The Effect of Speech Rate on Listening Comprehension of EFL learners

Abstract

The present research examined the effect of speech rate on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Initially, a sample of 108 sophomore EFL learners majoring in English translation was selected based on systematic random sampling from Abadan Islamic Azad University. Then, based on an ECCE proficiency test, 62 participants were chosen and divided into two homogeneous groups of 31. One group had exposure to natural speech rate and the other to slow speech rate of listening materials. After thirteen academic sessions, the results o the paired t-test regarding the pre-tests and post-tests of the two group means showed that both differences (group one: –2.83 and group two: –1.22) were significant at 0.05 levels (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that each speech rate, whether natural or slow, could improve EFL learners listening comprehension; however, natural speech rate could demonstrate greater improvements than slow speech rate in EFL learners’ listening comprehension.