The effect of rate of speech and distributed practice on the development of listening comprehension

McBride, Kara. (2011). The effect of rate of speech and distributed practice on the development of listening comprehension. Computer Assisted Language Learning. 24(2). p131-154.

Overview
How hearing foreign language source material at different speeds affects learning.
Higher speeds over whelm working memory
Listening Comprehension
Working Memory
Rate of Speech
Attention
Attention demands specific to Listening Comprehension
Applications of CALL to Listening Comprehension

Summary
This was a study of four universities in Chile of groups of ESL students. The study focused on listening comprehension, varying the speed of presentation to observe the effect on learning. The students are divided into four groups. Group A (fast), Group B (slow), C (student chooses speed) and D (there is a pausing option).

The study uses a pre-test -> program -> post-test evaluation process.

The initial results indicated that there was loss of ability between the pre-test and post-test results. Further data analysis indicated that many students did the entire course all at once and experienced no benefit. Excluding those students who completed 50% of the course or more in the same day produced more interesting results.

Group B, the slow group, experienced the most skill improvement.