VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST–GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ SÁU DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE 11th FORM STUDENTS AT CẨM THỦY II SECONDARY SCHOOL WHEN LEARNING THE ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL (Những khó khăn việc học kĩ nghe học sinh khối 11 Trường THPT Cẩm Thủy 2) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HA NOI – 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST–GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ SÁU DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE 11th FORM STUDENTS AT CẨM THỦY II SECONDARY SCHOOL WHEN LEARNING THE ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL (Những khó khăn việc học kĩ nghe học sinh khối 11 Trường THPT Cẩm Thủy 2) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Lâm Thị Phúc Hân, M.A HA NOI – 2013 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L2: The second language CT2SS: Cẩm Thủy Secondary School Sts: students LC: Listening comprehension iv LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND CHARTS Page Table 1: Students‟ goal to learn English 21 Table 2: Students general self-rating to listening proficiency 22 Table 3: Pronunciation in the cassette tape 27 Table 4: Problems related to the learners 29 Table 5: Students‟ opinion towards the listening environment at school 32 Table 6: Students‟ expectation from their teachers in helping them better 33 learning English listening skills Chart 1: Students‟ attitude towards English listening skills 22 Chart 2: Students‟ frequency in listening English outside class 23 Chart 3: Students‟ assessment to difficulty` of listening tasks in the textbook 24 Chart 4: Students‟ Evaluation on Listening Activities in "Tieng Anh 11" 25 Chart 5: Speed in cassette tapes 27 Chart 6: Students‟ involvement in listening lesson 28 Chart 7: Students‟ opinion about the role of signals in listening texts 30 Chart 8: Students‟ expectation from the listening environment 33 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of tables, figures and charts v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Purpose of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Significance of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Theoretical background of listening skills 1.2.1 What is Listening Comprehension? 1.2.1.1 Definitions vi 1.2.1.2 The importance and purposes of the listening skill 1.2.1.3 Nature of Listening 1.2.1.4 The process involved in the listening skill 1.2.2 Teaching the listening skill 1.2.2.1 The listening skill 1.2.2.2 Phases in teaching the listening skill 10 1.2 Potential problems in learning to listening to English 11 1.2.3.1 Speed of delivery 11 1.2.3.2 Inability to get thing repeated 12 1.2.3.3 Limited vocabulary 12 1.2.3.4 Unrecognizing the signals 12 1.2.3.5 Listeners’ lack of contextual knowledge or background knowledge 13 1.2.3.6 Inability to concentrate 13 1.2.3.7 Learning habits 14 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 15 2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 The setting of the study 15 2.2.1 English teaching and learning situations at CT2SS 15 2.2.2 The students’ background and their English levels 16 2.2.3 Listening text books 16 2.3 Data collection 17 2.3.1 Selecting the subjects 17 2.3.2 Data collection instruments 18 2.3.2.1 The questionnaire for the students 18 vii 2.3.2.2 Interviews 19 2.3.3 Procedures to collect data 19 2.4 Data analysis 20 2.4.1 Sts’ attitude toward the importance of learning English listening skills 20 2.4.2 The listening comprehension difficulties encountered 24 by the 11th form Sts at CT2SS 2.4.2.1 Problems related to the listening material 24 2.4.2.2 Problems related to the learners 28 2.4.2.3 Problems related to the environment 31 2.4.3 Suggestions for the teachers to help the students overcome 33 these difficulties CHAPTER III: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 35 3.1 Major findings and discussions 35 3.1.1 The students’ attitude towards learning the listening skill 35 3.1.2 Difficulties in learning the listening skill 35 3.1.2.1 Problems from the materials 35 3.1.2.2 Problems from the learners 36 3.1.2.3 Problems from the listening environment 36 3.2 Suggestions for teachers and the students in teaching and learning 36 the listening skill viii 3.2.1 For the students 37 3.2.1.2 Practice listening frequently outside class 37 3.2.1.3 Practice using listening strategies 37 3.2.1.4 Considering signals 38 3.2.2 For the teachers 38 3.2.2.1 Activating the students’ vocabulary 38 3.2.2.2 Giving extracurricular activities 38 3.2.2.3 Pronunciation 38 3.2.2.4 Encouraging the students to relate their background knowledge 39 with the topic they are going to listen 3.2.2.5 Guiding the students which listening strategies should be 39 used for each task 3.2.2.6 Using the tapes and radios with good quality 40 3.2.2.7 Providing and trying to again as much feedback as possible 40 3.2.2.8 Improving the learning environment of listening skills 40 3.3 Summary 41 PART C: CONCLUSION 42 Summary of the study 42 Limitations of the study 43 ix Suggestions for further research 43 REFERENCES 45 APPENDICES I x PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Language