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ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

25 
 

A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LISTENING AT STUDENTS  

CLASS XI IN MA AL-MUNAWWARAH PAGUYAMAN 

Nur Fitriyani Rahim 

Nurrahim22@gmail.com 

MA Al Munawarah, Paguyaman 

 

 

Abstract 

 

The objective of this research was to find the cause of students’ difficulties in listening grade 

XI in MA Al-Munawwarah Paguyaman. This type of research was descriptive qualitative 

method by using qualitative approach (qualitative research). This research was conducted at 

MA Al-Munawwarah Paguyaman. The subject of research were the students of grade XI 

consist of 16 people. Data collection techniques used structured interviews and interviews 

guideline. Data analysis in this research used interactive model analysis. The result revealed 

that students have difficulty in listening to English text on linguistic factors and non-

linguistic factors such as lack of motivation, material duration, and difficulty concentrating. 

Keywords: Listening, Difficulty, English Subtitle   

 

Abstrak 

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan penyebab kesulitan siswa dalam menyimak 

pada siswa kelas XI di MA Al-Munawwarah Paguyaman. Jenis penelitian ini adalah metode 

deskriptif kualitatif dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif (qualitative research). 

Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di MA Al-Munawwarah Paguyaman, Subjek penelitian adalah 

siswa kelas XI berjumlah 16 orang. Tehnik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah 

wawancara terstruktur yang menggunakan pedoman wawancara. Analisis data pada 

penelitian ini  menggunakan analisis model interactive. Hasil penelitian mengungkapkan 

bahwa siswa memiliki kesulitan dalam menyimak text berbahasa inggris pada faktor 

linguistik dan faktor non-linguistik. Faktor linguistic seperti kurangnya penguasaan kosakata, 

aksen, dan kurangnya pemahaman pada text. Faktor non linguistik seperti kurangnya 

motivasi, kualitas materi, durasi materi, dan sulit berkosentrasi. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mailto:Nurrahim22@gmail.com


Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

26 
 

A. INTRODUCTION 

 

The first communication skill we engage in the moment we are born is 

listening. It is how we learn and acquire language. Speaking and listening, then, are 

always interrelated. However, although it is our first communicative behavior, 

listening is usually our most underdeveloped communication skill. Lisa (2008), says 

listening skill is viewed as the most common communicative action in routine life. 

Morley points out "We can expect to listen twice as much as we speak, four times 

more than we read, and five times more than we write. Listening is the key to all 

effective communication, because we understand purpose after listen them. When we 

can not listen correctly, we may have a poor understanding (Ur, P, 1984).  

Rost (2004),  also says that listening is an active process requiring participation on 

the part of the listener.  It seems that the communication involves the speaker and the listener. 

The listeners can understand well if they can hear what the speaker says. In the other words, 

Long (1989), argued that  the communication will run well since there is an understanding 

lecturer the speaker and listener. Furthermore, listening is important skill and it is needed by 

the students ‟ to improve their English skills”.  According to PERMENDIKNAS the 

objective of teaching Listening for senior high school is students‟ comprehend 2 the meaning 

in oral functional text and simple monologue in descriptive and procedure to interact each 

other. However, there are some common problems faced by students in learning 

listening skill. One of them is they are not familiar with the spoken words and 

foremost they miss catch the word. Hassan said that the differences of the sound 

system between the (LI) and the (L2), the inconsistency of some sounds in English 

language, the mother tongue interference and the influence of spelling on 

pronunciation. Besides, they are lack of understanding the whole spoken text. In this 

case, listening becomes complex skill since they are lack of ability to catch the word, 

grab the meaning of the word, and also comprehend the spoken text. The students‟ 

also cannot hear the pronunciation clearly and it becomes problem for them. 

