USING LISTENING COMPREHENSION TO BOOST EFFICIENT COMMUNICATION IN EFL CLASSROOMS: STRATEGIES AND PERSPECTIVES

Ulrich Orlando Sèna Hindeme

Abstract


Listening involves understanding a speaker’s accent or pronunciation, his/her grammar as well as vocabulary, and grasping his/her meaning. Thus, the complex nature of listening skills and the difficulties that language learners face when listening to the language deserve special thought and investigation. To be clear, listening does not mean a simple word-for-word translation; it involves a deeper understanding of meaning. Teachers should guide students in understanding actual speech so they learn to handle genuine conversations and real listening situations. As such, teaching listening skills has attracted the attention of many teachers and researchers. This study aims to investigate the role of listening comprehension in promoting efficient communication in the Beninese EFL classroom, with a focus on exploring strategies and perspectives to enhance learners’ listening skills and communicative competence. To reach this goal, quantitative and descriptive research methods have been used; questionnaires have been addressed to 171 EFL learners and 12 teachers. Then, class observations have been conducted in 4 secondary schools, especially with students in form two (5ème). The data collected reveal a positive aspect of using listening comprehension in fostering communication. The strategies and perspectives about listening comprehension were also revealed from these data. Findings show that listening comprehension is a cornerstone for effective communication. It helps EFL learners become fluent communicators. Therefore, this study recommends strategies and approaches that EFL teachers should adopt to improve listening comprehension in their classes.

 

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listening comprehension, communication, strategies, perspectives

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v10i1.678

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