Listener Anxiety

Abstract

Listener anxiety is conceptualized as a type of situation‐specific anxiety tied to foreign language listening. Ever since the existence of listener anxiety was recognized and documented, there has been increasing interest in listener anxiety and its relationship with foreign language listening performance. Empirical evidence has shown that listener anxiety is negatively correlated with foreign language listening performance. Listener anxiety may cause deficits in cognitive processes and may discourage learning effort. Thus, listener anxiety should not be ignored by language teachers. To deal with listener anxiety, various treatments related to vocabulary, task difficulty, self‐confidence, and learning strategies can be used.