In order to comprehend speech, listeners have to combine low-level phonetic information about the incoming auditory signal with higher-order contextual information to make a lexical selection. This requires stable phonological categories and unambiguous representations of words in the mental lexicon. Unlike native speakers, second language (L2)…

The goal of this study was to explain individual differences in both native and non-native listening comprehension; 121 native and 113 non-native speakers of Dutch were tested on various linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive skills thought to underlie listening comprehension. Structural equation modeling was used to identify the predictors of…

The experiment investigated the benefit to second language (L2) sentence comprehension of priming word meanings with brief visual exposure to first language (L1) translation equivalents. Native English speakers learning Mandarin evaluated the validity of aurally presented Mandarin sentences. For selected words in half of the sentences there was…

Discusses the effects on native speaker comprehension of familiarity with: (1) topic, (2) nonnative speech in general, (3) a nonnative accent in particular, and (4) a particular nonnative. Results indicate that the most important variable is familiarity with topic, although the others all have a facilitating effect in comprehension. (EKN)

Examines native language transfer in second-language comprehension and production in relation to the different demands that the four language modalities make on the second-language learner and focuses on the different roles played by context and potential knowledge in comprehension and production. (53 references) (Author/CB)

Study of echoic memory interference among students in college introductory Spanish and German courses revealed that students with weaker listening comprehension skills depended more upon vulnerable sensory codes in echoic memory, while students with stronger comprehension relied on stable higher-order codes. (Author/CB)

Reports the results of an experiment which tested the ability of native English-speaking students of Spanish and native Spanish speakers to comprehend an oral passage, in Spanish, and remember the word order of certain sentences. The findings indicate that word order significantly affected the degree of the English speakers' comprehension.…

Advanced second language students' listening needs call for improvement in processing spoken discourse. Psychological data on memory span and linguistic discourse analysis findings are cited in support. A three-phase approach to listening instruction is proposed. (CHK)