STUDIES ON SECOND LANGUAGE LISTENING ANXIETY: AN OVERVIEW

Taking into consideration that that listening is reckoned as “an essential means of language development” (Rost, 2002, p. 91) and that too much anxiety while listening can have detrimental effects on second language learning and use, studies should be carried out to investigate the relationship between second language listening anxiety and second language listening proficiency. The present paper aims to examine second language listening anxiety with regard to second language listening proficiency. The author addresses the existing gaps in the literature by investigating second language listening anxiety with respect to cognitive and affective variables and makes a significant contribution to the literature of second language listening development through establishing a link between the two variables. This study will benefit second language researchers who are curious to know why and in what ways second language listeners experience feelings of discomfort, nervousness, insecurity, and worry. Understanding second language listening anxiety, the extent to which it is socially constructed, and the way it is associated with the general trait of worry will supply researchers with significant information about their participants. In addition, a psychometrically sound self-report assessment instrument will be potentially helpful to them. The results of this study will also be of use to teachers who are interested in studying coping measures and treatments for anxious second language listeners.