Abstract
The expertise reversal effect occurs when instruction that is effective for novice learners is ineffective or even counterproductive for more expert learners. Four experiments designed to explore the expertise reversal effect in the field of teaching and learning foreign language listening skills were conducted. Three instructional formats (read-only, listen-only, and read-and-listen) were designed to teach native Chinese students English (experiments 1–3) or French (experiment 4) listening skills. Experiment 1 found a significant interaction with no effect for learners with lower levels of listening expertise but a significant effect for learners with higher levels of listening expertise favoring the read-only approach. The results of experiment 2 replicated the counterintuitive findings of experiment 1. Experiment 3 testing less knowledgeable students than experiments 1 and 2 indicated that the read-and-listen condition was more effective for novice learners. Experiment 4 testing beginner-level learners of French as a foreign language obtained results consistent with those of experiment 3 in that lower expertise learners gained greater benefits from the read-and-listen than the read-only or listen-only teaching approaches. It is concluded that the read-and-listen approach benefitted novice learners but more expert learners could benefit more from the read-only approach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baddeley, A. (2003a). Working memory and language: an overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 189–208.
Baddeley, A. (2003b). Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4, 809–939.
Carroll, J. (1981). Twenty-five years of research on foreign language aptitude. In K. Diller (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp. 83–118). Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, Inc..
Case, R., Kurland, D., & Goldberg, J. (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 33, 386–404.
Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1991). Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 8, 293–332.
Danan, M. (1992). Reversed subtitling and dual coding theory: new directions for foreign language instruction. Language Learning, 42, 497–527.
Dempster, F. (1981). Memory span: sources of individual and developmental differences. Psychological Bulletin, 89, 63–100.
Diao, Y., & Sweller, J. (2007). Redundancy in foreign language reading comprehension instruction: concurrent written and spoken presentations. Learning and Instruction, 17, 78–88.
Dörnyei, Z., & Skehan, P. (2003). Individual differences in second language learning. In C. Doughty & D. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 589–630). Oxford: Blackwell.
Ericsson, K. A., & Kintsch, W. (1995). Long-term working memory. Psychological Review, 102, 211–245.
Erlam, R., Ellis, R., & Batstone, R. (2013). Oral corrective feedback on L2 writing: two approaches compared. System, 41, 257–268.
Field, J. (2013). Cognitive validity. In A. Geranpayeh & L. Taylor (Eds.), Examining listening (pp. 77–151). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Furnham, A., De Siena, S., & Gunter, B. (2002). Children's and adults' recall of children's news stories in both print and audio-visual presentation modalities. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 191–210.
Goh, C. (2000). A cognitive perspective on language learners' listening comprehension problems. System, 28, 55–75.
Guichon, N., & McLornan, S. (2008). The effects of multimodality on L2 learners: implications for CALL resource design. System, 36(1), 85–93.
Homer, B., & Plass, J. (2010). Expertise reversal for iconic representations in science visualizations. Instructional Science, 38, 259–276.
Hulstijn, J. (2007). Psycholinguistic perspective on second language acquisition. In J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International handbook of English Language teaching (Vol. 11, pp. 701–713). New York: Springer.
Ingram, D., & Bayliss, A. (2007). IELTS as a predictor of academic language performance, part 1. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Research Reports, 7, 1–68.
Jiang, D., Renandya, W., & Zhang, L. (2017). Evaluating ELT multimedia courseware from the perspective of cognitive theory of multimedia learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 30, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1359187.
Kalyuga, S. (2007). Expertise reversal effect and its implications for learner-tailored instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 19, 509–539.
Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory: how many types of load does it really need? Educational Psychology Review, 23, 1–19.
Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1998). Levels of expertise and instructional design. Human Factors, 40(1), 1–17.
Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (2003). The expertise reversal effect. Educational Psychologist, 38, 23–31.
Kalyuga, S., Law, Y., & Lee, C. (2013). Expertise reversal effect in reading Chinese texts with added causal words. Instructional Science, 41, 481–497.
