Effects of discourse marker instruction on EFL learners’ listening comprehension

Abstract

Although English listening comprehension has been extensively researched, few studies have investigated the role of discourse markers (DMs) in EFL learners’ listening comprehension. Hence, the study reported here investigated the effect of the teaching of DMs on Taiwanese EFL learners’ listening comprehension. A total of 72 ninth-grade students recruited from two intact classes in a junior high school participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to DM and non-DM groups. The DM group received 14 weeks of DM instruction. After the intervention period, both groups were tested using multiple-choice questions, recall questions, and a summary at the post-test stage. A t test was applied to compare the comprehension scores of the two groups. The results demonstrate that the DM group significantly outperformed the non-DM group during the post-test stage. For the DM group, the presence of DMs in the listening comprehension texts not only facilitated global comprehension but also assisted the students in retaining detailed information. DMs activate prior knowledge, provide more processing time, distinguish major and minor ideas, indicate speakers’ intentions, and reduce anxiety. By contrast, few participants in the non-DM group utilized DMs to enhance listening comprehension.