PART I OPENING The reason for selecting topic From the reality of teaching English for pupils at Quang Chau Primary School in many years, I have realized that Listening skill is still considered as one of the most difficult skills for English language learners although they have been learning English for few years Most pupils have problems in listening because they still could not complete the basic listening skills in tests Furthermore, most of them considered that listening classes are challenging for them due to some problems and difficulties during the teaching and learing activities Besides that, there were five factors influenced pupils’ listening skill: lack of practice, limited vocabulary mastery, native speaker’s accent, pronunciation and uninteresting learning materials Any languages when communicating we need to have a certain vocabulary for expressing presentation.On the other hand, with elementary age pupils acquire a deeper essence of language is too difficult We just ask them to understand and know “the English” is what? English words means what in Vietnamese meaning? In addition, pupils also ought to learn the skills well: Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing In the four skills, Listening skill is one of the most difficult for pupils who are learning English.To hear and to understand the language is not their native language is not easy at all, so that pupils must also follow the inquirements of all listening tasks.This skill is considered to be difficult because pupils always have pressure for not understanding every word in the listening content This is also the reason I think and choose this topic for the purpose of giving the ways to help pupils, especially the pupils in grade are no longer afraid of learning the periods which have the listening tasks, even more they can listen more effectively The purpose of researching this topic English is a language that is used in many countries around the world.This is a period of intergration, communicate with foreign friends so to know and understand this language is extremely important.The purpose of this topic is to contribute to improve the quality of teaching and learning English, helps pupils learn better four skills in English in general and in particular listening skill Listening well, understanding English will help pupils feel interested in studying and learning better Also listening well will help pupils use this language competently, help them confident in communicating with international friends Moreover, the purpose of research of this topic also help improve my own pedagogical After a period of teaching in a primary school and learning from friends and colleagues, I found that my pupils are often afraid of listening and achieve weaknesses a lot when they listening tests So I’ve done a number of ways to help pupils learn how to listen better Object of researching of this topic This research aims to investigate the real state of teaching and learning listening skill of English in Class 3B and 3D of Quang Chau primary School and suggest solutions to practise listening skill for pupils to learn English better The methods of researching this topic The study used mixed methods to find answers to the two questions Tools for data collection in this study were questionnaire, interview (face-to-face), PART II CONTENT Theoretical basics This is a narrow issue, with the aim to promote positive, creative abilities of pupils, to creative the ability to identify and solve problems for pupils, help pupils who are the subjects work actively, creative initiative strong in communication and have a good usage of foreign language in reading and searching To research the subject, I refer to the actual process of teaching myself and colleagues In addition, I also rely on a number of specialized materials such as: English Book 3, Teacher’s Book, Work Book and Teach Young Learners English Real state Through the teaching of English in primary schools I noticed a common reality is that most pupils have not realized the importance of learning English There are many pupils neglect, snobbery of English in primary schools so during learning they still have not concentrated on learning to reach a high result One of the common difficult realities is that the level of pupils is limited but duration for this course is too short In addition specific class in Viet Nam is generally over crowded pupils so they focus on training and practising are limited Although the textbooks are very mordern in structure, thematic lessons, close to daily life with the aim of monitoring the needs of pupils’ interest, but through the lectures and contact with pupils I always think how to teach and learn more effectively, more creativity