Abstract:

The article reports on the research into the influence of perceptive modality on teaching listening methods chosen by educators in the work with students at different stages of learning a foreign language. The issue of leading perceptive modality has always been much discussed by both practicing teachers and teaching methods specialists. The leading perceptive modality (audial, visual or kinesthetic) was believed to play a key role in doing tasks in listening, reading, writing and speaking, respectively. However, the latest research in the field reveals that the way of receiving information may not determine success in performing a task. Some remarkable inherent perceptive ability can facilitate the progress in improving communication skills, but may not guarantee it. The aim of the experiment reported in this article is to discover if there is a need to consider a student’s leading perceptive modality in designing teaching materials to develop listening skills. Fifty-five third-year students of the Higher School of Economics, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, and eighty-two seventh-graders of All-Girls Boarding School of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation took part in the experiment. Firstly, they did the test to identify the leading perceptive modality (S. Ephremtsev), audial, visual or kinesthetic. Then HSE students did a listening test at level C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Seventh-graders took a listening test at level B1. The examination and interpretation of findings enable us to conclude that the leading audial perceptive modality is not significant enough to determine success in the listening test. Thus, designing specific teaching materials regarding the leading perceptive modality may be superfluous in every day teacher’s practice. Our study suggests that engaging all ways of receiving information is more effective to develop different communication skills.

Keywords:

A teaching method, teaching communication, a foreign language, the leading perceptive modality, audial, visual, kinesthetic, polymodality of perception.