract below.

37
Extract 6
...como su fluidez, que va complicando como si estuvieran de repente uniendo las palabras
y ahí como que por lo menos yo me enredo harto de repente…creo que es como la
pronunciación que tienen. (Student 4)

In regard to what is illustrated in Extract 6, the students commented that the

speakers’ fluency may lead to misunderstandings at the moment of listening. Related to
this, Wilson (2008), suggests that the rapid speech of the speakers in the recording is a
factor when learners perform a listening activity, which may cause confusion especially
when there is no visual support. Moreover, as it was mentioned in Extract 1, students are
not accustomed to being exposed to audio-visual material but mainly to audio material,
which might be another factor that contributes to making their process of understanding
more complex. On the one hand, the student’s perceptions regarding fluency in Extract 6
seems to be consistent with the low results obtained in item IV (see Figure 1) where the
students were required to reorder sentences, which might be particularly difficult for the
students as explained in the analysis of the test because the words said by the speaker might
sound like one long lexical item (Asmawati, 2017). On the other hand, fluency as a factor
when listening comprehensibly might be contradicted by the students’ performances in
items I and II where the students used an extract from a sitcom with native speakers. Still,
the good results obtained might be explained by the extra information provided by means of
video itself, as well as the use of humor, which makes listening activities more enjoyable,
students get easily engaged, and their attention increases (Bell, 2009; McNeely, 2015;
Nettleton, 2013). Furthermore, a few students expressed that another issue that seems to be
a problem for them is the accent (25% of citations) of the speaker. It appears to be
problematic when the students listen to audio material with different accents, illustrated by
the extract below.

Extract 7

...eso igual, el acento … igual es como lo que más cuesta de repente entender. Para mí es
más fácil entender el americano. En el otro como que marcan más algunas letras, algunas
palabras. De repente cuesta más entender… (Student 2)

In Extract 7 above, a student highlighted the pronunciation of the speakers as

another difficulty for them; they declare that it is easier to understand the American accent
rather than another one, probably alluding to the British accent. Thus, even though the

38
students believe that the American accent is simpler to understand, this may be contradicted
by the fact that while students are exposed to a variety of accents, they can become
gradually more proficient (Wilson, 2008). In this way, it is possible to speculate that
notwithstanding the students’ preferences regarding the American accent, exposing them to
more than one accent during the lessons could be beneficial since it helps them develop
their listening skills. The difficulties that students face regarding accent in extract 7 might
be consistent with their results in items III and IV (See Figure 1) where the listeners
obtained the lowest results. This might be explained by the fact that the video called
“Introducing Ireland” is presented by a person with either a British or Irish accent, while the
sitcom used in items I and II is American, which might make it easier for the students to
comprehend considering what the student reported in extract 7.

Another difficulty identified in the data is related to the suitableness of the level of
language displayed in the audio or audio-visual material, as this may imply unknown
vocabulary (12.5% of citations) for the students, as expressed in the following extract.

Extract 8

Lo que más podría complicar es el acento más que nada... Igual que hay palabras como
que no entiendo el significado. Cuando no lo sé y ahí como que me cuesta un poco más.
(Student 3)

Concerning Extract 8 above, another factor that may lead the students to
misunderstanding is the unknown vocabulary that might appear in the audio material. For
this reason, one of the problems related to this skill is the limited vocabulary that learners
have (Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011). As it was stated above, due to the low results of the
students in SIMCE Inglés test in Magallanes Region (Agencia de Calidad en la Educación,
2018), it may not be surprising that one of the weaknesses that directly affects the students’
results is the limited vocabulary learned during their years of studying English. Moreover, it
might be possible that the students are not exposed to well-structured listening stages as
they should have the opportunity to learn keywords that they might find within the audio
material.

Resources for a better comprehension

39
 The students also speculated on what they thought that would help them when
listening comprehensibly. Some of them commented that the use of subtitles (36% of
citations) could be helpful to understand better what the speakers say. In this way, they
might understand every word from the recording. As the students declare this, the learners
might be referring to audio-visual material, as it is observed in the following extract.

