Timed reading training:
Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English?

Yoshinori OYAMA1), Akira NAKAYAMA2)
1) Faculty of Education, Chiba University
2) English Education Center, Institute for Education and Student Support, Ehime University

Introduction
Numerous studies have attempted to clarify

Review of Literature
The Relationship between Reading and Listening

the mechanism of second language (L2) listening

A substantial amount of theoretical and experimental

comprehension. This is simply because listening is anevidence supports the notion of shared information

important skill in not only utilizing but also acquiring

processing in reading and listening (Bae & Bachman,

L2 and foreign languages (FL). However, little is1998; Kintsch, 1998). As Vandergrift and Baker (2015)

known about the key variables contributing to promotesummarizes, reading and listening shares a lot of crucial

listening performance, therefore deeper understanding

features with reading, and they both require receptiveof the mechanism and its application for practice is alanguage processing, which includes decoding andtempting issue for language teachers. Speciﬁcally ininterpretation. From the theoretical point of view, de Bot,

the Japanese context, since the improvement of the

Paribakht, and Wesche (1997) described the shared route

reading comprehension has a priority in education andof processing written and speech input to grasp a concept

Japanese learners of English as an FL tend to relay onin the L2 lexical comprehension and production model.

coding visual input, they feel diﬃculty in comprehending

Empirical data also support the shared route model. For

information by auditory input (Yamaguchi, 1999). In

instance, Hirai (1999) examined the relationship between

addition, although they could understand the meaning of

the reading rate and the listening rate of Japaneseeach word when the words were pronounced one by one,college students of English, and found that the optimal

they have diﬃculty understanding the stimuli as a whole

reading and listening rates are similar. Most recently,

sentence. Furthermore, even though they could catchKajiura (2016) examined the inﬂuence of faster rate

all of the information at one time, they fail to succeed inlistening practice using compressed speech, accompanied

listening tasks since the diﬀerences in syntactic relations

by transcript reading, on the improvement of listening

between English and Japanese require them to complete

proﬁciency for Japanese learners of English as a foreign

timed parsing. Yet, it is reported that the optimal reading

language, reported that it may enhance processing

rates and listening rates are similar (Hirai, 1999), which

speed and increase access ﬂuidity between speech andsuggests that the cognitive processes in reading andmeaning, and concluded that it might be a potential

listening comprehension are interdependent or that theymethod to improve the listening proﬁciency of Japaneseshare a common route to an extent. Here we therefore,

EFL learners. These studies suggest that the cognitive

while taking the advantages of their superiorities inprocesses in reading and listening comprehension interact

reading performance, address the question of whether

with each other or that they utilize a common route toa kind of reading training (i.e., timed reading) could

some degree.

contribute to better listening performance of Japanese
EFL learners.

The Diﬃculty of Timed Parsing in the L2 Listening
Tasks
Contrary to the written language, sounds disappear

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 201831

Yoshinori OYAMA, Akira NAKAYAMA

immediately after they are spoken. Even though,learners of English, the syntactic structures between

therefore, L2 learners could catch all of the oral

Japanese and English are completely diﬀerent; Japanese

information, they fail to succeed in listening tasks.

usually has an SOV construction in the surface structure,

Learners cannot return to the texts in listening tasks.

whereas English has an SVO construction. Because

Thus, an important skill the language learner uses inlearners are required to quickly respond to listening

the listening task is the knowledge of the syntax of thetasks, they must also accurately analyze the syntactic

target language, which is called

Serial Information

relations (i.e., parsing) under time constraints. The

Processing skill. When the target language shares themodels of EFL learners (e.g., Yamaguchi, 1997; Kadota,same type of the surface structure (i.e., the word order2007) disregard the processing speed because of thesuch as subject-verb-object: SVO) as the mother tongue,

diﬀerences in syntactic structures, and to the best of

as Glisan (1985) showed, the performance of the listening

our knowledge, few attempts have been made to address

task in the L2 is positively aﬀected by the transfer.

