3.3 Participants
3.3 participants
the participants in the study were three intact classes of first-year chinese students (n=120, aged 17-19) enrolled in an english course at a university in northeastern china. before the pilot study, the participants had received at least 6 years of formal english education from middle schools and were therefore considered to be at a pre-intermediate to intermediate level of language proficiency. english as a foreign language was a compulsory academic subject for all of them. all of the participants were studying in the same year at university, using the same course materials and following the same syllabus in their listening classes. the participants' listening scores from the previous semester's final exam were taken for reference to ensure of the homogeneity in the classes regarding the level of listening ability.
the participants in the study were three intact classes of first-year chinese students (n=120, aged 17-19) enrolled in an english course at a university in northeastern china. before the pilot study, the participants had received at least 6 years of formal english education from middle schools and were therefore considered to be at a pre-intermediate to intermediate level of language proficiency. english as a foreign language was a compulsory academic subject for all of them. all of the participants were studying in the same year at university, using the same course materials and following the same syllabus in their listening classes. the participants' listening scores from the previous semester's final exam were taken for reference to ensure of the homogeneity in the classes regarding the level of listening ability.