for pupils who can both understand and be excited, lessons are taught more quality in depth A lesson is divided into several periods, intergrated instruction in vocabulary, grammar and practice in a period with forty minutes duration But here I only mention one particular teaching listening in one period as appropriate to each object with pupils and teachers also easy to implement I have made a survey with pupils in class 3B and 3D by doing a test in the middle first term in fifteen minutes to survey and classify the pupils before I applying the techniques and procedures to teach listening A Questions Question 1: Listen and number.There is an example a……0…… b……… c ……… d …… … Question 2: Listen and tick There is an example A  e …… B A B B B A B A B A B B Question 3: Listen and write a word There is an example A: (0) Hello I’m Mai B: Hi, Mai I’m Nam A: Is (1) .Tom? B: No, it isn’t It’s ( ) A: Who’s that? B: It’s (3) A: How old are you? B: I’m(4) ……………… years old B.Transcrips Transcrips for question 1: Listen and number Example: This is a tiger A: Is that Linda? B: Yes, It is A: Is that Peter? B: No, it isn’t It’s Tony A: Is that Peter? B: No, it isn’t It’s Tony A: Is that Linda? B: No, it isn’t It’s Mai Transcrips for question 2:Listen and tick Example: This is my school Linda: How old is Mai? Peter: She’s eight years old Tom: Is that your friend? Mai : Yes, he’s Tony Mary: Is Linda your friend? Mai: Yes, she is Hello.I’m Nam Transcrips for question 3: Listen and write a word A: (0 ) Hello I’m Mai B: Hi, Mai I’m Nam A: Is (1) that Tom? B: No, it isn’t It’s ( )Peter A: Who’s that? B: It’s ( ) Linda A: How old are you? B: I’m(4) eight years old And here are the results I obtained: The following chart will show the result: Class 3B 3D The numbers Excellent Good of students (A) (B) 39 2= 5,2 =20,5% 38 10=26,3% Fair Poor (C) (D) 19 = 48.7% 5= 12,8% 17= 44,7% 5=13,3% Fail (F) = 12,8% 6= 15.7% According to the survey result, I have classified the pupils and immediately applied the methods and experiences which I accumulated over the years to improve the teaching and learning quality The solutions 3.1 To achieve the target related to listening skills, the teacher plays a very important role 3.1.1 First, the teachers need to be prepared for pupils before they listen The teachers must ensure that - Pupils must understand the requirements (in English) to complete the listening task assigned - Pupils have to know exactly what to - Pupils should be able to determine that they not need to hear all the words in the listening test 3.1.2 The next important step is the teacher should encourage pupils to predict what they are prepared to listen - Teachers should introduce the topics by using situation/ content of the lessons - This activity will help pupils to predict the content of the answers - Teachers can help pupils by: + Asking some questions related to the subject of listening test + Using pictures to remind pupils to guess the answers, even before they hear the listening content 3.1.3 While listening, pupils should focus on listening to understand the information from the listening test Teacher should give a chance for them to listen again regularly, especially for those who not have the ability to perform task previously heard (have not listened and understood all to complete assigned task) 3.1.4 Finally when students finish listening exercises, teachers should check listening comprehension by asking students to answer questions NOTE THAT: - Teachers should not force pupils to answer individually when they are not ready - Teachers should ensure that an answer is right or wrong needs to be checked by aking pupils to listen to the tape again - Teachers list all the pupils’ answers on the board, then play the recording for pupils to listen again to choose the correct answer - Even if all pupils answer correctly the questions, teachers still should encourage them to listen to the entire test to check their answers 3.2 Some techniques to help pupils in the process of listening test 3.2.1 Teachers should guide the principles of listening test - Pupils not know how to listen, of course they need to be guided to know - Many pupils can not concentrate on what the speaker is saying, they are easy to “interference” by other things happening around - Pupils not know that when they focus on listening they must separate from the surrounding confounders - Teachers need have specific instructions (presented, listed on a large-sized paper) the main principles of active listening - The essentials for good listening: + Looking directly into speaker while listening + Try to keep quiet + Focus on what the speaker is saying + Think about what the speaker is saying + Make questions when you don’t understand + Respect