OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 111-132

Feature Article
In Tune with Receptive Listening Skills
John R. Gunning
Gifu Pharmaceutical University
Steven E. Quasha
Sugiyama Jogakuen University
Abstract
In this study, an expectancy value model developed by Pintrich and De
Groot (1990) was applied to determine the extent that students adjusted
to self-regulated learning using listening tasks. Participants consistedof 24 intermediate-high level students at a national pharmaceuticaluniversity. Findings revealed that students require both individual
planning time and clear teacher instructions to remain motivated toeffectively complete tasks. Respondents that maintained high learning
expectations, similar to Pintrich and De Groot’s findings, persevered withchallenging tasks since they placed high expectations on themselves.
While the project was conducted to garner deeper understanding ofJohn R. Gunning teaches English in the department of Humanities at Gifu
Pharmaceutical University. He has both CELTA and SIT Certifications, the SIT Mentor
Teacher Trainer Certificate and an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Birmingham,
England. He is currently researching task-based curriculum and syllabus design,tasks related to motivational theories and teacher education and professional
development. He can be contacted at kinkajapanmtb@yahoo.com.
Steven E. Quasha teaches English in the department of Modern Management at
Sugiyama Women’s University. He holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from San Diego
State University and Applied Linguistics-TESOL from Macquarie University. His
research interests include language assessment, task-based learning, and professional
development. He can be contacted at quasha@mgt.sugiyama-u.ac.jp.
Gunning, J. R. , & Quasha, S. E. (2008). In tune with receptive listening skills.
OnCUE Journal, 2(2), 111-132. Copyright © 2008 John R. Gunning and Steven E.
Quasha. OnCUE Journal, ISSN 1882-0220, is available at http://jaltcue-sig.org one
year after publication date.

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student views regarding L2 tasks, it also indirectly created an action
plan that helped the authors develop better intermediate level tasks
using music lessons.
本研究では、Pintrich and De Groot (1990) による期待価値理論を利用して、学習者がリスニング・タスクを通じて、どの程度自己制御学習に適応できるかを調査した。研究プロジェクト参加者は国立の薬科大学における中級の上レベルの英語学習者24名である。
本研究によると、学習者がタスクを効果的に遂行できるだけの高い動機づけを保つためには、個々に考える時間と、教師からの明確な指示の両方が必要であることが明らかとなった。Pintrich and De
Grootの研究結果と同様、学習期待の高い学習者は、自分自身に対する期待度が高いため、困難なタスクであってもやり遂げた。この研究プロジェクトはL2タスクに対する学習者の考えを理解するために実施されたものだが、同時に、筆者らが音楽のレッスンを利用した中級レベルのタスクを開発するのに役立つアクション・プランを間接的に促すものとなった。

Introduction
The term “self-regulated learning” is cogent for the modern EFL
university classroom in Japan. Teachers are increasingly confronted
with incongruous student levels and classroom motivation often hinges
on educators’ ability to harness positive student energy. Faced with thisacademic milieu, the authors of this study chose to apply the expectancy
value model developed by Pintrich and De Groot (1990) to determine
the extent that our students adjust to self-regulated learning through theuse of listening tasks. Prior research (e.g., Fincham & Cain, 1986; Paris& Oka, 1986; Schunk, 1985) suggests that students who believe they
are capable of completing a task utilize more metacognition, apply
cognitive strategies, and are more likely to persist at the task. It wasfor this reason that we explored whether using music lyrics in small
groups would replicate the positive findings elucidated by Pintrich and
De Groot (1990).

