The contribution of listening strategy instruction to improving second language listening comprehension: A case of Iranian EFL learners

Abstract

As an attempt to shed more light on the effectiveness of strategy instruction in second language (L2) learning, the present study was set to investigate the contribution of listening strategy instruction to improve listening comprehension of English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Iranian context. In so doing, a number of 52 English literature students of two intact classes at Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, in Iran served as the participants of the study. The two classes were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received the listening strategy instruction according to the approach proposed by Yeldham and Gruba (2014), whereas the control group was taught with regular method with no strategy instruction. The listening section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was administered to measure the listening comprehension ability of the students before (i.e., as pre-test) and after (i.e., as post-test) the strategy instruction. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was also administered to ensure the homogeneity of the participants with regard to their general English proficiency. The findings revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the listening performance test, suggesting that the listening strategy instruction was effective in enhancing listening comprehension of the participants.