Extract 9

Siento que lo de los subtítulos sería una buena idea...y además así es mucho más fácil
entenderlo y así aprendemos a leer más rápido. (Student 1)

In the extract illustrated above, students mentioned that subtitles may also give them
the opportunity to develop their reading skills by reading at the same time as the speakers
convey the message. In fact, Canning-Wilson & Wallace (2000) suggests that the use of
subtitles, specifically in audio-visual material encourages the students to be aware about
new vocabulary which could potentially facilitate the learning of new lexical items, without
being a distractor for them. Nonetheless, this can be contradicted by the idea of other
authors who believe that the use of subtitles in audio-visual material is a distractor for
learners because it might not help students properly develop their listening skills (Borras &
Lafayette, 1994). Therefore, this contradiction may lead us to have an unclear idea about
what is better for our students since the authors previously mentioned important points that
teachers should take into consideration when preparing listening activities. Perhaps, it might
be helpful to start using subtitles and gradually take them out; otherwise, the students could
be working on their reading skills rather than listening itself. Also, the evidence indicates
that the total number of students agreed that the most useful kind of material that would
help them understand better is audio-visual material (64% of citations). The following
extract indicates this idea.

Extract 10
...los videos ayudarían mucho a entender porque darían más contexto… (Student 5)

The extract above shows that students clearly demonstrate that videos may be useful
since they provide more context, which might help them when listening comprehensibly.
Furthermore, videos also give information about the speakers, involving the learners in the
visual comprehension of the listening situation (Hoven, 1999). For this reason, it appears

40
that the use of audio-visual material might be more engaging for the students, making them
pay more attention to the details that they watch and listen to. Hence, this idea appears to
support the assumption that the use of audio-visual material facilitates the students’
listening comprehension as watching a situation while listening to it provides more context.
Finally, even though item V was the most achieved along the test, in which the students
were exposed to audio material, the information provided by a student in Extract 10 might
be consistent with the results obtained in item I and II, especially considering that the pace
of the speakers in this item was significantly faster than the sitcom presented in the items
previously mentioned, which could have made it more challenging for the students to
understand.

4.4 Attainment of the General Objective of the Study

As stated above, the general objective of this study was to determine EFL students’
listening comprehension levels and their use of listening strategies when faced with audio-
visual material. The first quantitative instrument was a listening comprehension test to
measure the students’ listening comprehension skills and classify their levels according to
the Common European Framework of Reference. The second quantitative instrument was a
survey to analyze the students' self-reported use of listening strategies when faced with
listening activities. Concerning the qualitative instrument, this was a focus group conducted
to identify the students’ perceptions of audio-visual material when listening
comprehensibly. By analyzing the results obtained from the qualitative and quantitative
instruments, it was possible to reach the general objective of this research report since the
students were effectively classified based on the CEFR levels in the English Cambridge
Scale, considering their test results. After that, according to the survey results, the
participants self-reported as the most used strategies; listening for gist and listening for
specific information, which was consistent with the good performance that students had in
the test when facing items where those strategies were present. For this reason, although
students do not make use of the four strategies proposed by Wilson (2008), most of them
report frequent use of at least two of them. Concerning the use of audio-visual material,
during the focus group most of the students mentioned that the use of this type of material

41
when performing listening activities is fundamental to improve their performance because
it provides them with context.

5. Conclusion

The main objective of this study was to determine EFL students’ listening
comprehension levels and their use of listening strategies when faced with audio-visual
material. For this reason, a descriptive design was adopted to undertake this study at a
subsidized school in Puerto Natales, Chile, to 15 ninth grade students who learn English as
a foreign language. Moreover, a mixed-method approach, which considered both
quantitative (test and survey) and qualitative (focus group) data, was followed. While
quantitative data were numerically analyzed, qualitative data were analyzed by means of
content analysis. Both served to describe the variables of this study, to match the specific
objectives and to answer the research questions.

One significant finding that emerged from this study is that the students may use
some listening strategies, such as listening for gist and listening for specific information,
when listening comprehensibly. Considering the results from the survey, even though the
students might not be aware of using the listening strategies in Wilson’s taxonomy (2008),
when listening comprehensively, they reported that they employ them. Apparently, the
students use listening strategies, and they should work on these ones to listen more
effectively as the development of listening strategies to enhance the students’ listening
comprehension skills is highly relevant when teaching EFL students.