Background
One of the main issues concerning the expectancy model was thelinkage between individual differences in students’ motivational
orientation and their cognitive engagement and self-regulation in theclassroom. Previous findings support the notion that the key component
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to improve academic tasks within the classroom is to boost students’
self-efficacy beliefs (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Borkowski, Weyhing &Carr, 1988; Garner & Alexander, 1989). With an increased sense ofaccomplishment, we posited that this will lead to a gain in cognitive
strategies carried out by students. Initial needs analysis taken fromour communicative English courses revealed that students prefer tohone their English listening skills through music, so we targeted thisarea since it could be readily modified to develop varying degrees ofconfidence among participants.
Most EFL teachers are familiar with the implementation of interactional
activities and convergent goals as ideal classroom tasks (Pica, Kanagy,& Falodun, 1993). Perhaps better known as information gaps andjigsaw activities, they represent the prototypical task-based activities
used in many, if not most, EFL textbooks. However, rather than offer
our students a continuation of these time-honored tasks, and possibly
risk demotivating students since they have already encountered them
numerous times, we instead opted to introduce a music task-based
activity based on the “three Cs” of convergence, collaboration, andcompetition. In defining the ideal music task, our objective was tocreate a lesson that would utilize convergence goals or shared
information, promote a stronger collaborative nature for participants—
including some scaffolding—and offer a modicum of competition to
help motivate students.
A wide body of literature exists regarding the efficacy of usingmusic to help motivate EFL learners (e.g., Domoney & Harris, 1993;
Gugliemino, 1986; Little, 1993; Murphey, 1992). Most of these authors
tend to agree that music opens up a myriad of possibilities for learning.
Theoretically, Schoepp (2001) explored Krashen’s 1983 affective filter
hypothesis as one reason for this positive effect:
A weak affective filter means that a positive attitude towards learning
is present. If the affective filter is strong the learner will not seek
language input, and in turn, not be open for language acquisition.
The practical application of the affective filter hypothesis is thatteachers must provide a positive atmosphere conducive tolanguage learning. Songs are one method for achieving a weakaffective filter and promoting language learning. (Schoepp, 2001,
Affective Reasons section, para. 6)
Orlova (2003) illustrated her approach that includes the 3 stages of113

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preparatory, forming, and developing for music-oriented lessons. Thismethodology should appear familiar to TESL trained teachers since it
employs the listening triad of pre-while-post tasks. Briefly stated, thisapproach features a photo or picture at the pre-listening stage thatserves as a schema activator for the activity and promotes prediction
as an objective. Next, during the while stage, students listen to thematerial and can target global and discreet listening skills depending
on class needs. Based on many experiments using music for EFL
learning, Cullen (1999) wrote that the pedagogical effectiveness ofusing bottom-up and top-down processing during this stage proved
highly advantageous for achieving L2 learning objectives. Finally, inthe post-listening stage, participants can then apply newly acquired
vocabulary or L2 enabling skills in a productive (either communicative
or written) task. One of the main tenets for using music in the EFL
classroom, and the major reason this study was conducted, was toprovide teachers with the ability to shape the music task to students
needs and utilize this flexibility to extend beyond the use of lyrics as amere means to an end.