In fact there are some common problems students’ faces in learning to 

listening. One is that they are not familiar with the spoken words and especially they 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

27 
 

miss the word catch. Hassan says that the difference between the sound system (LI) 

and (L2), inconsistency of some sounds in English, mother language disorder and 

spelling effect on pronunciation. In this case, listening to be a complex skill because 

they lack the ability to capture the word, understand the meaning of the word, and 

also understand the spoken text. The students "also cannot hear the pronunciation 

clearly and this is a problem for them (Wang Zhanming, 2014). Previously the 

researcher has conducted research on the place of observation that is already planned. 

According to the observation of the condition of the troubled child in listening can be 

seen from the learning situation in the classroom. For example when teachers say the 

word "ship" they mean "sheep", besides that most of the students do not know the 

meaning of the word in English which is spoken or heard because of the limitations 

of their English vocabulary, and not the concentration on the material being heard. 

 

B. METHOD 

 

The Research about Study on Students’ Difficulties in Listening included in 

field research is a study conducted by doing a review to the field or research location. 

This research using qualitative research and type of research is qualitative descriptive. 

The qualitative research is called as ethnography method then called the qualitative 

method (Sugiyono, 2008). Technique of data collection in this research are interview 

and documentation. And data analysis by Patton cited by Sugiyono data analysis is 

the process of searching and compile systematically data obtained from interviews, 

field notes, and documentation by organizing data into the pattern, choosing which is 

important and that will be studied, and make conclusions so easily understood by 

yourself and other people. 

 

 

 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

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28 
 

C. RESULT AND DISCUSSION 

 

Researcher conducted interviews with students at MA AL-Munawwarah 

Paguyaman class XI totaling 16th students each student was given sixteen the same 

question, the results of the interviews every student described follows as: 

The first question is "Do you interested in learning English? On the first 

question the results obtained that from 16th students there were 12nd students 

interested in learning English. They answered that they interested learning English 

because a non linguistic factors, a way of explaining the teacher who easily 

understood, and the future goals to become an English teacher. Then 4th students 

answered not interested in learning the English language because linguistic factors, 

such a difficult learning tense and lack of vocabulary which became the cause of they 

were not interested in learning English. Based on the answers can be concluded that 

the ability of the teacher to explain the material to become a causes for students feels 

interested in learning English. 

Next on the second question "Do you interested in learning listening?" from 

the result interview was conducted that of 16th students there were 10th students 

interested in learning. They were interested in learning listening because the non 

linguistic aspects as well as, like the songs, stories, and conversation in English. Then 

there are 5th students answered sometimes like the English lessons, the reason is 

because it was difficult in learning listening, but interest learning listening when the 

text given in the English-language songs, and some were answered, be interested 

learning listening when the material given the short duration. Then 1th student 

answered that he did not like learning listening because lack of controlled vocabulary 

so unable to understand the content of the text. From the answers it can be concluded 

that the existence of the interest of students in learning listening because the interest 

is the primary base needed someone in particular learning listen to English or other 

foreign languages. 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

29 
 

The third question: "Do the teacher use record is clearly while teaching 

listening?" the answers to these questions obtained from that of 16th students, there 

were 3rd people answer Yes, they answered that teachers often use a recording with 

good quality while teaching listening processed. In addition to the answers of the 

students there are 13rd students given different answers sometimes teachers provide 

audio material with not clearly when studying listening. From the answers given, the 

number of students were answered sometimes a lot more than the number of students 

answered often. The recording quality is a factor when a person is required to listen to 

the foreign text. Listeners will easily understand and listen when recording quality is 

good and clear but if the quality of the record is low it will be difficult by the listener 

understand the foreign text. 

Next the fourth question: "Do you able to hear and understand the content of 

dialogue or monologue in English when low recording quality?" on this question the 

answer is obtained that all students answered Yes, that difficult listen because the 

quality of the recording is low, they can't listen to the content of the dialog by either 

making it difficult to understand the meaning of the text with good when listening to 

the dialogue or monologue in English. So listeners can listen well when given good 

quality recordings. 

