Corpora and listening comprehension

Successful second language listening encompasses a wide range of factors related not only to the linguistic and extra-linguistic features of the input, but also to the cognitive, social, and cultural characteristics of the listeners. In instructional settings, L2 listeners are further challenged to process complex content, thus adding to potential comprehension obstacles. This chapter highlights the important contribution of corpora to teaching academic listening skills in English language learning contexts. It provides an overview of corpus-informed research that has offered key insights into the linguistic features of various types of authentic spoken language that can then be leveraged for academic listening activities. In line with the growing focus on multiliteracies in education, the chapter also addresses the role of multimodal corpora in academic listening research and practice, thus responding to the ever-growing influence of multisemiotic digital resources both inside and outside of the classroom, and the consequent need for English language practitioners to effectively make use of them. The chapter concludes with a case study that presents a state-of-the-art method that can be applied to foster multimodal listening, whereby L2 learners are encouraged to exploit semiotic modes beyond verbal language (e.g., visual, gestural, spatial) for a more effective academic listening experience.