The Effect of Discourse Signaling Cues on Foreign Language Listening Comprehension of Iranian EFL Students

Abstract

A review of previous research on receptive skills among EFL learners reveals that in contrast to extensive research in reading, fewer studies have focused on the process of listening comprehension in EFL contexts. The current study examines the effects of discourse signaling cues on Iranian EFL students' listening comprehension in academic lectures and also investigates the effect of teaching Iranian EFL students about the role and function of discourse signaling cues on successful listening comprehension of lectures. A total of 77 Iranian EFL students were divided into three groups. The first group did not receive any training on the role of discourse signaling cues and only listened to signaled lectures. The second group listened to the non-signaled text and did not get any training on the role of discourse cues. The third group, however, listened to the signaled text and also received training on the role of discourse cues. The analysis of data on recall tasks shows that discourse signaling cues play an important role in EFL students’ listening comprehension. The findings also indicate that training the students about the role and function of discourse signaling cues has significant effect on the students' EFL listening comprehension.