Enhancing Independent Study Program through Development of Listening Learning Pathways

Abstract

The paper describes a study conducted to design independent listening learning pathways for first semester English Department students at a state university in Malang, Indonesia. The pathways were designed based on the analysis of the students’ common problems in listening comprehension. The research data were collected from two sources, that is, the students’ answer sheets in the listening pre-test and independent study listening materials available in the English Self-Access Centre of the English Department at the university. The data were coded by three researchers and triangulated to resolve any inconsistencies and contradictions in the coding and analysis. The coding was based on Lund’s (1990) taxonomy of learner function and response matrix, resulting in the identification of the students’ strengths and weaknesses in the listening tasks in the pre-test and the mapping of task types provided in the listening materials in the English Self-Access Centre. Listening learning pathways were designed based on the results of the data analysis to guide the students in their independent listening to improve their ability in performing the specific tasks they found difficult. The results of the study are useful for improving the students’ listening comprehension skills, and more importantly, to improve the quality of the Independent Study program.