42
 Another significant finding considering what the students reported in the focus
group is related to the lack of exposure that the students might have to audio-visual
material. This type of material has a positive effect on the students’ performances when
exposed to listening activities (Herron et al., 1995) as it provides them with more context
and extra information, such as characteristics, speakers' moods, and descriptions, among
others. Thus, it could be important to suggest a change concerning the kind of material that
students are exposed to during English lessons as it is probable that the learners increase
their listening comprehension skills if they use more videos, sitcoms or resources that
include visual support. For this reason, if students were more exposed to audio-visual
material instead of just audio material, the SIMCE results may have shown a better
performance by students in Magallanes region.

A third finding is related to the students’ listening comprehension levels in the

CEFR. According to the results obtained by the participants of this study in the test, only
one of them reached the A2 level expected by Ministerio de Educación (2015) in ninth
grade; nevertheless, six students are still in A1 level, which should be already reached by
the end of the eighth grade, and still more alarming, three students were classified below
pre-A1 level.

Some limitations that we went though were related to the number of participants of
the study since, as the school where we did our practicum process had only one course per
level, we carried out this research project with 15 students, which is a small sample to
obtain enough significant and varied information which does not allow to lead to
generalizations. Additionally, another limitation was related to the online-based modality
considering the current conditions regarding the pandemic. Perhaps a direct observation
was needed to corroborate whether the students were actually employing the strategies or
not.

43
 Finally, further research considering a larger number of students participating in
the instruments and providing data from more research tools is needed. In this way, the
researchers may have a bigger insight about the students’ listening comprehension levels
and their use of listening strategies when faced with audio-visual material. Furthermore, a
face-to-face context may facilitate collecting more data since this online context did not
provide us with the opportunity to create a proper environment where the researchers might
detect the development of the students’ use of listening strategies and audio-visual material
when listening comprehensibly.

44
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Santiago, Chile.
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hl=es&lr=&id=TzZTCEAK6N4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Barbour

Beattie, G., & Ellis, A. (2017). The psychology of language and communication. Routledge.
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Mendelsohn, D. J., & Rubin, J. (1995). A guide for the teaching of second language listening. San
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and audio-visual aids.
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Widiasih, A., & Widodo, P. (2020). Which One is the Most Effective: Authentic Audiovisual
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 7. Appendices

7.1 Listening Comprehension Test (Student)

49
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51
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54
55
56
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7.1.2 Listening Comprehension Test (Answer Key)

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7.1.3 Links of the Videos
Link video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipyjJJRSavc

Link video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqu_wBdrY4s

Audio: https://www.curriculumnacional.cl/estudiante/621/articles-209508_audio_38.mp3

7.1.4 Script: “The Solder Excursion Diversion” - The Big Bang Theory 
Scene: The apartment.
Amy: I got here as quickly as I could.
Sheldon: You’re too late.
Amy: Sheldon, this is silly.
Sheldon: You got emotional when that lab monkey died.
Amy: That lab monkey told me he loved me in sign language.
Sheldon: Great. Now I’m gonna have that song in my head all day.
Amy: Look, I’m, I’m sorry for your loss, but I think I have something that might make you feel
better. I got you a new computer.
Sheldon: How could you do that?
Amy: Do what?
Sheldon: Choosing a new laptop Is an incredibly personal ritual. You have taken away weeks of
agonizing thought, tedious research, sleepless nights filled with indecision. I, haven’t I lost enough
today?
Amy: Well, the guy at the store said this one is great.
Sheldon: Oh, oh, the guy. Oh, pardon me. I didn’t realize you’d spoken to the guy. Yeah, tell me,
did the guy choose one with a 4K display and a Thunderbolt port?
Amy: Yes.
Sheldon: Yeah? Did the guy make sure that this has a one terabyte solid-state drive?
Amy: Yes.
Sheldon: Yeah? Oh, well, was this guy Rick from Computer Solutions on Colorado?
Amy: Yes.
Sheldon: Yeah, well, he does know his stuff.

