Abstract
Learning English as a foreign language can pose a myriad of challenges to the learners – either visual, aural, mental or even psychological. As a non-native speaker of a language, comprehending let alone participating in real-time communication in the target language can be a daunting task. Connected speech as manifested in overall utterances of sentences can create anxiety to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners – for the basic reason being oral and written speech are not the same in actual communication. What is heard and understood carries the brunt of challenges looming over EFL learners. Listening comprehension of connected speech can be considered as one of the most significant challenges that Libyan EFL learners encounter in their journey to acquiring English. This study aims to examine the effects of an explicit instruction in English connected speech on the comprehensive abilities of Libyan EFL learners. In examining this phenomenon, 84 male and female EFL Libyan learners aged 19 to 21 were sampled and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Learners in the experimental group were exposed to explicit instruction of connected speech features for one term (12 weeks). A listening comprehension test was given before and after the experimental group was exposed to explicit instruction to determine whether it helped in improving the learners’ abilities in comprehending connected speech. The results of the present study revealed that explicit instruction significantly improved the learners’ listening comprehension ability of connected speech. The findings of the present study could be useful for teachers and practitioners who would like to venture into new techniques and methods in teaching connected speech processes to improve learners' listening comprehension skills.