Theoretical Background

Expectancy-Value Model and Task-Based Learning and Teaching
It is believed that motivation has the potential to shape a second
language learner for life. Oxford and Shearin (1994) ascertained that
motivation directly influences the use of student L2 learning strategies,
it affects whether they will interact with native speakers, decides theamount of input they eventually receive in the target language, and will
then—through perseverance and dedication—determine the generalproficiency levels and subsequent language skills long after language
study is completed. It is no surprise that motivation remains such animportant aspect of L2 language learning. Consequently, it is crucial
for teachers to understand student motivation during language tasks
and activities that are sequenced into the lesson plan (see Appendix
A). In the following section, we will attempt to match the theoreticalframework for student motivation, based on an adaptation of a “general
expectancy-value model of motivation” (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990, p.
33), to an activity sequenced in a receptive skills lesson, utilizing atask-based learning and teaching approach. An important aspect of
the expectancy-value model is centered on tasks, as expectancy-value
theories hold that people are, for the most part, goal oriented. The theory
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assumed that motivation to perform various tasks is (a) the productof the student’s expectancy of success in the task and (b) the value
the student attaches to success in that task (Dörnyei & Skehan, 2003).
A more detailed definition of the model proposes three motivational
components related to tasks when learning. Pintrich and De Groot(1990, p. 33) defined them as: (1) The expectancy component, which
includes students’ beliefs about their ability to perform a task. (2) The
value component, which includes students’ goals and beliefs about theimportance and interest of the task. (3) The affective component, which
includes students’ emotional reactions to the task.
The Expectancy Component: Can I Do the Task?
As previously mentioned, Pintrich and De Groot (1990) discerned thatstudents who believe they are capable of successful task completion
use more metacognition, apply additional cognitive strategies, and are
more likely to persist at the task than students that harbor negative
feelings towards task completion. This general model proposed that selfconcept beliefs and task difficulty are considered together to produce
an expectancy judgment. In other words, if a student has a belief that
she is good at listening to English and that the tasks during the receptive
skills lesson were at an optimal level of difficulty she may have higher
expectations for English. This seems to convey that students who can
accomplish the tasks remain steadfast and do not give up, indicating ahigher level of motivation evident by task completion. Skehan (1989)
characterized this as the Resultative Hypothesis—a non-theoreticalview of motivation—that stipulated the rather logical scenario wherelearners that generally do well tend to persevere and those that do notwill become discouraged and exhibit less effort.
The Value Component: Why Am I Doing the Task?
Research implied that students who perform tasks that they believe
are important, interesting, and involve actual learning will possess
higher levels of motivational orientation towards the tasks themselves(Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). In the case of the Four Corners Dictogloss
task utilized for this study, the students were engaged in the tasks tocomplete the next set of accompanying tasks. Students were informedthat the information gathered in the individual dictogloss would be
used for the next task—a re-write of the song in small groups—finallyfollowed by an entire class activity that would encompass peer correction
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and subsequent comparisons of respective versions. Lightbown andSpada (1999) observed that remarks teachers make about forthcoming
activities could lead to higher levels of interest on the part of thestudents. In this regard, Pintrich and De Groot (1990, p. 34) discoveredthat informed students, cognizant of the reasons they are involved in
the task, engaged in “more effective effort management.” The present
research results showed that most students felt the tasks sequenced forthis receptive skills lesson helped them complete the next set of tasks
more successfully (see “Results” for further discussion).
The Affective Component: How Do I Feel About the Task?
The third question asked students how they felt about doing thetasks taking into account a variety of affective reactions, which may
include pride, anger, and guilt (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). This model
places considerable emphasis on test anxiety and the link it has tometacognition, cognitive strategy use, and effort management. For thisresearch, however, we placed more emphasis on gauging students’
perceptions regarding the receptive skills listening tasks. In particular,
we were interested to determine how our students felt about the tasks
regarding (1) their positive and negative feelings towards them, (2)whether they liked or disliked them, and (3) whether they felt the first
set of tasks helped them successfully accomplish accompanying tasks
later in the lesson. Ellis (1994) proposed that metacognitive strategies
and effective strategies are related more to indirect learning strategies,
which many learners appear to underutilize. With our study, we wereinterested in correlating our students’ affective reactions to tasks basedon Pintrich and De Groot’s (1990) model.
The Tasks: Four Corners Dictogloss and Student Surveys
Before discussing the three components mentioned in the previous
section, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of a ”task“ and provide
a description of the task used and consequently sequenced into alistening skills lesson plan. Willis (1996) defined task as:a goal oriented activity in which learners use language to achievea real outcome. In other words, learners use whatever target
language resources they have in order to solve a problem, do a
puzzle, play a game, or share and compare experiences. (Willis,
1996, p. 53)

