Integrating Collaborative Listening and Podcasts into Instruction to Enhance the Critical Listening Abilities of Lower Secondary Students

Abstract

This study aimed to: 1) synthesize instructional procedures based on a collaborative listening approach integrated with podcast use to enhance lower secondary school students’ critical listening skills, and 2) compare students’ critical listening abilities before and after instruction using this integrated approach. The sample comprised 37 seventh-grade students from a large secondary school in Bangkok, selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments consisted of a critical listening ability test and four instructional lesson plans, which were developed according to the collaborative listening approach with podcast integration. Data were analyzed using the mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and a paired-sample t-test. The findings indicated that: 1) the instructional process involved five stages-planning and predicting before listening, first listening and checking initial thoughts, discussing answers collaboratively, repetitive listening and confirming answers, and summarizing and reflecting on listening; and 2) students’ critical listening abilities after the instruction were significantly higher than before the instruction at the .05 level.