Effects Of Task Types On Listening Comprehension From The Perspective Of Cognitive Load

As one of the main factors of affecting second language acquisition(SLA),task has attracted more and more attention.In SLA,the task puts forward certain cognitive requirements for learners.Learners carry cognitive load in the process of completing the task,affecting the results of completing task.The research of task type in SLA is mainly divided into 2 directions: one is from the perspective of cognitive demands set by task design;the other is from the aspect of cognitive load perceived by learners from different task designs.The effects of task types on listening comprehension need further research.It is of great theoretical and practical significance to study how task design affects learners’ language processing by generating cognitive load.This study focuses on the effects of three common types of listening tasks(multiple-choice questions,structural dictation and short-answer questions)on listening comprehension.130 second-year non-English majors were selected.They were divided into four groups,3 groups for 3 task types and a control group.After the experimental listening test,the 3 groups took a free recall task for exploring their listening comprehension and a questionnaire for measuring the cognitive load.The data were analyzed in SPSS 22.0.The study proposed three research questions: 1)What are the results of participants’ listening comprehension in the 3 task types? 2)How different is the cognitive load perceived respectively from the 3 task types? 3)How does cognitive load correlate with participants’ listening comprehension in the 3 task types?The results show that multiple-choice questions group has the highest‘intrinsic cognitive load’,the lowest ‘extraneous cognitive load’ and ‘germane cognitive load’.It performed the best in the listening task but the listening comprehension was the worst.Structural dictation group leads to the lowest‘intrinsic cognitive load’,the moderate ‘extraneous cognitive load’ and the highest ‘germane cognitive load’.It got a lower score in listening task but the listening comprehension was the best.Short-answer questions group has the similar ‘intrinsic cognitive load’ with structural dictation,and the highest‘extraneous cognitive load’.Its ‘germane cognitive load’ is moderate.It had the lowest score in listening task but the listening comprehension was slightly lower than structural dictation group.The conclusion is that reducing the‘intrinsic cognitive load’ and increasing the ‘germane cognitive load’ may have a positive effect on listening comprehension.From the perspective of cognitive load,this research studies the influence of three common listening tasks types on listening comprehension.It enriches the research of cognitive load theory in SLA,and helps to verify the effectiveness and rationality of different listening tasks,which provides a reference for improving learners’ listening comprehension through different task types.The subjective measurement of cognitive load has limitations,and objective measurement needs to be developed.