The Challenges of Teaching EFL Listening in Iraqi (Kurdistan Region) Universities

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the issue of teaching EFL listening in Kurdistan region of Iraq. The important role of listening skills in a FL learning is presented, and the difficulties of listening are analyzed, including language (vocabulary, grammar) and psychological (low motivation and self-confidence as well as a high level of listening anxiety) factors. The article involves a questionnaire survey with participation of 98 students from 8 universities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq and 28 teachers from 7 universities in the same region (universities mostly overlap, so totally 9 universities are involved). The survey shows that the level of listening anxiety among the students is quite high.