Sources of listening anxiety in learning English as a foreign language.

Full Abstract

In this study of college students' listening anxiety in learning English in a classroom context, participants were 160 students (47 men and 113 women) ages 18 to 19 years. To address their listening anxiety, participants were chosen from students enrolling in a required listening course. A listening questionnaire was used to assess learners' anxiety about spoken English, its intensity, and the main sources of listening anxiety. Overall, participants showed moderately high intensity of anxiety in listening to spoken English, but were more anxious in testing than in general situations. In contrast to previous research on the nature of spoken English as the main source of listening anxiety, this study found that low confidence in comprehending spoken English, taking English listening courses as a requirement, and worrying about test difficulty were the three main factors contributing to participants' listening anxiety in a classroom context. Participants' learning profiles both in the classroom and outside the class yielded data which provides suggestions for reducing anxiety.

Author information

Author/s: Chang, Anna Ching-Shyang (AC);

Affiliation: Department of Applied English, Hsing-Wu College, Taipei, Taiwan. annaccc50(-atsign-)hotmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Perceptual and motor skills (Percept Mot Skills), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Feb; vol 106 (issue 1) : pp 21-34

Dates: Created 2008/05/07; Completed 2008/06/11;

PMID: 18459352, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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