Research Of Non-english Major College Students Listening Comprehension From The Perspective Of Dual Coding Theory

Listening comprehension is important and indispensable for foreign/second language learning. Considerable attention has been given to the exploration of listening process and how to improve EFL's listening comprehension ability. However, theories on listening such as bottom-up theories, top-down theories, and schema theory can partly explain the process of listening, and put much emphasis on verbal factors in the listening process rather than nonverbal factors.Different from other listening theories, Dual Coding Theory takes listening as a cognitive activity mediated by two independent but partly interconnected symbolic systems. One is the nonverbal system specialized for language, the other is the verbal system specialized for dealing with nonverbal objects and events, mental imagery and affective responses.The present research conducted two empirical studies on nonverbal factors and on language concreteness effect on listening comprehensibility, interest and immediate recall of the listening passages by adopting Dual Coding Theory as the theoretical base in order to better understand the listening process of non-English major college students and find more strategies to improve non-English major college students'listening comprehension ability.Fifty non-English major sophomores from Lanzhou Jiaotong University are selected as the participants of the research. Quantitative analytical methods are adopted to answer the research questions. Experiment one investigates what the differences are between the participants who evoke more mental images and affective responses and those who evoke fewer mental images and affective responses in understanding and remembering the listening passage. It has been found that eliciting mental images and affective responses is a natural part in listening process. The participants who evoke more mental images and affective responses can understand and recall the listening passage better than those who evoke fewer mental images and affective responses; Experiment two is conducted to investigate whether concrete listening passages are more comprehensible, more interesting and can be better recalled than abstract listening passages in different listening passage types ( narrative, expository, argumentative passages ). The results show that concreteness is one of the most effective indicators of listening comprehensibility and immediate recall of a listening passage. Concrete listening passages are more comprehensible and can be better recalled than abstract listening passages in different listening passage types (narrative, expository and argumentative passages ). The thesis is consisted of five chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction of the present research, including background, aims and significance of the present research. Chapter two is literature review. It provides literature review of studies on reading comprehension and studies on vocabulary and listening from the perspective of Dual Coding Theory. Then the difference of our present research from those in the past are stated. Chapter three is theoretical framework of Dual Coding Theory. The brief introduction and the development of this theory are presented firstly. Then, the basic concepts of this theory and the general model, basic units are introduced. Finally, the functions of Dual Coding Theory are summarized. Chapter Four is empirical research. Firstly, the research questions are designed. Secondly, two experiments are done to answer the research questions. From data analyses, two research questions have been answered and discussion is made finally. Chapter Five is the conclusion part. Concerned with the main findings of the present research, this thesis then discusses its pedagogical implications by providing some suggestions for the teaching of English listening. Limitations of the present research and suggestions for future research are provided finally.