On the Relationship among Teacher Talk, Authentic Material, and Listening Comprehension Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

As second language (L2) teachers and language scholars acknowledge the unique characteristics
of the listening skill and the vital role it plays in language learning and communication, they
underscore more and more the significance of teaching listening comprehension in L2 classes.
Given this, the present study was an attempt to empirically investigate if the teacher talk and the
authentic material had any positive effect on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners.
To this end, 60 male and female EFL learners were selected via double sampling and after
administrating a pre-test they were assigned to two experimental groups (the Teacher Talk and
the Authentic Group) and a control group. One group received authentic material and the other
group was taught based on the characteristics of the Teacher Talk. After the treatment, a post test
was given to the sample study. The thorough analysis of data using one-way ANOVA indicated
that the authentic materials had a more prominent effect on learners’ listening comprehension.
The paper ends with some recommendations for further research.