The Effects of Two Pre-task Activities on Improvement of Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension

Abstract

The present study attempted to find out the extent to which two pre-task activities of “glossary of unknown vocabulary items” and “content related support” assisted EFL language learners with their performance on listening comprehension questions across low proficiency (LP) and high proficiency (HP) levels. Each level consisted of three groups, two experimental groups and one control group (twenty participants in each group). One experimental group received “glossary of unknown vocabulary items” with the pronunciations while the other group received content related support (in written form) with the aim of activating prior knowledge before administering post-lecture listening comprehension questions. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that in low proficiency level, vocabulary group outperformed both content and control groups while in high proficiency level, content group outperformed the other groups. The study concluded by suggesting that pre-task activities need to be used taking account of the support type and the learners’ proficiency level.