European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 18, Number 2 (2010)

Listening Comprehension Problems among the Students: A Case Study of Three Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools
Muhammad Naeem Butt Institute of Education & Research, Kohat University-Pakistan E-mail: nb840@yahoo.com Muhammad Muazzam Sharif Department of English, Kohat University-Pakistan Muhamdad Naseer-ud-Din Institute of Education & Research, Kohat University-Pakistan Ishtiaq Hussain Institute of Education & Research, Kohat University-Pakistan Faridullah Khan Institute of Education & Research, Kohat University-Pakistan Umtul Ayesha Lecturer Govt. Degree College for Women, KP-Pakistan Abstract The main objective of the study was to find out the factors which created problems to the listeners during listening process in the classroom. The research observed the design of a case study. The scope of the study was narrowed down to only three Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools of District Kohat. The sample of the study was three hundred (300) respondents, hundred from each school, selected on the basis of simple random sampling technique. The study used questionnaire for the collection of quick, valid, and update data from the respondents. The study found that pronunciation; accent and colloquial expression were the problem, which always existed during the process of listening exercises.

Keywords: Listening, Communication, Pronunciation, Accent, Colloquial expressions

Introduction
Language is a medium of communication, which helps the members of a community in the society, to communicate and interact with one another. This involves both verbal and non-verbal communication. Language focuses on listening and reading that can be named as passive or receptive skills, while speaking and writing can be named as, active or productive skills. Listening is one of the important skills in learning a language. If we dig in deep, it is worth mentioning here that for acquisition of a language listening plays a pivotal role. The process of acquiring a language starts with listening and ends up in the production of writing. After birth, a child hears variety of sounds and can distinguish among them. Every language has a common and a natural sequence for the development of the language skills. Similarly English 311

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 18, Number 2(2010) language has the natural sequence of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening skill is ranked first of all the four folds. This highlights the importance of listening skill in the life of human beings. Students normally face and encounter listening problems especially in foreign languages. English is also placed as official and second language in Pakistan. English is spoken across the world with different dialects and accents; therefore, the foreign learners encounter difficulty in understanding this language. Same is the problem with the students of Pakistan, in general, and the students of Kohat district, in particular.

Literature Review
Hirsch (1986) stated, Listening as an aspect of skills: involves neurological response and interpretations of sounds to understand and to give meaning by reacting, selecting meaning, remembering, attending, analyzing and including previous experience. Lundsteen (1979) stated, Listening is highly complex, interactive process that has been defined as the process by which spoken language is converted to meaning in the mind. As this definition suggests, listening is more than just hearing. Rivers (1981) stated, Listening is a critical element in learning any foreign language. It helps the Learner to acquire competence in language and he can exhibit his competence if he is communicating at school, at work or in the community. In normal course of a day listening is used nearly twice as much as speaking and four to five times as much as reading and writing. Wolvin and coakley (1991) stated, Listening was regarded crucial for communication at work at any level for employment, job success, and general career competence and for effective relationship between supervisor and subordinates. According to Morley (1991), Despite the recognition of the critical role that listening skills play in communication and acquisition of language, it remains one of the least understood skill in language learning. Pearson (1983) stated, Listening involves the simultaneous organization and combination of skills in Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, and knowledge of the text structure, all of which seem to be controlled by the cognitive process. Thus it can be said that though not fully realized, listening skill is essential in acquiring language proficiency. The importance of listening can not be ignored as it is the first step towards the language learning. Unfortunately in those schools of Pakistan where English is taught as second or foreign language; teaching strategies lack development of proper listening skill among the students.

Procedure of the Study

It was a case-study, which best suited the purpose of qualitative research. The data were collected and presented in the form of table and graph, which further illustrated in the form of percentages and results were drawn.

Population of the Study

The population of the study comprised all the Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools of District Kohat. All the students of these schools were included in the population of the study. The total number of Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools in District Kohat is ten (10).

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Sample of the Study

The sample of the study included three Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools of District Kohat. A sample of 100 students from each school was selected through simple random sampling technique. The total number of sample students was 300.

