An Empirical Study Of Listening Anxiety For Chinese EFL Postgraduate Students

The author of the present study attempts to carry out an empirical study of the English listening anxiety for Chinese postgraduate of non-English majors, hoping to make contributions to the practical instructions of listening teaching, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in this study. The major purposes of this study include:first, to examine the impact of specific demographic variables across categories of gender, age, and time of learning English on listening anxiety, as well as on foreign language (FL) learning anxiety; second, to study how listening anxiety and FL learning anxiety are correlated by analysis of listening/FL anxieties in the first and second semester during their first academic year; third, to study the correlation between listening anxiety level and listening achievement; fourth, to explore the postgraduates' perspectives on listening anxiety in Chinese context, mainly including the listening anxiety-provoking factors and obstacles, and some anxiety-reducing suggestions.The subjects chosen are 72 first-year postgraduates of non-English majors from 2 classes in Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). The instruments employed are Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al. (1986), Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS) modified by Chen (2005), a series of subjects'self-reports and interviews on listening.The database was established and analyzed with SPSS 13.0. The analysis process was divided into three steps. Firstly, the distribution by age/sex/years of learning English was computed to summarize the FLCAS and FLLAS to test the degree of general FL learning anxiety and listening anxiety. The analysis of variance (F test) and Student's t test (T test) were used to find out whether there was a significant difference. In the second step, the correlations between FLCA and FLLA, and between FLLA and the listening achievement were analyzed to further understand the effect of anxiety on the relative performance. Finally, the self-reports and interviews were then summarized and analyzed to get a further exploration of the postgraduates' perspectives on listening anxiety. The study arrived at the following findings:Firstly, most of the postgraduates were experiencing listening anxiety, as well as FL anxiety. There was no significant difference between males and females, and no significant difference among the four groups according to years of learning English. But the listening anxiety in age group 23 was lower than that in the other age groups, and the FL anxiety in the group of less than 22 years old was higher than that in other age groups.Secondly, the correlations between the listening anxiety and FL anxiety were significantly positive in both of the first and second semester, the postgraduates experienced the anxiety all the year round, and those with higher levels of FL anxiety also tended to have higher levels of listening anxiety.Thirdly, an obvious negative correlations between listening anxiety and the achievement both in the first semester (r=-0.239, P<0.05) and second semester (r=-0.476, P＜0.01) were identified. Meanwhile, the measurement results through the two semesters were still dynamically showing a proximately inverted "U" relation. This "U" relation indicated that listening anxiety and listening achievement, as two of the important variables, could be significantly and flexibly correlated under certain conditions. That is to say that listening anxiety could have negative but potentially positive effect on listener's listening proficiency in some degree. This finding provides some enlightenment and inspiration to fully understand the effects of anxiety in Second/foreign Language Acquisition.Fourthly, the self-reports and interviews revealed that, to some degree, the listening anxiety originated in their previous listening classes before being postgraduates, and intruded into their current study. They also indicated that different levels of listening anxiety were provoked simultaneously and unconsciously as their demand for listening ability further exceeded their actual ability. The most anxiety-provoking factors are related to the improper study habits, the inappropriate instructional method and pedagogical practice, teacher-generated anxiety, the characteristics of listening comprehension/materials etc.Finally, some listening anxiety obstacles or its effects on listening comprehension were investigated, and some pedagogical suggestions were also recommended. The appropriate instruction and encouragement from the teachers should be carried out to get an overall systematic listening course and training such as creating a harmonious atmosphere in listening classes, encouraging and training postgraduates' discourse competence and sociolinguistic competence, etc.Considering the findings in this study, it is suggested that the English teachers should be more aware of the existence of listening anxiety in postgraduates, and of the possibility that listening anxiety is responsible for the students' listening comprehension and performance, while helping students overcome such debilitating emotional experiences and get better listening results in the course of listening teaching and learning.