and appreciation of what the speaker has to say - Every time, the pupils should focus on a principle Discuss what does that principle mean and why it is important - Applying that principle right to practise in pairs (For example: “work in pairs to ask your partner what is he/ she doing?” and report the result before the class after the survey) 3.2.2 Teachers try to model as a good listener 3.2.3 Organizing listening games 3.2.4 Teachers read for pupils to listen - Teachers avoid reading directly from the textbook have the pictures illustrated Pupils should have an opportunity to “imagine about these pictures by themselves” while they listen to a poem or a story - Teachers begin with a poem/ prope piece, then talk about the “pictures” to help pupils understand more clearly about the content they’ve heard 3.2.5 Using music and songs - Music helps to train spors audio according to the standard’s quality - The song is particularly important bacause the rhythm of the songs help pupils remember words easily 3.2.6 Using tape/ CD - Using tapes/ CDs need to be in multiple different voices - Sometimes note before for pupils know that they will not be listened to the tape again (listen only once) - If pupils know they listen to the tape many times, they will not listen carefully from the beginning 3.2.7 Using spelling - Spelling help train pupils phonics, correct spelling and hand writing practice - Spelling allows pupils to focus on listening to words and rewrite on paper - Articles should be short spell, simply follow the content of the topic 3.3 Developing listening skill for pupils (in conjunction with speaking skill) 3.3.1 Organizing for pupils to participate in daily conversation 3.3.2 When reading aloud for pupils to listen, teachers should encourage pupils - Guess what is going to happen in the story which they are going to listen - Listen and comment about the story they’ve heard - Contact the content of the story they’ve heard with personal experience 3.3.3 Organizing games to help pupils focus attention to the important part while listening carefully For example - Head down and close eyes - Listen carefully - Do you hear the lawn mower outside? - Do you hear dripping faucet? - Do you still hear other noise? 3.3.4 Consolidating and strengthening pupils’ listening and speaking skills through daily activities 3.3.5 Teachers should take advantages of every opportunity for pupils to practise listening and speaking in conjunction with the guidance of teachers Some ways of teaching listening in textbook English LESSON 1: PART 4: LISTEN AND TICK LESSON 2: PART 4: LISTEN AND NUMBER OR LISTEN AND WRITE LESSON 3: PART 2: LISTEN AND WRITE - In essence, the target of teaching these three parts are the same: All the parts train and develop listening skill for pupils - The differences among the three lessons are: length requirement and the level (degree of difficult of the listening content) there is a difference: + The listening task in Lesson Listen and Tick have the short content, the sentences are usually simple (3 or questions), seperately, to test the ability to listen and reccognize vocabulary they have learned in the previous lesson This task is a simple form, usually used and easy for pupils to understand and it is effective in the teaching process + The listening task in Lesson Listen and Number or Listen and Write have content longer (at least sentences), the questions in this task are mounted forming the small context and communicative This type of exercise is more difficult because it is used to test about vocabulary, this task is also examine the sentence structures and the content of the topic Furthermore, all pupils must listen to the whole task, understand the task follow the logic, finally they could provide the answers (numbered 1- 2- - 4) Or write the correct words to complete the sentences.Example: Unit 4- Lesson 2- Grade + The listening task in lesson 3.Listen and write have only two sentences This section helps pupils practise the phonics they have learnt through a dictation task.Pupils listen and fill the gaps 4.1 The process of teaching for two lessons “LESSON 1: Part LISTEN AND TICK LESSON 2: Part LISTEN AND NUMBER” - Specify task (ask students what going to do) - Introduce the theme, situations of the listening task + Take pictures, photos, from the textbook which are enlarge + Use simple English for presentation and introduction + Suggestive questions should be raised, leading to pupils self-evaluation and comment (based on personal knowledge of them) + Individual pupil guesses the answer (the answer is right or wrong does not matter because the purpose of this work is to interest the initiative for pupils before listening) - Play the tape twice: + The first