<![CDATA[This study aimed to determine whether there was a significant difference in the listening skills of eleventh grade students at SMAN 1 Malinau, which used the 2013 Curriculum, compared to those at SMAN 3 Malinau, which adopted the Merdeka Curriculum. A causal-comparative research design was employed, with a sample size of 100 students selected using a purposive sampling technique. The research instruments included listening tests and interviews, in which the listening test questions were adapted from Collins' TOEIC listening skills. Due to the non-normal distribution of the data, the Mann-Whitney test was utilized to determine the differences between the groups. The results revealed a significant difference in the listening skills between the two groups. The mean score for students at SMAN 1 Malinau, which implemented the 2013 Curriculum, was 241, placing them at the B1 Intermediate level according to the CEFR levels. In contrast, students at SMAN 3 Malinau, who learned English under the Merdeka Curriculum, had a mean score of 185.4, also within the B1 Intermediate level but notably lower. The Mann-Whitney test results showed a p value of 0.001, which was less than the significance level of 0.05, indicating a statistically significant difference. Furthermore, the effect size was calculated at 0.3339, indicating a medium level difference between the groups. This disparity in listening skills could be attributed to differences in the learning systems, with the 2013 Curriculum being more systematic, compared to the Merdeka Curriculum being more flexible. Keywords: Listening, Listening Skills, The 2013 Curriculum, The Merdeka Curriculum]]>
