A Portrait of EFL Learners’ Difficulties and Strategies in Answering Listening Comprehension of TOEFL ITP Prediction Test at Online English Course

Abstract

In the presence of global competition, mastering English has become increasingly important for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. In order to assess learners’ English Proficiency, they mostly use Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as one of the requirements for scholarship programs and other recruitment processes. However, TOEFL has a difficulty level, necessitates high English mastery, and encourages students to apply a well-thought-out strategy when answering questions. EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners may consider that TOEFL is extremely difficult because there are 3 sections to be tested; listening comprehension, structure and written expression, and reading comprehension. However, listening comprehension is regarded as the most difficult part among the three sections. This study aimed to discover most common difficulties of listening comprehension for TOEFL ITP prediction test as well as the learners’ strategies to overcome their difficulties. For research design, this study employed descriptive quantitative method with purposive sampling technique. Thirty participants were found significantly from Indonesian EFL learners at online English course. The procedure of the research involved two steps; administering a questionnaire and conducting an interview. To analyze the data of common difficulties, the researcher calculated the data through SPSS 20. On the other hand, to analyze the employed strategies, the researcher recorded and transcribed the data from the interview. The finding of this study showed that the most common EFL learners’ difficulties in answering listening comprehension of TOEFL ITP prediction test are the choice of words (M = 4.73), followed by the speaker’s speed (M = 4.60), speaker’s accent (M = 4.50), speaker’s intonation (M = 4.37), and speaker’s length of the talk (M = 4.30). The learners employed various strategies to overcome each difficulty such as practicing frequently in various learning sources, anticipating the questions during answering the test, draw the speaker’s conclusion, and get familiar with American accent such as watching YouTube videos, movies, and listening to English songs. Based on the finding of the study, it is addressed to the EFL learners to be well-practiced before taking the TOEFL test. Therefore, they need to understand well how to overcome their own difficulties, especially in the listening comprehension. Teachers can encourage the learners to focus more on the components of the listening comprehension section that appear to be the most difficult. Further, for the next researcher can properly extended to a much larger population and reinforce theories about listening comprehension for TOEFL created by certain experts or authors who have published TOEFL books.

Keywords: Listening Comprehension, TOEFL ITP, Prediction Test