66
7.1.5 Script: “Introducing Ireland”
Ireland is a small country with a big heart, and a big reputation too, helped by its breathtaking
landscape and friendly people as welcoming as they are lyrical. The island of postcards may seem
like a fiction but it very much exists, you will find it along the peninsulas’ of the Southwest in the
brooding loneliness of Connemara as hills and lakes and the dramatic wilderness of county
Donegal, bend a summer’s evening in the yard of a pub and you will experience an island that has
changed little in generations. 
With renowned museums and entertainment, world-class dining in top-grade hotels, Dublin has all
the elements of a major international metropolis, but the real clinches are Dublin as themselves
friendlier and more easygoing and welcoming than the people of virtually any other European
capital. A coast of tiny coves and windswept beaches form the beautiful boundaries between the
Connemara peninsula and the wild waters of the Atlantic. Every town and hamlet has at least one,
no matter where you go you’ll find the social heart of the country, beats loudest in the pub. It's still
the best place to discover what makes the country tick. Western Europe’s most vibrant folk music is
Irish traditional music. It earned worldwide fame thanks to the likes of Riverdance but it’s best
expressed in a more sedate setting, usually an old-fashioned pub. Ireland’s lively a city literally
hums through the night at music-filled pubs and in local attractions such as the famous local oysters
and the fun in Galway never ends. High season runs from June to September, in October summer
crowds and accommodation rates drop off. Travel costs in Ireland can range from less than 60 euros
a day if you enjoy a dorm bed and the odd pint to over 120 euros a day for a four-star hotel and a
round of golf. The most convenient way to explore Ireland’s every nook and cranny is by car,
although an extensive network of buses makes them the most cost-effective way to get around.
 Irish scenery is among the most spectacular in Europe, and history is everywhere you look. Give
yourself-time to linger; the most memorable experiences in Ireland are often the ones where you’re
doing very little at all.

7.1.6 Track 39
Student book Unit 4 page 134. Exercise 3. When I finish school I would like to become a
professional tourist guide. I need to learn English to tell the visitors about the customs and traditions
all over the country. I love to chat with people from all over the world in forums and blogs. We
usually talk about our countries, so I want to learn English to write about our people, lives, and
culture.

67
7.2 Survey

68
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70
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7.3 Focus Group

Grupo Focal sobre preferencias de estudiantes en relación al desarrollo de la

comprensión auditiva y el uso de material audiovisual en clases de inglés.

El propósito de este grupo focal es recolectar información concreta sobre apreciaciones

relacionadas a la comprensión auditiva en inglés de estudiantes secundarios chilenos. La
información recogida servirá para llevar a cabo un proyecto de investigación enfocado en las
preferencias de estudiantes acerca de diversos aspectos relacionados con la comprensión auditiva.
Completar esta actividad les tomará cerca de 30 minutos, lo que podría variar dependiendo de su
participación y respuestas. Para cautelar y mantener sus identidades en anonimato, sus nombres
serán borrados en esta investigación y sus respuestas solo se utilizarán con fines académicos.
Finalmente, si un estudiante no se siente cómodo/a con participar de la actividad puede interrumpir
y dejar de ser parte de ella.

Preguntas

1. Cuando realizan actividades de comprensión auditiva, ¿Qué tipo de actividades o

recursos usa su profesor/a frecuentemente?

2. ¿Qué tipo de actividades realizan con esa clase de material o recurso?

3. Cuando escuchan un audio en las clases de inglés, ¿Qué hacen para poder comprender

de qué se trata este?

4. ¿Cuáles son las dificultades que han tenido cuando han realizado una actividad de

comprensión auditiva?

5. ¿Qué elementos o recursos creen ustedes que les permiten comprender mejor cuando

escuchan?

Para finalizar, ¿les gustaría agregar algún comentario algo más respecto a lo que hemos
conversado?

Por último, nos gustaría agradecer su tiempo, disposición y participación en el grupo focal.

73
7.3.1 Focus Group Transcript
Moderator 1: Entonces lo primero que quisiéramos saber sobre sus percepciones es cuando
realizan actividades de comprensión auditiva, qué tipo de recursos o actividades utiliza su
profesor o profesora frecuentemente? Eso es lo primero que quisiéramos saber.

Moderator 2: Esto es todo relacionado a listening, ya? Para que puedan contestarle a
Bernardo en relación a eso. Quién quiere empezar, recuerdan más o menos?

Student 1: Bueno, la mayoría de veces, lo que los profes hacen cuando tenemos un listening
es mostrar un audio, muy pocas veces ponen video con audio. Siempre es el audio solo y lo
repiten tres veces máximo.

Moderator 2: Súper, muchas gracias.

Moderator 1: Alguien más quisiera contribuir? ¿Qué opinan sobre lo que dijo S1?

Student 2: Eeeh, lo que dijo S1, sí. Puede decirse lo mismo. Ponen los audios y rara vez
pasan videos. Se repiten los audios hasta máximo tres veces y…digo lo mismo que S1.

Moderator 1: Ya chicos, si tuviéramos que cuantificar esto, es decir, de cada diez veces que
el profesor utiliza solamente un audio, ¿cuántas veces utiliza un audio pero con material
visual de apoyo? Algo así como una serie, quizás un extracto de una película, etc.

Student 2: Yo no podría decir mucho porque soy nuevo. No sé cómo lo hicieron el año
pasado pero en este año, de las veces que han usado audio, creo que solo he visto…eeeh
como tres o cuatro veces han pasado videos de lo que yo me acuerdo. Todos los demás son
audios.

Moderator 2: Ya, se entiende, gracias por comentar. ¿Qué opinan los demás respecto de
esta pregunta que era “cuando se realizan actividades de comprensión auditiva, qué tipo de
actividades o recursos usa el profesor?”

Student 3: Sí, generalmente es audio. Pero a veces ponen audio y una imagen como apoyo o
directamente el video y eso.

74
Moderator 2: Ok, vamos a continuar con la otra. Nos gustaría que S4, S5 o S6 pudieran
contestar. ¿Qué tipo de actividades realizan con esa clase de material o recurso, con ese
audio que ustedes decían, qué tipo de actividades?

Student 4: Eehh… como…qué fue lo que escucharon que había, por ejemplo una habitación
o una sala o cosas así. De que si escuchar que tal persona dijo que estaba esto sobre esto o
al lado.

Moderator 2: Súper, ¿Alguien más que quiera contribuir a lo que dijo?

Student 5: Mmmmh que después de ver lo que sea que hayamos visto, nos hacen preguntas
de la unidad. Tiene que ver con la unidad.

Moderator 2: Y respecto de las actividades, por ejemplo, usan completación o preguntas

abiertas, hay algo así más o menos?

Moderator 1: Pueden ser actividades donde tengan que relacionar, así como matching,
cuando tienen que unir conceptos…

Student 1: La mayoría de las veces, cuando escuchamos un audio, primero hablamos de lo

que escuchamos un poquito y luego hacemos…respondemos preguntas o completamos
cosas, juntamos, o sea…

Moderator 2: súper, ¿Algo más que quieran agregar?

Student 6: No sé, es que igual ya lo dijeron los chicos, porque cada vez que nos hacen
escuchar audios, casi siempre respondemos preguntas o hacemos eso del matching, pero no
tan seguido como las preguntas

Moderator 2: Perfecto chicos. Lo siguiente que quisiéramos que nos comentaran es, por
ejemplo, cuando escuchan un audio en las clases de inglés, ¿qué hacen ustedes en particular
para comprender de qué se trata el audio? ¿En qué se enfocan?

Student 2: Yo más que nada me enfoco en… me concentro más que nada en el tema del que
se está hablando. Trato de identificar el tema del que hablan, si hay palabras clave y más
que nada en eso. En eso me guío para lograr entender el audio.

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Student 4: Yo trato de imaginarme como las escenas que van como diciendo los personajes
y también tratándome de imaginar como la descripción que dan, como las características.

Student 3: Yo igual como que intento buscar palabras claves, como las que más me sé, para
guiarme un poco.

Student 5: Yo hago lo mismo, escuchar palabras clave.

Moderator 2: Muchas gracias chicos. Ahora, cuáles son las dificultades que han tenido
cuando han realizado una actividad de comprensión auditiva? Cuáles son esas dificultades
que ustedes se encuentran al momento en el que son mostrados estos audios o videos?

Student 1: eeeh bueno yo, primero, a mí me cuesta mucho a veces entender la

pronunciación de las palabras porque, como yo no hablo inglés, o sea yo digo las palabras
como puedo, entonces como que se me hace demasiado difícil entender alguna. Pero por
ejemplo, si la dice una persona que no habla inglés, quizás lo más posible es que lo vaya a
entender pero como es una persona que habla inglés, es más complicado.

Student 2: Yo digo como lo mismo que S1. Ese es como el problema más habitual, pienso
yo. De repente cuesta entender lo que dicen los audios. Eso.

Moderator 1: Chicos, cuando ustedes dicen que lo más difícil es entender los audios con
respecto a la pronunciación, qué creen ustedes que es un problema, su acento, velocidad…

Student 4: como su fluidez, que va complicando como si estuvieran de repente uniendo las
palabras y ahí como que por lo menos yo me enredo harto de repente… eeeh creo que es
como la pronunciación que tienen, no se les entiende mucho la pronunciación.

