Learning Difficulties in Academia: The Case of the Listening Course in Licence1 English Department at University Julius Nyerere of Kankan

One of the most crucial abilities in learning English is listening. Students have many difficulties when learning the English language. Because writing, reading, and vocabulary are given more consideration in high schools and training centers, students struggle greatly with listening comprehension at universities. Specifically, at the University Julius Nyerere of Kankan, the Licence 1 students from the English department and the majority of lecturers do not focus on this crucial skill in their classrooms. This article investigates the difficulties encountered by students while learning Listening and the importance of Listening in the learning process and the relationship between Listening and Patriotism. The participants of this research are the students from Licence 1 English department. They were chosen randomly. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The numerical results from the questionnaire describe students' hearing difficulties and the factors influencing students' listening difficulties were investigated using the interview and observation techniques. The findings show that students' difficulties with listening comprehension include the lack of vocabulary, concentration, language accent, students' interest in English, pronunciation, lecturers’ speed while lecturing, understanding of contracted words, and lack of self-confidence. Regarding the contributing variables to those difficulties, they included the students’ prior knowledge, their lack of practice, and the environmental factors