The lecturer doesn't have a rewind button – addressing the listening difficulties of mainstream L2 students at a New Zealand University

Abstract

This article details an attempt to produce tapes of academic lectures to enable mainstream L2 students to improve their listening skills. Very little material for second language speakers is developed in New Zealand, and almost all material available to improve listening skills is produced in Australia, Britain or America. Students are not being exposed to the kind of English they hear in most lectures in this institution. The project was an attempt to meet the need for material aimed at the particular needs of L2 students studying in New Zealand. However, student feedback indicated that even provision of schema and guiding questions was not sufficient to overcome the difficulties they experienced with the tapes. The difficulties involved in using authentic material and providing adequate schema are discussed. Research indicates that videos of short introductory lectures would probably better meet the needs of L2 students who wish to develop their comprehension of academic lectures.


(Journal for Language Teching: 2002 36(1-2): 91-104)