this issue (See Figure 1). It is also important to devise

However, for the learners whose ﬁrst language diﬀers ina model that includes a module addressing the phonetic

the word order from the target language, like Japanese

input immediately in listening tasks.

learners of English, the diﬀerences in syntactic structure
between Japanese (i.e., SOV) and English (e.g., SVO)
would aﬀect the degree of their listening comprehensionin listening tasks. In listening tasks, where the learners
are required to respond immediately to questions, thediﬀerences in the syntactic structures possibly contributeto a high load on their cognitive process, which in turnFigure 1. L2 Auditory wordʼs cognitive perception
model (Yamaguchi, 1997)

becomes an obstacle for low-proﬁciency learners. They
must also accurately analyze the syntactic relations (i.e.,

The Errors Produced by L2 Learners

parsing) under time constraints. Generally, advanced

Regarding the characteristics of the errors produced

learners who are good at listening tasks can also readby learners who fail to follow English sounds in listening

English from start to ﬁnish without having to translatetasks, Fujinaga (2002) investigated the phonemes

the text into Japanese, and are not distracted by theJapanese learners of English have diﬃculty perceiving inword order of English. Therefore, advanced learners

listening comprehension tasks, and reported the following

can understand phonetic sound information, which

three points. First, the participants had difficulty

immediately disappears once it is orally produced.

understanding the stimuli as a whole sentence, although

In contrast, low-proﬁciency learners who are poor atthey could understand the meaning of each word when

listening tasks are not accustomed to reading English

the words were pronounced one by one. Second, thein the SVO order; therefore, they read English while

participants could grasp a few words in a sentence, but

shifting their eyes back and forth. In reading tasks,

they failed to understand the meaning of the sentence.

learners can read the English sentences because they are

Lastly, the participants were likely to leave the listening

allowed to reread them. However, in the listening tasks,

tasks half complete because they missed the key words

they cannot return to the beginning. Thus, learners who

required to grasp the content of the sentence in theare poor at listening exercises in English face diﬃculties

task. Whereas the participants were less likely to fail toin processing phonetic information in English, and as acatch the morphological features of each word, they wereconsequence of that, they make mistakes.

more likely to mishear the words or fail to hear them.
Concerning this issue, Kadota, Yoshida, and Yoshida

The Diﬃculty in Timed Parsing(1999) reported that for reading tasks, Japanese EFL

Even if L2 learners could hear all of the information,

learners process printed sentences or clauses in chunks,

they cannot always succeed in listening tasks because ofrather than as words. Therefore, the errors made bya critical problem: the diﬀerences in syntactic structures

Japanese EFL learners can be characterized as a word-

between the target language and the mother tongue,

level error. From their study results, we can speculate

which must be considered when the listening processthat L2 learners do not rely on morphological features

is studied in the L2 ﬁeld. For instance, for Japanese

when they recognize linguistic sounds.

32

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 2018

Timed reading training: Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English?

Timed - reading Training for Serial Information

To avoid unfairness, after this experiment, the control

Processing

group received the same amount of training to avoid any

Timed-reading is a type of reading where text is readpotential ethical concerns.

three to ten times faster than during normal reading.
According to Calef, Piper, and Coﬀey (1999), an eye

Instruments

movement analysis of speed readers revealed that after

The teaching materials and instructional method fortimed-reading training, the amounts of ﬁxation (ﬁxing

the timed-reading training were based on Igarashi (2002).

eye movement) and regression (moving eyes leftward

Ten English passages were used for 10 weeks of training.

on a text) decreased. Timed-reading and the listening

The average number of words in the passage was 269.4.

process are similar in that both activities swiftly process
information in a serial manner. However, unlike visual
information processing such as reading text, in listening,
the learner cannot
signals have alreadylisten backevaporated

because the auditory
during the process.

