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Introduction
English serves different status in different countries. Kachru (1992) in his book The Other Tongue:
English across Culture and Kachru (2005) in his book Asian Englishes Beyond the Canon discussed
countries in which the English language had developed extensively and stated within which group or
circle those countries belonged. English may serve as the first language, the second language, or as a
foreign language. There are five countries speak English as their first language, namely, the United
States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Some countries such as
Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, and India appoint English as the second language. People in
those countries are able to speak English through their colonials. Some ex-British colonials occupied
those countries. Other countries, such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia learn English as a
foreign language. English is learned and taught at schools and universities in those countries.
The trend of globalization has spread and developed English around the world and this provided
unlimited access to many fields such as intercultural understanding as well as entertainment, in
addition to science, ICT, and economic (British Council, 2013). The trend and the dynamic force in
global age have affected English as a Second Language (ESL) or as a Foreign Language (EFL) spread
worldwide. There has been a great demand in English instruction that results in competent English
users both in Western and Asian countries. As English is becoming ‘a global language’ (Crystal,
1997, p. 3), a number of people from various continents are able to speak English nowadays. As the
most popular used language in the world, in various forms, English is estimated spoken by 400
million people as a mother tongue and an additional 2 billion as a second and/or foreign language
(Demont-Heinrich, 2007). By the year 2040, this number is estimated to increase up to 3 billion
functional users of English, or about 40 per cent of the world’s projected population at that time
(Graddol, 2006).
In English language teaching, it is necessary to identify language performance. The human race has
fashioned two forms of productive performance, oral and written, and two forms of receptive
performance, aural (or auditory) and reading. Language is distinguished into two types, namely,
spoken language and written language. Listening and Speaking are identified as spoken language,
while Reading and Writing are identified as written language. Many people in the world want to speak
English fluently without considering that they have to master other skills of English as well. As a
result, much of language-teaching energy is devoted to instruction in mastering English conversation
with neglecting the importance to incorporate of numerous other forms of spoken language into a
language course, especially in teaching listening comprehension. This may be one of many reasons
why people find it difficult to listen in English. Although the ability of speaking in English is
important, globalization requires people to master English and all its aspects, reading, writing,
speaking, including listening. Some people find it easy to listen in English, while others do not.
Following a presentation entitles ‘How easy do you find it to learn English’ (Rintaningrum, 2016), it
is necessary to investigate the reasons why listening is difficult.Some sources documented some
reasons why listening is difficult. They are listed as follows:
1. Clustering (a group of similar things; putting words into groups; brainstorming, mapping).
2. Redundancy (rephrasings, repetitions, elaborations, and little insertions of ‘I mean’ and ‘you
know’
3. Reduced forms: spoken language has many reduced forms and sentence fragments (Gd day,
mate, I’ll, I’ve, 20 five cents: stress on five)
4. Performance variables (in spoken language, hesitations, false start, pauses, and corrections
are common).
But, uh….I also…..to go with this of course if you’re playing well….if
you’re playing well then you get uptight about your game. You get keyed
up and it’s to concentrate. You know you’re playing well and you
know…in with a chance then it’s easier, much easier to…to you know get
in there and….and start to…you don’t have to think about it. I mean it’s
gotta be automatic.
5. Colloquial language (idiom, slang, reduced form, and shared cultural knowledge= dine in or
take away).
6. Rate of delivery (fast)
7. Stress, rhythm, and intonation (The PREsident is INTerested in eLIMinating the eMBargo.
8. Interaction (Students need to understand that good listeners (in conversation) are good
responders. They know how to negotiate meaning (to give feedback, to ask for clarification, to
maintain a topic) so that the process of comprehending can be complete rather than be
aborted by insufficient interaction.
Listening, in most general terms, is simply described as the act of hearing. While such definition
merely alludes to listening as a neurological event, listening involves many invisible mental
processes of understanding speech in a second or foreign language (Rost, 2002). No single
definition exists that captures the complexity of these mental processes and thus what constitutes
listening comprehension. Nevertheless, several aspects have emerged from evolving body of
research over the last few decades that have contributed to better understanding of the nature
listening comprehension. These aspects include (Rost, 2002):
1. Receptive (receiving what the speaker actually says):
Getting the speaker’s idea, decoding the speaker’s message, receiving the transfer of
images, impressions, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, emotions from the speaker.
2. Constructive
Catching what is in a speaker’s mind, finding out what is relevant for you, noticing what
is not said.
3. Collaborative
Responding to what the speaker has said, acting interested while the speaker is talking,
signalling to the speaker which ideas are clear and acceptable to you.
4. Transformative
Involvement with a speaker without judgment, empathizing with the speaker’s motivation
for speaking, the process for altering the cognitive environment of both the speaker and
listener.
Listening is a vital primary stage of language acquisition. If students do not listen or learn to listen
well, then the latter stages of the complex pattern of language acquisition within a productive
framework (in other words, Speaking and Writing) in the communicative classroom will be difficult.
This study documents a number of perspectives on why listening in English is difficult for foreign
language learners. Listening in this study means when students have listening practice, for example
listening to the dialogue, monolog, or long conversation. Moreover, students find it difficult when
they have listening test with similar types of the listening practice above.
Research Question
The research question to ask is:
1. How difficult do you find it to listen in English?
The Purpose of The Study
The purpose of the study can be stated as follows:
1. Investigating how the learners of English find it difficult to learn to listen in English as a foreign
language.