time: Listen to encompass and understand the content of the entire article + The second time: Pupils not only have to listen but also to select information to answer follow specific requirements (listening and marked or listening and numbered in the picture is saying) - Individual pupil compares the result with the predictions of their answers before listening and then reports the results of his or her work to the class Another pupil commented (pupils can discuss and compare individual assignment in pairs) - Teachers have pupils listen the third time to check the result (to confirm the answer why it is right or wrong) Pupils can listen to the sentences or the paragraphs that relate to the questions - After listening: Ask pupils to look at the pictures and repeat the listening content The purpose of this activity is just to check out the comprehension of the test, just reinforce the knowledge of language they’ve learnt NOTE: Pupils can relate the topic of the listening task to their own reality 4.2 Teaching procedures Practicing listening skill in listening lesson is carried out through stages: a Pre-listening Pre-listening would be the first stage, where the context is established The teacher creates motivation and pupils some activities with the purpose of preparing them for what they will hear The purpose of this stage is to involve pupils’ attention in the topic, especially is to predict the information that they 10 will be heard In order to limit the difficulties when listening, teacher should present the topic or set the situation of the listening Teacher lets pupils think and predict the things they are going to hear in a context Present some new words, let pupils guess the meaning of the new words Use some pictures or illustrations that are useful for listening Some techniques can be used in this stage such as: + Open prediction + Ordering statements + True/False predictions + Pre questions + Ordering * For example: In English grade book (Unit 19: They’re in the park Lesson Activity Listen and number) I proceed the following: Open prediction Set the scene: You are going to listen to the dialogues between Mai and Nam about the weather in the pictures Look at the pictures in the book and Can you guess the number of the pictures and then compare with your partners? a b c d b While-listening While-listening activities can be shortly defined as all tasks that pupils are asked to during the time of listening to the text The purpose of these activities is to help pupils to practice listening skill for meaning that is to elicit a message from spoken language.While-listening exercises should be interesting 11 and challenging.They should guide the pupils to handle the information and messages from the listening text Some techniques can be used in this stage such as: + Check the correct answer + Answering comprehension questions + Selecting + Listen and draw For example: In English grade book (Unit 19: They’re in the park Lesson - Activity 4: Listen and tick) Check the correct answer I proceed the following: Teacher plays the record for pupils to listen twice and the task, then asks them to check their predictions with the answers 1a b a b Teacher gives feedback and key: b a c Post-listening The purpose of post-listening activities are to check whether the pupils have understood what they need to understand and whether they have completed the while-listening tasks effectively; reflect on why some pupils have failed to understand or missed parts of the message; give pupils the opportunity to consider the attitude and manner of the speakers in the listening text; expand on the topic or language of the listening text, and perhaps transfer things learned to another context Some techniques can be used in this stage such as: 12 + Questions and Answers + Transformation writing + Write it up *For example: In English grade book (Unit 20: Where’s Sapa? Lesson - Activity 3: Listen and tick) Questions and Answers I proceed the following: To help pupils to understand more about the content of the exercise, teacher asks pupils to listen again, then ask and answer in pairs A: Where’s Ha Noi? B: It’s in north Viet Nam A: Where’s Ho Chi Minh City? B: It’s in south Viet Nam A: Where’s Hue? B: It’s in central Viet Nam Implementation results These are the results obtained through a test in class 3B and 3D in the middle second term and the second term By applying the techniques and the procedures that I mentioned above, I found that When learning listening skill, pupils no longer have fears and achieve better results I gave them fifteen minutes to test and twenty minutes to test 2: 13 Test A Questions Question 1: a b Question 2: Listen and number c d Listen and tick a b a c b a a c b b c c c 14 Question 