is a means helping people to communicate with each others Without language, people can not understand each other properly However, to master a language is not easy at all Of the four language skills -Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing-that all language learners are supposed to acquire, listening is believed to be the most challenging due to the complex and subtle nature of listening comprehension in L2 or foreign language It takes much time and effort to make progress in this skill In Vietnam, a lot of students encounter listening problems in foreign language learning, especially for Sts in mountainous areas, listening skill is much more difficult because of both objective and subjective reasons That‟s why I chose this thesis “Difficulties encountered by the 11th form students at Cẩm Thủy Secondary School when learning the English listening skill” I hope this thesis will help both teachers and Sts to realize the factors obstacling the students in learning the English listening skill, then find out solutions to this problem 1.2 Purpose of the study The main purpose of the study is to probe difficulties encountered by the 11th form students at Cam Thuy II secondary school (CT2SS), in Thanh Hoa province in learning the listening skill Within this purpose, the three central objectives are: - Investigating the 11th form Sts‟ attitudes at CT2SS towards listening - Finding out the difficulties encountered by the Sts in learning the listening skill - Giving suggestions with the hope of helping the Sts improve their listening comprehension In order to achieve the above objectives, the study will be conducted to answer three research questions: REFERENCES Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L and Proctor, R.(2001) Interplay: the process of interpersonal communicating Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Anderson, A & Lynch, T (1988) Listening Oxford University Press Wolvin and Coakley (1988) Interpersonal Communication Through the Life Span Wm C Brown Publishers Bacon, S M (1989) Listening for real in the foreign-language classroom Foreign Language Annals, 22, 543-551 Bentley, S., & Bacon, S E (1996) The all new, state-of-the-art ILA definition of listening: Now that we have it, what we with it? Listening Post Burley-Allen, M (1982) Listening: The forgotten skill New York, John Wiley and Sons Bloomfield, A., Brecht, R., et al (2011) Assessing Regional Proficiency (Report TTO81234 7.1) College Park, MD: University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language Carrell, P L., & Eisterhold, J C (1983) Schema theory and ESL reading TESOL Quarterly, 17, 218–232 Chiang, C S., & Dunkel, P (1992) The effect of speech modification, prior knowledge, and listening proficiency on EFL lecture learning TESOL Quarterly, 26, 345-374 10 Chaudron, C & Richards, J C (1986) The effect of discourse markers on the comprehension of lectures Applied Linguistics, 7, 113-127 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/applin/7.2.113 45 11 Doff, A 1988 Teach English A training course for teachers Trainer‟s handbook Cambridge: Teacher Training and Development 12 Dunkel, P (1986) Developing listening fluency in L2: Theoretical principles and pedagogical considerations The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 99-106 13 Feyten, C M (1991) The power of listening ability: An overlooked dimension in language acquisition The Modern Language Journal, 75, 173-180 14 Hirsch, R (1986) Defing listening: Synthesis and discussion Paper presented at the 7th annual meeting of the international listening association USA 15 Howatt A & Dakin J (1974) Language laboratory materials Techniques in Applied Linguistics Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics Vol London Oxford University Press 16 Lundsteen, Sara W (1979) Listening - Its Impact on Reading and the Other Language Arts National Council of Teachers of English Urbana Illinois 17 Mc Donough (1999) Race-Based or Conflict-Based College Admissions? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal 18 Pearson, P.D (1983) Instructional Implications of Listening Comprehension Research Center for the study of reading Urbana Illinois 19 Rivers and Temperly (1978) A practical guide to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language Oxford University Press 20 Rumelheart, D.E (1980), Schemata : the building blocks of cognition In R.J Spiro, B.C Bruce, and W.E Brewer (eds), theoretical issues in reading comprehension Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Asociates 21 Rost, M (1994) Introducing listening Harmonds Worth: Penguin 46 22 Rogers, C V., & Medley, F W (1988) Language with a purpose: using authentic materials in the foreign language classroom.Foreign Language Annals 23 Rixon, S 1986 Developing listening skills London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Ltd 24 Scarcella, R C., & Oxford, R L (1992) The tapestry of language learning: the individual in the communicative classroom Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers 25 Taylor, S (1964) Listening what research says to the teacher Washington, DC: National Education Association 26 Thompson, I., & Rubin, J (1996) Can strategy instruction improve listening comprehension? Foreign Language Annals, 29, 331-342 27 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching Listening New York: Longman 28 Ur, P (1984) Teaching Listening Comprehension Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 29 Vandergrift, L (1998) Successful and less successful listeners in French: what are the strategy differences? The French Review, 71/3, 370-394 30 Wolvin, A., Coakley, C (1991) A Survey of the Status of Listening Training in Some Fortune 500 Corporations Communication Education, USA 31 Willis, J ( 1981) Teaching English through English London: Longman 32 Wing, B H (Ed.) (1986) Listening, reading, writing: Analysis and application Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Language 33 Weissenrieder, M (1987) Listening to the news in Spanish The Modern Language Journal, 71, 18-27 34 Thompson, I., & Rubin, J (1996) Can strategy instruction improve listening comprehension? Foreign Language Annals, 29, 331-342 47 35 Yagang, F (1994) Listening: Problems and Solutions English Teaching Forum Vol 3, No 36 Phùng Thị Hoài Thu (2008) Listening Difficulties Perceived by Teachers and Students in Using the New English Textbook for Grade 10 at Que Vo II UpperSecondary School in Bac Ninh, Unpublished M.A Thesis, Hanoi National University, Vietnam 37 Đỗ Văn Hòa (2010) Improving Listening skills for third-year students at hong Duc University Through portfolio Unpublished M.A Thesis, Hanoi National University, Vietnam WEBSITES http://www.tefl.net/teaching/teaching-tip_09.htm http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/vocab.htm http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/listening/stratlisten.htm 48 APPENDICES APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE The following short questionnaire pertains to difficulties encountered when you learning English listening skill Your responses are vital for the researchers to detect problems in your listening process Please absolutely honest with yourself and feel safe to answer the questions without reservation Your answers will be treated with the strictest confidence and not affect your course grade Thank you for your kind assistance The questionnaire is divided into TWO parts Part One : The Students‟ Background Information Part Two : The Students‟ Opinions Concerning difficulties in learning listening skill Part One : The Students’ Background Information Directions: Please fill in the blank and check (√ ) on each item that is applicable to yourself What is your gender?  Male Female What is your mother tongue? _ Do you speak any additional language(s) other than your mother tongue and English? Yes No If so, what other language(s) you speak? I How long have you been studying English? Why you want to learn the English language? ( you can choose more than one answer) A be interested in the language B be interested in the culture C have friends who speak the language D need it for my future education E need it for my future career F need it for travel G be obliged to learn English because it is a compulsory subject at my school H other ideas: ………………………………………………………………… Part Two : The Students’ Opinions Concerning difficulties in learning listening skill Please rank the language skills according to the level of difficulty Number them from the most difficult (1) to the least difficult (4) _ Speaking _Writing _ Listening Comprehension _Reading Comprehension How are English listening skills important to you? II A Very important B Important C Not important at all D Other ideas:…………………………………………………………… How you evaluate your English listening ability? A Good B Average C Bad D Other ideas:……………………………………………… …… How often you listen to English outside class? A Often B Sometimes C Never D Other ideas:…………………………………………………………… Besides listening to the textbook, what you often to practice your listening skill? A Listen to songs, radio news, and cassette tapes or CD-ROM in English B Watch television programs in English C Talk to native speakers of English or foreigners III D Attend listening activities organized by the school or by different organizations E Not participate in any other listening activities outside class F Other ideas:……………………………………………………………………… How you take part in listening activities in class? A Take part in all the listening activities B Only pay attention to activities you like C Not participate in any classroom activity F Do other things instead G Other ideas…………………………………………………………… What you think about listening tasks in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? (more than one answer can be chosen) A Easy B Average C Difficult D Too difficult E Interesting F Boring What you think about listening topics in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? ( more than one answer can be chosen) IV A Interesting B Boring C Not familiar to you D Familiar to you E Easy to understand F Difficult to understand G Other ideas…………………………………………………………… Do you think that 45 minutes/ period is suitable for 11th form students to learn the listening part? Yes No (If Yes, pass Question and move to question 10, if No, continue with Question 9, ) 10 How long you think it should take