Listening strategy use, test anxiety and test performance of intermediate and advanced Iranian EFL learners

Learning  a  foreign  language  has  been  related  with  some  kind  of  knowledge  of  language learning strategies on the one hand, and some level of (test-taking) apprehension or tension on the other although a small amount of anxiety is normally expected as a natural warning symptom.  The  current  study  aimed  at  investigating  the  relationship  between  listening strategy  use,  test  anxiety,  and  listening  test  performance  of  Iranian  intermediate  and advanced EFL learners. To this end, eighty (40 intermediate and 40 advanced) Iranian EFL learners  took  part  in  the  study  by  completing  Lee’s  (1997)  Listening  Comprehension Strategy Questionnaire, Sarason’s (1975) Test Anxiety Scale (TAS), and two monologues of  Listening  test  performance  selected  from  Listening  part  of  TOEFL.  The  results  of Pearson  product  moment  correlation  analyses  revealed  a  significant  negative  correlation between  test  anxiety  and  listening  test  performance,  but  a  significant  positive  association between  listening  strategy  use  and  listening  test  performance.  Furthermore,  the  results  of multiple  regression  analyses  indicated  listening  strategy  use  was  a  stronger  predictor  of listening test performance. Additionally, the results of independent samples t-test showed a significant  difference  between  Iranian  intermediate  and  advanced  EFL  learners  regarding both their listening strategy use and level of test anxiety.