There is a ton of recent and older research on L2 listening comprehension, coming from many different academic fields. The borders between these fields—which include Applied Linguistics,
Bilingualism, Cognitive Psychology, and Psycholinguistics—can be a bit hazy because each one is impacted by the others (Holden, 2004). According to Ellis (2001), the psycholinguistic paradigm often considers listening comprehension in a sequential approach. In this instance, the acoustic or input signal is first processed phonetically, then words are recognized, then sentences are built by the listener, and lastly we reach the discourse level.
This is the current consensus among applied linguistics experts in understanding L2 listening comprehension (Guo, & Wills, 2005). Aspects of the L2 listening process that may potentially improve learners' listening skills appear to be receiving special focus (Gruba, 2004). Some experts contend that watching videos might actually hinder understanding because of its alleged distracting potential. They frequently claim that the visual elements of video texts may end up diverting students' attention away from the aural input, which may inhibit understanding (Gruba, 1993). There is enough proof to suggest that every L2 program should include training in L2 listening comprehension sounds, which begs the question of what exactly this training should entail.
Regardless of the learners' L2 level, the majority of researchers firmly think that the contents of such a training course should strive to promote input processing automatization (Grgurovic & Hegelheimer, 2007). The command of L2 learners of their B language tends to be approaching what is considered to be mastery, as seems to be the case in the case of university students who tend to be enrolled in translation and interpreting or current languages.
Technology-based learning resources are seen to be ineffective in and of themselves; if they are not adaptable, genuine, and engaging, neither teachers nor students will find much value in them. This implies that they won't be as effective as they were intended to be unless good instructional practices are employed in conjunction with technology or multimedia (Jones, 2008). Digital tales, in particular, and internet-based technologies often encourage L2 learning. Additionally, they provide novel verbal constructions, syntax, vocabulary, phrases, and formulaic speech within a significant and organized framework that aids in understanding the story world. Numerous research have looked at the efficiency of certain multimedia technologies in improving student language results. O'Bryan and Hegelheimer (2007) conducted research on the effectiveness of podcasting as a novel method of language instruction. In addition to the instructor seeing the podcast as a simple way, the students, despite some technical issues, saw podcasting as a useful tool.
In comparison to videos with transcripts, Grgurovi and Hegelheimer (2007) used a multimedia listening activity that used video to aid students in language understanding. Students who engaged more frequently with subtitles as support than with transcripts were found to participate more throughout the video lecture when captions and subtitles were used. A multimedia language learning program was created by Brett (1995) to assist students in communicating in English in the context of professional settings. It was discovered that students' ability to listen for the gist and infer meaning from context improved as a result of using multimedia. In a research by Jones, it was discovered that the employment of verbal and visual annotations led to better results in listening comprehension (2003). The study revealed that verbal and visual aides improve pupils' ability to recollect material (Jones, 2003). Not all research, however, support the notion that multimedia-based learning is inherently superior than conventional training in terms of listening comprehension.
In order to ascertain if using multimedia in "zero class hours" may provide better listening comprehension outcomes than traditional instruction, Wang (2010) carried out a quasi-experimental study in China. The study was able to show that there was no discernible difference in the outcomes of students who had multimedia intervention from those who did not by using a questionnaire to acquire pre-test and posttest data. The study did discover that the experimental group's students were more eager to learn and completed their coursework more regularly and efficiently than their counterparts in the control group. National achievement assessments and multimedia education in the context of scientific courses have been linked favorably in other research.
Studies conducted in European contexts have also been numerous. Digital stories were used to improve listening comprehension of English among 6-year old Spanish students. Using a quasiexperimental research design, Verdugo and Belmonte (2007) explored the effectiveness of
digital stories by applying this intervention into the experimental group. The results showed that the experimental group scored significantly higher in listening comprehension than the control group who did not received multimedia lessons. Punie et al. (2003) conducted a comprehensive literature review of studies from Europe published 2004 and onwards in order to organise results on how technology affects language learning. The 20 studies reviewed were able to demonstrate that the use of ICTs impact language learning positively but went further to say that the use of ICT at home is equally important. Thus, Punie et al. (2003) recommended the considered of socioeconomic factors when looking at the effectiveness of ICTs in language learning. In Turkey, a quasi-experimental study was conducted by Isik and Yilmaz (2011) to evaluate the effectiveness of computer-assisted listening instruction on listening comprehension of 21 students. The experimental group which received multimedia-aided instruction scored significantly higher than the control group which received traditional language instruction.