Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Listening Anxiety of Jordanian Students Majoring in English Language at Jerash University
Research on second and foreign language acquisition reveals that both cognitive and affective factors have a significant effect on the listening process and strategies employed by students as well as the outcome of their listening. Among the affective and cognitive factors that have played a crucial role in terms of listening is the listening anxiety. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how listening anxiety affects the listening process of EFL students at Jerash University in Jordan. 60 Jordanian undergraduates majoring in English language from Jerash University took part in this research. The research methodology was based on a qualitative as well as quantitative approach. The findings of the study revealed that 43 of them experienced a high level of listening anxiety. The Qualitative findings from the interviews with students corroborate the findings generated from the quantitative part of the study. The findings of this study not only support current opinion regarding the state of EFL teaching in Jordan, but more pertinently, it highlights the fact that remedial action needs to be taken to address the inherent failure of the educationists to produce proficient listeners of English among Jordanian graduates. One way of doing so would be to use the findings of this study to look into the possibility of teaching EFL in a holistic and integrative manner. Finally, this study suggests further research to be conducted based on its findings.