Method
Survey
Surveys were used to obtain information from students who learn English at TPB class 20 in
academic year 2016. The number of students surveyed at the University was forty. The participants
were given questionnaire about their perspectives and views on the processes of teaching and learning
English as a foreign language, in particular, when they are learning to listen in English. In undertaking
the surveys, questions were employed as a guide, and each of the participants was given
approximately from 30 to 45 minutes to discuss and answer these questions. Since this is open-ended
questions, the participants are free to express their ideas and comments as well as feedback.
Results and Discussion
This section discusses the participants’ points of view concerning how easy they find it to learn to
listen in English. The results of the interview are recorded in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Reasons Why Listening is Difficult
Theoretical Categories
Indicators
Frequency
Status of the language
English is not our language
35
I don’t speak English
30
English is not the first or the second language, but a foreign language
5
Knowledge of language
I don’t understand some vocabularies
25
I am lack of vocabulary
30
I don’t understand the grammar and structure spoken
25
Familiarity
I am not familiar with spoken language
38
The sound I am hearing is just passing
38
I don’t understand what the speakers are saying
30
I find it difficult with the accent
25
I don’t get what the speakers are saying
35
Lack of practice
I practice listening exercises rarely
38
I don’t watch movies in English frequently
20
I don’t feel confident when I have listening test
28
Speed of the speaker
The speakers talks very fast
25
Speaker
The speakers do not speak clearly
27
Listening strategies
I am confused when I have listening test
35
I forget with what the speakers are saying
37
I do not know what to do and how to listen well
37
Anxiety
I feel worry before having a test
35
I am afraid if the test is difficult
27
I am afraid if I can’t do the test
30
I worry if the results are not good
26
I am afraid if I am not able to answer
30
Translation
I have to translate what I am hearing
38
Listening test demand
I have to listen and write at the same time
5
Lack of concentration
I am lack of focus during a test
7
Facilities
The sound system is not good
19
A number of reasons contribute to why listening in English is difficult. Although some people find it
easy to listen in English, many people still find it difficult to listen in English. Table 1.1 records a
number of reasons why listening is difficult for some people. The reasons are (1) the status of the
language; (2) knowledge of language; (3) familiarity; (4) lack of practice; (5) speed of the speaker; (6)
speaker himself; (7) listening strategies; (8) anxiety; (9) translation; (10) test demand; (11) lack of
concentration; and (12) facilities.
Table 1.1 shows that 38 respondents commented that they find it difficult to listen in English due to
the way they accept the incoming information. The study is conducted in the setting where English is
learned as a foreign language. The respondents commented that they have to translate the information
they receive before deciding the correct answer. This may relate to the status of the language spoken
in that setting.
Moreover, the reason why listening in English is difficult is because the respondents lack practice
listening in English. As a result, the participants are not familiar with what the speakers are talking. It
becomes worse when the knowledge of language that the respondents have is limited. One of the
reasons why respondents are not able to answer the questions in listening is due to the lack of the
respondents’ knowledge in grammar, and vocabulary.
Psychological factor, namely, anxiety also influences the ability of participants to respond in listening
correctly. The indicators that students feel anxious are when feeling worry before having a test,
feeling afraid if the test is difficult, feeling afraid if they cannot do the test, and feeling worry if the
results are not good.
The result of the survey shows that 37 students need listening strategies to help them improve their
listening skill. It is recorded in Table 1.1 that participants are confused when they have listening test,
they are not able to remember the dialog, and they do not know what to do and how to listen in
English well.
Another reason why the respondents find it difficult in listening in English is because they have to
listen and write the answer at the same time. Listening test is different from reading or grammar and
structure tests. The listeners’ responsibility is not only listening to the speakers, but they have to be
able to decide the correct answer at the same time when they are listening, otherwise they will miss
the session. This perspective is very interesting since this can be a new perspective in literature. This
indicates that types of test require different approaches to do it. Lack of practice also contributes to
the reason why listening is difficult. Good facilities help the learners of English listen properly. This
shows that if the facilities are not good, the listeners find it difficult to listen well. Facilities influence
the process of learning in English, in particular, listening.
Recommendation
The reasons why listening in English is difficult are found. Therefore, some recommendation can be
made in order that the learners of English are able to improve their listening skill.
1. Students need to invest more time to practice listening in English. It is because time
investment has an influence on English achievement. Time investment means how much
time students spend in learning to listen in English. The more students practice their listening
skill, the more students are familiar with English. If students are familiar with what they hear,
the way and the speed how the speakers speak in English can be followed. Moreover, students
need to spend more time to improve their grammar and vocabulary. The more the grammar
and vocabulary improve, the higher the score students will get.
2. More opportunity to learn (Carroll, 1962; 1963; 1975; 1989) English need to be provided.
Students need to practice listening many times in order to improve their listening skill. The
more the students practice, the more the students feel confident. Feeling confident in learning
English, in particular, listening helps students to reduce their stress when they get listening
class or a test. Anxiety is a psychological factor that has an effect on achievement. With more
opportunity to learn, with more time spending on learning English, it is expected that some
psychological factors that have negative effects on English achievement can be reduced.
3. Teaching and learning listening strategies is necessary. Listening strategies can be taught
separately from the process of learning or integrating teaching listening strategies in the
process of learning. Strategy investment has a positive influence on English achievement.
4. It is not enough to master the aspects of language in an English Language Proficiency Test
(ELPT). Mastering types of test is also important since this can help the learners of English to
have a good preparation in a test.
References
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