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Methodology

The Class: English Conversation II
This section will provide a description of the course and profile ofthe students. The course aim focuses on improving general English
language conversational skills. It is a four skills course primarily taught
utilizing a task-based methodology. The course is held once a week for
90 minutes.
Learner Characteristics
The sample included 24 students from a public pharmaceuticaluniversity in Japan that has a co-educational student population of
approximately 650 students with the majority completing the English
requirements for graduation during their first and second years. For
this study, there were 14 males and 10 females. Within the sample ofstudents included a range of abilities. We have observed, however,that the students’ level can be categorized as intermediate-mid tointermediate-high. The students are required to take eight English
courses between the first and third years. In the first year, students
take English Conversation 1, English Conversation II, Practical English
I, Practical English II and Technical English for Science I. In the second
year, students are required to take English Conversation III and PracticalEnglish III. In the third year, students take Applied Technical English
for Science I. Table 1 summarizes the following learning attributes
regarding levels and motivational value of the participants.
The Dictogloss Task and Follow-Up Activities
The first task used in our study was a problem solving activity that had
students reconstruct the lyrics of a song based on all the words, phrases
or expressions they could recall from the first listening. The lesson
began with a pre-task photo talk based on a poster from the movie
Stand by Me. The rationale for this step was to develop schemata basedon the idea of friendship. After approximately ten minutes of talking,the students were placed into groups of four and given a sheet of A4
paper. Next, they were instructed to not write anything in the centerof the paper and draw lines creating four triangular writing spaces ineach corner of the paper. As the song Stand by Me was played, thestudents simultaneously quickly jotted down any words they could
pick up from the song in their respective corner of the A4 sheet. This
represented the dictogloss element of the study.
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Table 1
Background of the Pharmaceutical University Students
Educational
Background

Students have studied English for about six years: three
years at junior high school and three years at high school.
This is set by the Japanese National Board of Education. All
students have taken English Conversation I, the prerequisite
to English Conversation II.

Learning
PurposesGain improved skills in general English communicative
abilities and improve TOEIC test scores.

CultureMono-cultural: all students enrolled are Japanese.

Motivational
Value

Intrinsic Value: Through teacher-student interaction,
previous classroom action research on good learners
revealed that students seem to be highly motivated to
improve communicative skills; generally good learners,
regularly attend class, and seem interested in English.
Extrinsic Value: English courses are compulsory andstudents are expected to obtain a score of 525-550 on the
TOEIC.

Abilities

Through ethnographic field notes, students have beenrecorded as being on task, complete assignments, andgenerally perform at above average level on tests andexams. Language ability: Based on Richards (2001).
Proficiency Descriptions: students are intermediate-mid tointermediate-high.

Once the target stanzas of the song were completed the students
chose a group secretary. Following this step, students were asked toreconstruct the song, based on their respective notes in each triangularcorner, with the secretary writing the collaboration of lyrics in thecenter of the A4 paper. After rewriting the song, each group’s A4 sheet
remained on their respective desks while group members circulatedaround the room comparing the various adaptations of the dictogloss.
After checking each other’s lyrics, each group returned to their original
A4 dictogloss and made any necessary revisions based on the recently
viewed comparisons. At the end of the first listening, students were
given a gap-fill handout with some of the lyrics missing. The song wasplayed a second time and students individually wrote in the missing
lyrics.
After this, the students participated in a “board rush” activity. This
activity consisted of the selected group secretaries, whom when given
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the start signal by the teacher, rushed to the board in unison and wrote
their answers to the missing lyrics in group designated columns. The
board rush activity added another element of fun to the activity andpermitted the entire class to efficiently compare group answers to thetask. Upon more careful analysis of the group secretaries’ answers
on the board, the teacher made necessary error corrections and thenprovided students with the correct song lyrics on a separate handout.
In the second task, the students were paired off and given a survey grid.
In this last phase, they had to write any questions based on the topic offriendship, then interview other students, take notes, and report theirfindings back to their new partners.
Self- Report Questionnaire
A 12-item, self-report questionnaire (see Appendix B) in English wasgiven to the 24 participants to obtain an objective view of their generalbeliefs on tasks related to their motivation. Out of the 24 participants,
all surveys were completed and returned immediately after the lesson.
We believed it was best to get the opinions of the students directly
after the lesson, as their ability to recall the lesson tasks and sequences
seemed optimal at that time. To accomplish this aim, the survey was
divided into three sections to explore the following overreaching andinterrelated concerns: (1) How our students generally felt about task
ability related to perceived feelings of intrinsic motivation. (2) How
our students felt about the aims of individual tasks sequenced in thelesson and their interest in completing the tasks. (3) How our students
felt about the tasks in terms of positive and negative feelings, in otherwords, did our students like or dislike the tasks. Here, the attempt was
to match those feelings to the affective component of the expectancyvalue theory, not related to test anxiety, as this was not measured nor
was data collected.
One expedient reason for carrying out this research project was tohelp the authors explore developing better tasks and proper sequencing
stages for receptive music lesson plans. With better understanding ofstudents’ feelings regarding tasks, this project sought out methods thatwill help L2 educators improve the effect of instruction on students’language acquisition while taking into consideration their motivational
concerns. Accordingly, we valued student opinions related to the
expectancy-value theory model and were eager to learn how it could
be correlated with the tasks sequenced in the lesson itself.
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Measurement
To compare the students’ results relating tasks to intrinsic motivation,an analysis of motivational level was imperative. Therefore a five-point
Likert Scale questionnaire (See Appendix C) was given to the same
24 students regarding their views of intrinsic motivation (e.g., “I think
English is interesting”), resulting in 79% of the students exhibiting favorable attitudes towards tasks prior to this study. The survey consistedof eight questions that attempted to elicit students’ motivational orientations to English in a general sense. We felt that it was necessary toacquire a pre-determined level of motivation students have towards
English as this would have an effect on how they felt about doing thetasks sequenced in the lesson using English. For the self-report questionnaire Part 3 (see Appendix B) we utilized the term ‘like,’ in favor ofperhaps a more accurately descriptive term, because the survey wasadministered in English, believing students were using English to learn
it. Thus, we surmised that students might generally have less difficultyin gauging their responses.

Results
The self-report questionnaire results revealed that our students generally have a positive view towards the tasks they completed during thelesson. Nearly 75% of participants answered that they had high motivational orientation to the tasks sequenced in the receptive skills lesson. On the other hand, approximately 25% of those surveyed showed
less motivational orientation to the same tasks. These figures cover theentire survey regarding students’ attitudes towards tasks related to the
expectancy component (part 1), affective component (part 2) and value component (part 3). Further detailed examination of the data, however, portrayed more clearly students’ positive feelings to motivation ineach section of the survey.
Results of Part 1: The Expectancy Component
Data collected on question 1 (See Figure 1) revealed that 82% of theparticipants responded positively regarding whether feelings of highachievement—which we believe is indicative of whether or not they caneffectively accomplish the task—had an effect on their expectations oftask completion. Our results suggest that our students overwhelmingly
believed that if they could do the tasks, they subsequently persisted
until the goal of the task was accomplished. In contrast, participant
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Figure 1. Self-report questionnaire results of expectancy
component
responses to question 2 indicated that nearly 72% felt an inability
to complete the tasks resulted in them giving up and not completingthem. Question 3 seemed to support the theory that task ability islinked to motivation, as very few students (4.1%) that could complete
the tasks felt like giving up. Last, only about 4.1% of the students who
indicated that they could complete the tasks actually felt like not doing
them. The implication of these figures suggests students who have highexpectations regarding success on their abilities to perform the tasks
also seem to be more motivated to complete them.
Results of Part 2: The Value Component
Design of this section of the self-report questionnaire chronologicallyfits the questions to the tasks at the points in which they were introduced during the lesson (see Appendix A). In effect, we sequenced thetasks to facilitate learning, determining the complexity of individualtasks and then sequenced them to increase the ease of the “processing
burden” (Ellis, 2003, p. 221) placed on our students. Based on the fourquestions regarding the opportunities to plan before they undertook
the next task (see Figure 2), an overwhelmingly majority of participants(83%) felt that the sequencing helped them to perform the next task.
In contrast, on average only about 8% of participants answered that itwas either “Not at all true” or “A little true of me” when asked if thetask facilitated the following language task sequenced in the lesson.

