چكيده
This quasi-experimental study was designed based on the theory of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which puts forth the idea that collaborative learning is more effective than that of individual learning. The main objective was to compare the effects of two types of note-taking (i.e., individual vs. collaborative) on listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. The initial population of the study was 140 EFL Iranian learners at intermediate level of proficiency who were learning English at Ardam language Institute in Naqadeh, Iran. The participants were adult intermediate EFL learners who mostly spoke Azari Turkish as their first language. Nelson language test was used and administered to 140 participants. Considering the results and the distribution of the scores (+/-1 SD), 90 participants were selected as intermediate ones. These participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups (individual note taking group vs. collaborative note taking group). The groups were given the PET listening test as homogeneity/pretest. In the collaborative group, the participants formed groups of 2 learners and were asked to take notes while listening collaboratively, whereas in the individual note taking, the learners took note individually. Comparing the listening scores of the participants at the posttest through one-Way ANCOVA after 17 sessions revealed that both forms of note taking affected listening comprehension; however, collaborative note-taking was more effective. It is noteworthy that, due to the attrition effect, 53 students took the posttest and constituted the data of the study (i,e., 27 students in the Collaborative Note-taking group and 26 in the Individual Note-taking group). This study has pedagogical implications for policy makers, language teaching methodologist, language teachers, and language learners.
Key words: listening comprehension - individual note taking - collaborative note taking
