Investigating Teachers' Strategies in Incorporating Culturally Familiar Tasks to Enhance EFL Learners' Inferential Listening Skills: The Case of Middle School EFL Teachers and Learners at Berraian – Ghardaia Province

Abstract

In the English as a Foreign Language(EFL) classroom, teachers play an important role in selecting and adapting instructional strategies that make learning more reachable and meaningful for learners. The purpose of this study is to investigate the strategies implemented by middle school EFL teachers atOulad Taher Ahmed Ben Babia, Abou El Yakadan, MetalagMetalag inBaraiane,Ghardaia province to integrate culturally familiar tasks that enhancelearners’ inferential listening skills in their classrooms. The research emphasizes the importance of learners' cultural background in facilitating comprehension and promoting critical thinking while listening when promoted by teachers through segments of the local culture. To achieve this, a qualitative and an exploratory approach was adopted, employing thirteen classroom non-participant observation sessions, semi-structured interviews with five teachers, and focus groups with eighteen students to obtain rich data.The findings expose that teachers use a variety of strategies such as including listening texts within familiar cultural settings and activating prior knowledge through pre-listening activities. These activitieshave a great impact in improving learners’ ability to interpret implied meaning and draw clear feedback and logical conclusions.However, the study highlights several challenges ranging from limited culturally relevant materials to diverse learners' backgrounds. The study, then, concludes with necessary recommendationsfor the teachers to get sufficient training to incorporate these strategies carefully. It also demonstrates the significance of integrating culturally familiar tasks and its pivotal role in promoting learners' inferential listening skills.