Exploring the Listening Processes of Pre-university ESL Students

To better prepare pre-university students for learning in the university setting, scholars have called for the critical examination of the basic language skills necessary for lecture comprehension. This call is also echoed in ESL listening research where experts have accentuated the importance of investigating the listening processes which are at work in an academic setting to improve learning. This inevitably puts listening skills in the forefront because by far listening is the most indispensable skill for learning in a university environment. Within this context, this paper reports on a pilot project which uncovers the listening processes of pre-university ESL students. The primary aim of the investigation is to explore the listening processes of pre-university students to learn more about their cognitive and behavioural listening strategies. A procedure that incorporated the verbal channel for gathering think-aloud protocols was developed to suit the respondents’ language ability. Pre- university students were asked to listen to a selection of audio taped texts, modelled on the Malaysian University English Listening Test (MUET). As they listened, they were asked to think-aloud their thoughts as they attempt to answer 15 multiple choice questions (MCQ). Their verbal protocols were audio taped and their behavioural responses observed by the researcher. The findings reveal that students employ a variety of listening strategies during the listening event. The study concludes by discussing the implications of using the data collected as an alternative pedagogical opportunity that could be infused gainfully into the ESL listening classroom.