Procedure
The timed-reading training in the experimentalgroup was conducted in accordance with the method by
Igarashi (2002), as follows:

Therefore, learners need to develop information serial

1. The teacher hands out a timed-reading task sheet

processing skills in order to comprehend auditorythat contains one English passage on the top half, andinformation. Given that the information processing is

ﬁve multiple-choice comprehension questions on theshared in reading and listening, timed-reading training

bottom half. The answers to the questions and themight modify regressive auditory information processing

Japanese translation of the passage and the questions

in listening to more a serial manner, and improve English

are printed on the reverse side of the sheet. Before

listening comprehension. This paper explores how

starting, the teacher asks the students to fold the task

timed-reading training aﬀects EFL learners

sheet in half and hide the comprehension questions.

listening

comprehension through the following three sub-studies(i.e., Study 1, Study 2, and Study 3).

2. The teacher instructs the students to read theEnglish passage in silence as fast as they can while
simultaneously trying to understand it.

MethodStudy 1
Serial information processing is a prerequisite forJapanese EFL learners to process English auditory

3. On the teacherʼs signal, the students start reading thetext. The teacher starts timing with a stopwatch, andnotes the time on the blackboard.
4. After completing the reading, the students note thetime spent on reading their task sheets.

information, and in turn, to comprehend English in

5. Students answer the comprehension questions without

listening. Based on the review of previous studies

re-reading the passage, and then grade their responses

suggesting that both auditory information process andby looking at the answers on the reverse side of thevisual information processes share the same route, in

sheet.

Study 1, we utilized timed-reading training as a method

6. After calculating their own wpm with the formula (seeto promote serial information processing in listening, andbelow) expanded by Yamauchi (1985), students note

to examine its eﬀect on listening scores.

their wpm on the wpm record sheet, and draw a chart
to track their wpm growth.

Participants
We recruited 56 university students from two English

WPM=

Total words in a passage
Correct answers
×60×
Reading time (seconds)
Total number of questions

education classes for Study 1. The participants wereassigned to the timed-reading group (24 students) andthe control group (32 students). In the timed-reading

Pretest and Posttest Measurements
The pretest assessed the participants

listeninggroup, the participants received timed-reading training

proﬁciency in both the timed-reading group and theonce per week for 10 weeks. Each session lasted 10 min.

control group. We conducted an independent t test, andIn contrast, the participants in the control group did

the result showed no statistically signiﬁcant diﬀerence

not receive any timed-reading training. However, theregarding listening proficiency between the timed-

rest of the lesson plan was the same for both groups.

reading and control groups [t (84) = .062, n.s.]. Therefore,

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 201833

Yoshinori OYAMA, Akira NAKAYAMA

the pretest showed that no diﬀerence exists between the

had a positive eﬀect on auditory information processing.

timed-reading group and the control group for listening

Previous studies on listening comprehension havecomprehension.

focused mainly on its phonological factors. Our study
is distinctive because it focused on the information
processing mechanism. In listening, auditory information

Results of Study 1
We performed repeated-measures two-way ANOVA toflows almost continuously, and the learner cannot

assess the eﬀect of timed-reading training on listening

listen back . Therefore, in addition to having to detect

comprehension. The result showed that the main eﬀect

auditory information precisely, learners have to possessof the test was statistically signiﬁcant at the .05 level

information serial processing skills. This study proposed[F(1, 54) = 11.395, p < .01 ; η 2=.17], the main eﬀect of thethat timed-reading is one method to train this skill,group was not statistically signiﬁcant [F(1, 54) = 0.480,

and the results suggest its positive eﬀect on listening

2

n.s. ; η =.01], and that the interaction between the test

comprehension. However, the transfer phenomena or theand the group was not statistically signiﬁcant [F(1, 54) =interactions between visual and auditory information

1.799, n.s. ; η 2=.03]. However, the timed-reading groupʼs

processing were not examined in this study. Therefore,

simple main eﬀect was statistically signiﬁcant for thein the following study, we measured the participantspretest and posttest listening scores (Table 1, Figure 2).

reading speed (wpm) and listening score before andafter training to examine the relation between auditory

Table 1. Mixed-Design ANOVA Comparing Listening
Score Across Timed-reading, Control groups,
and Pre-Post test.

information processing and visual information processing.

