Abstract:
This study aimed at exploring the hindrances that contribute to the difficulties of
Bakhet Alruda University students come across in English listening skills. It
evaluates whether the hindrances are connected with the listening text, the speaker,
the listener, the environment, or the listening materials. It determines which
specific hindrance poses the most difficulty for the students. The study adopted
the descriptive method. The subject of the study was a group of first year students
of second semester in Bakhet Alruda University. The study sample consists of
eighty students male and female who took the listening course in 2019/20 at
Faculty of Education Arts. Data was gathered by means of questionnaire, listening
test, instructors‘ interview and observation of the listening environment. The
researcher used the statistical package for social studies (SPSS package), by using
frequencies, percentages, tables, figures, descriptive statistics, standard deviation,
one sample T test and one-way analysis of variance. The results of the study
confirmed that Bakhet Alruda University students encounter listening difficulties
whenever they are engaged in listening tasks. The study determines fourteen
hindrances that affected the students in their listening activities. Furthermore, the
current study determined the students‘ listening hindrance that came out from the
inconvenient listening environment, from the defective listening materials used in
the course, and from the students‘
lack of exposure to native speakers. The result of analysing students difficulties
toward listening skills showed that the fast speech of native speaker and their
pronunciation were posed the most challenged for the students when they are
engaged in listening exercises. The researcher recommended that these hindrances
are going to draw instructors‘ attention to train the students on listening learning
strategies, develop effective learning strategies and enhance their listening abilities.
The results of the study may also be beneficial for the researchers having interest
in listening skill.
