The Effects of General Listening Anxiety and Listening Test Anxiety on Self-Perceived Listening Performance Among Chinese English Learners

Abstract

Purpose This research seeks to conceptualize foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) and provide its measurement, and further explore the influences of FLLA on self-perceived listening performance. Methods In Study 1, semi-structured interviews explored FLLA-arousal situations. Follow-up reliability and validity tests for the newly-developed scale were testified. In Study 2, structural equation modeling explored the relationship between FLLA and self-perceived performance, which was followed by the comparison of the effects of different types of FLLA on self-perceived performance between English and non-English major students. Results The componential factors of FLLA included two factors, namely general listening anxiety and listening test anxiety, and general listening anxiety was represented by FLLA in classroom, daily usage, and media learning. The results also showed that listening test anxiety negatively affected self-perceived performance; general listening anxiety positively affected listening test anxiety but did not affect self-perceived performance, and listening test anxiety played a full mediation role. Moreover, findings revealed that non-English major students’ general listening anxiety was higher than that of English major students. However, the multi-group analysis showed that these two groups did not differ in the effect of general listening anxiety on listening test anxiety, and in the effects of listening anxieties on self-perceived performance. For the two groups, the mechanism of anxiety-and-performance relationship was consistent. Conclusion The results of this research have expanded the knowledge of listening anxiety by distinguishing general listening anxiety from listening test anxiety. Moreover, by testifying the mediator of listening test anxiety, this research deepened the understanding of the effects of different types of FLLA on self-perceived listening performance and the intensity differences of listening anxieties in English and non-English majors. Furthermore, the research has contributed to the literature on FLLA research based on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, and has practical pedagogical implications for future studies.