The fifth question: "Do you listen to dialogue or monologue in English that 

uses native speakers?" there were 4th students answered often listen to dialogue or 

monologue in English when they studied in the class and at the home. When they are 

at the home they listen to English songs only. Then there were 12nd students 

answered that they follow the dialogues or monologue in English only when learning 

listening in schools only and never listen to dialogue or monologue to speak English 

at home. From these answers can be defined that most students don't conducted 

listening text in English at the time was outside the school. Although on previous 

question they stated that they are interested in learning listening in class but their 

interest in learning the listening in schools only. 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

30 
 

Then sixth question "Do you understand the content of dialogue or 

monologue in English that uses native speakers?” from 16th students, there were 

12nd students answered that they can understand the content of dialogue or 

monologue in English if the material to be heard is the short duration of the material, 

a little foreign vocabulary, and the clear accents of native speakers. Furthermore there 

were 4th students answered that they were difficult to hear and understand the content 

of dialogue or monologue in English if you use native speakers because of the accents 

change they could be difficult to translate it. For example the word first is sometimes 

pronounced fist, fest. They will be able to understand when heard through a non 

native speaker or teacher.  

Next question number seven is “Do you find unfamiliar vocabulary when 

listening to dialogue or monologue in English while learning listening?" on this 

question the results obtained that all students answered Yes, they answered that there 

were many foreign vocabulary or vocabulary that is the first time they hear that often 

found on text when learning listening. The number of foreign vocabulary that is 

found in a text listening to 6th foreign vocabularies usually appears on the material 

like news, announcements, and stories. Other vocabulary is the vocabulary they have 

ever heard but they don’t known means. Mastery of the vocabulary needed in skills 

listening text in English and other foreign language text. 

 

Then the eighth question: "Do you able to understand the content of dialogue 

or monologue in English if you find unfamiliar vocabulary when learn listening?" 

from the results interview that of 16th students, there were 3rd students answered that 

can sometimes understand the content of the materials if foreign vocabulary in text is 

little. Then there were 13rd the students answered No, They cannot understand 

because foreign because so many foreign vocabulary so they do not understand the 

meaning of text".  



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

31 
 

The ninth question ""Do you listen to dialogue or monologue in English with 

the contents of text length and speed?" there were 3rd students answered yes, namely 

Dion, yuliyanti, and Fitri answered they listen to dialogue or monologue in English 

with the contents of text length and speed learning listening processed and when 

outside the school. Then 13rd students answered sometimes, they follow the English 

text with the contents of text length and speed if teachers provided such material at 

the moment learning listening in class only. In listening text will be easier when they 

were familiar with text a listener is said to have good listening skills are not only able 

to listen to and understand text feature quickly. A listener is said to have good 

listening skills in being able to hear and understand the length and speed of dialogue 

or monologue. To achieve this it should be getting used to and often trained skills in 

listening to English with text that lasts long and fast delivery too. 

The tenth question: "Do you listening English dialogue or monologues with 

the contents of text length and speed?” all of students answered yes, they have 

difficult to concentrate because the material was a long and difficult to understand the 

meaning text because the material is fast. such cases in accordance with the opinion 

of Azmi Bingol, Celik, Yidiz, and Tugrul Mart is very difficult for lower level 

students to listen more than three minutes long and complete the listening tasks. 

The Eleventh question is "Do you listening to the well English dialogue or 

monologues when learning listening?” From the obtained results that 7th students 

namely answered yes, and 9th students answered Sometimes, they sometimes are able 

to listen to good text in the material record, short duration. 

Then the twelfth question is “Do you having a difficulty concentrate when 

listening?" all students answered yes, because of the long duration of the material and 

the amount of foreign vocabulary in dialogue or monologue given when learning 

listening so difficult to concentrate when students listen.  

The thirteenth question "Do teacher when teaching listening play recordings 

of dialogue or monologue over one time?" on this question the results obtained that 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

32 
 

all students answered Yes, when teaching listening the teacher play the material up to 

two times. After researchers feel dissatisfied with the subsequent answers researchers 

continue to mention the next question. 