Student 2: Sí, eso igual, el acento y la pronunciación igual es como lo que más cuesta de
repente entender. Para mí es más fácil entender el americano. El otro como que marcan más
algunas letras, algunas palabras. De repente cuesta más entender…

Student 6: No es como que haya una dificultad, solamente que a veces no se entiende lo que
dicen. Eso igual dificulta.

Student 3: Igual que hay palabras como que no entiendo el significado. Cuando no lo sé y
ahí como que me cuesta un poco más.

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Student 5: Lo que más podría complicar es el acento más que nada.

Moderator 1: Chicos, entonces por lo que nos dicen como que a veces es un poco difícil
entender el inglés cuando lo escuchamos. ¿qué elementos o qué recursos piensan ustedes
que les permitirían comprender mejor cuando están escuchando?¿ qué sentirían ustedes que
les ayuda un poco más a comprender mejor?

Student 5: Las expresiones faciales de los que hablan.

Moderator 1: Perfecto, ya. Alguien más?

Student 2: O sea creo que igual podría ser muy injusto pero de las veces máximas que
den…con subtítulos, puede ser…

Student 1: Siento que lo de los subtítulos sería una buena idea. O sea, lo digo porque hay
veces que, o sea, es casi lo mismo. O al menos yo lo siento así. Y además así es mucho más
fácil entenderlo y así aprendemos a leer más rápido.

Student 3: Yo pienso igual como lo mismo. Que sería mejor con subtítulos y eso.

Student 1: Un audio con subtítulos.

Student 3: Eso

Student 2: A través de videos

Student 5: Sí, los videos ayudarían mucho a entender porque darían más contexto.

Student 4: También se podrían poner partes de películas en inglés como para ayudarnos.

Student 1: Sí, sería más fácil si vemos lo que estamos escuchando.

Student 2: Sí

Student 3: Un video como que me ayudaría a entender un poco más ya que, por ejemplo, si
preguntan sobre la situación de alguien, podría entender un poco más sobre lo que está
pasando.

Student 5: Sí, los videos ayudarían mucho a entender porque darían más contexto.

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Moderator 2: Muchas gracias a cada uno por su participación y disposición a querer
participar en este grupo focal. ¿Hay alguna duda o comentario que quisieran hacer?

S1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6: No. Gracias.

Moderator 1: Entonces, gracias una vez más por asistir, que tengan un buen día.

Student 1: chao, que estén bien.

Student 2: Gracias, chao.

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7.3.2 Consentimiento para persona a cargo del sujeto de investigación

Dirigido a: Padres y Apoderados

Mediante el presente consentimiento informado, se solicita a usted autorice la participación de su

hijo/hija/pupilo en estudios enmarcados en el Proyecto de investigación relacionado a la comprensión auditiva
de la lengua extranjera inglés, denominado “Un estudio descriptivo de los niveles de comprensión auditiva de
los estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera y su uso de estrategias de escucha ante material audiovisual”,
los profesores en formación Yanara Belén García Momberg y Bernardo Andrés Mardones Sepúlveda,
pertenecientes a la Universidad de Los Lagos.

Dicho Proyecto tiene como objetivo principal determinar los niveles de comprensión oral de los estudiantes de
EFL y su uso de estrategias de escucha cuando se enfrentan a material audiovisual. En función de lo anterior es
pertinente la participación de su hijo/hija/pupilo en el estudio, por lo que mediante la presente, se le solicita su
consentimiento.

La colaboración de su hijo/hija/pupilo en esta investigación, consistirá en participar en un grupo focal junto a 5

compañeros más, el cual se realizará mediante una reunión grabada en Google Meet. Dicha actividad durará
aproximadamente 30 minutos y será realizada fuera del horario de clases.

Los alcances y resultados esperados de esta investigación son poder recolectar la mayor cantidad de
información sobre la percepción del estudiante en relación al material audiovisual. Además, la participación en
este estudio no implica ningún riesgo de daño físico o psicológico para su hijo/hija/pupilo, y se tomarán todas
las medidas que sean necesarias para garantizar la salud e integridad física, ética y psicológica de quienes
participen del estudio.

