THE CORRELATION BETWEEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE

LISTENING ANXIETY, SELF-EFFICACY AND

COMPREHENSION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
ONLINE LEARNING

Ayu Risky; Author 2; Author 3

1

IAIN Palangka Raya; Author 2 Affiliation; Author 3 Affiliation

ayurisky21@gmail.com; Author 2 email; Author 3 email

Abstract: The research aimed to measure the correlation

and the levels of students’ listening anxiety and self-
efficacy that surrounding the students’ English listening
comprehension in online learning during the Covid-19
pandemic. This research using correlational design by
distributing questionnaires and done listening test. The
participants were 23 university students based on
computation with G*Power and taking the critical
listening online class in their respective departments.
This research found that there is low correlation between
foreign language listening anxiety, self-efficacy and
comprehension. Based on the findings, possible
contributions and implication are stated alongside the
limitations of the study and possible directions for
future research.

Keywords: Foreign language listening anxiety, self-

efficacy, listening comprehension.

INTRODUCTION
Listening, in general, is a hard skill to learn. Vandergrift (2012)
claims that listening is the least overt of the four skills, making it the
toughest skill to master. Oxford (1993) concludes that listening is
considered a complex problem-solving skill, not just sound
recognition. Listening includes an understanding of words, phrases,
clauses, sentences, and related texts. Listening comprehension is
considered to be an active process affected by several variables that
include distinguishing tone, vocabulary, grammar form, stress, and
intonation comprehension, all of which are related to the specific

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meaning (Vandergrift, 2012). Furthermore, listening is a very complex

skill that should be understood and constantly discussed.
Foreign language listening has been discussed over years.
Several studies revealed how important listening in learning the
language (Al-Saraj, 2014; Canaran et al., 2020; Fathi et al., n.d.; Ipek,
2020; Kimura, 2017; Vogely, 1998; Wang & Cha, 2019; Zhang, 2013;
Zimmerman & Kulikowich, 2016). However, these issues have not
fully been studied yet in the context of online learning.
With the new authorities, foreign language listening skills
became level-up problems in learning due to the Covid-19. The covid-
19 pandemic has changed many aspects of human life worldwide
including the way of understanding listening, especially toward
second and foreign language. Listening learning activity has been
conducting for several months not through face to face meeting but
through online learning and other forms of learning. Studying at
home through online learning becomes one of the safest process
during the Covid-19 pandemic since the government of many
countries did not want to take the risk of a more massive spread of
the Covid-19 virus at schools and universities (Greve, 2020).
In regular classes, students complain that they become hesitant
and forget what to say, even if they have practiced responding in
their minds. According to Vandergrift (2012) some also feel afraid
when they are sent to school. Teachers can pay attention to the
students’ behavior in class. However, an online class can increase
students' anxiety, not just in listening comprehension but in all
sections of course. It seems difficult to follow and look after one to
other students especially if the students are closing the camera (Oteir
& Abd Aziz, 2017). The researcher assume that anxiety might be one
of the reasons students not attending their online class and failing on
the test they might face.
Aside from anxiety students’ have, the importance of both self-
efficacy and listening tasks intrigues the implication that higher self-
efficacy would result in better performance in listening
comprehension tasks, and in return, better listening performance
would lead students to have higher perceptions of themselves while

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confronting challenging listening tasks according to Khosroshahi &

Mer (2020).
The researcher wants to investigate the importance anxiety and
self-efficacy in the English Listening class comprehension to solve or
address the problems during online class especially listening. After
the Covid-19, several research concerns about listening anxiety
among diverse cultural backgrounds, particularly in Indonesia itself
with a lot of mother tongue language surrounding it and class online
phenomenon.
There were three research questions were formulated to guide
this research.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Some studies related to listening anxiety in this study.

