







































English Language Teaching,  
Applied Linguistics and Literature 

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 
Available online at https://jurnal.iainponorogo.ac.id/index.php/eltall 

 
 

77 

ELTALL 

LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILL: THE FORGOTTEN 
SKILL IN THE SAUDI CLASSROOMS  

 
Salameh Saleem Mahmoud 

King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia 
smahmood@kau.edu.sa 

 
Khaled Khader Oraby 

King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia 
korabi@kau.edu.sa 

 

ABSTRACT  

Listening plays a very significant role in language acquisition and language learning. 
The more input kids and students get, the faster and easier it will be for them to acquire 
and learn any new language.  Unfortunately, over a long period listening didn’t receive 
enough attention by curricula designers, teachers, and students which affected the output 
and labelled listening as a difficult skill to teach and understand. This study intends to 
draw the attention to listening through answering three important questions related to 
the importance of listening, the challenges that face teaching it and suggestions for 
enhancing this important skill. To this end, the researchers chose all secondary and 
intermediate students in Jeddah as a population and fifty male and female students as a 
sample. A survey of twenty- two items was used as a data collection tool. The findings of 
the study showed clear enthusiasm for listening comprehension and an urgent need to 
overcome the challenges and reconsider suggestions to improve this skill including 
training teachers, facilitating it, and increasing the weight in the schedules. The study 
recommends giving more attention to listening and including it in any English language 
test. 
 
Keywords: KSA, KAU, intermediate students, listening comprehension, oral skills  

 
INTRODUCTION  

While ample attention has been directed towards the development of 

reading, writing, and speaking skills in Saudi EFL classrooms, the skill of 

listening has often been relegated to the periphery. This oversight is concerning, 

as listening plays a pivotal role in effective communication and language 

proficiency. It is also considered an integral component of language learning, 

serving as the foundation upon which all other language competencies are built. 

It is through listening that learners are exposed to authentic language input, 

enabling them to comprehend and interpret spoken English accurately. 

Furthermore, listening skills are indispensable for effective communication in 



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
78 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

various academic, professional, and social contexts. In today's interconnected 

world, where English serves as a global lingua franca, the ability to understand 

and respond to spoken English is crucial for successful communication. In Saudi 

Arabia, a country known for its dedication to education and an increasing 

demand for English proficiency, it is imperative to recognize the significance of 

developing listening skills among EFL learners. However, the traditional 

approach to English language instruction in Saudi EFL classrooms has focused 

primarily on grammar and vocabulary acquisition, leaving listening instruction 

neglected. This imbalance in instructional priorities has resulted in a deficiency 

in the listening abilities of Saudi EFL learners. Listening plays a vital role in 

language acquisition as it serves as the foundation for all other language skills 

(Goh, 2008). According to (Vandergrift & Goh, 2012), listening comprehension is 

crucial for overall language proficiency, as it facilitates vocabulary development, 

grammar acquisition, and pronunciation improvement. Moreover, listening 

skills are essential for effective communication in various academic, professional, 

and social contexts (Brown, 2008). As English continues to be a global lingua 

franca, the ability to understand and respond to spoken English is crucial for 

successful communication (Rost, 2014). Traditionally, Saudi EFL classrooms have 

focused primarily on grammar and vocabulary instruction, with limited attention 

given to listening skills (Al-Hmoud, 2009). This imbalance in instructional 

priorities has resulted in a deficiency in the listening abilities of Saudi EFL 

learners.  

Several factors contribute to the neglect of listening skills in Saudi EFL 

classrooms. First and foremost, teachers often face challenges in incorporating 

listening activities into their lessons due to a lack of appropriate resources and 

training. The scarcity of listening materials specifically designed for EFL learners 

in Saudi Arabia poses a significant hurdle. Additionally, the lack of professional 

development opportunities for teachers to enhance their knowledge and 

pedagogical skills in teaching listening further exacerbates the problem. 

