THE EFFECTS OF ASSIMILATION AND ELISION TEACHING ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF EFL JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

What is it that makes listening difficult for Iranian students ? This research thinks that there must be something beyond vocabulary size and grammar that interferes with L2 studentsʹ listening comprehension. This research thinks that listening skills of Iranian students as EFL learners are weak due to two main reasons: Their ears are not attuned to English language as a foreign language. for example, university entrance exams, exit exams, and other examinations do not include a listening component, and they lack knowledge of assimilation and elision as are exercised in native speech. Iranian learners of English learn words in citation form , but not in connected speech form. According to Celce-Murciaʹs categorizations (1996), the factors that make real speech unintelligible include superasegmentals and connected speech. Based on this theory, This research, which is a quasi-experimental study, hypothesized that teaching of different aspects of connected speech , especially assimilation and elision enhances listening skills of the Iranian English language learners. To test this hypothesis an experimental group which consisted of 21 participants, and a control group consisted of 21 participants were selected. The treatment for the experimental group was concentrated on raising studentsʹ awareness of connected speech forms such as assimilation, elision. On the other hand, although most of the materials were the same, The training for the control group was different. The treatment for the control group was centered on using guided questions and comprehension checks to enhance studentsʹ listening comprehension. Both of the groups were given pretest before the start of training and were post tested at the end of the treatment to find the result of the training given to experimental group. The major findings of this present study were as follows: First, The assimilation and elision teaching significantly raised the experimental group studentsʹ awareness of connected speech forms. Hence, connected speech treatment might enhance studentsʹ connected speech knowledge. second, the facilitative effects of connected speech forms teaching on studentsʹ overall listening comprehension were salient because the experimental group did better in the dictation posttest. This study have implications for theoretical development and practical applications. In theoretical development, more research needs to be done with a larger sample of EFL learners. In terms of practical applications, The findings of this study can act as a model to assist both learners and teachers in English Language learning and teaching. it may allow teachers to obtain an awareness of connected speech forms and the problems they cause learners.