Developing bottom-up and top-down strategies for accelerating efl students’ listening skill at Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang

This study aims at developing EFL listening materials through Bottom-up and Top-down strategies for the fourth semester students of Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang taking Listening III. Based on the background of the study, the problem is on the limitation of the effective listening instructional materials for the fourth semester students taking Listening III. To overcome this problem, the listening materials through Bottom-up and Top-down strategies have to be developed. For this purpose, the problem of this study could be stated as follows: What listening materials using Bottom-up and Top-down strategies are appropriate for the fourth semester students of Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang taking Listening III? For the research is intended to develop and produce listening materials for the fourth semester students taking Listening III, the appropriate design of the study is research and development (R&D). It starts from administering needs survey, in order to get the actual needs of the learners and teachers and to achieve as practical and effective materials as possible. The second stage is developing listening materials. The third stage is done concerning the draft product. The product is developed to meet specific needs and according to detailed specifications. The result of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) the stages of the development of the listening materials were based on the Hyland‟s materials development model (2003) which was adapted into the stages employed in this study i.e. needs survey, developing the materials, experts and lecturers validation, revision, try out of the materials, revision, and final product; (2) the product is in the form of printed materials, a students‟ worksheet, and a lecturer‟s guide; (3) the product consists of 7 units for semester four i.e. INTRODUCTION: How to Learn Listening Materials; Strategies for Developing Listening Skills; Integrating Metacognitive Strategies; Using Authentic Materials and Situations; Developing Listening Activities; Using Textbook Listening Activities; Assessing Listening Proficiency: TOEFL & IELTS. (4) the criteria of selecting materials were based on the Standard of Content and the criteria proposed by Underwood (1993b) i.e. language, content, style of delivery, length, attractiveness, practicality, level of difficulty and effectiveness. (5) the materials are appropriate for the students since they are relevant to the students‟ need, interest, and level of students‟ English ability; (6) the listening activities can improve the students‟ motivation to learn English. The result of study has driven the teacher-researcher to conduct research on developing EFL listening materials through Bottom-up and Top-down Strategies that aims at improving as well as accelerating listening comprehension skills of fourth semester students of English Department in Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang