TOEFL LISTENING STRATEGIES TRAINING TO IMPROVE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21093/tjdwe281Keywords:
TOEFL training, listening strategies, listening comprehension skills, university studentsAbstract
TOEFL preparation has become an important requirement for university students, particularly in improving English listening skills needed for academic and professional purposes. However, many students still experience difficulties in TOEFL Listening tasks due to limited exposure to spoken English, insufficient strategic awareness, and unfamiliarity with effective listening approaches. This community service program aimed to support university students in improving their listening comprehension skills through TOEFL Listening strategies training. The program was conducted using a participatory training approach involving 25 university students from UIN Sultan Aji Muhammad Idris Samarinda. The activities consisted of needs identification, TOEFL Listening pre-test, introduction to TOEFL Listening characteristics, listening strategies training, guided practice, collaborative discussion, post-test, and program evaluation. The training focused on practical listening strategies, including keyword identification, prediction, paraphrase recognition, implied meaning interpretation, distractor identification, and note-taking techniques. The program evaluation indicated positive improvement in participants’ ability to apply listening strategies after participating in the training activities. The average performance increased from 61.0 in the pre-test to 76.8 in the post-test, showing an improvement of 15.8 points. Participants also demonstrated greater awareness and confidence in approaching TOEFL Listening tasks strategically. This community service program highlights that TOEFL Listening strategies training can provide practical support for university students in preparing for TOEFL Listening tasks and improving their listening comprehension skills. Future programs may consider providing longer training periods, broader TOEFL preparation materials, and continuous mentoring to support sustained improvement in students’ English listening comprehension skills.
References
Agustin, W., Wahyudin, A. Y., & Isnaini, S. (2021). Language learning strategies and academic achievement of English Department students. Journal of Arts and Education, 1(1), 19–29.
Chapelle, C. A., Enright, M. K., & Jamieson, J. M. (2011). Building a validity argument for the Test of English as a Foreign LanguageTM. Routledge.
Cohen, A. D. (1999). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Longman New York, NY.
Field, J. (2010). Listening in the language classroom. ELT Journal, 64(3), 331–333.
Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (2005). Second language listening: Theory and practice. Cambridge university press.
Goh, C. C. M., & Vandergrift, L. (2021). Teaching and learning second language listening: Metacognition in action. Routledge.
Graham, S. (2017). Research into practice: Listening strategies in an instructed classroom setting. Language Teaching, 50(1), 107–119.
Komariah, A., Adha, I., Toba, R., & Destari, D. (2026). Assistance in Improving English Vocabulary Through the Picture Identification Method for Seventh-Grade. Pengabdian Cendekia, 4(1), 1–8.
Nation, I. S. P. (2022). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge university press.
Oxford, R. L. (2016). Teaching and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in context. Taylor & Francis.
Richards, J. C. (2008). Teaching listening and speaking (Vol. 35, Number 4). Cambridge university press Cambridge, England.
Rost, M. (2011). Teaching and researching listening.
Vandergrift, L. (2004). 1. Listening to learn or learning to listen? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 3–25.
