Students perceptions on their listening comprehension difficulties in EFL classrooms

Abstract

Abstract: The present study exposes the principal factors that are involved in learning and teaching English as a second language and the difficulties that the process involves. The title given to this study is Students' perceptions on their listening comprehension difficulties in EFL classrooms: An Ecuadorian case. The purpose of the research is to find the problems that students perceived as a barrier to English listening comprehension. The research involves some factors like the listener, the speaker and the listening passage, which directly influence in the process. The research took place in two private high schools in Carcelén in the north of Quito. The data was gathered quantitatively by administering surveys to five English teachers and to 125 students in the second course of Baccalaureate (2BGU). Qualitative information was also gathered, with the use of interviews, where 25 students could express their feelings about their perception in the listening comprehension. Also, notes were taken about teachers' comments which support or contradict the students' answers. The data analysis showed the results which differed between teachers and students. Most of the students feel that they have a high level of listening comprehension of the passages; However, the teachers thinks that students still face difficulties while listening to the passage.