English for Academic Purposes: A Proposal to Improve Listening Skills of Education Students

Abstract

Most students report that their listening skills are poor and that listening activities make them anxious. It is necessary to develop a work plan to improve their attitude towards such activities. This contribution tries to highlight the importance of enhancing the listening skills of education students in order to improve their results in compulsory English courses and reduce their fear of listening activities. Such fear is due to their lack of training in these skills. Increasing the exposure of students to real input in an anxiety-free environment can gradually improve their listening skills. I propose a one-semester parallel extensive listening programme in which students are given instructions to follow. This programme considerably improves students’ listening strategies and also leads to significant changes in students’ attitudes toward listening activities. Self-confidence reduces students’ fear and anxiety, leading to better results. The activity is part of students’ compulsory TEFL course; students record their progress in an online diary on the course platform that is discussed with the teacher in a personal interview.