The impact of using learning English podcasts on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' listening comprehension and their attitudes toward podcast materials

With latest developments, podcasting comes out as a logical and viable option which may transform language learning from independent and complete oral language tasks practiced in language learning laboratories to more on-demand and collaborative learning activities available at any time (Abdous, Camarena & Facer, 2009). This study aims at investigating the impact of learning English podcasts on developing Iranian EFL intermediate students’ listening comprehension, and assessing their attitudes toward podcasts. To this end, thirty Iranian intermediate EFL students participated in the study. Since the participants were not randomly assigned to the experiment, the research applied a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group was given podcasts as treatment and the control group received traditional listening exercises restricted to the book. Accordingly, a listening test as pre-test and post-test, a semistructured interview and an attitudinal questionnaire were employed as instruments in this study. As the results indicated, podcasts had a significant impact on the development of students' listening comprehension and the participants' perspectives regarding podcasts, and their roles in language learning were positive. The research comes to the conclusion that modern technological materials such as podcasts should not be overlooked due to any reason within Iranian contexts and both students, and teachers should be trained to exploit the possibilities that they may bring to the fore

کلیدواژه ها:

CALL ، Podcasts ، listening comprehension