The Effect of Audio-Podcast on Listening Comprehension of EFL Saudi Secondary Stage Students: Eastern Province

Abstract

The current study intends to investigate the effect of audio-podcasts, as a new learning and teaching tool, on the listening comprehension of Saudi EFL Secondary Stage students in the Eastern Province. It also examines the students' attitudes on using the audio-podcasts not only inside but also outside the classrooms. To meet the goals of the study, a three-week quantitative study, a quasi-experimental pre/post-test method, was applied. The study participants in both control and experimental groups were 30 Saudi secondary stage students at one of the Saudi public schools in the Eastern Province. The findings of the ANOVA technique showed that audio-podcasts' group performed better compared to the control group on the post-test. A 10-item questionnaire was employed to collect and analyze the data by using the mean and standard deviation. The findings showed that students view the use of audio-podcasts as learning and training tool positively. The final result implies that using these modern applications as a supplementary material in the class is a very useful learning and teaching resource for enhancing the EFL students' listening comprehension.