THE EFFECT OF SPEECH RATE ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF EFL LEARNERS

This research attempted to examine the effect of speech rate on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Initially, a sample of 108 sophomore English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) learners majoring English translation were selected from Abadan Islamic Azad University. Then base on an A proficiency Michigan Examination for the Certificate of Competency in English (ECCE) [18], 62 were chosen to be divided into two homogeneous groups of 31. One group had only exposure to natural speech rate and the other one only to slow speech rate listening materials. After thirteen academic sessions, pre-test and post-test results and comparison showed that those who had exposure to natural speech rate listening materials had greater improvements on their listening comprehension. However, exposure to slow speech rate also could make some improvements on EFL learners but not comparable to that of natural one. These findings suggest that each speech rates, whether natural or slow, had some elements that could create this improvement. Both speech rates count positive toward developing EFL learners listening comprehension; however, natural speech rate could demonstrate greater improvements than slow speech rate in EFL learners' listening comprehension.