Investigating Students’ and Teacher’ Perspectives about the Impact of Listening Anxiety on Listening Comprehension

Abstract

Developing listening comprehension among learners of English as a foreign language is challenging, especially when they experience foreign language listening anxiety. This study investigates students’ and teachers’ perspectives about the impact of listening anxiety on listening comprehension. The main questions guiding this research have to do with: (1) the factors that contribute to students’ listening anxiety (2) the extent to which listening anxiety affects students’ listening comprehension (3) the strategies that EFL students and teachers use to cope with anxiety. In an attempt to answer these questions, a mixed method was employed. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 70 first-year EFL students who were randomly selected, and a structured interview was conducted with the three first-year Oral Expression teachers at Mila University. The research findings reveal that listening anxiety is prevalent among the students and it is triggered by multiple factors. It negatively affects students’ listening comprehension. Both students and teachers use specific strategies to cope with this issue. Eventually, this study provides practical recommendations to help reduce listening anxiety among first-year EFL students, and improve their listening comprehension performance.