3: Listen and write the words or numbers Lan: Who’s that? Nam :She’s my ……………… Lan: How old is she? Nam :She’s………………… Phong: Is there a …………… ? Quan: Yes, there is Phong: Are there any ………………in the room? Quan: No there aren’t B.Transcrips Transcrips for question 1: Listen and number A: Who’s that man? B: He’s my father A: And who’s that woman? B: She’s my mother A: And who’s that man over there? B: He’s my grandfather A: Do you have any toys? B: Yes, I have a car Transcrips for question : Listen and tick Nam: This is my house Mai: Oh, it’s nice And there’s a very big tree next to it Nam: Is there a pond? Mai: Yes, there is Come and see it Nam: Wow! What a nice pond! Mai: Thank you Nam: Is there a gate? Mai: Yes, there is Nam: That’s a nice fence around the house Transcrips for question 3: Listen and write the words or numbers Lan: Who’s that? Nam : She’s my mother Lan: How old is she? Nam :She’s forty 15 Phong: Is there a pond? Quan: Yes, there is Phong: Are there any sofas in the room? Quan: No, there aren’t Test A Questions Question 1: Listen and tick What’s the weather like today? - It’s ………………… A B What’s he doing ? - He’s ………… A B What are they doing ? - They’re…………… A B What toys you like? - I like……………… A B C C C C 16 Question 2: Listen and number …………… …………… ………… ………… ……0……… Question 3: Listen and draw the line 3 4 A B Question 4: Listen and write a word Example: Nam has a kite Mai: What’s the weather like today? Nam: It’s……………………… Mai: What toys you like? Nam: I like …………………… Mai: What are they doing? Nam: They are ……………… Mai: How many windows are there? Nam: There are…………………… C D E B Transcrips Transcript for question: Listen and tick What’s the weather like today? - It’s rainy 17 What’s he doing? - He’s reading What are they doing? - They’re cycling What toys you like? - I like kites Transcript for question 2: Listen and number I have one cat What toys you like? I like kites My dog is very cute What is he doing? He’s cycling I have two rabbits Transcript for question 3: Listen and draw the line I have one robot How many dogs you have? I have one It’s sunny today What pets you like? I like goldfish What’s she doing? She’s playing badminton Transcript for question 4: Listen and write the words or numbers Nam has a kite Mai: What’s the weather like today? Nam: It’s rainy Mai: What toys you like? Nam: I like cars Mai: What are they doing? Nam: They are singing Mai: How many windows are there? Nam: There are five After applying successfully the techniques and procedures to teach listening, the pupils’ improvement in listening can be seen clearly The result of the mid-second and the second term test of the school year 2018-2019 shows the increase in the percentage of pupils who can the listening tasks correctly What is especially pleasing is the impact of reading coprehension in class 3B and 3D as there are fewer pupils who can not the listening exercises correctly than the school year before.The number of students assigned to be improve their listening skill Comparing with the result survey at the beginning, I find that the recent result is better than the old one The following chart will show the result: Class The numbers Excellent Good Fair Poor Fail of students (A) (B) (C) (D) (F) 18 3B 39 5=12,8% 17=43,5% 11 = 22,8% 6= 15,5% 3D 38 4=10,5% 15=39,4% 12 = 31,5% 7= 18,6% In conclusion, the changing of the pupils’ listening skill has been a resounding success The consistency and clarity it has afforded in teaching listening for primary students has been worth the time and effort My students are capable and ready for explicit teaching of listening and are highly motivated by their success in learning English PART III CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusion Through the use of visual aids, in combination the games in classes, applying many techniques during vocational training for pupils as well as encouraging them to practise foreign language confidently, I can tell you that listening and understanding English is very important If the pupils hear, understand and be in accordance with the requirements of the post will help pupils feel excited, highly motivated, beside listening well will help pupils much in learning English and well developed communication skills as they go to high schools However, these are only a few small ideas The application of these methods depends on the content and purpose of each task and especially how to apply flexibility for each pupil, they must be blessed with the conditions of each school So, I hope the colleagues will refer and give comments to my methods so that I can make it more complete, this contributing to the improvement of the quality of teaching foreign language Suggestion 2.1 To the leaders To respond to the teaching