Kurdish EFL Learners’ Attitudes Towards the Role of Listening Skill in Enhancing their Speaking Skill

This research is an attempt to investigate Kurdish EFL learners’ attitudes in pairing a receptive skill (listening) and a productive skill (speaking). The aim of the paper is to indicate Kurdish EFL learners’ attitudes towards pairing these two skills. It also aims at revealing the attitudes of both genders concerning the relationship between the factors and ways that enhance their listening and speaking skills. The method employed in doing the research is a mixed-method, meaning that both quantitative and qualitative data have been collected via two research instruments: a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The quantitative data have been analyzed using SPSS software (version 26) and the qualitative data have been analyzed using thematic analysis by giving alphanumeric codes to the participants’ quotes and analyzing the themes found in their responses to the questions. The study is significant for both EFL university teachers and students in that several factors behind Kurdish EFL learners’ poor speaking performance have been revealed which can be dealt with for the purpose of solving the problems. The results indicate that Kurdish EFL learners, including both genders, generally make attempts to enhance their listening and speaking skills and become fluent and competent speakers; they use various channels to achieve this goal. One of the conclusions arrived at in the paper is that there exist several barriers negatively affecting Kurdish EFL learners’ speaking performance. In this regard, necessary recommendations have been provided in relation to the issue.