The Impact of Word-Recognition Practice on the Development of the Listening Comprehension of Intermediate-Level EFL Learners

The present study aims at examining the effect of word-recognition practice on EFL students’ listening comprehension. The participants consisted of 30 intermediate EFL learners studying in a language institute in Birjand City, Iran. They were assigned randomly to two equal groups, control and experimental. Before starting the experiment, the listening section of IELTS was given to all of the students as the pretest. Then, during the experiment, the experimental group was asked to transcribe the listening sections of their course book while in the control group, the students did not transcribe. After 25 sessions (2 hours each) of instruction, another test of listening (IELTS proficiency test) was given to both groups as the post-test. The results of the two tests were then analyzed and compared using one way ANCOVA test. The results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group (p < 0.05). Therefore, it was concluded that word-recognition practice is an effective way for the improvement of EFL learners’ listening comprehension. The overall results of the study are discussed and the implications for further research and practitioners are made.