SourceStudy 2

Between Subject
Group
Error
Within Subject
Test
Group × Test
Error

TypeⅢ SS

MS

df

F

p

3.340
375.651

3.340
6.957

1
54

0.480

.491

39.0196.161
184.901

39.019
6.161
3.424

1
1
54

11.395
1.799

.001
.185

Study 2 aimed at assessing the relationship between
visual and auditory information processing. Based on
previous studies that reported that both visual andauditory information processes share the same cognitive
route in the mind, we hypothesized that if participants
were able to process visual information in a serial
manner after timed-reading training, their listening score
would improve.
Participants
The participants of this study were 41 Japanese
undergraduate students, who were diﬀerent from those
who joined Study 1. They had studied English from theﬁrst year of junior high school to university, accumulating
approximately six years of English study. According totheir demographic information, none of them had lived in

Figure 2. Timed-reading group and Control groupʼslistening score

English-speaking countries. In the timed-reading group,
the participants received training once per week for nine

Discussion for Study 1

weeks. The training procedure was the same as in Study

In Study 1, we examined the eﬀect of timed-reading

1 (Igarashi, 2002). In the control group, the participants

training on listening comprehension. Study 1 was

had no timed-reading training; however, the rest of the

conducted to test the following hypothesis: if learners

lesson plan was the same for both groups.

had timed-reading training (information serial processing
skill training), their listening comprehension would
improve. After 10 weeks of timed-reading training,

Pretest and Posttest Measurements
We measured the participants

listening proﬁciency

the timed-reading groupʼs listening score increased.

in both the timed-reading and control groups before andThis result indicates that the visual information serial

after timed-reading training. The test format was 20

processing skill enhanced by timed-reading training

multiple-choice questions. The participants listened to a34

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 2018

Timed reading training: Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English?

short passage in English followed by a question, and then

(12 participants) and the control group (18 participants)

chose the most appropriate answer. In addition, bothby employing two-way ANOVA.

groupsreading speed (wpm) was measured to assess

The two-way ANOVA results showed that the maineﬀect of the test [F(1, 28) = 2.557, n.s. ; η 2=.07] and thethe changes before and after training.

main eﬀect of the group [F(1, 28) = 0.638, n.s. ; η 2=.02]
were not statistically signiﬁcant. However, the interaction

Results of Study 2
The participants who could not take either the[F(1, 28) = 4.283, p < .05; η 2=.12] was statisticallypretest or the posttest were excluded from analysis. We

signiﬁcant. The simple main eﬀect for the listening

examined the reading speed and the listening proﬁciency

score diﬀerence between the pretest and posttest wasof the timed-reading group (16 participants) and thestatistically signiﬁcant only for the timed-reading groupcontrol group (14 participants) by employing two-way(Table 3, Figure 4).

ANOVA.
Concerning the participantsreading speed (WPM),

the result showed that the main eﬀect of the test [F(1, 28)= 15.223, p < .01 ; η 2=.28], the main eﬀect of the group[F(1, 28) = 7.659, p < .01 ; η 2=.21], and the interaction[F(1, 28) = 11.454, p < .01 ; η 2=.21] were statisticallysigniﬁcant. The simple main eﬀect was statisticallysigniﬁcant for wpm for the timed-reading group andthe control group (p < .05). Further, the wpm diﬀerence

Table 3. Mixed-Design ANOVA Comparing Listening
Score Across Timed-reading, Control groups,
and Pre-Post test.
SourceBetween Subject
Group
Error
Within Subject
Test
Group × Test
Error

TypeⅢ SS

MS

df

F

p

10.000439.083

10.00015.682

1
28

.638

.431

12.84421.511140.639

12.84421.511
5.023

1
1
28

2.577
4.283

.121
.048

between the pretest and posttest was only statisticallysigniﬁcant for the timed reading group (Table 2, Figure
3).
Table 2. Mixed-Design ANOVA Comparing WPM(Words Per Minute) Across Timed-reading,Control groups, and Pre-Post test
SourceBetween Subject
Group
Error
Within Subject
Test
Group × Test
Error

