Why Are Students Failing Listening? Investigating Reasons for the Low Performance of Omani General Foundation Program Students in English Listening Exams
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1703.02Keywords:
listening comprehension, EFL learners, language assessment, foundation programs, English listeningAbstract
This research paper investigates the reasons behind the low performance of students in the listening component of English examinations within the General Foundation Program (GFP) at an Omani public university. Recognizing a consistent trend of weak listening outcomes across levels and branches, the study aims to identify the exam sections and question types that pose the greatest challenges to learners. Using data from the university’s largest branch, the study employs Microsoft Office Excel for performance analysis and item analysis to determine the most problematic questions. The listening examinations, which are standardized across all branches, are designed to align with students’ proficiency levels and include multiple-choice, true or false, short-answer, and note-completion tasks. The findings indicate that students experience particular difficulty with cloze and note-completion tasks due to the demands of precise listening, linguistic decoding, and accurate spelling or transcription of words and numbers. The study also highlights inherent challenges of listening comprehension, including real-time processing, exposure to varied accents, differences in speech rate, and the difficulty of converting auditory input into written responses. These findings are relevant not only to the context examined in this study but also to other educational settings where listening skills are taught and assessed. The study underscores the need for targeted pedagogical interventions to improve listening proficiency and assessment performance, thereby supporting students’ overall English competence and academic success in programs where English is the medium of instruction.
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