The Impact of Explicit Integrated Strategies Instruction on IELTS Applicants' Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Listeners in a foreign language will not be able to activate the full range of strategies available to a native speaker. Because of variables such as language proficiency, motivation, age, aptitude and the like, they will be at various stages of approximation to full competence. One way to eliminate the obstacles to efficient listening comprehension is strategy instruction. The present study attempted to explore the impact of the explicit instruction of cognitive and memory strategies on IELTS candidates' listening comprehension. The sample consisted of 88 adult male/female EFL learners who attended IELTS preparation classes regularly, and were randomly assigned into three groups. Two groups were as experimental groups, in which eight memory and cognitive strategies were taught explicitly, whereas the third group did not benefit from the explicit instruction of strategies. The analysis of the data showed that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in listening, but the difference between the two experimental groups was not statistically significant. In fact, in both groups in which cognitive or memory strategies were taught explicitly, the mean scores in listening comprehension did not prove to be significant. In further analysis, the applicants' gender did not make a difference in listening comprehension.