The Impact of Note-Taking Strategy on Self-Regulated and Non-Self-Regulated Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Note taking is a popular and effective strategy which mounts the students’ ability to remember, comprehend, and keep the material in mind. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of note-taking strategy (using the Cornell note-taking method) on 30 self-regulated and 30 non-self-regulated Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension in the intermediate level of English language proficiency. All the participants were chosen among female EFL intermediate learners at Safir Language Institute in Tehran, in varied ages, between 22 and 28. In order to make sure that the participants were truly homogenous with regard to their proficiency level, a Nelson Language Proficiency Test was administered. The study was conducted through pretest and posttest on two groups. Data collection procedure was completed by the learners’ obtained scores in the listening section of TOEFL test. The findings based on the analysis of Paired Samples t-test and ANCOVA revealed the value of note-taking strategy during listening on both self-regulated and non-self-regulated learners’ listening comprehension. However, self-regulated learners outperformed non-self-regulated ones. This study could be helpful for teachers who face problems in their learners’ listening comprehension.