A Study On The Correlation Among English Listening Anxiety,English Listening Strategies And English Listening Performance For Junior High And Senior High School Students In Yunnan Ethnic Minority Areas

In the 1970 s,the focus in the classroom turns from how to teach into how to learn.Thus the studies about learners’ English listening anxiety came up in Europe.And studies in China began in the beginning of 21 st century.English listening strategies emerged in the 1990 s in western countries.Studies in China started in the beginning of 21 st century.For a long time,few studies have paid attention to English listening anxiety and the using of English listening strategies of junior high and senior high school students,especially in Yunnan ethnic minority areas,both theoretically and practically.In response to this case,referring to domestic and foreign research concerned,this thesis aims to investigate the current situation of junior high and senior high school students’ English listening anxiety and the using of English listening strategies in Yunnan ethnic minority areas,explore and analyze the problems existing,and propose some suggestions and countermeasures.This paper used a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis research methods,collected quantitative data through paper questionnaire surveys,and used phone call semi-structured interviews as the data for qualitative analysis.406 junior high and senior high school students from three ethnic minority prefectures in Yunnan Province filled out the questionnaire.This study adopted SPSS 22.0 and conducted frequency,descriptive analysis,correlation,regression,independent t-test and One-Way ANOVA analysis.At the same time,12 students were interviewed,and the interview data were treated through meaning unit and content analysis.Through the analysis of the questionnaire data,the following conclusions of junior high and senior high school students have been drawn:(1)Their English listening anxiety was moderate.(2)They sometimes used listening strategies.(3)There was a significant difference in English listening anxiety between high English listening performance learners and low English listening performance learners.There was also a significant difference in English listening anxiety between high English listening performance learners and medium English listening performance learners.Lower English listening performance learners had more English listening anxiety,and they were more negatively affected by English listening anxiety.Secondly,as for English listening strategies,a significant difference was spotted between high English listening performance learners and low English listening performance learners,and also between high English listening performance learners and medium English listening performance learners.High English listening performance learners used English listening strategies more frequently.Besides,ethnic minority students used cognitive strategies more frequently than Han students.(4)There was a significant,negative but weak correlation between their English listening anxiety and English listening performance and there was a significant,positive and weak correlation between their using of English listening strategies and English listening performance.English listening anxiety and English listening strategies were the important predictors of the subjects’ English listening performance.The results of the interview show that the junior high and senior high school students:(1)Their English listening anxiety was moderate;(2)They used English listening strategies sometimes,and mainly cognitive strategies;(3)They did not have enough knowledge of English listening strategies and awareness of using them in different situations.Besides,inadequate knowledge of English pronunciation rules and vocabulary might be problems to them as well.Based on quantitative and qualitative research and analysis,this thesis proposes the following countermeasures for English listening anxiety and the using of English listening strategies:(1)Teachers should cover more pronunciation knowledge,and help students to get familiar with pronunciation rules.Besides,mispronunciation corrected on time is also significant.Other than that,students should try to listen to native speakers’ speaking materials.(2)Teachers should try more teaching methods to ease,even relieve students’ English listening anxiety and raise their awareness of using listening strategies.What’s more,teachers should explain how to use English listening strategies more during class.