| Since the 1960s, language researchers have come to realize that anxiety is also one of the important affective variables in second language acquisition, and it has different functions in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Since listening information involves serious time and constrains on processing, the listeners should be able to respond instantaneously. But in the past years, Chinese junior middle schools have paid more attention to reading and grammar than speaking and listening in English teaching. What's more, the training of students'English listening and speaking abilities has even been neglected to some extent. As a result, many students are weak at listening and fail to comprehend what they listen to easily. The conflict between the two causes common high-anxiety during the process of listening comprehension, which frustrates the students a lot. On the basis of the previous related study on anxiety and English teaching, this study attempts to investigate empirically and systematically the English listening anxiety among junior middle school students. The participants selected for this study are from junior middle school. With the help of questionnaires and interview, the present research has found that students in junior middle school did experience listening anxiety in English class. The correlation between listening anxiety and listening comprehension is negative. After finding the problems of students in English listening, this study tries to analyze the sources of listening anxiety and according to the questionnaire, we found the main reasons are:lack of basic English knowledge and background knowledge, lack of confidence and listening strategies as well as teachers'improper attitude and teaching methods.On the basis of this, a few teaching methods concerning reducing language anxiety have come into being and been proved effective, such as visualization-relaxation technique, improvement of teaching techniques. |
PDF Full Text Request