This research is motivated by the scarcity o f investigation into L2 learners’ online
processing problems in listening comprehension, in particular those relating to L2
proficiency. It aims to identify the online processing problems encountered by Hong
Kong students o f differing L2 proficiency and whether these problems can be
overcome by compensatory schema use. Two questions are addressed: 1) Given the
same listening situation, do high and low proficiency students experience the same
online processing problems? 2) Does success in compensatory schema use vary
according to L2 proficiency? Four data collection methods (semi-structured
interviews, questionnaire survey, partial transcription, and introspection) and both
quantitative and qualitative data analyses are employed.
Exploratory semi-structured interviews indicate that apart from the problems of
unfamiliar topics, vocabulary and accents, students report experiencing what might be
called an “acoustic blur” during L2 listening. They hear streams o f English speech
sounds but cannot identify the key words. Even when they think they have identified
the words, these words often do not fit the context.