Enhancing Argumentative Skills through Active Listening: An Experimental Study of Postgraduate English Students

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of active listening on the development of oral argumentative skills among postgraduate English students at COMSATS University, Islamabad. A cohort of 100 students participated in a structured intervention designed to enhance active listening abilities. Utilizing a pre-test/post-test experimental design, the research assessed improvements in five key dimensions of oral argumentation: organizational structure, coherence, lexical range, grammatical accuracy, and pronunciation. Statistical analysis using ANOVA revealed significant gains across all dimensions, demonstrating that active listening training substantially contributes to learners’ communicative competence—particularly in contexts requiring academic debate and critical discourse. The findings underscore the pedagogical value of integrating active listening strategies into language instruction to foster critical thinking, enhance mutual understanding, and improve the articulation of complex ideas.