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Figure 2. Self-report questionnaire results of the value
component

Figure 3. Self-report questionnaire results for affective
component
Results of Part 3: The Affective Component
The results of this section indicated that students generally held
positive feelings related to motivational factors that encouraged themto complete the tasks. Based on students’ self-perceived definition of
the term “like,” 76% of our respondents held favorable opinions of
the tasks and the relation to the next set of tasks. The only task that122

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our students had negative feelings towards was the pre-task activity
that included the movie poster discussion. Just over half the students(53%) did not like the task and notated that it did not motivate themto produce utterances. Although Dornyei (2001) emphasized theimportance of presenting tasks in a way that motivates students, for thislesson students seemed to have rebounded in part as 91% liked thefinal pre-written question/class survey completion task.
Reflection on Quantitative Analysis
Two important factors caused an effect on the results that should beconsidered before continuing with the discussion. The first point relates to the students’ prior experience with task-based lessons in otherclasses. Students chosen for this study have had ample exposure to
Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which shares many commonalities
with Task-Based Learning and Teaching (Gunning, 2007). Therefore, it
is our assumption that students had already encountered some positive
experiences that corresponded to their motivational levels in classes
other than the required language courses. Second, based on the survey
to measure their motivational levels, students measurements indicateda high motivational orientation towards tasks (79% of the students exhibiting favorable attitudes). Being the case, for this study and withsome caution, we suggest that our students were already motivated toa certain extent.

Discussion
Regardless of our students’ already seemingly high motivational levels
and positive feelings towards tasks in an EFL context, two salient points
emerged. First, findings derived from this study suggest that it is prudent
for teachers to take into consideration task complexity because sometasks may pose a greater cognitive burden on learners than other tasks(Ellis, 2003). From our perspective, it seemed that tasks designed andstructured for this lesson (see Appendix A) were structured in such a
way that students were able to create their own zones of proximal
development (Vygotsky, 1978). The zone of proximal development,
often abbreviated as ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can
do without help and what she can do with help. In our study, it became
apparent that tasks were used by students as tools to identify “whereassistance could be profitably provided in order to enable appropriate
ZPDs to be created” (Ellis, 2003, p. 180). Since students were, in a123

