A Study On The Relationship Between English Listening Anxiety,English Listening Strategies,and English Listening Proficiency Of Senior High School Students

Listening plays an important role in foreign language learning and daily communication,but the characteristics of listening comprehension have led some English learners to have listening anxiety.The English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools(2017 Edition,2020 Revision)proposes to pay attention to students’ affective attitudes and values and also puts forward higher requirements for senior high school students’ English listening learning strategies.An empirical study of English listening anxiety and listening strategies will not only provide a reference for English teachers to explore the diversity of English listening teaching from the perspective of students’ emotion and cognition but also enrich the empirical research data in the field of senior high school English listening teaching.Based on the above research background,this thesis aims to explore the relationship between English listening anxiety,English listening strategies,and English listening proficiency of senior high school students with Krashen’ s affective filter hypothesis(1982)and Anderson’ s theory of listening comprehension process(1985)as the theoretical basis.Specifically,the following five research questions are answered.(1)What is the general situation of English listening proficiency,English listening anxiety,and English listening strategies of senior high school students?(2)Are there any differences in English listening anxiety level relating to grade,gender,and English listening proficiency?(3)Are there any differences in English listening strategies relating to grade,gender,and English listening proficiency?(4)What are the inter-relationships between English listening anxiety,English listening strategies,and English listening proficiency?(5)How do English listening anxiety and listening strategies affect subjects’ English listening proficiency? What are their significant predictors and extent?In this study,464 students of one senior high school in Kunming,Yunnan Province,were investigated by questionnaires and 7 of them were interviewed.The specific research instruments were personal information questionnaire,English listening anxiety scale,English listening strategies questionnaire,English listening term test,and interview questions.The relevant quantitative data were compiled and analyzed by SPSS 26.0,and specific methods are descriptive statistics analysis,independent sample T-test analysis,one-way ANOVA,correlation analysis,and multiple linear regression analysis;while the interview data were analyzed by content analysis by Word 2019.The results showed that:(1)Most of the students have medium or even low English listening proficiency,and have middle level of English listening anxiety.Among the four categories of listening anxiety factors,the anxiety degree of being short of listening skills is the highest,being lack of listening confidence is the lowest.The listening strategies used by students is in the middle frequent level,with cognitive strategies being used most frequently,followed by meta-cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies.(2)The overall listening anxiety level do not have significant difference in the grade variables,but there are differences in two English listening anxiety factors in grade variables: being lack of listening confidence and being worried about listening results.Grade 1 students have higher anxiety of being lack of listening confidence than grade 2 students,and grade 2 students have higher anxiety of being worried about listening results than grade 1 students.There is no significant difference in gender variables between the overall listening anxiety level and the four listening anxiety factors.The overall listening anxiety level is different between high and low listening proficiency,and the listening anxiety of being lack of listening confidence is different in three English listening proficiency.Specifically,students with low listening proficiency are more likely to feel listening anxiety and lack of listening confidence than students with high listening proficiency.(3)There are differences in the frequency of overall listening strategies use and the frequency of the three listening strategies factors in grade variables and listening proficiency variables.Grade 2 students use listening strategies more frequently than grade 1 students,and students with high listening proficiency use listening strategies more frequently than students with medium or low listening proficiency.There are differences in the frequency of overall listening strategies use and the frequency of meta-cognitive strategies use in gender variables.Female students use overall English listening strategies and meta-cognitive strategies more frequently than male students.(4)Overall listening anxiety level,being lack of listening confidence anxiety and being short of listening skills anxiety have significant negative correlations with overall listening proficiency,while being afraid of listening process anxiety and being worried about listening results anxiety do not have significant correlation with overall listening proficiency.The overall listening anxiety level and the four categories of listening anxiety factors have different correlation with different listening proficiency.In addition,the overall listening strategies and the three listening strategies factors are significantly and positively correlated with overall listening proficiency.The overall listening strategies using frequency and the three categories of listening strategies factors have different correlation with different listening proficiency.Finally,there is no significant correlation between the overall listening anxiety level and the frequency of using overall listening strategies,and the three listening strategies factors show a significant negative correlation with the being lack of listening confidence anxiety factor and a significant positive correlation with the other three listening anxiety factors.(5)The four categories of listening anxiety factors can predict 11.8% of listening proficiency,the three-category listening strategies factors can predict 21.7% of listening proficiency,overall listening anxiety level and overall listening strategies use frequency can jointly predict 24% of listening proficiency.To sum up,senior high school English teachers should pay attention to the listening anxiety and the use of different listening strategies according to students’ differences in some variables(grade,gender,listening proficiency).English teachers could dynamically adjust the teaching contents and teaching methods based on the analysis and guidance of students with different personal characteristics and listening characteristics,help students develop a positive view of English listening learning,and help students learn to use listening strategies flexibly.Senior high school students should also learn to regulate and evaluate their listening learning situation and organize listening activities before,during,and after listening.