The role of discourse signaling cues in second language listening comprehension

In contrast to the extensive research on reading, few studies have been conducted to investigate the role of discourse signaling cues in second language (L2) listening. Even the few existing studies provide inconsistent support for the beneficial effects of discourse signaling cues on L2 listening comprehension. Most of these studies also fail to show how these cues affect listeners' comprehension of different levels of information in the text. The current study examined the effects of discourse signaling cues on L2 learners' listening comprehension of high- and low-level information in academic lectures. The study involved 80 Korean learners of English as a Foreign Language. Of the 80 learners, half listened to the lecture with discourse signaling cues (i.e., signaled group), and the other half listened to the lecture without such cues (i.e., nonsignaled group). Half the learners in each group performed summary tasks; the other half performed recall tasks. The findings showed that discourse signaling cues play an important role in L2 listening comprehension. Compared to the nonsignaled group, the signaled group recalled significantly more high- as well as low-level information from the lecture in an accurate manner.