Delimitation of the Study

The scope of the study was narrowed down to only three Govt. Boys Higher Secondary Schools of District Kohat. Furthermore, the levels of the students were restricted to 1st and 2nd years.

Research Instruments
A close-ended questionnaire was designed, with 10 items focusing on the problems and obstacles encountered by students during listening process in the classroom, for the respondents in order to collect update and quick data. The answers were recorded on 4-point likert scale. The researcher personally visited all the schools and classrooms and distributed the questionnaires and after a weektime recollected it in person.

Data Collection and Interpretation

The primary data were collected from the respondents on the problems faced by students during listening comprehension. The data were presented in the form of table and graph and further explained with the help of percentages.
Table 1: Problems of Listening Comprehension among the Students
RESPONSES Some Frequently Times 60 49 20 16.33 118 107 39.33 35.66 120 105 40 35 21 119 7 39.66 30 75 10 25 44 156 14.66 52 62 48 20.66 16 44 23 14.66 7.66 71 90 23.66 30 65 85 21.66 28.33

S. NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Accent Dialect

ITEMS

Always % % % % % % % % % % 179 59.66 55 18.33 60 20 154 51.33 190 63.33 85 28.33 18 6 21 7 99 33 80 26.66

Never 12 4 20 6.66 15 5 6 2 5 1.66 15 5 172 57.33 212 70.66 40 13.33 70 23.33

Total 300

% 100

300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100 300 100

Variation in Target Language Colloquial Language/Expressions Pronunciation Stuttering Listening Disabilities Acoustic Lack of Time Application of Grammar Rule during listening.

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Figure 1: Problems of Listening Comprehension among the Students
250 Number of respondents 200 150 100 50 0
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co llo qu ia l

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A lways

Never

S ome Times

Results and Discussion

The data presented in table and figure-1 elicited that most of the respondents believed that accent, colloquial expressions, pronunciation, and lack of time were the problem which always existed during the listening process in the classroom. It was further highlighted in the table that variation in target language, dialect, stuttering, and application of grammar rules were the problems which created frequent hindrance to the respondents during listening practice, while problem of dialect sometimes existed in the process of listening. Whereas, listening disabilities and acoustic were never considered a problem by the respondents during listening exercises.

Conclusions
Based on the data collected and interpreted, following conclusions were drawn: 1. Accent, pronunciation, and colloquial expressions were the major obstacles in the development of listening skills among the students. 2. Stuttering and application of grammar rules were the problems, which frequently existed in the listening process. 3. Respondents did not consider listening disabilities and acoustic as the major problems in the comprehension of listening. 4. Dialect was the only problem among the respondents, which sometimes hindered the process of listening in the classroom teaching.

Recommendation
On the basis of data interpretation and conclusions of the study, following recommendation were made: 1. Teachers should use audio visual aids for the development of English listening skill. 2. Teachers should utilized movies, multimedia, CDs, use dialogues and conversation in the classrooms for the developments of listening skills. 3. Teachers should place emphasis on proper pronunciation, use of grammar and phonetics during listening speaking process. 314

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European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 18, Number 2 (2010) 4. Teachers should use dialogues, conversation, and discussion in English as activities in the class. 5. Teachers should not bring any gape in the activities of listening skill in order to gain best possible results of the activities 6. Provision of listening skill should be inculcated in the textbooks of English.

References
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Hirsch, R. (1986). Defing listening: synthesis and Discussion. Paper presented at the 7th annual meeting of the international listening association. USA Lund, R.J. (1990). A taxonomy for teaching Second Language Listening: Foreign Language Annals. USA Morley, J. (1991). Listening Comprehension in Foreign Language Instruction. Boston, USA. Pearson, P.D. (1983). Instructional Implications of Listening Comprehension Research. Urbana, Illinois: Center for the Study of Reading. Rivers, W.M. (1981). Listening Comprehension: Appraoch Design, Procedure. TESOL Quartly, USA. Wolvin, A., Coakley, C. (1991). A Survey of the Status of Listening Training in Some Fortune 500 Corporations. Communication Education, USA.

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