at least to learn the listening part in “ Tieng Anh 11” textbook? A 60 minutes B 90 minutes C 120 minutes D Other ideas……………………………………………………………………… 11 What you think about your English Prior knowledge? A Previously I never learnt and practiced listening skills V B My previous grades of English courses were poor, so I don‟t think I can now improve my listening comprehension C My English background on vocabulary, grammar, and sound systems is quite poor D I had previously learnt reading-writing rather than listening-speaking skills E Other ideas: ………………………………………………………………………… 12 How you find your motivation in listening skills? A I find it interesting to practice listening skills so I practice it as much as possible B I not have opportunity to practice listening skills C I am not interested in listening skills in English D I think listening skills are not important, so I am not self-motivated E My classmates and close friends rarely motivate me to practice listening skills 13 Do you use any strategies in listening comprehension while you are listening? Yes No (If Yes continue to Question 14, if No, pass Question 14 and move to question 15) 14 Which strategies have you used in listening comprehension? A Predict what you are going to listen B Make meaningful personal associations with the new information C Listen for key words stressed or repeated for several times D Take note the main ideas VI E Guess the answers F Others………………………………………………………………… 15 What you think of the speed in the listening text in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? A Too fast B A bit fast C Slow enough to understand D Other ideas:……………………………………………………………………… 16 What you think of pronunciation in the listening text in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? A Very easy to listen to B Not easy to listen to C Other ideas……………………………………………………………………… 17 What you think of the importance of signals in the listening texts in the textbooks? A I don‟t care about signals B They are important to me to understand more about the content of the listening text C They distract me from listening D Other ideas……………………………………………………………………… VII 18 What you think of the listening environment at your school? (more than one answer can be chosen) A It‟s too noisy for me to concentrate on listening B It‟s quiet enough C The quality of the radio, the tape is good enough D The quality of the radio, the tape is not good enough E Other ideas……………………………………………………………………… 19 What you often before listening? A Guess the topic B Try to remember new words introduced by teacher C Read the task D Do nothing E Other ideas……………………………………………………………………… 20 While you are listening, what you often when you come across unfamiliar words or structures? A Ignore them B Guess the meaning C Ask the teacher for the meaning D Others ideas:……………………………………………………………… VIII 21 Do you often the part “ After you listen” in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? Yes No (If Yes continue to Question 20, if No, pass Question 20 and move to question 21) 22 After finishing listening, what you often do? A Discuss the text B Summarize the text C Do nothing D Other activities……………………………………………………… 23 With whom you discuss your listening comprehension problems? A Your teacher B Your relatives C Your friends D No one E: Others ideas:……………………………………………………………… 24 What you expect from your teachers in helping you better learn English listening skills? A Introduce the topic and provide some information about it before listening B Provide you new words and structures in the listening texts before listening C Give some suggestions for you to the tasks IX D Play the tapes again and again E Other ideas……………………………………………………… 25 What you expect from the learning environment of listening skill (More than one answer can be chosen) A Less noisy B More well- equipped C More comfortable D Stay the same as before E Other ideas: ……………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your co-operation X APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW Do you like the listening part in “Tieng Anh 11” textbook? Why or why not? Do you often use strategies in listening? Why or why not? What kinds of listening tasks in the textbook are the most difficult for you? Do you often share listening problems with your teacher? Why or why not? Do you find it more interesting to listen to something else in English (songs, film) than listening in the textbook? How you evaluate your classmates‟ participation in listening lessons? Does your teacher encourage you to listen? XI ... The listening comprehension difficulties encountered 24 by the 11th form Sts at CT2SS 2. 4 .2. 1 Problems related to the listening material 24 2. 4 .2. 2 Problems related to the learners 28 2. 4 .2. 3... 1 .2. 1.4 The process involved in the listening skill 1 .2. 2 Teaching the listening skill 1 .2. 2.1 The listening skill 1 .2. 2 .2 Phases in teaching the listening skill 10 1 .2 Potential problems in learning. .. STUDENTS AT CẨM THỦY II SECONDARY SCHOOL WHEN LEARNING THE ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL (Những khó khăn việc học kĩ nghe học sinh khối 11 Trường THPT Cẩm Thủy 2) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English