How Do High and Low Anxious FL Listeners Employ FL Listening Comprehension Strategies? Exploring Student Perspectives

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 90 - 108, 30.11.2017

Gizem Berber Safiye İpek Gönen

Abstract

There has
been a growing body of research on the relationship between foreign language
(FL) listening anxiety and FL listening comprehension strategy use; however,
how these strategies are employed by learners with different listening anxiety
levels is an area open to investigation. Based on such need, this study aimed
at exploring FL listening comprehension strategies used by high and low anxious
FL listeners in a Turkish EFL context. For this purpose, 15 high anxious and 13
low anxious listeners at a Turkish university kept reflective journals for five
weeks and participated in semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data were
analyzed according to the steps of Content Analysis. Findings revealed that
both high and low anxious students employed various listening strategies, i.e.,
cognitive and metacognitive strategies, while listening in the target language.
However, high and low anxious listeners differed in the ways they implemented
some of the specific strategies such as note-taking, translation, directed
attention, and real time assessment The results of the study proposed
implications for FL listening comprehension strategy use and strategy training
in relation with FL listening anxiety.

Keywords

FL lis tening comprehension, FL listening anxiety, FL listening comprehension strategies

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