Comparing Two Pre-listening Supports with Iranian EFL Learners: Opportunity or Obstacle

Abstract

Since listening is a crucial component of language competence and fundamental for successful communication as well, its development has been gradually given much attention from language teachers and researchers. This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of two pre-listening supports, i.e. question preview and topic preparation on the listening comprehension of foreign language learners. The participants (N=61 female), divided in two separate groups, answered ten items of listening comprehension tests under two different conditions. In the question preview condition, the teacher read questions and options loudly before the listening test began, while in the topic preparation condition, the participants read textual information related to the topics of listening tests. The results showed that pre-listening supports benefited EFL learners’ listening comprehension. However, statistical significant difference of the listening comprehension scores between the two supports could not be established. With such a positive effect on EFL listening, this study suggests that topic preparation and question preview have their own specific role in the development of EFL learners’ listening comprehension.