The Effect of Watching Videos on Listening Comprehension of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners in Public Schools

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the possibility of learning listening skills by watching videos and explore the attitudes of students toward this method. Numerous studies are available to illustrate the effectiveness of this method; however, there is no study exploring the attitude and level of proficiency after using this method in Public Schools of Iran. Unfortunately, in Iran, after many years of education in public schools and passing many English courses, students are still not able to understand and convey their intention by using English language. For the purpose of this study, 75 male students of different Public Schools in Isfahan randomly selected and took part in it. To make sure about the homogeneity of participants the Oxford Placement Test was administered and then 60 participants with higher grades selected. A pre-test and a post-test which included 50 standardized TOEFL listening items were administered to the participants to check their levels of understanding, before and after the treatment. In addition, a questionnaire that was designed by researchers in this field was given to the participants at the end of the treatment to explore their attitudes. The result indicated that by watching videos, learners showed positive attitudes and their levels of proficiency in listening skill were significantly improved. This study has implications for EFL curriculum designing in Iran and can make Iranian EFL teachers, especially in Public Schools, aware of the importance of this method.