Exploring the Effect of Argumentative and Descriptive Texts on Listening Comprehension

Acquiring a foreign language is a process which in the first place requires development of the learners' receptive skills. This process involves the four main skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, in which listening as a receptive skill is used for obtaining enough input and making use of it in genuine interactions. The goal of this research was to study the effect of two different listening text types, i.e. argumentative and descriptive, on foreign students' level of listening comprehension. To this end, a quantitative method was adopted to compare the effect of the independent variable (text types) on the dependent variable (the listening scores) to determine the degree of differences between two text types and proficiency level of listening comprehension. Some fifty students who were studying at different fields at two state universities in Tabriz participated in this research. They answered four descriptive and four argumentative listening text types followed by two types of display and inferential multiple-choice questions. The results obtained from the independent samples t-test revealed that there was a significant difference in the level of students' listening comprehension between the two text types. The students in the argumentative listening type significantly outperformed those in the descriptive one in answering multiple-choice questions. It is hoped that the results will be used by teachers, materials writers, and syllabus designers to develop efficient methods and materials for teaching listening skill. The findings can also help the students to gain a broader view and use it to develop their listening skill.