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sense, creating their own ZPDs, we were able to monitor them during
the tasks and after completing them (data collected for this research),and conclude that tasks that extend beyond individual student levels
may result in less motivation to complete them.
One of the most often cited findings from achievement motivation
research is that motivation is highest at levels of intermediate taskdifficulty (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). Furthermore, the tasks werematched to their levels at representative of the next immediate stage(“+1 modeling/instruction”) and the tasks were not more than one
stage above our students’ current level (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996).
Intermediate task complexity is important because designing tasks thatare too easy or too difficult provide more information about the task
than the individual students, whereas, tasks that are designed at anintermediate difficulty tend to tell more about their capabilities andeffort management (Weiner, 1992). This suggests the task we designed
for our lesson matched to the expectancy component of Pintrich and
De Groot’s (1990) model.
Although difficult to measure, we felt that the level of complexity
designed into the tasks was a critical component in raising student motivational orientation and self-regulation, resulting in a high numberof students having positive feelings towards task performance. Locke(1996) summarized that one of the main findings of research related
to expectancy-value theories is that the more difficult the goal, thegreater the achievement. Second, measuring student affective factors
proved difficult as the results showed a clear difference in their affective component regarding their feelings towards the first task (pre-task
activity: the photo talk) and the last task (the self-styled questions andclass survey). Our students seem to have preferred individual planning
time before working in pairs and groups. Unlike the last task they completed (class survey), in the first task (photo talk) we paired our students
from the start and this coupled with very limited strategic planning for
discourse, which we are assuming, may have led to their somewhat
negative feelings. When looking at affective component so many othervariables seem to influence how our students felt about the tasks suchas individual leaner characteristics, personality, and aptitude.
The expectancy model theory postulates that humans are motivatedto perform because of expectations of perceived rewards arising fromthat performance. While Pintrich and De Groot’s (1990) study focusedlargely on the notion of valence or motivational desire, our study
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brought about additional outcomes. In the Japanese EFL classroom,
and within the context of a collective cultural background, the research
conducted in this study revealed that perception of expectancy was
indeed a main factor that promoted motivation among students.
In retrospect, the tasks utilized for the receptive listening lessons
in this study capitalized on this cultural phenomenon. Readers
will recollect that the tasks had a strong collaborative element thatappeared to be a symbiotic fit for Japanese students. In particular, thefour corners simultaneous task stage when students performed a handnumbing adventure in lyrical dictation seemed to open a new avenueof discussion on task difficulty and perception.
During this stage, it quickly became apparent that students felt asense of expectancy not just from themselves. More importantly, somestudents likely felt an element of pressure to perform from the close
proximity of their three classmates as everyone was dictating identicallyrics on the same A4 sheet. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this notionof collaboration and teamwork created something we so often attempt
to develop and nurture within the Japanese university classroom—astrong sense of student accountability involving task-based learning.
In our classroom setting, since we explained to students the next
forthcoming task, their sense of belonging—or perhaps trying to fit
in—to that particular group may have contributed toward heightenedtask performance. Based on the results of the questionnaires and ourown observations of students completing the tasks, our students may
have felt they did not want to let their classmates down or appear “offtask.”
For higher-level students, the four corners simultaneous task stage
became a proving ground to showcase their superior language talents.
At this stage of the lesson, they were usually elected group secretary
and this status may have caused them to enhance their effort andperformance through a higher sense of responsibility and dependency
bestowed upon them by the other group members. In one of thelargest-scale empirical research projects on social motivation and themicrocontext (i.e. the immediate learning environment) of learning,
McInerney, et al. (as cited in Dorynei, 2001) discovered that up to halfof the factors related to motivation were socially determined such ascompetition with peers, positions of authority like group leadership,cooperation with peers, and the desire to receive praise from teachersand peers. For this reason, we believe further inquiry into combining
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collective and competitive tasks warrants additional research to help
L2 educators determine new motivational techniques along withlanguage learning tasks.

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Appendix A

Lesson Plan: In Tune with Receptive Listening
Topic: FriendshipClass Level: Intermediate University

Focus of Lesson: Stand By Me: Listening/Speaking

Time: 90 minutes

Possible Language Items: Suprasegmental phonology: Intonation, syllabic
consonant as in tumble, crumble, reduced pronunciation: tumble and fall,
crumble to the sea. Minimal pair pronunciation: R and L, crumble/climb.
Synonyms: see/sea. Weak forms of that, but, night, and darling, stand (elisions:disappeared sounds, assimilations: phoneme realized as being different
due to proximity near other phoneme: get them; Regressive Assimilation:changes along word lines-black dog as k changes to g). Language for sharing
information: A majority of students feel that, some students feel that…
SWBAT: Students will be able to rewrite the song during the task cycle andfocus on language items such as elisions, linked sounds and reduced consonant
sounds during the rewrite. During the Focus on Language in the task cycle,
the students will be able to discover the meaning of two metaphors: “the sky
will tumble and fall” and “mountains should crumble to the sea.” Students
will be able to discuss in small groups discoveries made during the survey.
Stage

Time/
Activity/Task
Interaction

Rational

Materials
Photosof child
charactersfrom StandBy Me.

1-10
S-S

Students paired.
Schemata/Pre-task
Discuss photo
Cycle/Exposure
questions.

Photo Talk and 10-12
Pair Share
S-S

Leads to more
Students share production during
information.
the whole classactivity

Photo Talk
Class share

12-15
T-Ss

Reason for doing
Teacher elicits
the task. Shareanswers fromand circulate newstudents
vocabulary.