and learning English well in primary schools and apply the ways to practise listening for pupils in grade effectively that I have mentioned above.I would like to suggest the leaders of the school should support teaching facilities such as: Function room, pictures, all kinds of reference books to serve the teaching and learning English better and better Besides that I also would like to suggest the leaders of Sam Son Education and Training Official should hold workshops regularly for teachers of English in 19 primary schools have more chances to learn and exchange experience one another 2.2 Acknowledgments I am grateful the experts of Sam Son Education and Training Office, my colleagues at Quang Chau Primary School, for providing helpful comments for the research I also would like to encourage teachers of English in all primary school in Sam Son City to have more confidence and experience in teaching listening even though we are not native speakers of English With full advanced preparation, including practicing listening and designing effective teaching activities, we can all be experts in teaching English 20 REFERENCE English Book Teacher’s Book Work Book Teach young learner English London: Longman.Ur, P (1984) Teaching Listening Comprehension Ur, Penny 1984 Teaching Listening Comprehension Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press.Yagang, F (1993) Listening: Problems and Solutions In Thomas Kral(ed.) Rost, M (1990).Listening in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.(2001) Listening In R Carter and D.Nunan (Eds.) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Headmaster’s signature Sam Son, May 30th, 2019 I guarantee this initiative is written by me without copying content from the other’s Nguyễn Thị Hải 21 INDEX Page PART I OPENING 1 The reason for selecting topic The purpose of researching this topic Object of researching of this topic The methods of researching this topic .2 PART II CONTENT Theoretical basics .2 Real state A Questions The solutions 3.1 To achieve the target related to listening skills, the teacher plays a very important role .6 3.1.1 First, the teachers need to be prepared for pupils before they listen The teachers must ensure that 3.1.2 The next important step is the teacher should encourage pupils to predict what they are prepared to listen 3.1.3 While listening, pupils should focus on listening to understand the information from the listening test .7 3.1.4 Finally when students finish listening exercises, teachers should check listening comprehension by asking students to answer questions 3.2 Some techniques to help pupils in the process of listening test 3.2.1 Teachers should guide the principles of listening test 3.2.2 Teachers try to model as a good listener .8 3.2.3 Organizing listening games 3.2.4 Teachers read for pupils to listen 3.2.5 Using music and songs 3.2.6 Using tape/ CD .8 3.2.7 Using spelling .8 3.3 Developing listening skill for pupils (in conjunction with speaking skill) 3.3.1 Organizing for pupils to participate in daily conversation 3.3.2 When reading aloud for pupils to listen, teachers should encourage pupils 3.3.3 Organizing games to help pupils focus attention to the important part while listening carefully For example 3.3.4 Consolidating and strengthening pupils’ listening and speaking skills through daily activities 22 3.3.5 Teachers should take advantages of every opportunity for pupils to practise listening and speaking in conjunction with the guidance of teachers Some ways of teaching listening in textbook English .9 4.1 The process of teaching for two lessons .10 4.2 Teaching procedures .10 Implementation results 13 19 PART III CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 19 Conclusion 19 Suggestion 19 2.1 To the leaders 19 2.2 Acknowledgments 20 REFERENCE 21 23 THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT SAM SON EDUCATION AND TRAINING OFFICE EXPERIMENTAL INITIATIVE SOME WAYS TO PRACTISE LISTENING SKILL FOR PUPILS IN CLASS 3B AND 3D OF QUANG CHAU PRIMARY SCHOOL The implementer : Nguyen Thi Hai Position : Teacher School : Quang Chau primary school Subject : English THANH HOA - 2019 24 ... learning listening skill of English in Class 3B and 3D of Quang Chau primary School and suggest solutions to practise listening skill for pupils to learn English better The methods of researching... DEPARTMENT SAM SON EDUCATION AND TRAINING OFFICE EXPERIMENTAL INITIATIVE SOME WAYS TO PRACTISE LISTENING SKILL FOR PUPILS IN CLASS 3B AND 3D OF QUANG CHAU PRIMARY SCHOOL The implementer : Nguyen... 3.3 Developing listening skill for pupils (in conjunction with speaking skill) 3.3.1 Organizing for pupils to participate in daily conversation 3.3.2 When reading aloud for pupils to listen,