The Fourteen question "Do you can understand the English dialogue or 

monologues if you listen only one time? on this question the all  students said yes, 

because at the moment listening to dialogue or monologue in English first foreign 

vocabulary, there are many who heard so teachers have to replay the material so that 

students have time to listen back the vocabulary not understood clearly in order for 

can to translate the meaning of the material properly. 

When the researcher was conducted documentation, the researcher found the 

results of the research with the view and retrieves a list of the value students daily. In 

this listening test, the students were asked to do some assignments. The topic of the 

first daily test was narrative story. The assignments were based on some recording. 

There were five assignments in the test. The assignments consisted of checking the 

right picture, multiple choices, true-false statements, and circling the right 

vocabulary. The teacher had score table to gather all of the students’ score in every 

type of assignments.  

The value of daily test on second day was conducted on Friday with the 

topic was recount story. The students were asked to answer the assignments the same 

as in the value of daily test on Tuesday 24th April 2017 There were four assignments 

in test. The assignments consisted of checking the right picture, multiple choices, 

true-false statements, and circling the right vocabulary. To assess the students’ 

listening skill the teacher also made a score table. The teacher had different column 

for each type of assignments. The students’ listening scores in the value of daily 

result on Tuesday 24th April 2017 can be seen in the Appendix. 

Based on the teacher assessment, it was found that the mean of the students’ 

listening skill score was 64,5. From that assessment, it can be inferred that the 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

33 
 

students’ listening skill was low because the minimum passing criteria (KKM/ 

Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimum) of English subject in this school was 7,5. 

In the value of daily test on Tuesday 27th April 201, th7e teacher assessed 

the students’ listening skill scores by using the same score table. The result of the 

students’ listening scores in the 64,5 value of daily test on Friday 27th April 2017 can 

be seen in the Appendix. based on the daily test result on Friday 27th April 2017 

from the teacher’s assessment, it was found that the mean of the students’ listening 

skill score was 66,6. Thus, almost the students had passed the minimum passing 

grade (KKM). From that result, it could be concluded that the students’ listening skill 

had improved since the means of the students’ listening skill score had improved. The 

table shows that the mean is 64,5 on Tuesday 24th April 2017, while in on Friday 

27th April 2017 t is 66,6. 

Based on the results of structured interviews that was conducted using the 

interview guideline refers to the 8th difficulty students according to the experts, that 

is made up of 7 indicators and 14th questions where each indicator has 2nd questions 

that is already provided by the researchers in order to discover whether these 6 factor 

to be the problems faced by students. 

1. Quality of Material 

The quality of the material is important in supporting the ability to listen, if the 

quality of the recording is don’t clearly then the listener will hardly understand the 

contents of the material. Azmi Bingol, Literate, Yidiz, and Tugrul Mart are of the 

opinion that the quality of sound system can impact the comprehending of learners’ 

listening. Based on the interview question number 3
rd

, namely "Do teachers use high 

quality recordings while teaching listening?" from 16
th

 students there are 12
nd

 

students answer that the teachers sometimes use the audio is don’t clearly when 

learning listening. 

2. The unfamiliar accent 

Speakers’ accent is the difficulty in capturing according to Munro and Derwin 

unfamiliar accent both native and non-native can cause serious problems in listening 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

34 
 

comprehension and familiarity with an accent helps learners listening comprehension 

Based on questions number six "Do you understand the dialogue or monologue in 

English that uses native speakers?" from 16
th

 students there are 12
nd

 students 

answering sometimes difficult and 4
th

 students namely Riski, Cindy, irawaty, and 

Yusni answered difficult.  

