ENGLISH LISTENING PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS AT AN INDONESIAN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

This article elucidates English listening problems faced by students at an Indonesian senior high school. Specifically, it reveals (1) the students’English listening skill, (2) the problems they faced in English listening and (3) how the teacher overcomes the problems. The research employed descriptive qualitative method and was conducted at a senior high school in Sinjai, South Sulawesi, 25 students of The eleventh were picked as the research subjects through purposive sampling technique. The data were obtained through a series of English listening tests using recordings with both non-native and native speakers, observation and interview. The findings show (1) the students have not had sufficient listening skill, particularly when the speaker is a native speaker, (2) the problems they face in English listening deal with speaking speed, limited vocabulary, concentration level and established language habits, and (3) to overcome those problems, the teacher applies the top-down strategy and vocabulary enrichment by providing the students with some important words used in the listenining practicein the learning process. Thus, it can be inferred that the teacher’s efforts are relevant to the listening problems faced by the students. Keywords; Problems, Students, English Listenin