The Effect of Concept Mapping Strategy On Improving Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension

    Concept mapping is a cognitive strategy particularly suited to identifying relationships between ideas. This study has investigated the effectiveness of concept mapping as a learning strategy on intermediate students’ listening comprehension. Although listening comprehension is now well recognized as an important aspect of language learning, it has been neglected in research and practice until quite recently. Even now we cannot say much work has been done in this domain.
     By administering a Comprehensive English Language Test (CELT), a sample population of 60 subjects was selected from 91 students of English translation in Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr Branch. A pretest consisting of six listening passages was administered to the subjects. After one month, training sessions were devoted to the experimental group and appropriate concept maps were provided before listening to the passages to teach them how to listen, whereas some pictures were used to teach the control group. During the special instruction by concept mapping technique, the researcher asked the students to help her in writing the concepts in order to determine their level of involvement. Their level of involvement was measured by a questionnaire that they had answered in the last session later on. The obtained data was analyzed through t- test. The analyzed data presented that; there was a significant difference between the means of experimental group and control group on the post- tests. That is concept mapping proved to be effective and has increased the experimental group’s listening comprehension.
     By investigating the questionnaire it was realized that 70 percent of the students had helped the teacher in mapping the concepts that indicates a good level of involvement in the teaching- learning process. On the whole, the findings suggest that it is necessary to provide FL listeners with the appropriate learning strategy prior to asking them to listen. On the other hand the instructors should not ignore the critical role of learning strategies in FL listening comprehension.