First research the author was given a study performed in
connection with this study by Xian Zhang (2013). This study used
structural equation modeling to explore the possible causal relations
between foreign language (English) listening anxiety and English
listening performance. The result showed that foreign language
listening anxiety can cause performance to degenerate, particularly
when combined with uncertainty about one's own FL listening
capacity. However, lack of confidence performance by the learners at
a particular point in time neither important nor necessarily emphasize
anxiety since foreign language anxiety is a special case. The research
focusing on correlation between foreign language listening anxiety
and English listening performance, and this was used for the
comparison.
Second, Taghreed M. Al-Saraj, (2014) a case study design was
used to examine the experiences of female college students learning
English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia, where English is
becoming an increasingly necessary skill and the culture is
undergoing immense changes. The result was much of the anxiety
encountered among the participants who participated in these case
studies may have been due to the American teaching strategies used

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in the CPP and the contrast between the students' previous

experiences and such unfamiliar teaching techniques. Nonetheless, to
understand the language and be fluent in English, students need to
practice using the language, a new skill for most students who have
already studied English in Saudi Arabia in a classroom setting. This
research has some factors, such as teacher-student interactions and
teacher behavior, appeared nearly universally anxiety-provoking
among all participants, others factors varied between participants in
the beginning versus more advanced stages of study. Meanwhile, the
researcher only focusing on factors that only surrounded in FLLAS.
Third, Kimura (2017) used a self-presentational framework to
investigate second language listening anxiety among university
students and demonstrated that second language listening involves
social concerns that are specific to second language settings. the
findings showed that a higher-order structure consisting of two
linked but distinct dimensions are listening anxiety in the second
language: self-focused apprehension and task-focused apprehension.
The former deals with the possibility of social evaluation, and the
latter deals with the efficient processing of aural input. Both
dimensions were affected by social anxiety levels. This research
focused on social anxiety and different from what the researcher
wants to focus on.
Fourth, In the recent study conducted by Wang & Cha (2019)
discussed that foreign language listening anxiety has been
extensively investigated in English as their context and also
correlation between listening performance as well. As their finding, in
the participants, the absence of self-efficacy in listening had an
impact. In listening instruction, ample listening inputs of various
English varieties and topics are strongly recommended and delivered
at different speeds. The researcher adopting their instruments as the
focus of the research. The researcher also used the study as
comparisons for the result.
Fifth, Canaran et al., (2020) investigated whether the sources of
anxiety in L2 listening have a causal relationship to listeners’ self-
efficacy and listening proficiency. Data were gathered from 347

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students studying in the preparatory program of English in Turkey

through Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLAC), Listening Self-
efficacy Scale (LSS), and listening test scores of the students.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was conducted for
data analysis. Results showed that there were strong negative
associations between individual and external factors causing anxiety
and self-efficacy while there were moderate level, negative
associations between the perceived level of task difficulty and self-
efficacy in L2 listening. The research was being used for previous
study comparisons.

METHOD
Considering the purpose of the research and the nature of the
problem, this research is classified as a quantitative method with a
correlation design. Correlational designs provide an opportunity for
you to predict scores and explain the relationship among variables.
(Creswell, 2012).
Throughout this analysis, the researcher obtained feedback from
participants of the English education program. It is carried out in the
students who are taking critical listening during online learning from
fourth semester. This analysis using random sampling technique with
proportional allocation will be used to select participating students.
The total student population and the list of registered students in each
department and their year of study were obtained from the respective
academic offices.
The researcher determines the minimum sample size using the
G*power sample calculator (www.gpower.hhu.de). The correlation p
H1 will be 0.5. The α err prob is set at 0.05. The power (1- err prob) is
used at 0.80. and the correlation p H0 will be 0. The calculation for the
recommended minimum sample size is 23 students.
The first questionnaire was adapted from Wang & Cha (2019). The
questionnaire consists of 25 items. The questionnaire reliability
was .906 for the items, which was indicative of validity of the
questionnaire. Three-factor solution was run by the previous
researcher and confirmed FLLAS was valid.

