Shadowing: Who benefits and how? Uncovering a booming EFL teaching technique for listening comprehension

Abstract

This study examines common claims associated with shadowing. Studies in Japan conclude that shadowing is effective for improving learners' listening skills. Two common claims are that shadowing is effective for lower-proficiency learners and that it enhances learners' phoneme perception, thus improving listening comprehension skills. The former notion lacks sufficient research and the latter empirical data. Therefore, this study explores these claims by examining whether shadowing training improves learners' phoneme perception and listening comprehension skills, and whether its effectiveness is limited to lower-proficiency learners. Participants comprised 43 Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) from a Japanese national university. Nine lessons were conducted using an EFL textbook, following the teaching procedures outlined by previous studies. The pre-and post-tests utilized part of Japanese standardized tests for English listening (22 questions) and a 20-item dictation cloze test. Students were divided into low-and intermediate-proficiency groups using the listening pre-test results. Statistical analyses indicated that phoneme perception was enhanced in both groups, but only low-proficiency learners improved their scores for high-school level listening questions. Accordingly, language instructors may wish to use shadowing to improve learners' foreign language skills, especially for bottom-up processes in listening.

The Effectiveness of Video‐Based Shadowing and Tracking Pronunciation Exercises for Foreign Language Learners

“…Similarly, shadowing exercises ask learners to reproduce what they have just heard but slightly after the speaker, at times even pausing the recording before doing so (Celce‐Murcia et al, ). A great deal of research has investigated tracking and shadowing in controlled contexts as techniques for improving listening comprehension (Hamada, ), intonation (Hsieh, Dong, & Wang, ), and prosody, fluency, and rhythm when reading aloud (Harmon, ). However, they have been studied only minimally as a tool for improving L2 learners’ pronunciation in spontaneous speech (Foote, ; Martinsen, Alvord, & Tanner, ).…”

Motivation and attitude towards shadowing: learners perspectives in Japanese as a foreign language

“…Led by Tamai's study, there has seen a rise in popularity of shadowing practice as a L2 teaching technique in Japan. The effectiveness of shadowing has been proven in a number of researches in the EFL context (Hamada 2011a(Hamada , 2016Shiki et al 2010;Tamai 1997), and by some studies in the Japanese as a second language (JSL) context (Kurata 2007;Mochizuki 2006;Toda et al 2012). The effect of shadowing is attributed to the stimuli of working memory during the attempt of on-line brain activity (simultaneous listening and speaking), which encourages automatization of the bottomup language processing (Kadota 2007(Kadota , 2012.…”

Promotion of a New Model of Learning of Second Language Intonation

“…Shadowing is theoretically explained as a phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, and central executive. The phonological loop consists of phonological store, which retains phonological information and the articulatory rehearsal, which actively rehearses the phonological information [14].…”