حسن سودمندافشار

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship among reflective thinking, listening anxiety, listening strategy use and listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Besides, this study sought to examine the differences among intermediate, and advanced EFL learners regarding their reflective thinking, listening anxiety, and listening strategy use. To this end, 223 (106 intermediate and 117 advanced) EFL learners from private language institutes in Kermanshah province took part in the study by completing the Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ) developed by Kember et al., (2000), the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS) developed by Kim (2000), the Listening Strategy Use Questionnaire developed primarily by Lee (1997), and a listening comprehension test selected from listening part of IELTS book ( Jakeman & McDowell, 1997). The subjects had been selected randomly and then screened to one of the two proficiency levels, intermediate (1–10), and advanced (11–20) based on their listening comprehension test scores. Using Chronbach’s Alpha and factor analyses the questionnaires were found to have acceptable reliability and validity rates. The results of six separate Pearson Product Moment Correlations indicted that there was a statistically significant: a) positive association between reflective thinking and listening comprehension, b) reverse correlation between listening anxiety and listening comprehension, c) positive relationship between listening strategy use and listening comprehension, d) negative association between listening strategy use and listening anxiety, e) positive correlation between listening strategy use and reflective thinking, and finally f) reverse relationship between reflective thinking and listening anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the results of multiple regression analyses indicated reflective thinking was a stronger predictor of listening comprehension. Additionally, the results of M