Moreover, the traditional teacher-centered instructional approach prevalent in 

Saudi EFL classrooms tends to prioritize teacher talk, leaving little room for 

students to actively engage in listening activities. The focus on grammar and 

vocabulary drills often sidelines the development of listening abilities, resulting 

in a passive learning environment. This lack of emphasis on listening not only 

hampers the overall language development of EFL learners but also diminishes 

their confidence and proficiency in understanding spoken English.  

To address this pressing issue, it is crucial to revisit and revitalize the role 

of listening in Saudi EFL classrooms. By employing effective listening strategies 

and techniques, educators can create a more learner-centered classroom 

environment that promotes active engagement and interaction. Incorporating 



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
79 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

authentic listening materials, such as podcasts, videos, and audio recordings, can 

expose learners to real-life language use, enhancing their listening 

comprehension skills. Furthermore, it is essential for Saudi EFL teachers to 

receive professional development opportunities that focus specifically on 

teaching listening skills. Training programs and workshops can equip teachers 

with the necessary knowledge and pedagogical techniques to effectively 

integrate listening activities into their lessons. Additionally, collaboration among 

teachers, both within and across institutions, can foster the exchange of best 

practices and innovative ideas for teaching listening. 

It goes without saying that the neglect of listening skills in Saudi EFL 

classrooms hampers the comprehensive language development of learners. 

Henceforth, it is crucial to recognize the importance of listening as a fundamental 

skill in language learning. By revitalizing listening instruction, Saudi Arabia can 

equip its EFL learners with the necessary skills to thrive in an increasingly 

interconnected and English-dominated world. This article aims to shed light on 

the current state of listening instruction in Saudi EFL classrooms, identify the 

challenges hindering its implementation, and propose practical strategies to 

revive this forgotten skill. 

  

METHODS  

The population of the study is all intermediate and secondary schools’ 

males and females’ students in Jeddah KSA, aged between thirteen and eighteen 

years old. They are from public schools as teachers in public schools are mainly 

fresh graduates and didn’t receive enough training and follow up. The 

researchers chose this age as they are aware of the importance of the listening 

comprehension skill and can answer the survey questions. The sample of the 

study is fifty male and female students chosen randomly from the population. 

The data collection tool of the study is a survey consisting of twenty-two 

items that fall under three categories. The first category is about the importance 

of listening as an academic and life demand. The second category is about the 

barriers and challenges against facilitating the listening comprehension skill in 

the Saudi classroom. Items related to possible solutions and suggestions that may 

bring listening comprehension back to the scene are shown in the third category. 

The survey is validated and piloted on a group of students outside the sample 

and sent to google forms. The pie charts resulted after answering the survey were 

grouped into bar-charts for later analysis in the findings and discussion. 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION  

The population of the study is all intermediate and secondary schools’ 

males and females’ students in Jeddah KSA, aged between thirteen and eighteen 



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
80 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

years old. They are from public schools as teachers in public schools are mainly 

fresh graduates and didn’t receive enough training and follow up. The 

researchers chose this age as they are aware of the importance of the listening 

comprehension skill and can answer the survey questions. The sample of the 

study is fifty male and female students chosen randomly from the population. 

The data collection tool of the study is a survey consisting of twenty-two 

items that fall under three categories. The first category is about the importance 

of listening as an academic and life demand. The second category is about the 

barriers and challenges against facilitating the listening comprehension skill in 

the Saudi classroom. Items related to possible solutions and suggestions that may 

bring listening comprehension back to the scene are shown in the third category. 

The survey is validated and piloted on a group of students outside the sample 

and sent to google forms.  

Moreover here the three bar charts reflecting the respondents’ answers 

with regard to the three main questions of the study related to the importance of 

listening comprehension, the barriers that face incorporating listening 

comprehension in the classroom, and suggestions for improving this skill.  Each 

bar chart is labelled and explained thoroughly in a paragraph below. 

