1.3.1 Listening Comprehension
1.3.1 listening comprehension
since the 1980s, increasing attention has been placed on listening. second language (l2) researchers view it as a complex cognitive process and a key aspect of oral proficiency. peterson (2001) explains that listening comprehension is a multilevel and interactive process where listeners work on various levels of cognitive processing to understand the incoming speech. listening is generally viewed as involving an interaction between top-down and bottom-up processing.
top-down processing, according to rost (2011), stands for the information processing guided by higher level mental processes as we construct representations by drawing on our experiences and expectations. listeners tap into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of text, and the language. this background knowledge activates a set of expectations that help the listeners to interpret what is heard and anticipate what will come next (p.346). in other words, listeners use top-down processes when they build a conceptual framework for comprehension by using their familiarity with the listening context and their prior knowledge (topic, genre, culture, and other schema knowledge). listeners use content words and contextual clues to form hypotheses in an exploratory manner.
on the other hand, bottom-up processing, as described by rost (2011), refers to the information processing that is guided by input in real time, and proceeds in sequential stages. listeners use text-based strategies for comprehension, focusing on combinations of sounds, words, and grammar (p.314). in other words, listeners use bottom-up processes when they use their linguistic knowledge of sounds and word forms to process more complex lexical and grammatical items in order to interpret the input. listeners use bottom-up processes when they construct meaning by accretion, gradually combining increasingly larger units of meaning from the phoneme-level up to discourse-level features.
this view of listening as involving both top-down processing and bottom-up processing is in accordance with second language theory, which views listening as an interactive and complex process in which listeners focus attention on selective aspects of oral input, construct meaning, and relate what they hear to existing knowledge. listening comprehension, then, is not just top-down or bottom-up processing, but is an interactive and interpretive process in which listeners use both linguistic knowledge and contextual knowledge to understand messages.
since the 1980s, increasing attention has been placed on listening. second language (l2) researchers view it as a complex cognitive process and a key aspect of oral proficiency. peterson (2001) explains that listening comprehension is a multilevel and interactive process where listeners work on various levels of cognitive processing to understand the incoming speech. listening is generally viewed as involving an interaction between top-down and bottom-up processing.
top-down processing, according to rost (2011), stands for the information processing guided by higher level mental processes as we construct representations by drawing on our experiences and expectations. listeners tap into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of text, and the language. this background knowledge activates a set of expectations that help the listeners to interpret what is heard and anticipate what will come next (p.346). in other words, listeners use top-down processes when they build a conceptual framework for comprehension by using their familiarity with the listening context and their prior knowledge (topic, genre, culture, and other schema knowledge). listeners use content words and contextual clues to form hypotheses in an exploratory manner.
on the other hand, bottom-up processing, as described by rost (2011), refers to the information processing that is guided by input in real time, and proceeds in sequential stages. listeners use text-based strategies for comprehension, focusing on combinations of sounds, words, and grammar (p.314). in other words, listeners use bottom-up processes when they use their linguistic knowledge of sounds and word forms to process more complex lexical and grammatical items in order to interpret the input. listeners use bottom-up processes when they construct meaning by accretion, gradually combining increasingly larger units of meaning from the phoneme-level up to discourse-level features.
this view of listening as involving both top-down processing and bottom-up processing is in accordance with second language theory, which views listening as an interactive and complex process in which listeners focus attention on selective aspects of oral input, construct meaning, and relate what they hear to existing knowledge. listening comprehension, then, is not just top-down or bottom-up processing, but is an interactive and interpretive process in which listeners use both linguistic knowledge and contextual knowledge to understand messages.