El acto de autorizar la participación de su hijo/hija/pupilo en la investigación es absolutamente libre y

voluntario. Todos los datos que se recojan, serán estrictamente anónimos y de carácter privado. Además, los
datos entregados serán absolutamente confidenciales y sólo se usarán para los fines de la investigación. Del
mismo modo, quien participe en sesiones grupales, se compromete a mantener absoluta confidencialidad
respecto de los dichos y declaraciones de las demás personas integrantes del grupo. Por otra parte, la
participación en este estudio no involucra pago o beneficio económico alguno.

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 Si usted quisiera plantear preguntas acerca del presente proyecto de investigación o sobre la participación
de su hijo/hija/pupilo en él, puede plantearlas en cualquier momento. Cabe destacar, que usted puede retirar a su
hijo/hija/pupilo de la actividad a la que ha sido invitado o invitada a participar en cualquier momento, sin que
esto represente perjuicio alguno. Es importante que usted considere que la participación en este estudio es
completamente libre y voluntaria. Además, todo participante tiene derecho a negarse a participar o a dejar
inconclusa la participación en cualquier momento, sin tener que dar explicaciones y sin recibir consecuencia
alguna.

Desde ya le agradecemos su autorización.

Yanara Belén García Momberg

Bernardo Andrés Mardones Sepúlveda
Profesores en Formación

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 Consentimiento para persona a cargo del sujeto de investigación
Fecha ________________________

Yo____________________________________________, apoderado(a), tutor(a), madre,

padre o curador(a) de_______________________________, en base a lo expuesto en el presente
documento, acepto libre y voluntariamente que mi hijo/hija/pupilo participe en la investigación
denominada “_____________________________________________________”, conducida por los
profesores en formación ______________________, de la Universidad de los Lagos.

He sido informado(a) de los objetivos, alcances y resultados esperados de este estudio y de

las características de la participación. Entiendo que la información que se provea en el curso de esta
investigación es estrictamente confidencial y anónima. Además, esta información no será usada
para ningún otro propósito ajeno a este estudio.

Se me ha explicado claramente que todo participante puede formular preguntas sobre el

proyecto en cualquier momento y que es posible retirarse de la actividad a la cual ha sido invitado
cuando el participante lo desee, sin tener que dar explicaciones y tampoco recibir consecuencia
alguna.

Si usted tiene alguna duda relacionada con la participación en este estudio, puedo contactar
a Yanara García y Bernardo Mardones, quienes son los encargados del grupo focal y pertenecientes
a la carrera de Pedagogía en Inglés y Traducción (yanarabelen.garcia@alumnos.ulagos.cl,
bernardoandres.mardones@alumnos.ulagos.cl)

Entiendo que una copia de este documento de asentimiento me será entregada, y que puedo
pedir información sobre los resultados de este estudio cuando éste haya concluido. Sé que, para
pedir información, puedo contactar a los responsables de esta investigación mediante los correos
mencionados previamente.

_____________________________________________ _________________________
Padre/Madre o Apoderado/a Profesores en Formación

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 7.3.2 Asentimiento informado para persona entre 14 y 18 años

Dirigido a: Estudiantes

En este asentimiento, te explicamos detalladamente en qué consiste la actividad a la cual te invitamos a

participar. Para poder participar, primero debes leer y comprender lo siguiente:

Los profesores en formación Yanara Belén García Momberg y Bernardo Andrés Mardones Sepúlveda están
realizando un proyecto llamado “Un estudio descriptivo de los niveles de comprensión auditiva de los estudiantes
de inglés como lengua extranjera y su uso de estrategias de escucha ante material audiovisual”. El objetivo del
proyecto es determinar los niveles de comprensión oral de los estudiantes de EFL y su uso de estrategias de
escucha cuando se enfrentan a material audiovisual, y por eso se te ha pedido que participes en un grupo focal, la
cual consiste en:

1. PODER COMENTAR A PARTIR DE 5 PREGUNTAS TUS PERCEPCIONES FRENTE A UN

MATERIAL ESPECÍFICO UTILIZADO EN LAS CLASES DE INGLÉS.
2. LA DURACIÓN SERÁ DE APROXIMADAMENTE 30 MINUTOS.
3. SE LLEVARÁ A CABO A TRAVÉS DE LA PLATAFORMA GOOGLE MEET, LA CUÁL DEBERÁ
SER GRABADA PARA POSTERIORMENTE PODER SER TRANSCRITA.
4. SE REALIZARÁ FUERA DEL HORARIO DE CLASES, EL CUAL SERÁ ACORDADO POR LOS
ESTUDIANTES QUE PARTICIPEN.
5. NO EXISTE NINGÚN RIESGO AL PARTICIPAR DE ESTE GRUPO FOCAL, YA QUE ES SOLO CON
FINES PEDAGÓGICOS DONDE SE MANTENDRÁ LA CONFIDENCIALIDAD Y ANONIMATO.

