STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT SMAS AMIR HAMZAH MEDAN

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' difficulties in listening comprehension based on Hamouda's (2013) theory. This study also explored what caused students' difficulties in listening comprehension. This research was conducted at SMAS Amir Hamzah Medan in class X. Descriptive qualitative research was used as the method in this study. The subjects of the study were 20 students. The instruments used in this study were questionnaires and audio
recordings of interviews with students. The results of the study revealed that the seven categories of difficulties existed in 16 items of the questionnaire. The findings showed the following percentages for each category: Based on the first category that consist of Items 1 and 2 (58%), and the second category that consist of Items 3 and 4 (61.5%), next the third category that consist of Items 5 and 6
(61%), the fourth category that consist of Items 7 and 8 (58%). the fifth category that consist of Items 9, 10, and 11 (94.5%), and the sixth category that consist of
Items 12, 13, and 14 (98.5%), and finally, the seventh category that consist of Items 15 and 16 (75.5%). The students said the causes of the difficulties included
several factors. Ten students revealed that they had difficulties in understanding the listening materials due to two main factors: difficult English materials and personal limitations, such as low English proficiency and ervousness. Another six students mentioned that the problem came from the speaker's way of speaking,such as unfamiliar speed, intonation, and accent. Three students also cited the physical environment, such as noise and unclear audio, as the main cause of their difficulties. Meanwhile, one student gave an answer that was not relevant to the researcher's theory.