Article contents
Elaborative Detail: Help or Hindrance to the NNS Listener?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2008
Extract
Three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of three types of elaboration—marked paraphrase, unmarked paraphrase, and unnecessary detail—on NNS listening comprehension. Participants (both NSs and NNSs) were asked to listen to instructions and then draw or alter drawings on a page in front of them. The instructions were heard in one of four conditions, the basic set or one of the three elaboration conditions. Subsequent analyses of the participants' comprehension indicated that all listeners had significantly more difficulty following instructions in the unnecessary detail condition than in any other. Marked paraphrase was found to facilitate comprehension in some cases. It was concluded that the quality of elaboration has implications for listening comprehension, in both the classroom and the workplace.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996
References
REFERENCES
- 6
- Cited by