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The questionnaire will be adapted from Canaran et al., (2020). The

questionnaire consists of 10 items. The scale is scored on a five-point
Likert scale. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was found
to be .97. High grades from the scale meant high self-efficacy. EFA
results showed that four subscales explain 61.41% of the total
variance. Item factor loads varied between .42 and .69. Confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) was performed (RMSEA = .044 and SRMR
= .046) and the fit indices of the scale indicated Normed Fit Index
(NFI) = .98, Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = .99, Parsimony Normed
Fit Index (PNFI) = .89, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .99, Incremental
Fit Index (IFI) = .99, Relative Fit Index (RFI) = .98, which represented
high fit.
Listening preliminary English test will be used to find out
students’ comprehension. PET is developed by Cambridge ESOL
called the Cambridge Main Suite, which measures the participants’
proficiency in B1 level and is designed to be used for teenagers.
Considering the age and level of the participants of this study, PET
was used to measure the participants’ listening comprehension in B1
level. This test has three main sections: reading/writing, listening,
and speaking. The listening part consists of four parts ranging from
short exchanges to longer dialogues and monologues. It measures
learners’ understanding dialogues and monologues on daily topics.
The reliability for the test was 0.77 and the standard error of
measurement was 2.14. these figures demonstrate a high degree of
trustworthiness. The researcher will give the 25 items listening test
through google form (bit.ly/ListeningtestAyuRisky). Students will do
the test in 30 minutes. Afterwards, the researcher will calculated the
scores.
Data analysis will be conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the
researcher adopts IBM SPSS. 25.0 to analyze the data. The researcher
will perform the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test if the
distribution within the variables is normal. In the second stage, the
researcher will use Pearson’s correlation coefficient to calculate the
correlation within the variables if the data were linearity and

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normality. If the data were not fit the linearity and normality,
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient will be used.
FINDING
Based on the result of pre-requirement analysis test, it is found
that the variant data of the variables Y for X1 and Y for X2 were in
normal distribution, the regression was linear and significant. The
researcher continued to test the three hypotheses. To test the first and
second research problem, the researcher used the Pearson Product
Moment Formula. For the third research problem, the researcher used
the Multiple Linear Regression Formula.
The Correlation of Foreign Language Listening Anxiety(X 1) and
Listening Test(Y)
This section answered the first research problem Do the higher the
students have English listening anxiety, the lower they achieve in EFL
listening? Based on the results r=-.196, p=.371 which higher than .05. it
can be concluded that the assumption was rejected or there was no
correlation between foreign language listening anxiety and listening
comprehension. The detailed computation is presented in appendix
The Correlation of Listening Self-Efficacy(X 2) and Listening
Test(Y)
The second research problem, Do the higher the students have
self-efficacy, the higher they achieve in EFL listening? Based on the
computation, r= .021, p= .924 which higher than .05. it can be
concluded that the second assumptions was rejected or there was no
correlation between listening self-efficacy and listening
comprehension. The detailed computation is presented in appendix.
The Correlation Between Foreign Language Listening(X 1), Self-
efficacy(X2), and Listening Test(Y)
The third research problem, Do the lower level students have FLLA
and higher level they have self-efficacy, the better the students comprehend
EFL listening? Based on the computation, the result shown collinearity
statistics tolerance for X1 was .910 and VIF 1.098 and X2 was .910 and
VIF 1.098 which indicates there was no multicollinearity between
FLLA, Self-efficacy and listening comprehension because the
tolerance was higher than 0.100 and the VIF lower than 10.00. The

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Durbin-Watson result was 2.075. According to Durbin-Watson table,

if the result was below than 4-du (for this research, the du was 4-
1.543), there will be no autocorrelation in the residuals from a
regression analysis. Which mean, 2.075 was lower than 2.457 and
there was no autocorrelation within variables. The result for sig. F
change was .630. which higher than .05, means that the third
assumption was rejected and there was no correlation between
foreign language listening anxiety, self-efficacy, and listening
comprehension. The detailed computation is presented in appendix.
DISCUSSION
As were reported in the results, computation of SPSS data reveals
that distribution of data was normal and the variables have a linear
association. Therefore, the study can be analyzed using Pearson’s
correlation coefficient.
The researcher computed and analyzed the data by using SPSS
25.0 to find out the correlation. The computation shows that there was
correlation between foreign language listening anxiety, self-efficacy
and comprehension that results in low correlation. The result is
r=-.196 for the correlation between foreign language anxiety towards
comprehension and r=.021 for the correlation between self-efficacy
towards comprehension. This value was categorized low effect
correlation based on Cohen Effect size effect (Cohen, 1988). Thus,
from the computation, it can be concluded there is correlation, even
though it is low or weak.
Regarding to the previous studies, (Wang & Cha, 2019) resulted a
low correlation between the overall FLLA and listening test scores
with a medium effect size (n = 78, r = -.246, p = .030, R 2 = .061),
indicating that the overall FLLA decreased with students’ listening
proficiency. Moreover, the results indicated that the overall FLLA had
no significant association with listening test performance in either
low- or high-proficient groups which is similar to researcher result
from above.
The other study from (Canaran et al., 2020) showed that the
learners who suffer more from anxiety, nervousness, and poor
concentration, due to individual factors (inadequate background

