A review of previous research on receptive skills among EFL learners  reveals that in contrast  to extensive research in reading, fewer studies have focused on the process  of listening comprehension in EFL contexts. The current study examines the effects of discourse signaling cues on Iranian EFL students' listening comprehension in academic lectures and also investigates the effect of tea...

This article reports on the findings of a study that investigated the impact of manipulating task performance conditions on listening task performance by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study was designed to explore the effects of changing complexity dimensions on listening task performance and to achieve two aims: to see how listening comprehension task performance was aff...

Listening has an important role both in daily life and in academic contexts as it is crucial for people to sustain effective communication. In spite of the importance of listening in the development of the communicative and cognitive skills, it did not start to take its place in language teaching curriculum for long years. However, in recent years, with the emphasis given in communication in la...

The purpose of this experiment was to explore whether listening positions (close or distant location from the sound source) in the classroom, and classroom reverberation, influence students' score on a test for second-language (L2) listening comprehension (i.e., comprehension of English in Swedish speaking participants). The listening comprehension test administered was part of a standardized n...

Zebra finches communicate with each other in ways that are more complex than previously thought.

Over the past two decades, there has been a great deal of attention devoted to the teaching, learning, and testing of second language (L2) listening ability. This increased attention is due (at least in part) to the realization of the importance of listening in language learning (Rubin, 1994). For first language learners, virtually all linguistic input is through the aural mode. While the lingu...

In this column, the author describes the power of listening. There are three engaging listening modalities that are explored that form a foundation for exploring the power and possibility in listening: living true presence, participating in the council process; and engaging in strategic questioning. Several strategic questions are raised to explore the possibility of integrating these listening...