Cultural Awareness, Listening Comprehension, Listening Motivation, and Attitude among EFL Learners: A Gender-Based Mixed Method Study

Abstract

The current research investigated the effects of cultural awareness on listening comprehension and listening motivation of EFL learners. Also, this research investigated the perspectives of EFL students towards having English cultural awareness. Seventy-five EFL learners from three English intact classes were chosen as the subjects of this study. After that, a listening motivation test and a listening comprehension test were given to the three classes. Then, five audio files containing the English cultural-based issues were taught in one class and five audio files containing the Persian cultural contents were instructed to the other experimental class. The third class or the control class was instructed five audio files that did not include any specific cultural-based materials. After teaching all audio files, a listening motivation posttest and a listening comprehension posttest were given to the three groups and an attitude questionnaire was given to the experimental classes to determine their attitudes toward using the effectiveness of cultural awareness on their language learning development. The results of one-sample t -test, one-way ANOVA, and the post hoc Sceffe test showed that the experimental classes outflanked the control class in the posttest of listening motivation and listening comprehension. The results indicated that the subjects showed a positive attitude toward having cultural awareness in their English learning process. The outcomes of the study provide some implications for teachers to increase the students’ cultural awareness and to enhance their positive attitudes about the integration of culturally based resources into language education.

Exploring Motivation and Engagement: Sociocultural Influences on Saudi Female EFL Learners

“…Since the research also stresses that female EFL learners in L1 Arabic-speaking countries express more anxiety than men, the study conducted here is necessary to test the working hypotheses (Bensalem, 2021). Furthermore, the research findings confirm that factors like cultural awareness by instructors facilitate motivation and engagement in members of the target population (Kamaeva et al, 2022;Yeh & Heng, 2022;Zandi & Hamad, 2022). This factor has significant implications for enhancing perceptions of self-efficacy, and its relevance to empirical data depends on what linguists identify as optimal for EFL learners in less advantaged social positions.…”

“…(Abdel-Al Ibrahim, 2023;Almesaar, 2022). Learning environments in Saudi Arabia have progressively evolved towards greater integration (Kamaeva et al, 2022). Similarly, educational institutions throughout the Kingdom have adopted hybrid and online learning to accommodate diverse learning needs (Almusharraf & Engemann, 2020;Alsowat, 2021).…”

The christian religious education teachers’ attitudes toward the five-stage lesson plan framework in Kenya: A gender-based analysis

“…A five-point Likert scale applicable to the attitude items where each item had five alternatives, including strongly disagree (SD), disagree (D), undecided (D), agree (A), and strongly agree (A). 5 was (SA), 4 (A), 3 (U), 2 (D) or 1 (SD) as indicated by [ [ 32 , 53 , 54 ]].…”

“…Gender plays a crucial role in understanding the differences in attitude towards the usefulness of newly emerged strategies and ease of use among the stakeholders [ 31 ]. Additionally, a study is significant if it includes attitude, awareness, and both genders as variables [ 32 ]. Thus, the study was significant as it involved the variables mentioned above.…”

Effective methods for studying word combinations with regard to semantic parameters

“…Learning the norms of word combination promotes the enrichment of vocabulary, the development of coherent thought and speech during the process of learning the Kazakh language. Construction of word combinations, sentences, communicative exercises teach appreciative attitude to the tools of the national language, in particular to word itself, which, in turn, ensures improvement of the verbal culture, which is an integral part of the society's culture [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”