VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ THU HUYỀN STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LISTENING ANXIETY: CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS (Lo lắng sinh viên học nghe: nguyên nhân giải pháp) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Course: K17 Supervisor: LÊ VĂN CANH Hanoi, 2010 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Declaration ii Abstract iii List of tables iv Table of contents v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Research Justification Purpose of the Study Research Questions Significance of the Study Scope of the Study Structure of the Thesis PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Overview of Anxiety 4 1.1 Definition and Types of Anxiety 1.2 Foreign Language Anxiety 1.3 Components of Foreign Language Anxiety 1.3.1 Communication Apprehension: 1.3.2 Test Anxiety 1.3.3 Fear of Negative Evaluation Overview of Listening Comprehension 2.1 Definition of Listening Comprehension 2.2 Significance of Listening Comprehension 2.3 The Listening Comprehension Process: 2.3.1 Two Levels View: Bottom-up and Top-down Processing 2.3.2 A Sequential Process of Listening Listening Anxiety 10 3.1 Related Studies of Language Anxiety in Listening Skill 10 3.2 Causes of Listening Anxiety 10 3.2.1 Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Text Factors 12 a) Complexity and Difficulty of the Lexis and Syntax 13 b) Uninterested or Unfamiliar Topic 13 c) Visual Support 13 vi 3.2.2 Listening Anxiety associated with Speakers factors 13 a) Fast Speech Rate 14 b) Phonological Modifications 14 c) Unfamiliar Accents 14 d) Hesitation and Pause Phenomena (usually grouped together) 15 3.2.3 Listening Anxiety associated with Listener Factors 15 a) Limited Vocabulary 16 b) Memory 16 c) Background knowledge 16 d) Application of Strategies 16 3.2.4 Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Environment 3.3 Instructional Approaches for Listening Anxiety Reduction CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 17 17 17 Participants 19 Data Gathering Instruments 19 Procedures 19 Techniques of Data Analysis 19 Data Analysis and Findings 20 5.1 Students’ Attitudes toward Listening Skills 20 5.2 Students’ General Listening Anxiety 21 a) Students’ feelings about their listening skills 21 b) Reasons for their feelings about listening skills 22 5.3 Listening anxiety associated with each listening factors 23 5.3.1 Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Text factors 23 5.3.2 Listening Anxiety associated with Speakers factors 25 5.3.3 Listening Anxiety associated with Listeners factors 27 5.3.4 Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Environment 29 PART C: CONCLUSION 31 Summary of the findings 31 Suggestions for classroom practice 34 2.1 Solutions related to Listening Text 34 2.2 Solutions related to Speakers 35 2.3 Solutions related to Listeners 36 2.4 Solutions related to Listening Environment 39 Limitations and suggestions for further research 39 vii REFERENCES 40 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 43 Appendix 2: Informal Interview 46 iv LIST OF TABLES Tables Titles Pages Table Students’ attitudes toward listening skills 20 Table Students’ feelings about their listening skills 21 Table Reasons for their feelings about listening skills 22 Table Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Text Factors 23 Table Listening Anxiety associated with Speakers Factors 25 Table Listening Anxiety associated with Listeners Factors 28 Table Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Environment 30 PART A: INTRODUCTION Research Justification  Listening was taught, but very little at secondary school I didn’t pay attention to listening, but grammar because there’s no listening in University Entrance Examination However, listening is one of main major subjects at the university, thus I feel very worried while learning it (S12)  I feel nervous in listening classes I forget what I’ve heard (S19)  I listen very badly (S5)  I get nervous in listening class because I cannot completely comprehend.(21)  I am really disappointed with my English ability…(S30) (Quoted from the interview of this study) Teachers and researchers of foreign language are too familiar with statements like the ones above, which indicate a common problem that the majority of foreign language students are faced with It is well recognised that foreign language anxiety is a rather pervasive phenomenon (Aida, 1994) Although language anxiety could be considered as facilitating anxiety that motivates learners, many language teachers and researchers have been concerned about the possibility that anxiety may function as an affective filter (Krashen, 1982), preventing a learner from achieving a high level of proficiency in a foreign language (Scovel 1991) Anxiety should be reduced because anxious students are not able to develop their potential foreign language skills Reducing anxiety is a key to success in foreign or second language learning It ―directly influences how often students use second language learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learned (the target language), how well they on curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain second language skills after language study is over ‖ (Oxford and Shearin, 1996, p.121-122) According to a survey conducted in the author‘s classes of first-year English majors at Hong Duc University, overwhelmingly 83% of the students thought listening was the most difficult skill of the four basic language skills; 100% of them disagreed with the statement ―I am completely satisfied with my current listening ability‖ This showed that learner anxiety in listening is a great concern Hence, it is really valuable to think about the causes of first year English major students at Hong Duc University in listening class and at the same time the ways to minimize the harmful effect, so that the teaching and learning can be more effective and fruitful especially for those anxious learners This is my motivation in conducting this study Purpose of the Study The major purpose of the research is to find out why the first year English major students at Hong Duc University feel anxious or embarrassed while listening to English In other words, this study seeks to identify the factors or causes that make students stressful and nervous while listening to English in the language classroom setting This includes considering the factors that originate from listening text, listeners, speakers, and listening environment The second most important aim of this study is to find out and suggest some solutions in order to alleviate English listening anxiety in the students Research Questions The research is carried out with an attempt to address the following research questions:  What are the possible causes that make the first-year English major students at Hong Duc University anxious and nervous while listening to English?  