Segundo, todos los datos que se recojan en la actividad serán totalmente anónimos y privados. Además,
todos los datos que entregues se mantendrán en absoluta confidencialidad y sólo se usarán para el proyecto de
investigación. Los profesores en formación: Yanara García y Bernardo Mardones son los responsables de cuidar y
proteger permanente e indefinidamente la confidencialidad recién mencionada.

Tercero, se asegurará la total cobertura de los costos de la actividad en que se te está invitando a participar,
de tal modo que tu participación sería absolutamente gratuita, no te significará costo alguno. La participación en
esta actividad no involucra pago o en dinero y tampoco beneficio que incluya cosas materiales.

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 Cuarto, los profesores en formación de la investigación se comprometen a tomar todas las medidas que sean
necesarias para garantizar directamente tu salud, integridad física, ética y psicológica mientras participas de la
actividad.

Quinto, si tú consideras que se ha hecho algo incorrecto durante la actividad, te puedes comunicar con el
profesor Victor Hugo Peña Villarroel, Jefe de Carrera de Pedagogía en Inglés y Traducción perteneciente a la
Universidad de Los Lagos, por medio del email victor.pena@ulagos.cl

Por último, si tienes dudas sobre esta actividad o sobre tu participación en ella, puedes hacer preguntas en
cualquier momento que lo desees. Al mismo tiempo, puedes decidir retirarte de la actividad en cualquier momento,
sin que este retiro tenga malas consecuencias y, tienes derecho a negarte a participar o a dejar de participar en la
actividad, que ahora te invitamos cordialmente a participar, en cualquier momento.

Yanara Belén García Momberg

Bernardo Andrés Mardones Sepúlveda
Profesores en Formación

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 Asentimiento informado para persona entre 14 y 18 años
Fecha ________________________

Mi nombre es _________________________________________________________________, soy estudiante del

curso____________________, del colegio____________________________________________. Los profesores
en formación _____________________________________ me han invitado a participar de un proyecto que se
llama “_____________________________”. Acepto participar en la actividad a la que se me ha invitado, y además
quisiera decir que:

1. He leído la explicación de en qué consiste la actividad a la que me invitan a participar, o me la han

leído, y he
comprendido todo.
2. Cuando no entendí algo, pude preguntar, y me han contestado todas mis preguntas.
3. Sé que puedo decidir no participar, y nada malo ocurrirá por ello. Si tengo alguna duda en cualquier
momento
de la actividad, puedo preguntar todas las veces que necesite.
4. Sé que puedo elegir participar, puedo cambiar de opinión en cualquier momento, y que nadie me
retará si es
que decido retirarme.
5. Sé que la información que entregue en esta actividad sólo la sabrán los profesores del proyecto y la
usarán sólo
para su investigación. Si mis respuestas llegasen a ser publicadas, no estarán relacionadas con mi
nombre, así
que nadie sabrá cuales fueron mis decisiones o respuestas.
6. De tener alguna pregunta sobre la actividad, después podré llamar o escribir a un profesor que podrá
responder todas mis preguntas y comentarios. El nombre de este profesor es Víctor Peña Villarroel y
puedo
contactarlo a través de victor.pena@ulagos.cl
7. Si acepto participar en la actividad debo firmar este asentimiento, posteriormente me entregarán una
copia de este.
asentimiento para guardarla y tenerla en mi poder si tengo cualquier duda después.
Al final de todo, podré pedirles a los profesores en formación, quienes me invitaron a participar,
información sobre los resultados de su proyecto de investigación. Los correos electrónicos para

84
contactar a los profesores en formación son yanarabelen.garcia@alumnos.ulagos.cl y
bernardoandres.mardones@alumnos.ulagos.cl.

________________________________________________
NOMBRE Y FIRMA DEL REPRESENTANTE LEGAL
Persona que representa al menor de edad

__________________________________________ _________________________________
NOMBRE NOMBRE
Menor de edad Profesores en Formación

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