Saudi Undergraduate EFL Learners' Listening Strategies
Abstract
Listening comprehension is a critical skill for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, and it is particularly challenging for Saudi EFL learners due to the differences between Arabic and English phonology. This study investigated the listening strategies used by EFL learners. The Listening Comprehension Strategy Inventory (LCSI) was administered to 73 Saudi EFL learners in a Saudi public university. The survey was divided into three sections: metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective strategies. The results showed that the most commonly used listening strategies in each category were: Metacognitive strategies: using prior knowledge and experience to help understand, predicting what will be said, and checking understanding. Cognitive strategies: focusing on key words, repeating words to become familiar with sounds, and using context clues; and Socio-affective strategies: developing a positive attitude towards listening, and believing that it is possible to understand what will be heard. comparing the results of the three constructs show that participants had the highest mean scores for cognitive strategies, followed by metacognitive strategies, and then socio-affective strategies. The results suggest that Saudi EFL learners use a variety of listening strategies. This study contributes to the field by providing new insights into the listening strategies used by Saudi EFL learners.
References
Abdalhamid, F. (2012). Listening comprehension strategies of Arabic-speaking ESL learners. [Master’s dissertation, Department of English, Colorado State University].
Alhamami, M. (2020). Learners’ beliefs and communities around them: The social pressure to learn language. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019898842
Alhamami, M. (2023). Inequity, inequality, and language rights in English as a medium of instruction programs. Evaluation and Program Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102297
Bao, D., & Guan, C. (2019). Listening strategies. In The TESOL Encyclopedia of English language teaching (Vol. 2, pp. 1-6). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0588
Ching, K. T., Chen, H. I., Chen, H. C., & Huang, C. S. (2013, December). Apply GM (0N) to analyze EFL learners' uses of listening comprehension strategies. In Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (pp. 741-746). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/sii.2013.6776619
Field, J. (2013). Cognitive validity. In A. Geranpayeh & L. Taylor (Eds.), Examining listening: Research and practice in assessing second language listening (pp. 77–151). Cambridge University Press.
Field, J. (2008). Listening in the language classroom. Cambridge University Press.
Fung, D., & Macaro, E. (2021). Exploring the relationship between linguistic knowledge and strategy use in listening comprehension. Language Teaching Research, 25(4), 540-564. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168819868879
Goh, C. C., & Vandergrift, L. (2021). Teaching and learning second language listening: Metacognition in action. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429287749
Goh, C., & Taib, Y. (2006). Metacognitive instruction in listening for young learners. ELT Journal, 60(3), 222-232. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl002
Graham, S. (2017). Research into practice: Listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting. Language Teaching, 50(1), 107-119. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444816000306
Kök, I. (2023). Investigating learners' listening comprehension strategy awareness and its implications for language learning. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 33, 132-149. https://doi.org/10.32038/ltrq.2023.33.07
Maftoon, P., & Fakhri Alamdari, E. (2020). Exploring the effect of metacognitive strategy instruction on metacognitive awareness and listening performance through a process-based approach. International Journal of Listening, 34(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2016.1250632
Newton, J. M., & Nation, I. S. P. (2020). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203114
Nguyen, H. D. N. (2020). Understanding EFL students’ use of listening strategies in watching English captioned movies. Vietnam Journal of Education, 4(2), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.52296/vje.2020.18
O’Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139524490
Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House.
Oxford, R. L. (2017). Teaching and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in context (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315719146
Purnomowati, Y. R. (2016). Listening strategies used by ELEP students in listening classes [Doctoral dissertation, Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris FBS-UKSW].
Rost, M. (2016). Teaching and researching listening (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315732862
Serri, F., Boroujeni, A. J., & Hesabi, A. (2012). Cognitive, metacognitive, and social/affective strategies in listening comprehension and their relationships with individual differences. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(4), 843-849. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.4.843-849
Si, K. E. (2022). Listening comprehension problems and listening comprehension strategies of EFL-first-year undergraduate Myanmar students at Foreign Language University, Yangon.
Vandergrift, L., & Goh, C. (2006). The metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire: development and validation. Language Learning, 56(3), 431-462. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00373.x
Vandergrift, L. (1996). Listening strategies of core French high school students. Canadian Modern Language Review, 52(2), 200-223. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.52.2.200
Vandergrift, L. (1997). The comprehension strategies of second language (French) listeners: A descriptive study. Foreign Language Annals, 30(3), 387-409. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1944-9720.1997.tb02362.x
Vandergrift, L. (2007). Recent developments in second and foreign language listening comprehension research. Language Teaching, 40(1) 191–210. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444807004338
Vandergrift, L., Goh, C. C., Mareschal, C. J., & Tafaghodtari, M. H. (2006). Metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire. Language Learning, 56(3), 431-462. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00373.x
Von Eckardt, B. (1995). What is cognitive science? The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7209.001.0001
Wang, S. (2016). Listening comprehension strategies used by EFL postgraduate students/Wang Song [Doctoral dissertation, University of Malaya]. http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/6483/4/wang.pdf
Yeldham, M. (2016). Second language listening instruction: Comparing a strategies-based approach with an interactive, strategies/bottom-up skills approach. TESOL Quarterly, 50(2), 394–420. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.233
Authors who publish with Tamaddun journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain the copyright and grant Tamaddun the right of first publication. The work will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits others to share the work with proper acknowledgment of the authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors may enter into additional non-exclusive agreements for the distribution of the published version of their work (e.g., posting it to an institutional repository or including it in a book), provided that the initial publication in this journal is acknowledged.
3. Authors are encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal websites) before and during the submission process. This can lead to productive exchanges and increase the visibility and citation of the published work.
