Comparing the Effects of Short-Term Vocabulary Preparation on IELTS Listening Part 4 Performance and Learner Confidence

English Teaching

In EFL pedagogy, pre-task vocabulary preparation is frequently recommended as a practical strategy to support listening comprehension. Yet a fundamental practical question remains unresolved: does the timing of short-term vocabulary preparation matter when the available study window is brief? This study directly compares two common classroom preparation conditions: same-day preparation (one day in advance; Group A, n = 26) and just-in-time preparation (30 minutes in class; Group B, n = 30) with the participating of Vietnamese third-year English-major students completing IELTS Listening Part 4. Using independent-samples t-tests, the study analyses between-group differences across six perceived listening difficulty items, four confidence items, and five pre-listening strategy items, all measured through a post-test questionnaire. The data reveal that the two preparation conditions produced largely equivalent outcomes: no statistically significant differences were found for perceived difficulty, confidence, or strategy use on the majority of items. Critically, both groups reported very low perceived test performance (0% Agree on self-rated success), confirming that neither short-term condition was sufficient to produce confident listening outcomes. Students' expressed preferences for longer preparation (Group A preferred 3 days; Group B preferred 1 hour) further indicate that both groups recognised the inadequacy of their allocated preparation time. These findings have direct implications for classroom practitioners deciding how to allocate vocabulary preparation time before IELTS Listening Part 4 tasks.

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