Enhancing English Listening Skills in Indian Engineering Students through Comprehensible Input: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Listening effectively is a critical skill in English language teaching, especially for students in Indian engineering college where English is the medium of instruction. This study focuses on the importance of teaching English listening as a distinct process and aims to enhance the comprehensive ability of Indian engineering students in listening skills. Based on Krashen’s input hypothesis and affective filter hypothesis, the study recognizes the essential role of comprehensible input and compares its effects across different difficulty levels. The study involved 64 intermediate ESL students from various disciplines, divided into two groups (experimental and controlled), with 32 students in each. Before the treatment, both groups were pretested using an academic listening skill test. The experimental group received listening material beyond their current level (i+1) as a treatment. After the treatment, a modified version of the pre-test was administered to both groups as a post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment on the students' listening skills.  The results obtained from the study indicate a notable disparity between the post-tests of the experimental and controlled groups. The findings suggest that the experimental group performed significantly better (p < .05) than the control group on the post-test. Additionally, the study's results suggest that the experimental group's motivation increased following the treatment. These findings have important implications and suggest that an interactive approach to instruction can be beneficial in enhancing students' language skills.