3. The lack of vocabulary 

Mastery of vocabulary is very important in understanding the content of the reading 

English text if we have a mastery of the vocabulary is good then we are able to follow 

the English text properly. According to Amzi Bingol, Celik, Yidiz, and Tugrual Mart, 

when listening contain known words it would be very easy for students to them. If 

students know the meaning of words this can arouse their interest and motivation and 

can have a positive impact on the students’ listening comprehension ability. From the 

results of the interview question number seven "Do you find a foreign vocabulary 

when listening to dialogue or monologue in English while learning listening?"  All 

students answered their many find foreign vocabulary when learning listening. the 

question number 8
th

 "Do you be able to understand the content of dialogue or 

monologue in English when finding foreign vocabulary when learning listening?" 

researcher found 5
th

 students answered sometimes, and 11
st
 students answered the 

difficult understanding Of the interview results can be concluded that the grade XI 

difficult listen because of the lack of vocabulary. 

4. The length and speed of the material 

Short listening passages make easy listening comprehension for learners and reduce 

their tiredness. According to Underwood speed can make listening passage difficult. 

If the speakers speak to fast students may serious problems to understand L2 words. 

In this situation, listeners are not able to control the speed of speakers and this can 

create critical problems with listening comprehension. Based on question number ten 

"do you hard just listening to dialogue or monologue long duration and delivery 

fast?" there were 15
th

 students answered difficult, and 1
st
 students answered 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

35 
 

sometimes. This means that that all students class XI difficult listening if the given 

material when listening is length and speed of material. 

5. The difficult to concentrate 

Concentration is required in regard to a listening text in English. According to 

Underwood Sometimes a shortest break in attention can prevent comprehension. If 

the listening passage is interesting for listeners, concentration will be easy for them. 

Based on the results of the interview question number twelfth "Do you have difficulty 

when listening to concentrate material when learning listening?" in getting the 

answers that the 11
st
 students answered sometimes. It can be concluded that the 

students of Class XI is still difficult to concentrate in just listening to English. 

6. The Difficult listening if the listening material is only one time 

According Underwood Teachers decided what and when to repeat listening text and it 

is very difficult for teachers to know whether not learners understood what they have 

heard. Based on the Interview questions number sixteenth "Do you difficult 

understanding the content the recording of dialogue or monologue if hear it only 

once? All students answered difficult to listen and comprehend English text if only 

heard once. 

 

D. CONCLUSIONS 

This research examines the difficulties students in the listening. It was 

revealed that the students of Class XI in Madrasah Aliyah Al-Munawwarah 

Paguyaman has some difficulty in listening to the structured interview based on a 

student's difficulty in referring to listen based on the experts. The difficult are; the 

first students are difficult to listen to and understand the content of the text the first 

caused by the lack of interest of students in learning, second, difficult to listen to and 

understand the content of the text due to the low quality of the recording is used, the 

third student is difficult to listen and understand a text using native speakers, the 

fourth student difficult to listen to and understand the content of the text when the 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

36 
 

students find foreign vocabulary in the text . The fourth students are difficult to listen 

to and understand the contents of the text with material that length and speed. The 

fifth, students difficult to concentrate when listening, the sixth students are difficult to 

listen to and understand the content of the text when they have only heard one time or 

they can not repeat the text. The sixth, students are hard to listen to and understand 

the contents of the text because students have difficulty in listening to when they 

learn listening.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Al-Lisan. Journal Bahasa  

ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973  

Volume 2 Nomor 2- Agustus 2017 

http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 

37 
 

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Lisa. J Dows. (2008). Listening Skill Training. Maryland: Victor Graphics. 

 

Long, D. R. (1989). Second Language Listening Comprehension: A Schema-

Theoretical Perspective. Modern Language Journa. 

 

Republik Indonesia, Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia 

Nomor 22 Tahun 2006  

 

Rost , M. (2004). Introducing Listening. London: Penguin. 

 

Sugiyono. (2008). Metode Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: Alfabeta. 

 

Ur, P. (1984). Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press.  

 

Wang Zhanming. (2014). Review Of The Influence Of L1 In L2 Acquisition. Vol. 9, 

No. 2. 

  

 


