Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol 3, No 3 (2012), 452-457, May 2012
doi:10.4304/jltr.3.3.452-457

The Effect of Metadiscourse on EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

Seyed Mohammad Reza Heshemi, Hossein Khodabakhshzade, Majid Elahi Shirvan

Abstract


This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of metadiscourse on listening comprehension of EFL intermediate and advanced students. 120 students were assigned into four groups of 30. There were two groups of treatment and control both in intermediate and advanced levels. Two versions of monologues with and without discourse markers were given to the control and treatment groups respectively. The result showed a significant difference between groups in advanced and intermediate levels. There was however no significant difference within the intermediate groups. So, a follow up unstructured interview was conducted to find out the possible reason. The result showed that intermediate students were not aware of the role of discourse markers in the monologues. This consciousness raising regarding discourse markers helped the premise of the study and the result of the second administration of the versions of the monologues to the intermediate groups showed a significant difference. The findings of this study clearly display the crucial role of metadiscourse and the degree of consciousness about them across different levels in listening comprehension of EFL students.


Keywords


metadiscourse; listening comprehension; consciousness raising; discourse markers

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