A Survey Study On English Listening Anxiety Of Junior Middle School Students

In recent years,affective factors in language learning have drawn the attention of more and more researchers.Anxiety is one of the most important affective variables that affect learners’ listening comprehension.However,a majority of studies on listening anxiety just focus on senior middle school students or college students with little attention paid to junior middle school students.For junior middle school students,the negative influence of English listening anxiety could not be ignored.This study aims to explore the level of junior middle school students’ EFL listening anxiety in listening classes,the correlation between their EFL listening anxiety level and EFL listening proficiency,and the potential sources of students’ English listening anxiety.A total of 113 Grade Three students from Yucai Junior Middle School participated in this research.Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in the study.The FLLA questionnaire in this study is adapted from the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale created by Kim in 2000.All the data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS 22.0.Four English teachers and fifteen students were selected randomly as the interviewees to provide more in-depth data.The results show that: 1)19.5% of junior middle school students experience high level English listening anxiety,69% of students experience moderate level English listening anxiety and while only 11.5% of students experience low level English listening anxiety.But the difference between male and female students in listening anxiety level is not statistically significant.2)There is a significantly negative correlation between students’ English listening anxiety level and students’ English listening proficiency.The more anxious students feel in the listening process,the lower listening test scores they get.3)The main sources of students’ English listening anxiety include: lack of background knowledge,difficult level of listening materials,lack of listening strategies,listeners’ characteristics and the fear of negative evaluation from teachers and classmates.On the basis of research findings,there are some suggestions provided on how to effectively alleviate junior middle school students’ anxiety level in EFL listening as follows: First of all,helping students to increase their listening background knowledge.Secondly,choosing appropriate listening materials and developing students’ listening strategies.Finally,stimulating students’ intrinsic motivation and confidence in EFL listening and creating a relaxing and facilitative learning environment for them.