TypeⅢ SS

MS

df

F

p

7809.817
28553.210

7809.817
1019.758

1
28

7.659

.001

10598.765
7974.643
19494.755

10598.765
7974.643
696.2411
1
28

15.22311.454.001.002

Figure 4. Timed-reading group and Control groupʼslistening score

Discussion for Study 2This study assumed that timed-reading training
promotes the visual information serial processing skill,
and that the eﬀect would be transferred to the auditory
information process, after which the participants areable to process the ﬂow of sound in a serial manner,
thereby improving their listening comprehension. First,
the training eﬀect was analyzed by measuring thereading speed (wpm) of both groups before and after
training. The result showed that the timed-readinggroupʼs reading speed improved, and it was statisticallyFigure 3. Timed-reading group and Control groupʼs
WPM (words per minute)signiﬁcant. However, the control groupʼs reading speed
did not change. Next, for listening proﬁciency, only theRegarding listening proﬁciency, the participants who

timed-reading groupʼs listening score improved, with the

could not take either the pretest or the posttest were

control group showing no change. These results showed

excluded from analysis. We examined the reading speed

that timed-reading training promotes visual informationand the listening proﬁciency of the timed-reading groupserial processing, and that the eﬀect is transferred to

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 201835

Yoshinori OYAMA, Akira NAKAYAMA

auditory information serial processing, which improved

Calef et al. (1999) reported that the frequency ofthe listening proﬁciency of the timed-reading group.

regression (moving eyes leftward on a text) decreased

However, based on this result, it remains unclear whether

after timed-reading training, and it is assumed thatthe participantsvisual information process became

participants manage visual information in a serial

serial in manner or their reading speed merely improved,manner if their regression frequency decreases. If

but they still process visual information by shifting their

the regression frequency decreased with an improvedeyes back and forth. To clarify this point, the next study

listening proﬁciency, this suggested a shared cognitive

measured participants

eye movement and listening

process between visual information serial processing

proﬁciency before and after training to examine theand auditory information serial processing. de Bot et al

relation between visual information processing and(1997)ʼs lexical comprehension/production model for oral

auditory information processing.

and written modalities only claims lexical

processof the information. However, this study hypothesized
Study 3that shared syntactic information process exists in

The objective of Study 3 was to determine theL2 listening and reading. If we can prove it, it would

relationship between participants regression frequency

theoretically contribute to L2 studies, by adding newwhen reading and their listening proficiency. The

insight concerning syntactic cognitive process of listening

previous studies showed that the visual and auditory

and reading.

information processes are shared. Therefore, visual
information serial processing promoted by timed-

Participantsreading training would transfer to auditory information

This study recruited three participants [twoprocessing, resulting in improvements in the participants

undergraduate students (both aged 22 years) and one

auditory information serial processing. In the Study 3, we

graduate student (aged 27)]. They agreed on participating

postulated that learners with low listening comprehensionin timed-reading training three times per week for one

have low information serial processing, and if they aremonth at home.

unable to follow the speed of auditory information, then
their listening proﬁciency would remain low. However,
if we could promote their information serial processing
skill, their listening proﬁciency might improve.

Materials and Procedures
In timed-reading training, training material containing
13 English timed-reading passages and a wpm recording
sheet were handed to the participants, who were

Eye Tracking Device to L2 Listening Study

instructed as follows:

Eye tracking device has been used to investigate
human cognitive process such as problem solving (Grant

Train yourself with the timed-reading training& Spivey, 2003), and reading (e.g., Rayner, 1998). In

material three times per week. It is up to you to

the ﬁeld of linguistic, vocabulary acquisition (Williams

train once every two days or three consecutive days.

