EFL learners’ problems in listening comprehension of TOEFL test

The intensity of listening as teaching English can affects students' habit of listening to conversations and texts in English. One of a way to help students’ found their best strategy in listening is by analyzing students’ difficulties toward listening comprehension. This research aims to analyze the problems encountered by students of the English Education Department in listening comprehension during the TOEFL test and to explain strategies used by students in the listening section of the TOEFL test. This qualitative research was conducted on students of the Class-A English Education Department in the academic year of 2017 at Walisongo State Islamic University, Semarang, and took 15 students as participants in doing the questionnaire and interview. This research used a questionnaire adapted from Arafat Hamouda and interview guidelines as an instrument in collecting the data. The result of this research reveals that there are several problems encountered by students of the English Education Department in listening comprehension during the TOEFL test including Listening Problems Related to Content such as Unfamiliar Topics, Lack of Vocabulary, Long Spoken Text, and Form of Expression. Problems Related to the Students such as Fear Before Doing Listening, Lose Concentration, Infer Meaning, Unclear Pronunciation, Encounter Unknown Words. Last, Problems Related to Physical Setting such as speed of speech, Poor Audio/CD Quality. As for strategies used by students to listening comprehension of TOEFL test are Before Listening and While Listening such as a). Pay attention to the second speaker b). Choose the answer with synonym c). Guess the question by looking at multiple choices d). Pay attention to 5W+1H e). Overcome panic. The results of this study are expected to provide contributions in information and inputs in learning and teaching listening comprehension as a foreign language. By points out the difficulties encountered by the students in listening comprehension of TOEFL test, it might extend awareness to the teachers and the learners that experience student difficulties gave contribute to teaching and learning to listening comprehension in the future