Effects of bilingualism and gender on Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension and listening strategy use

Listening is of significant importance in daily communication and educational process. Having a good command of second language (L2) listening is required for successful communication in L2. In spite of its importance, it has received little attention in second language acquisition, research, teaching, and assessment. This study aims at comparing bilinguals and monolinguals across gender in terms of listening comprehension and listening strategy use. The correlation between listening strategies and listening comprehension was also explored. To this end, 112 monolinguals (67 males and 45 females) and 120 bilinguals (61 males and 59 females) were selected to participate in the study. They filled out a listening strategies use questionnaire (LSUQ) and then took a listening comprehension test (LCT). The results of data analysis using a series of ANOVAs as well as Pearson correlational analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between monolinguals and bilinguals, in favor of the latter group, in terms of listening comprehension and the use of listening strategies. Moreover, the effect of gender on listening comprehension and listening-strategy use was not significant. Finally, a significantly positive correlation was found between listening comprehension and listening strategy use. This research carries essential implications for syllabus designers and material developers.