& Morris, 2004), and syntactic process (Clifton Jr et

However, ensure that you train three times per week

al., 2003). However, only little studies have done toand that you record your wpm on the sheet. Afterinvestigate listening process of L2 learners by eye-training completion, the material and recording sheet

tracking device. The reason is probably due to the notion

must be turned in.

that listening process diﬀers from reading process anddetecting eye-movement would not prove the information

Before and After Measurements

process of listening. However, de Bot, Paribakht andTo analyze eye movement, especially the frequency

Weschel (1997) proposed lexical comprehension/of regression, we presented six English sentences (anproduction model for oral and written modalities . In the

average of 65 words) to the participants. First, eachmodel, reading and listening information process, suchparticipantʼs head was restrained, and calibration was

as lexeme and lemma are shared. Therefore, this study

achieved to ensure the correct measurement of eye

assumes that, by investing learners eye-movement, wemovement. Second, a sentence appeared on a computercan speculate the learners listening information process,screen, which all participants were asked to readespecially, syntactic processing.

normally while their eye movement was monitored. After

36

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 2018

Timed reading training: Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English?

the sentence disappeared from the screen, one multiplechoice comprehension question appeared to verify thatthey had read the sentence, and to prevent them fromquickly shifting their eyes on the screen. Two practicesentences appeared before the measurement to allow theparticipants to accustom themselves to the procedure.
Regression was deﬁned as eye movement that is 0.5°
leftward within 10 ms.
The listening proﬁciency test was a formatted testwith 12 multiple-choice questions that measured theparticipants

Figure 6. Participant Bʼs change in WPM (words per
minute)listening proﬁciency. An auditory English

passage was played once, and a comprehension question
was played once afterward. Participants were asked tocircle the most appropriate answers printed on the sheet.
Results of Study 3
Because the training period lasted approximately
one month, the participants trained themselves athome. The training period varied according to theparticipant (Participant A: 27 days, Participant B: 35

Figure 7. Participant Cʼs change in WPM (words per
minute)days, Participant C: 40 days). However, because the total
amount of the material they trained in timed-reading was

Second, to determine whether timed-reading training

equivalent, the subtle diﬀerences in training length were

promotes visual information serial processing, theconsidered to have a minimal impact on the objective

participantsof this study, and we decided to conduct the analysis as

and after timed-reading training. The results showedplanned.

that all participants

regression frequency was counted before
regression frequency decreased

First, to analyze the changes in wpm, because theafter timed-reading training. Participant A had 28.5

background knowledge of the training material aﬀects

regressions before training; however, after training it

the reading speed, the training period was divided into

decreased to 16.4. Participant B had 13.2 regressions

four phases (Phase 1: Materials 1-3, Phase 2: Materials

before training; however, after training it decreased to

4-6, Phase 3: Materials 7-9, Phase 4: Materials 10-12). The

5.8. Participant Cʼs regressions changed slightly from 15.3

wpm was calculated using the same formula (Yamauchi,

to 12.8 (Figure 8). The result was congruent with the1985) used in the study 2 (Figure 5, 6, 7).

ﬁnding by Calef, Piper, and Coﬀey (1999), who reported
regression reductions after timed-reading training.
Lastly, to analyze the changes in listening proﬁciency,
we examined the participants

listening scores before

and after timed-reading training. Participant Aʼs listening
score rose 1 point from 5 to 6. Participant B improved
the most, with a score that increased 2 points from 7 to 9.
However, Participant Cʼs score did not change (Figure 9).
Figure 5. Participant Aʼs change in WPM (words per
minute)

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 201837

Yoshinori OYAMA, Akira NAKAYAMAby conducting three sub-studies (i.e., Study 1, Study 2,
and Study 3), and the results of those studies provided
us the following three suggestions for further research
recommendations. Firstly, under the audio and visual
shared route model, the visual information processing
promoted by timed-reading would have eﬀect upon audio
information processing. However, although the timedreading groupʼs listening score improved compared tothe control group, it remain unclear whether the serial
visual information processing can improve listening
Figure 8. Participants change in regression

comprehension or not. Secondly, we attempted tomeasure both the timed-reading group and the control
groupʼs reading speed (wpm) and listening comprehension
score before and after timed-reading training. The results
showed that the timed-reading groupʼs wpm improved,
and the listening score increased, which suggests thatthe participants still process visual information byshifting their eyes back and forth. Lastly, by measuring
the participants eye movement and listening proﬁciency
before and after training, we tried to examine therelation between visual information processing andauditory information processing. The results illustrated

Figure 9. Participants change in listening scorean interesting aspect of the eﬀects of timed-reading
training that the regression of eye movement decreased

Discussion for Study 3

and the listening score improved after the treatment.

