آموزش زبان (استفاده از مواد آموزشی – كلاسهای انگلیسی)

Listening is an important skill for learners of English in an academic study context, since so much of what they need to understand and learn is communicated through the oral medium (Read, 2005). Listening can also help students build vocabulary, develop language proficiency, and improve language usage (Barker, 1971). Cayer, Green, and Baker (1971) found that students’ ability to comprehend written material through reading as well as to express themselves through spoken and written communication are directly related to students’ maturity in the listening phase of language development. Dunkel (1986) also asserts that developing proficiency in listening comprehension is the key to achieving proficiency in speaking. Not only are listening skills the basis for the development of all other skills, they are also the main channel through which students make initial contact with the target language and its culture (Curtain & Pesola,1988).

Investigating the EFL listening needs of college students is ignored in Iran. Probing in to the conversational and academic listening abilities required by EFL college students should be very well considered. Iranian EFL students are studying English in their home country where English is not the dominant native language. Students who are from environments where English is not the language of the country have very few opportunities to hear the real language; these students therefore are not accustomed to hearing the language as it is produced by native speakers for native speakers. Consequently, students from the countries in which English is taught as a foreign language frequently have great difficulty understanding English spoken to them when they come in to contact with native speakers of the language.

Selecting appropriate materials and activities for language classroom requires much attention. Materials include text books, video and audio tapes, computer software, and visual aids. They influence the content and the procedures of learning. The choice of deductive versus inductive learning, the role of memorization, the use of creativity and problem solving, production versus reception, and the order in which materials are presented  are all influenced by the materials (Kitao, 2005). Authentic materials refer to oral and written language materials used in daily situations by native speakers of the language (Rogers& Medley, 1988).Some examples of authentic materials are newspapers, magazines, and television programs. It is necessary for students who are going to study in an English-speaking environment in future to learn how to listen to lectures and take notes, to comprehend native speakers in various kinds of speech situations, as well as to understand radio and television broadcasts. (Paulston & Bruder, 1976).This is also true for students who pass English courses in universities.