THE EFFECTS OF A SHADOWING TECHNIQUE ON THAI EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ LISTENING SKILLS

Abstract

This research was designed to study the effects of A shadowing Technique on Thai EFL secondary school students. The objectives were: (1) to examine the effects of A shadowing Technique on Thai EFL secondary school students’ listening skills; (2) to examine the effects of the school-based instruction on Thai EFL secondary school students’ listening skills; (3) to compare the effects of A shadowing Technique to those of the school-based instruction on Thai EFL secondary school students’ listening skills; and (4) to investigate Thai EFL secondary school students’ attitudes toward learning listening skills through A shadowing Technique. The participants included 76 eighth-grade students in Ranong province, divided into two groups: students taught by A Shadowing Technique and students taught by school-based instruction. The instruments consisted of five lesson plans, an English listening test, a questionnaire, and semi-interviews. The mean score, standard deviation, and t-test analyses were used to analyze the quantitative data, while content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. The results revealed the effectiveness of both A shadowing Technique and the school-based instruction. That is, there were statistically significant differences in the pretest and posttest mean scores of students taught by A shadowing Technique (t (37) = -3.54, p<.001), and students taught by the school-based instruction (t (37) = -3.18, p<.001). When comparing the effects of A shadowing Technique to those of the school-based instruction, the mean scores of the students taught by A shadowing Technique were significantly higher than the students taught by the school-based instruction. This study pointed out that A shadowing Technique can be an alternative method to enhance listening skills. In addition, attitudes toward learning through A shadowing Technique were at a positive level (M= 3.89). This indicated that students favored this teaching method and pointed out that A shadowing Technique can be a useful method to improve the listening skills of EFL students.

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