Although this is a case study of three participants andOur study makes an important contribution to

not mass data, by combining the results of the changes

theoretical research and practical implications about L2

in regression frequency and the listening proﬁciency

listening comprehension. The pedagogical implications

score, we found that participants whose regressionof this study is that, previous studies of listening havefrequency decreased had an increased listening score

mainly focused on audio factors (e.g., Fujinaga, 2002), and(Participants A and B). However, Participant C, whose

listening instruction in classrooms have tend to teachregression frequency changed only slightly after training,and diﬀerentiate words in similar sounds, or English /showed no improvement in the listening score. Thisr/ and /l/ phonemes (e.g., Logan et al, 1991; Lively et

result may suggest a weak relationship between visualal, 1994). However, little attention has been given to

information serial processing and auditory information

the L2 learners

serial processing. Timed-reading training might promotecomprehension, but the result of this study showed that,the participantsvisual information serial processing,

especially for L2 learners, promoting the informationand it reﬂects the reduction in the number of regressions

serial processing skill should also be the objective of thewhen reading before and after training. We assumed thatclassroom teaching. Details of both instructional andthe serial processing of visual information transferred totheoretical contribution of this study are discussed in

auditory information, and that the participants became

next section.

more proﬁcient to process auditory information in a serial
manner, and their listening scores increased.

cognitive process during listening

From a practical, instructional perspective, the results
suggest that the procedure of having the classroom
instruction on timed-reading training promotes both

General Discussion

learners

reading speed and listening performance.

Berne (2004) stated the importance of encouraging

In this paper, we aimed at investigating the eﬀect

intermediate and advanced learners of English to focus

of timed-reading training on listening comprehension

on syntactic cues to acquire native-like level of listening38

大学教育実践ジャーナル 第16号 2018

Timed reading training: Can it promote second language listening comprehension of Japanese learners of English?

comprehension. Concerning this issue, this study has

obstacle processing audio information of English, andshed some light on possible classroom instruction byleast beneﬁt from timed-reading training to promote

proposing timed-reading training for L2 learners oflistening performance, since they encounter a little

English. Some might argue that utilizing both audio

diﬃculty processing the information in serial manner.

and visual information processing is more eﬀective than

We propose that future research investigates the role oftraining visual information processing alone by timed-

the L1 syntactic structure, and how it plays to hinder orreading. However, Moussa-Inaty, Ayres, and Sweller

enhance the eﬀect of timed-reading training on listening(2012) reported that L2 learners of English were asked

performance.

to learn some English words and sentences either by

In summary, this study showed that visual information

reading them or by simultaneously reading and listening

serial processing promoted by timed-reading training

to the same spoken material, the participants exposed totransferred to auditory information processing andreading alone performed better on listening tests than

improved listening comprehension. However, weparticipants exposed to a reading and listening. This

recognize several limitations inherent to the study, forresult showed that concerning cognitive load, especiallyinstance individual factors such as eﬀect of L1 syntactic

for L2 learners, learners would improve listening skills

order, or the perception of auditory information were notbetter by reading the materials only rather than using

included in the research design of this paper. Consideringboth reading and listening. Therefore, considering

the cognitive process, in future research, such variables

participants cognitive burden, it is plausible to train L2

should be considered to maximize the eﬀect of timed-learners with timed-reading training to enhance theirreading on listening comprehension.

listening performance.
From theoretical perspective, this study conﬁrmed theprevious studies claim that visual and audio information
processing is shared. For instance, in de Bot et al. (1997)ʼs
L2 lexical comprehension and production model, speech

NoteThis paper is a revised version of a poster presentation
made in English at AAAL2018.

input and written input are processed through a sharedroute to grasp a concept. However, the model only statedthat audio and visual lexical information process , but

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