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Mohammad Hadi Mahmoodi

Academic rank: Associate Professor
ORCID: 0000-0002-2155-2387
Education: PhD.
ScopusId: 57192005642
HIndex:
Faculty: Faculty of Humanities
Address:
Phone: 09122883429

Research

Title
The Effect of Explicit Teaching of Segmental and Suprasegmental Features on Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension
Type
Thesis
Keywords
Segmental Features, Suprasegmental Features, Pronunciation, Listening Comprehension
Year
2015
Researchers (Student)، Mohammad Hadi Mahmoodi(PrimaryAdvisor)

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to identify the effect of explicit teaching of segmental and suprasegmental features on Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension. To this end, 90 EFL learners studying English in accredited private language institutes in Hamedan took part in the study. The EFL learners were assigned into two experimental groups and a control group. In one of the experimental groups, segmental features were taught to the learners; in the second experimental group, suprasegmental features were instructed; however, the control group received no explicit instruction in pronunciation. There were 29 participants in each experimental group and 32 in the control group. The researcher made use of four instruments, namely Cambridge Practice Tests for IELTS, American English File series, David Brett’s website, and Learn English website, to fulfill the objectives of the study. The results of two Matched t-tests revealed that: a) explicitly instructing segmental features had a statistically significant positive effect on the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners, b) explicitly instructing suprasegmental features had a statistically significant positive effect on the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the results of a one-way ANOVA and a Scheffe post-hoc test indicated that there existed a significant difference between the effect of explicit instruction of segmental and suprasegmental features on Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension, with suprasegmental features having a statistically more positive effect on developing the EFL learners’ listening comprehension. In light of the findings of the present study, the first implication of the current investigation is related to the language teaching approaches. Evoking the call for the skills integration (Ellis, 2003; Hinkel, 2006; Nunan & Miller, 1995), the pronunciation component of ELT can be accommodated in classes with more consideration given to pronunciation,