Critical Listening in Practice: Exploring The Difficulties and Strategies of First-Semester Students
Keywords:
Critical Listening, Difficulties, EFL Student, StrategiesAbstract
Critical listening is a vital skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, enabling them to assess, interpret, and analyze spoken discourse in academic and social contexts. However, first-semester EFL students often face significant challenges in developing this skill This study explores the difficulties encountered by first-semester EFL students in critical listening and examines the strategies they employ to overcome these challenges. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals from four first-semester English language students. The findings reveal that students struggle with accents, rapid speech, and vocabulary gaps, which hinder their ability to process and evaluate spoken content critically. Despite these challenges, students adopted various strategies, including focusing on keywords, repeated listening, note-taking, and exposure to authentic materials, to enhance their listening comprehension. These strategies align with existing research and offer practical implications for improving listening instruction in EFL contexts. The study concludes that while critical listening poses significant challenges for first-semester students, targeted strategies can help them develop this essential skill.
References
[1] S. Elmosnino, “A Review of Literature in Critical Listening Education,” Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol. 70, no. 5, pp. 328–339, 2022.
[2] R. Harida, “Youtube to Promote Critical Thinking in Critical Listening Course,” Journal of English Language Learning, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 363–373, 2023.
[3 ]P. Zhang and S. Graham, “Learning Vocabulary Through Listening: The Role of Vocabulary Knowledge and Listening Proficiency,” Language Learning, vol. 70, no. 4, 2020.
[4] D. Büyükahiska and A. C. Uyar, “The Effects of Different Accents on Listening Comprehension in EFL Classes,” OPUS International Journal of Society Researches, vol. 14, no. 20, pp. 1369–1394, 2019.
[5] C.-W. Chiu and T.-P. Chen, “Speech Rate and Young EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension,” English Language Teaching, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 74–74. 2023.
[6] Y. Baki, “The Impact of Critical Listening and Critical Reading on Critical Thinking,” Behavioral Sciences, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 34, 2025.
[7] D. Magaldi and M. Berler, “Semi-structured Interviews,” Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 4825–4830, 2020.
[8] D. Boud, “Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice,” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, vol. 2001, no. 90, pp. 9–18, 2001.
[9] B. Bassot, The Reflective Journal, 4th ed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2024.
[10] A. Ramadhianti and S. Somba, “Listening Comprehension Difficulties in Indonesian EFL Students”, j.learn.instructional.stud., vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 111–121, 2022.
[11] D. Purwanto, F. Z. Fadhly, and W. Rahmatunisa, “Listening Comprehension Study: Difficulties and Strategies Used By College Students,” Indonesian Journal of Learning and Instruction, vol. 4, no. 1, 2021.
[12] A. Hardiyanto, M. Tanjung, and S. Suharjono, “Listening Comprehension Difficulties; A Case Study Of EFL Students In Listening Class,” Eternal (English, Teaching, Learning, and Research Journal), vol. 7, no. 1, p. 168, 2021.
[13] S. Nadhira and S. Warni, “Students’ Listening Difficulties in English as a Foreign Language Learning at Secondary School in Indonesian Context,” www.atlantis-press.com, 2021.
[14] F. Yonantha, N. K. Santoso, and N. Safitri, “Imrpoving Student’s Listening Comprehension Through Keyword Strategy,” Linguistica, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 509, 2021.
[15] F. Latupono and R. Nikijuluw, “The Importance of Teaching Listening Strategies in English Language Context,” MATAI International Journal of Language Education, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2022.
[16] E. Gavenila, M. Wulandari, and W. Renandya, “Using TED Talks for Extensive Listening,” PASAA: Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, vol. 61, pp. 147–175, 2021.
[17] W. A. Renandya and G. M. Jacobs, “Extensive reading and listening in the L2 classroom,” in English Language Teaching Today, New York: Routledge, 2016, pp. 97–110.
[18] A. Al-Ghazo, “The Impact of Note-Taking Strategy on EFL Learners’ Listening Comprehension,” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 1136–1147, 2023.
[19] Mokhlaroyim Mukhtorova and Xojiakbar Ilxomov, “How To Improve Listening Skills Of Both ESL And EFL Students,” Kokand University Herald Scientific Journal, vol. 11, pp. 84–86, 2024.
[20] F. I. Rachmaniputri, P. Purnawarman, and M. H. Gunawan, “Students’ Perceptions Towards the Use of Podcasts in Listening Class,” Atlantis Press, pp. 179–187, 2021.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Diba Ramadhana (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License)
