Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Teaching Listening

Abstract

English is considered one of the most important languages in the world and among all of the four skills, listening is considered the most important skill. However, listening has been neglected in the classroom and less research has been done regarding listening. The purpose of this study is to examine the beliefs and teaching practices of teaching listening towards low proficiency students. The result of this study was taken from a preliminary study, with quantitative study as the research design and questionnaire was used as the instrument. The target population of this study was 25 (n = 25) Form 1, 2 and 3 teachers who are teaching in five different schools in a district in Sabah, Malaysia. The findings suggest that most teachers believe that the lack of vocabulary among students is the biggest obstacle for students in learning listening comprehension. The study also suggests that most teachers often practice direct instruction and drilling in teaching listening comprehension. The result of this study should be able to help teachers reflect on their beliefs and how it is shown through their teaching practices. It also can help teachers to understand better the teaching of listening to improve their teaching skills. It is suggested that more research need to be done in the area of listening comprehension in Malaysian schools.