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knowledge, fear of failure, unknown words) and external factors

(form and content of listening activities, delivery of speech) have, in
turn, lower confidence in their capacity to achieve listening tasks. In
other words, their self-efficacy was found to be lowered by a high
sense of anxiety. Lastly, the paths to self-efficacy and listening
proficiency in L2 were found to be positive, strong, and statistically
significant. However, they unable to prove evidence whether the
listeners with higher levels of self-efficacy and listening scores had
received any training on the use of metacognitive strategies or they
were really self-regulated learners in L2 listening, which, as suggested
in the literature, might have helped them overcome anxiety, increase
self-efficacy and listening scores during the process.
The researcher result was not significant correlation between
students’ foreign language listening anxiety, self-efficacy and
comprehension. It resulted in different way from the researcher
expected. Due to this result, the researcher tried to analyze the reason
why there is no significant variables between the variables.
The reasons showed as follows:
1. The students were not familiar with the type of the listening
test that researcher used. This could affect the listening results.
When they heard difficult vocabulary in English, they were
not paying much attention on it.
2. The students were under pressured due to the time limitation
that researcher used in their listening test. Therefore, the result
they get was not satisfying.
From the explanation, the researcher made conclusion that there is
low and positive correlation between students’ foreign language
listening anxiety, self-efficacy and comprehension. However, it is not
proven that the correlation was significant so it is considered as not
significant correlation

CONCLUSION
There was not much study that brought about the correlation
between listening anxiety, self- efficacy and comprehension especially

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in English as foreign language. Therefore, this study could add

knowledge around Foreign language listening studies.

The findings from this study that there was a weak correlation
within the variables of listening anxiety, self-efficacy and
comprehension. The first correlation shows some negative correlation
which means that the value of variables was inversely correlated with
one another and moved in opposite directions. The second correlation
showed positive correlation that both variables shift their values in
the same direction at the same time.

Surprisingly, there result of the correlation within the three

variables was not significant. The researchers believed it was from the
test and pressured from time limitation that researcher used and
caused unsatisfying scored. The lack of participants also might be the
caused of no significant result.

Based on the result of the study, the researcher gave some

suggestions for the further study about the correlation between
foreign language listening anxiety, self-efficacy and comprehension,
which was being discussed in this case. Firstly, there was a low
number of participants, which is 23 sample, and generated by using
G*power but it could not be generalized to other populations. Also,
correlation result data was not significant due to number of
participants. For this matter, the researcher suggested that the
number of participants should be really taken into consideration for
the next research as it really affects the accuracy of the statistics
measurements, especially in determining the correlation between the
variables. The students need to enrich their experiences in listening
skill. They also need to increase their motivation and interest to learn
listening well. Therefore, the anxiety of listening would not bother
them and they will not find any difficulties in listening test. Last but
not least, the researcher also hope this study could be used as a
reference for future researcher and teacher/lecturers for better study
in listening.
REFERENCES

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Al-Saraj, T. M. (2014). Foreign language anxiety in female Arabs

