Effects of Dictation Listening Practice (DLP) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ bottom-up listening skills development: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

EFL students at lower proficiency levels may have difficulty in effective English listening comprehension, and Dictation Listening Practice (DLP) may offer a real solution to this problem. The investigation attempted to examine possible effects of DLP in enhancing EFL students’ bottom-up English listening skills at Dominic IELTS in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, where English is not the key medium of instruction and where exposure to authentic spoken English is restricted (Field, 2008; Hoang, 2024).

Thirty pre-intermediate student participants in this study were in the 18 - 30 age range, with gender equality between males and females. Pre-and-post tests and two progress tests were instruments for quantitative data collection. Statistical data analysis was adopted to evaluate possible changes in EFL students’ English listening proficiency towards DLP. The study has provided convincing evidence of the DLP efficacy in EFL learners’ bottom-up listening skills development, contributing to addressing particular English listening comprehension challenges faced by EFL learners worldwide.