 
Figure 1. The respondents’ answers with regard to the first question “What is the 

importance of listening comprehension 

Figure 1 above illustrates the results related to the importance of listening 

comprehension. It is clear in the table that the majority of respondents disagreed 

that it is not important (70%, 80%). It is also apparent in the chart that there is 

unanimous agreement that listening comprehension is important among other 

skills and in daily life. The other items also show students enthusiasm that 

listening is an unavoidable step for language acquisition (62%) and before 

speaking (73% and 82%). It is also an important component in the main 

international exams IELTS and TOFEL (58%). Those who disagree completely 

disappear in the last item about the importance of listening comprehension in job 

interviews. 

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%

The Importance of Listening Coprehension in English

Agree not sure Disagree



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
81 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

 
Figure 2. The respondents’ answers with regard to the second question “What are the 

barriers against incorporating listening comprehension in the English language classroom?” 

Figure 2 above shows the results of the survey in terms of the barriers that 

face teaching listening comprehension in the English language classroom. It is 

very clear in most of the items that uncertainty about the answers dominates the 

majority of the items (49%, 32%, 28%, 44% and 40%) respectively. Items three and 

five shows unanimous agreement among respondents with regard to the absence 

of audio devices and the difficulty of native English (48% and 58%). A goof 

percentage of respondents disagree that listening is not included in exams or 

teachers are not willing to teach listening. 

 
Figure 3. The respondents’ answers with regard to suggestions for improving 

listening comprehension in the Saudi classrooms 

Figure 3 illustrates the respondents answers to the survey with regard to 

suggestions for improving English listening comprehension in the Sudi 

classrooms. Except for items four and seven, the respondents agreed 

unanimously that listening comprehension should be given more attention in 

terms of weight, supervision, awareness, and practice outside the classroom. 

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

The Barriers against Using Listening Comprehsion 

Agree not sure Disagree

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%

100%

Chart Title

Agree not sure Disagree



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
82 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

Respondents showed good percentage of disagreement with regard to only 

native speakers should teach English language listening at schools and students 

should go to English speaking countries. 

This study used a survey as a data collection tool. The survey was 

answered by a sample of fifty male and female intermediate and secondary 

students chosen randomly from a population of all intermediate and secondary 

students in public schools in Jeddah/KSA. The items of the survey were classified 

under three subtitles: The importance of reading comprehension, the barriers that 

face incorporating listening comprehension in the English language classroom 

and suggestions for improving listening comprehension. 

The respondents’ answers to the three categories of the questionnaire 

reflect awareness and maturity towards the importance of listening 

comprehension. Few years ago, listening comprehension was thought to be a 

luxury and decoration in the English language syllabus. Teachers used to skip 

listening thinking that reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar are more 

important (Oxford &Shearin, 2016); (Brown, 2008). Currently with the emergence 

of the communicative approach and language acquisition theories and learner 

centered approach, listening starts to gain more importance in the teaching 

learning process. Respondents to the first category of the survey showed 

unanimous disagreement for the first two items that listening comprehension is 

the least important among other skills or in daily life. Items three to seven about 

the importance of listening in language acquisition, in IELTS and TOEFL; in 

addition to job interview and the importance of listening for speaking witnessed 

good percentages of agreement among respondents. This is justified by the 

students’ awareness of the need to communicate with other nationalities as 

Jeddah is a cosmopolitan city as well the new challenges in finding a job and 

work requirements. 

The findings related to the second question with regard to the barriers 

against including listening in the English language classroom showed that 

respondents were confused in nearly all items. This shows that students don’t 

know that these barriers are justified or not or who is responsible of these 

obstacles.  They also agreed that lack of experience, training, and logistics; in 

addition to not taking listening comprehension seriously are possible reasons 

behind ignoring listening. Teachers go to the field directly after graduation and 

don’t take training seriously although the Ministry of Education dedicates a big 

budget for training and improvement. 

Suggestions for a better listening comprehension at schools received 

contradicting results from respondents. Giving more weight to English language, 

more attention by supervisors, increasing awareness about the importance of the 

listening comprehension skill, practice outside the classroom and incorporating 



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
83 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

listening in English language tests gain unanimous agreement by respondents 

ranging from 60% to 88%. This means that students feel the responsibility toward 

listening comprehension and welcome any suggestion to improve this skill which 

is encouraging as students are a very important component in the teaching/ 

learning process. What shows students’ maturity and credibility is their little 

enthusiasm to allowing only native speakers to teach English listening 

comprehension at public schools and sending students to English speaking 

countries to improve their listening comprehension. 