learning English: Case studies. Innovation in Language Learning
and Teaching, 8(3), 257–278.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2013.837911
Canaran, Ö., Bayram, İ., Doğan, M., & Baturay, M. H. (2020).
CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE SOURCES OF
ANXIETY, SELF-EFFICACY, AND PROFICIENCY IN L2
LISTENING. International Journal of Listening, 1–13.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2020.1793676
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd
ed). L. Erlbaum Associates.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and
evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed). Pearson.
Fathi, J., Derakhshan, A., & Torabi, S. (n.d.). The Effect of Listening
Strategy Instruction on Second Language Listening Anxiety
and Self-Efficacy of Iranian EFL Learners. SAGE Open, 13.
Greve, H. R. (2020). Learning theory: The pandemic research challenge. 6.
Ipek, H. (2020). Effects of Former Experience, Self-study & Listening
Comprehension Training on Foreign Language Listening
Anxiety: The Case of EFL Teacher Candidates. International
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https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2020.1764359
Khosroshahi, H. H., & Merç, A. (2020). Listening self-efficacy beliefs, L2
listening proficiency, and listening strategy training: An
experimental study. 14.
Kimura, H. (2017). Foreign Language Listening Anxiety: A Self-
Presentational View. International Journal of Listening, 31(3),
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Oteir, I., & Abd Aziz, N. H. (2017). Effects of Listening
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Oxford, R. L. (1993). Research update on teaching L2 listening. System,
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Vandergrift, L. (2012). Teaching and Learning Second Language
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31(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-

9720.1998.tb01333.x
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
FLLAS 23 64 113 89.65 11.308
LSES 23 30 48 36.04 4.838
LT 23 16 100 52.17 24.965
Valid N (listwise) 23

Appendix 2

One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test

FLLAS LSES LT
N 23 23 23
Normal Parameters a,b
Mean 89.65 36.04 52.17
Std. Deviation 11.308 4.838 24.965

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Most Extreme Differences Absolute .128 .142 .138

Positive .093 .142 .138
Negative -.128 -.106 -.091
Test Statistic .128 .142 .138
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .200
c,d
.200 c,d
.200c,d
a. Test distribution is Normal.
b. Calculated from data.
c. Lilliefors Significance Correction.
d. This is a lower bound of the true significance.

Appendix 3

ANOVA Table
Sum of Mean
Squares df Square F Sig.
LT * Between (Combined) 11279.30 17 663.488 1.364 .391
FLLAS Groups 4
Linearity 524.408 1 524.408 1.078 .347

Deviation from 10754.89 16 672.181 1.382 .384

Linearity 6
Within Groups 2432.000 5 486.400

Total 13711.30 22
4

Appendix 4

ANOVA Table
Sum of Mean
Squares df Square F Sig.
LT * Between (Combined) 7945.971 13 611.229 .954 .545
LSES Groups Linearity 6.052 1 6.052 .009 .925
Deviation from 7939.919 12 661.660 1.033 .492
Linearity

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Within Groups 5765.333 9 640.593

Total 13711.304 22

Appendix 5

Correlations
FLLAS LT
FLLAS Pearson Correlation 1 -.196
Sig. (2-tailed) .371
N 23 23
LT Pearson Correlation -.196 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .371
N 23 23

Appendix 6

Correlations
LSES LT
LSES Pearson Correlation 1 .021
Sig. (2-tailed) .924
N 23 23

LT Pearson Correlation .021 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .924

N 23 23

Appendix 7

Model Summaryb

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Adjusted R Std. Error of the

Model R R Square Square Estimate Durbin-Watson
1 .213 a
.045 -.050 25.585 2.075
a. Predictors: (Constant), LSES, FLLAS
b. Dependent Variable: LT

ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 619.743 2 309.871 .473 .630b
Residual 13091.562 20 654.578
Total 13711.304 22
a. Dependent Variable: LT
b. Predictors: (Constant), LSES, FLLAS

Coefficientsa
Standardi
zed
Unstandardized Coefficien 80,0% Confidence Collinearity
Coefficients ts Interval for B Statistics
Std. Lower Upper Tolera
Model B Error Beta t Sig. Bound Bound nce VIF
1 (Const 79.806 52.353 1.524 .143 10.420 149.192
ant)
FLLAS -.490 .506 -.222 -.968 .344 -1.160 .181 .910 1.098

LSES .451 1.182 .087 .382 .707 -1.115 2.017 .910 1.098

a. Dependent Variable: LT

Collinearity Diagnosticsa

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Variance Proportions
Model Dimension Eigenvalue Condition Index (Constant) FLLAS LSES
1 1 2.982 1.000 .00 .00 .00
2 .011 16.266 .01 .51 .78
3 .007 20.819 .99 .49 .22
a. Dependent Variable: LT

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