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Tolerance of Ambiguityin Listening Exercises

by

Bazsó Hajnalka, Nyisztor Gergely,Sárközy Zsolt, Válóczy Balázs

Theoretical Background

“Intolerance of ambiguity is the tendency to perceive ambiguous situations as sources of threat.” – Budner, 1962

“In second language learning a great amount of apparently contradictory information is encountered… Successful language learning necessitates tolerance of such ambiguities.”– Brown, 2007

Our Hypothesis

Professionand

Tolerance of Ambiguity (TA)correlate;

TA affects results.

Subject Groups

~23 yrs ~23 yrs ~36 yrs

B1/B2 B2 B2+

Research Methodology

• Listening Exercise:Detail questions to check comprehension

• Post-exercise Questionnaires:1. Custom Listening Skills,

Attitude & ToA2. Budner’s General ToA

Test

• Empirical Data

Result vs. Skills & Attitude

Result vs. TA

Result vs. TA with Individuals

Concluding the Research

• We failed to prove our hypothesis.

• We found something else, though…

Budner's Average Our Average1

21

41

61

81

101

TA Scores (The Lower, The Better)

Possible Reasons

• High Context vs. Low Context

• Community vs. Individual

• Inadequate teaching materials/stylesfor a fundamentally different culture.

“Four Modest Proposals”

• Raise TA level by more exercises

• Don’t humiliate, be(come) empathic

• Tailor materials to Ss’ needs

• Meditation

Thanks for watching.

Hold on!There’s One More Thing…

You’ve all been just tested for TA!

Now, let’s discuss all this…