Investigating the teacher's challenges in teaching listening skills within mixed-proficiency EFL in Iranian secondary schools

This study explored the challenges faced by English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Iranian secondary schools when teaching listening skills to students with different proficiency levels. The data was gathered using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, and the SPSS software was employed for the analysis. A survey questionnaire was administered to ۳۲ EFL teachers to understand the challenges they experience when teaching listening skills in mixed-proficiency classrooms. The results revealed that student-related challenges, like having students with different English levels in the same class, negatively impact the motivation and progress of weaker students. The study also identified teacher-related challenges, such as teachers lacking specialized knowledge and skills, inadequate resources, and limited time to provide individualized listening support and manage large classes. Another issue was textbook-related challenges; the listening content in the textbooks was found to be unsuitable with mixed proficiency levels for effective listening teaching.Further analysis showed a significant relationship between the teacher-related and textbook-related, emphasizing the importance of having appropriate teaching listening materials and proper teacher training.The qualitative data provided more details on the challenges and potential solutions. The findings indicate that differentiated listening teaching, technology, and collaborative learning methods could help teachers address these challenges. The study also emphasizes the necessity for improved teacher training and more suitable teaching listening materials that can meet the diverse learning needs of students.This study adds to the existing knowledge on teaching listening skills in mixed-proficiency EFL classrooms. The findings have implications for teacher training, curriculum development, and textbook design in Iran, highlighting the importance of tailored approaches to language instruction. More research could explore the efficacy of certain teaching methods and materials in tackling the mentioned challenges.

کلیدواژه ها:

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) ، listening skills ، mixed-proficiency ، teacher challenges