15-19
S

Word Scramble Higher level
Task—Fourlistening skill. Fun CD: Stand
Corners
and interesting. Task By Me.
Dictogloss
Cycle

Photo Talk

Listening 1

129

Gunning & Quasha, “In tune with receptive listening skills”

RewriteListening 2

Rewrite 2

20-25
Ss-Ss

Rewrite song
based onwritings fromall students in
the group.

25-29
Ss

Task repetition
enhances success
Word Scramble of rewrite raising2
motivational levels
in students. Fun andinteresting.

29-35
Ss-Ss

Students
continue
rewrite of thefirst part.

Complete the 35-45
song Handout Ss

Boardrush

Listening 3

Sharing information.
Reporting phaseof task-cycle.
Reason for scramble
activity.

Task repetition:access students’ability to complete
the task.

Students
complete thehandout for thesong. Students Assessment
look at rewriteand fill-in
missing chunks.

45-50
Ss

Students choose
someone tocome to theWhole class activity
board and write to elicit withoutanswers, groups nominating one
must agree
student.
on the sameanswers.

50-54

Check board.
Pairs working Correct worksheet.
on meaning of Teach metaphors.
metaphors.

Communicative 55-65
Activity. Writing Ss

PrintedSong
Handout.

Pre-communicative
Students writetask activity:
5-6 questions
Survey grid
scaffolding students.
based onsheet.
Teacher monitoring
friendship.
student’s writing.

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OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 111-132

Class survey.

Group Share

65-80
Ss-Ss

Students ask
and answer
questions.

Communicative
task related to prewriting activity.

80-90
Ss-Ss

Students
regroup andshare theirsurvey resultswith otherstudents.

Reporting phase.
Students reportresults of their mini
surveys. Reasonsfor conducting thesurveys.

Appendix B

Student survey on tasks.
Read each statement and select the answer that best matches how you
felt about the task. You may use a dictionary or ask the teacher if you
do not understand.
A. Not at all true of me
B. A little true of me.
C. Basically true of me.
D. Very true of me.
E. Absolutely true of me.
Part 1
1. I was able to master most or all of the tasks so I felt like finishingthem.
2. I was not able to do the tasks very well but felt like finishing them.
3. I was able to master most or all of the tasks but did not feel likefinishing them.
4. I was not able to master most or all of the tasks and did not feel likefinishing them.
Part 2: Try to remember some of today’s activities and tasks. If you
forget, please consult with a friend or ask the teacher.
1. The movie poster photo talk of the kids helped me get an idea of
today’s topic.
2. Writing the song words and phrases during the four-corner task
helped me to listen carefully.
3. Writing the lyrics (song words) to the song as a group helped me131

Gunning & Quasha, “In tune with receptive listening skills”

understand the meaning of new words and phrases which helped
me understand the song better.
4. The question and answer task during the survey helped me talkabout my experiences more fluently using English.
Part 3
1. I liked the poster talk so felt motivated to speak in English.
2. I liked listening to the song and writing down any words or phrases
I knew.
3. I liked rewriting the song in the center of the paper using informationfrom everyone in our group.
4. I liked writing the questions and then completing my self-madesurvey and reporting the results to my group.

Appendix C

Self-Report Questionnaire on perceived individual differences on
motivation and the results
Question

Strongly
Strongly
Disagree Uncertain Agreedisagreeagree

I think English is interesting.

4.1%

4.1%

12.5%

58.3% 20.8%

I like to study English.

8.3%

8.3%

16.6%

25%

I study English outside ofclass.

4.1%

4.1%

0%

62.5% 29.1%

I want to become a betterspeaker.

0%

0%

8.3%

50%

41.6%

I am interested in talking toforeigners.

0%

8.3%

25%

41.6%

25%

I think this class isimportant.

4.1%

12.5%

0%

4.1%

79.1%

I try to practice speaking
English outside of class.

12.5%

16.6%

20.8%

33.3% 16.6%

132

41.6%