Students’ perceptions on their listening comprehension difficulties in EFL classrooms: An Ecuadorian Case.

Abstract

This research is focused on difficulties that English students encounter when listening in their classrooms. The theme of this study is about “Students’ perceptions on their listening comprehension difficulties in EFL classrooms”. The principal objective is to understand the factors that affect their listening comprehension. This investigation took place in 5 different classrooms of second year of baccalaureate in two private institutions located in the city of Otavalo. There were one hundred and twenty five students surveyed between 16 and 18 years old, and twenty five students that were interviewed. Moreover, there were five teachers between 30 to 40 years old and all of them were interviewed. These activities were done to determine which where the difficulties encountered by students when listening English as a second language. This research was developed using the qualitative and quantitative method, the applied techniques were surveys and interviews. Furthermore, the instruments used were questionnaires for students and teachers, and interview sheets to collect information from students. The collected data was reviewed, analyzed, sorted, described, and interpreted in relation with the literature review. The results of this research revealed that there were some factors that made listening comprehension in EFL classrooms difficult. Some of these factors are the difficulty to understand dialogues and speeches that have pauses and hesitations; teachers and recordings´ varied accents; lack of exposure to the target language