What are possible solutions that may reduce listening anxiety of the students? Significance of the Study Foreign language anxiety is a universal phenomenon that has a significant factor adversely affecting the language learning process This study could be of considerable interest to teachers and students at Hong Duc University: (1) to improve the teachers‘ theoretical understanding of foreign language anxiety, especially causes of listening anxiety; (2) to enhance the students‘ awareness of causes of listening anxiety they encounter in foreign language, and from this they can manage their anxiety level in other language skills This study is also significant with respect to the understanding of the students‘ anxiety and the causes of that anxiety, thereby solutions can be suggested to help learners reduce their listening anxiety Hopefully, all given solutions will be more motivating for the students to learn and make progress in listening 1.5 Scope of the Study A study of the students‘ listening anxiety is such a broad issue investigated by many authors However, in my study, I will focus on the students‘ listening anxiety – its causes and solutions: A study of the first year English majors in the Department of Foreign Language, Hong Duc University, Thanh Hoa 1.6 Structure of the Thesis The thesis is divided into three parts: Part is the introduction, which presents the research justification, the purpose, the research questions, scope and the structure of the thesis Part is the development which includes two chapters Chapter one review the literature in terms of foreign language anxiety in general and listening anxiety in particular Chapter two presents the study Part is the conclusion which presents a summary of the study and concluding comments derived from the findings of the study It also discusses the limitation of the study and suggestions for further research Finally, some solutions to reduce listening anxiety are suggested PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW The main aim of this chapter is to review the literature on second language anxiety in general and listening anxiety in particular The chapter starts with a literature review on anxiety This is followed by an overview of listening comprehension The end of the chapter is a discussion of listening comprehension anxiety Overview of Anxiety 1.1 Definition and Types of Anxiety ―Anxiety is a psychological construct, commonly described by psychologists as a state of apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated with an object‖ (Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971 cited in Scovel, 1991: 18) In another definition, Scovel (1978: 134) suggests that anxiety is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension, or worry Spielberger (1983), as cited in Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B, and Cope, J (1986: 125), defines anxiety as ―the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system‖ According to many psychologists, anxiety can be experienced at three perspectives The first one is trait anxiety, which is defined as an individual‘s likelihood of becoming anxious in any situation (Spielberger,1983 cited in MacIntyre et al 1991, p.87) Some people are generally anxious about many things in a number of different situations Therefore, state anxiety is viewed as ―a steady personality feature‖ (Brown, 2007) Its negative effects are thought to ―impair cognitive functioning, to disrupt memory, to lead to avoidance behaviors, and to have several other effects‖ (Eysenck,1979, in MacIntyre et al 1991: 87) The second perspective is state anxiety which is ―interested in the here-and-now experience of anxiety as an emotional state‖ (MacIntyre et al 1991, p.87) State anxiety is an apprehension experienced at a particular moment in time, for example, prior to taking examinations (Spielberger, 1983, cited in MacIntyre et al 1991, p.90) Finally, situation-specific anxiety is related to apprehension unique to specific situations and events such as public speaking, examinations, or class participation (Ellis, 1994:480) The last one seems likely to be more closely related to attempts to learn a foreign language and communicate in it 1.2 Foreign Language Anxiety Research on the affective factors in second language acquisition has been mounting steadily for a number of decades because students are ―physical and cognitive, but primarily emotional, being‖ (Rogers, cited in Brown, 2007: 97) ―Among the affective factors influencing language learning, anxiety ranks high‖ (Arnold, 1999: 59) The construct of anxiety has been recognized as one of the most important predictors of foreign language performance Foreign language anxiety is a universal phenomenon that has a significant factor adversely affecting the language learning process Gardner & MacIntyre (1993, cited in Arnold 1999:59) refer to language anxiety as ―fear or apprehension occurring when a learner is expected to perform in the second or foreign language." Scholars have studied anxiety and its effect on foreign language learning for many years However, ―for all the work conducted in this area, many fundamental questions remain unanswered‖ (Speilmann & Radnofsky, 2001) ―Teachers have long been aware of the fact that many of their students experience discomfort in the course of language learning [yet] researchers have been unable to establish a clear picture of how anxiety affects language learning and performance (Horwitz and Young, 1991, p xiii) Alpert and Haber (1966) determined that anxiety could have a beneficial or facilitative effect on student performance (as cited in Elkhafaifi, 2005, p.208) In 1977, , Kleinmmann‘s (cited in Aida, 1994) study of Spanish-speaking and Arabic-speaking ESL students found that facilitating anxiety was correlated with students‘ oral production of linguistically difficult (thus challenging) English structures (e.g., infinitive complements and passive sentences) However, there was no evidence that debilitating anxiety negatively influenced oral performance Spielmann and Radnofsky (2001) concluded that anxiety has a detrimental effect on language acquisition Horwitz (2001) reiterated that the issue of understanding the relationship between anxiety and achievement is unresolved Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B, and Cope, J (1986) conceptualize foreign language anxiety as ‗a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning processes‖ (p.128) 1.3 Components of Foreign Language Anxiety Horwitz et al (1986) integrated three related anxieties to their conceptualization of foreign language anxiety: communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation This conceptualization lay the foundations for the concept of second/ foreign language anxiety, providing an insight to comprehend the sources or causes it can originate from ... Bottom-up and Top-down Processing 2.3.2 A Sequential Process of Listening Listening Anxiety 10 3.1 Related Studies of Language Anxiety in Listening Skill 10 3.2 Causes of Listening Anxiety 10 3.2.1 Listening. .. feelings about listening skills 22 5.3 Listening anxiety associated with each listening factors 23 5.3.1 Listening Anxiety associated with Listening Text factors 23 5.3.2 Listening Anxiety associated... understanding of foreign language anxiety, especially causes of listening anxiety; (2) to enhance the students‘ awareness of causes of listening anxiety they encounter in foreign language, and from