THE EFFECT OF TASK COMPLEXITY AND SALIENCE ON ADVANCED EFL LEARNERSʹʹ LISTENING COMPREHENSION

This study focused on the effect of two factors of complexity and salience and the mixture of both on listening comprehension. Advanced learners were divided into four separate groups (complex-salience-mixture-control) and each group was tested by different listening tests. Each group received a pre-test, 10 sessions of during-test instructions and a final post-test .In complex group, students experienced lack of time for checking the questions, lack of familiarity with the topic of listening, increasing the number of questions and the absence of background knowledge. In the mix group, beside the above mentioned items learners were deprived of looking at the questions in advance which made the task vague to (lack of saliency). In salience group, learners had some information about listening except what questions they are supposed to answer and in control group no changes was imposed in the task and questions. The results revealed that the mix group (complex and salience together) which had two factors of complexity and salience in their tests showed a significant change in their performance from pre to posttest. The difference between the scores of post-test for the complex and salience groups was somehow significant compared with their pre-test scores, but these scores of the two mentioned groups were not as much significant as were the scores of the Mix group. Applying the suggested method of practicing listening tasks for learners can somehow increase their concentration on the task and surging their quality of listening comprehension.