............................................................................................................................................ I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................... V DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................................... IX CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................... XI INDEX OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................. XVII INDEX OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. XIX GLOSSARY OF TERMS ......................................................................................................................... XXI PART I UNDERSTANDING HELP OPTIONS IN COMPUTER-BASED L2 LISTENING 1 CHAPTER ONE: TOWARDS HELP OPTIONS’ CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DESIGN ..................................... 3 Context of the study ........................................................................................................................ 3 Statement of the problem ................................................................................................................ 5 Aim and scope of the investigation ................................................................................................. 6 Overview of research design ........................................................................................................... 7 Research contributions .................................................................................................................... 8 Thesis overview ............................................................................................................................ 10 Part I: Understanding help options in computer-based L2 listening ......................................................... 10 Part II: Empirical studies .......................................................................................................................... 11 Part III: Theory and conclusions ............................................................................................................... 11 Summary of chapter one ............................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS .................................................................................... 13 Second language listening ............................................................................................................. 13 Shifting paradigms in L2 listening ............................................................................................................ 13 Trends in second language listening research ........................................................................................... 15 Computer-based L2 listening .................................................................................................................... 15 Help options in CALL .............................................................................................................................. 17 Theories informing help options in CALL .......................................................................................... 18 Research on help options in computer-based L2 listening ........................................................................ 25 Help options use and non-use in computer-based L2 listening ............................................................ 25 Students’ attitude toward help option use in computer-based L2 listening .......................................... 27 Frequency of help options use and performance in listening comprehension. ..................................... 28 Help options use and learner variables in computer-based L2 listening .............................................. 31 Research methods in help option research in computer-based L2 listening .............................................. 34 Problems in help options research in computer-based L2 listening ..................................................... 35 Help options use/ non-use in other disciplines .............................................................................. 38 The language learner as a designer in CALL ................................................................................ 40