Listening anxiety has long since been considered as a problematic component for foreign language learners. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying the strategies utilised by Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in order to alleviate such listening-induced anxiety, which was undertaken by conducting semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. The findings revealed that the learners implemented nine categories of strategy, which emerged from four main themes. The primary themes were: 1) cognitive strategy, which included positive thinking, note-taking, and inferring to guess the meaning; 2) metacognitive strategy, which included preparation, peer-seeking, and self-evaluation; 3) affective strategy, which included relaxation; and 4) memory strategy, which included keywords and semantic mapping utilisation. In brief, this study positions significant implications for the learners, lecturers, and course developers alike.
Keywords: Coping Strategy, Foreign language anxiety, Saudi EFL learners, listening anxiety