Khacharem, A., Zoudji, B., Spanjers, I., & Kalyuga, S. (2014). Improving learning from animated soccer scenes: evidence for the expertise reversal effect. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 339–349.
King, J. (2002). Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 15, 509–523.
Leppink, J., Paas, F., van der Vleuten, C., van Gog, T., & van Merriënboer, J. (2013). Development of an instrument for measuring different types of cognitive load. Behaviour Research, 45, 1058–1072.
Leveridge, A., & Yang, J. (2014). Learner perceptions of reliance on captions in EFL multimedia listening comprehension. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(6), 545–559.
Markham, P. (1999). Captioned videotapes and second-language listening word recognition. Foreign Language Annals, 33, 215–222.
Moussa-Inaty, J., Ayres, P., & Sweller, J. (2012). Improving listening skills in English as a foreign language by reading rather than listening: a cognitive load perspective. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26, 391–402.
Mueller, G. (1980). Visual contextual cues and listening comprehension: an experiment. Modern Language Journal, 64, 335–340.
Oksa, A., Kalyuga, S., & Chandler, P. (2010). Expertise reversal effect in using explanatory notes for readers of Shakespearean text. Instructional Science, 38(3), 217–236.
Perez, M., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Desmet, P. (2013). Captioned video for L2 listening and vocabulary learning: a meta-analysis. System, 41, 720–739.
Perfetti, C., & Lesgold, A. (1979). Coding and comprehension in skilled reading and implications for reading instruction. In L. Resnick & P. Weaver (Eds.), Theory and practice of early reading (pp. 57–84). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Perfetti, C., & Zhang, S. (1995). Very early phonological activation in Chinese reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 24–33.
Plass, J., Chun, D., Mayer, R., & Leutner, D. (2003). Cognitive load in reading a foreign language text with multimedia aids and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities. Computers in Human Behavior, 19, 221–243.
Rost, M. (2002). Teaching and research listening. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 3–32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skehan, P. (1989). Individual differences in second-language learning. New York: Routledge.
Stæhr, L. (2009). Vocabulary knowledge and advanced listening comprehension in English as a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31, 577–607.
Sun, Y., & Dong, Q. (2004). An experiment on supporting children's English vocabulary learning in multimedia context. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 17, 131–147.
Sweller, J. (2010a). Cognitive load theory: recent theoretical advances. In J. Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive load theory (pp. 29–47). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sweller, J. (2010b). Element interactivity and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Educational Psychology Review, 22(2), 123–138.
Sweller, J., & Chandler, P. (1994). Why some material is difficult to learn. Cognition and Instruction, 12, 185–233.
Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. London: Springer.
Tsai, S. (2015). Implementing courseware as the primary mode of task-based ESP instruction: a case study of EFL students. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28, 171–186.
Tschirner, E. (2016). Listening and reading proficiency levels of college students. Foreign Language Annals, 49, 201–223.
Tsui, A., & Fullilove, J. (1998). Bottom-up or top-down processing as a discriminator of L2 listening performance. Applied Linguistics, 19(4), 432–451.
Vallar, G., & Papagno, C. (2002). Neuropsychological impairments of verbal short-term memory. In A. Baddeley, M. Kopelman, & B. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of memory disorders (2nd ed., pp. 249–270). Chichester: Wiley.
van Merriënboer, J., & Sweller, J. (2005). Cognitive load theory and complex learning: recent development and future directions. Educational Psychology Review, 17(2), 147–177.
Vandergrift, L. (2004). Listening to learn or learning to listen? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 3–25.
Viney, P. (2004). Survival English: international communication for professional people. London: Macmillan.
Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2012). Structural equation modeling: applications using Mplus. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd..
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jiang, D., Kalyuga, S. & Sweller, J. The Curious Case of Improving Foreign Language Listening Skills by Reading Rather than Listening: an Expertise Reversal Effect. Educ Psychol Rev 30, 1139–1165 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-017-9427-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-017-9427-1