Towards the flipped SEF-ARCS decoding model : effects on EFL/ESL students' decoding skills and listening proficiency

Abstract

Listening is a major challenge for many English as a foreign language (EFL)/English as a second language (ESL) learners. Decoding training is one of several interventions that have been used to assist EFL/ESL learners. It involves instruction and/or practice, which help learners develop the ability to recognize words from speech. Although recently some empirical studies on decoding training have been conducted, they have yielded inconsistent results, with some studies showing that decoding training helped improve students’ listening proficiency but others showing otherwise. In addition, the knowledge about the design characteristics of an effective decoding training is still limited. Most of the previous studies lacked theoretical rationale when designing the decoding activities.

Therefore, this study aimed to make contributions to the decoding research in three significant ways. First, this study provided a more precise estimate of the overall impact of decoding training on EFL/ESL listening proficiency by using meta-analysis approach, which examined all available experimental design studies. The results of the meta-analysis of 13 intervention studies showed an overall significant medium effect in favor of decoding training over non-decoding instruction for listening education (Hedges’s g = 0.553, CI = 0.348 – 0.759, 95% confidence interval, p = 0.000), with no evidence of publication bias. The results indicated that the use of decoding training yields better listening improvement, in comparison with the use of non-decoding approaches.

Second, the study proposed the theory-based Flipped SEF-ARCS Decoding Model. The design model consists of three major components: (a) design principles for flipped learning, (b) the SEF-Automation (suitability, explore, feedback, generalization, and automation) decoding principles and (c) the ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction) motivational model.

Third, this study empirically tested the effect of using the Flipped SEF-ARCS Decoding Model on students’ decoding skills and listening proficiency. Students in two classes studying a university English listening course were selected as participants, with one class as the experimental group (EG, N = 44) and the other as the control group (CG, N = 36). Both groups received flipped decoding training, which consisted of pre-class daily learning and in-class decoding learning. The decoding training in the EG was developed based on the Flipped SEF-ARCS Decoding Model, with the three components (i.e., flipped learning model, SEF-Automation decoding principles, and ARCS motivational model). The CG also received a flipped decoding training; however, in the CG no SEF-Automation decoding principles or ARCS model were used. Instead, the instructor in the CG employed a common decoding method based on the previous decoding literature. The interventions in the two groups lasted 15 weeks. The results showed that the students in the EG performed better than their counterparts in the CG in terms of decoding skills and listening proficiency. Students’ and teacher’s perceptions were also explored.

Overall, this study proposed the Flipped SEF-ARCS Decoding Model, provided evidence of the effectiveness of the model, and demonstrated how this model could be used in real-life classroom to support students’ decoding skills and listening proficiency. The limitations of the study and future directions for research are also discussed.