Causes and symptoms of foreign language listening anxiety: a case study of profi cient students about to graduate with an MA in teaching EFL

The aim of the study was twofold. First it was to investigate sources and symptoms of foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) among a very specific group of foreign language learners: proficient students of English (C1, C2) who were on the verge of completing their MA studies in the English department, with teaching English as their specialisation. The second goal was to create an instrument which would allow for a detailed analysis to be carried out of the factors giving rise to FLLA and identification of its symptoms. To achieve this aim, the author of this article proposed a new taxonomy of factors responsible for FLLA which served as a basis for constructing a questionnaire to investigate seven categories of FLLA sources and three categories of its symptoms. The research showed that the possibility of getting a poor mark, fast speech, mind drifting away while listening, and being evaluated were identifi ed by participants as being the most common anxiety-provoking factors, although they were experienced less intensely than by less proficient students. As far as the effects of FLLA are concerned, the most common somatic symptoms were found to be a pounding heart and the mind going blank