A Comparison of Chinese EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension in Dictation and Dicto-comp

Abstract

Dictation and dicto-comp are two task types which are often used in Chinese EFL listening class. When the effects of task type have been found in some types of listening tasks, little has been known about its effects in the case of dictation and dicto-comp. This study aims to investigate whether Chinese EFL learners achieve a similar level of comprehension of the audio input in dictation and dicto-comp. Sixty-eight students were divided into two experimental groups. The participants first completed a questionnaire on their perception of dictation and dicto-comp, and then each group received the dictation task and the dicto-comp task respectively and had two post-tests: a free written recall and a set of multiple-choice questions. The analysis of the post-test results and the students’ response to the questionnaire showed that Chinese EFL learners achieved a similar level of comprehension of the audio input in the aspects of global comprehension, local comprehension, literal comprehension and inferential comprehension. Drawing on the Cognition Hypothesis, the paper discussed the role of task complexity in affecting learners’ listening comprehension and it was found that the synergetic effects of the resource-dispersing dimensions and the resource-directing dimensions of task complexity led to the similar level of listening comprehension in these two tasks.