Surprisingly, everybody feels the importance of Listening comprehension 

and how urgent it is to be competent as it is now one of the preconditions for any 

job, nevertheless, the key performance indicators for the school stage are still 

below expectations. This calls for transforming this enthusiasm into action 

through motivating students and teachers to stop ignoring listening 

comprehension and to consider it as important as other skills. Supervisors play 

an important role in this context through their follow up and intensive care.  Their 

visits to schools should be welcomed and looked at as instant help and a seat belt 

to save listening from extinction. 
 

CONCLUSION  

This study investigated three major questions related to listening 

comprehension with regard to the importance of listening, the barriers against 

incorporation listening comprehension in the English language classroom and 

suggestions for better listening comprehension. The respondents’ answers to the 

survey showed clear understanding of the three questions and enough 

enthusiasm that listening should be given more attention from all the people 

concerned (students, teachers, parents, and the Ministry of Education). It is worth 

mentioning that the Ministry of Education is doing its best with regard to logistics 

and audio devices, but the output is still below expectations. Accordingly, 

someone or some area should sound the alarm to highlight listening 

comprehension and motivate teachers, students, and supervisors to facilitate 

teaching listening at public schools. The study is limited by the small sample size 

and the data collection tools; observation might be the right tool for this study to 

know exactly what is going on in the classrooms and how teachers and students 

deal with the listening tasks. 

More research should be conducted about teaching oral skills (listening 

and speaking) as they are the most ignored in public schools. Supervisors should 

reconsider their school visits agenda to include monitoring oral skills. Knowing 

that students are test oriented, teachers should include listening comprehension 

in any English language test. Furthermore, curricula designers should provide 



Listening Comprehension Skill: The Forgotten Skill in The Saudi Classrooms (Salameh Saleem Mahmoud, et al.) 

 
84 ELTALL : English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, Vol. 5 No. 1 (2024) 

 

listening compression context that is appealing and motivating for students and 

teachers as well. 

 

REFERENCES  

Al-Homoud, F. (2009). Cultural and educational obstacles to effective listening in 

Saudi EFL classrooms. Journal of King Saud University, 21(2), 127-141. 

Al-Seghayer, K. (2011). English Teaching in Saudi Arabia: Status, Issues, and 

Challenges. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Hala Print CO. 

Brown, T. (2008). Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review, 86, 84-92. 

Retrieved from 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5248069_Design_Thinking 

Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second 

language    

                  learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 

Goh, C. (2008). Metacognitive instruction for second language listening 

development: Theory, practice and research implications. Regional  

Language Centre Journal, 39(2), 188-213. 

Goh, C., & Taib, Y. (2006). Metacognitive instruction in listening for young 

learners. ELT Journal, 60(3), 222-232. 

Hatim, B., & Al-Johani, M. A. (2012). The effects of instructional approaches on 

students' listening comprehension in an Arabic as a foreign language 

classroom. International Journal of Instruction, 6(2), 148-163. 

Krashen, S. D. (2003). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. 

Oxford University Press. 

Nicolás, M. J., & Placencia, M. (2017). The role of listening in second language 

acquisition. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(1), 35-46. 

Obeidat, F. (2022). An Evaluation of the Tawjihi English Language Test at Two  

Secondary Schools in Jordan. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of 

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 

Oxford, R. L., & Shearin, J. D. (2016). Second language acquisition and teaching. 

Routledge. 

Rost, M. (2014). Listening in a multilingual world: The challenges of second 

language (L2) listening. International Journal of Listening, 28(3), 131–148. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2014.93789 

Vandergrift, L., & Goh, C. (2012). Teaching and Learning Second Language 

Listening: Metacognition in Action. New York: Routledge. 

 

 
 
 


