MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY PHUNG NGUYEN QUYNH NGA A STUDY OF THE ISSUES OF TEACHING LISTENING SECTIONS IN "TIENG ANH 11" AT HIGH SCHOOLS IN NGHE AN maSTER thesis in education HiÖu Photocopy - Vi tÝnh S¬n Lan Photo - In mµu Laser - M¹ nhò vµng Sè 18 Ph¹m Kinh Vü - BÕn Thñy - TP Vinh Tel: 0383. 5555 88 - Mobile: 090. 345 9796 Email: sonlanphoto@yahoo.com.vn Vinh - 2011 2 B GIO DC V O TO TRNG I HC VINH PHNG NGUYN QUNH NGA NGHIÊN CứU VIệC GIảNG DạY Kỹ NĂNG NGHE HIểU TRONG SáCH "TIếNG ANH 11" TạI CáC TRƯờNG THPT ở NGHệ AN CHUYấN NGNH: Lí LUN V PHNG PHP DY HC MễN TING ANH M S: 60.14.10 LUN VN THC S GIO DC HC Ngi hng dn khoa hc: PGS. TS. LU QUí KHNG VINH - 2011 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The date and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere. Author: Phung Nguyen Quynh Nga ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luu Quy Khuong, my supervisor, for his excellent guidance, comments and enthusiastic encouragement during the completion of the research. Secondly, I would like to thank all lecturers at Department of English, Vinh University for their valuable teaching and tremendous assistance that have enlightened my study path. I am grateful to teachers of English and students at high schools in Nghe An such as Nam Dan II, Do Luong I, Ha Huy Tap. They significantly contributed their opinions and suggestions to my research. Finally, I wish to give my special thanks to my beloved family for their warm support and encouragement during the time I conducted this thesis. iii iv ABSTRACT This research was conducted to investigate the teaching of listening skills at high schools in Nghe An. Its focus was on the reality of teaching listening sections in "Tieng Anh 11", the difficulties faced by EFL teachers in teaching this skill and their suggested solutions. Also, the study displayed an evaluation of the pilot teaching as an evidence of effective application of listening strategies, teaching aids as well as interesting and suitable listening activities into the lesson. In order to gain the relatively objective information, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used. Data collection instruments consisted of questionnaires, interviews and class observations. The findings of the study uncovered a dull reality of the listening teaching at high schools in Nghe An, especially low interests of both teachers and students in the listening teaching and learning, the lack of modern listening facilities, poor teaching aids, students' low proficiency in English listening, teachers' limited listening competence, inappropriate listening teaching methods, the difference between teachers' favors and students' interests towards listening activities, the omission of the post-listening stage and so on. Besides, the study revealed that EFL teachers at high schools in Nghe An had been facing a lot of difficulties in teaching listening in general and in teaching listening sections in "Tieng Anh 11" in particular. The prominent obstacles included students' low motivation and limited vocabulary, large class-size and mixed ability, too difficult listening tasks, shortage of teachers' experience in teaching listening. Therefore, the suggestions and implications of the research were worked out to increase the effectiveness of teaching listening sections in "Tieng Anh 11" at high schools in Nghe An. Providing students with key words before listening to the passage, adapting listening tasks to suit students' levels, helping them with listening strategies and using more interesting materials were offered by many EFL teachers in Nghe An. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page SUB COVER PAGE i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .1 LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS 4 LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES .5 VINH - 2011 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .iii ABSTRACT .v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS .3 LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES 5 CHAPTER 1: .6 INTRODUCTION .6 1.1. RATIONALE .6 1.2. AIMS OF THE STUDY .7 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 7 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY 7 1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 8 CHAPTER 2: .9 LITERATURE REVIEW .9 2.1. OVERVIEW .9 2.2. PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO THE TOPIC 9 2.3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .12 2.3.1. Teaching English Listening Skills .12 2.3.1.1. What is the Listening Skill? 12 2.3.1.2. The Importance of Listening Skills 13 2.3.1.3. Teacher’s Role in Teaching Listening .14 2.3.1.4. The Challenge of Teaching Listening Skills 15 2.3.1.5. Strategies to Teach Listening .17 2.3.1.6. Common Methods of Teaching Listening 18 2.3.1.7. Principles of Teaching English Listening Skills 19 2.3.1.8. Stages of Teaching Listening Skills .20 2.3.2. Overview of the “Tieng Anh 11” Textbook 23 2.3.2.1. General Description 23 1 2.3.2.2. Objectives and Approaches to the Textbook Development .23 2.3.2.3. Teaching Approaches of the “Tieng Anh 11” Textbook 24 2.3.3. Introduction of Coolspeech Software 25 CHAPTER 3: .26 METHODOLOGY 26 3.1. OVERVIEW .26 3.2. RESEARCH DESIGN .26 3.3. SUBJECTS OF THE STUDY 26 3.4. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS 28 3.5. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE 30 3.6. DATA ANALYSIS 31 3.7. RESEARCH PROCEDURES 31 3.8. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY .31 3.9. SUMMARY .32 CHAPTER 4: .33 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .33 4.2. FINDINGS .33 4.2.1. The Reality of Teaching Listening at High Schools in Nghe An 33 4.2.1.1. Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes towards Listening Teaching and Learning 33 a. Evaluation of the Listening Skill .33 b. The Importance of Listening Skills .34 c. The Importance of Listening Teaching Skill .35 d. Interests in Listening Lessons .36 Teachers’ Interests in Teaching Listening Skills .36 4.2.1.2. Evaluation and Assessment on Listening Sections in “Tieng Anh 11” 40 a. Listening Topics in the Textbook "Tieng Anh 11" 40 b. Listening Tasks in the Textbook "Tieng Anh 11" .41 4.2.1.3. Teachers’ Methodology and Strategies of Listening Teaching in the Classroom 45 a. Listening Strategies Employed by Teachers 45 b. Frequency of Teachers’ Use of Teaching Aids in Listening Lessons .46 4.2.1.4. Activities in Listening Lessons 49 a. Frequency of Organizing Pre-listening Activities .49 b. Activities Teachers Often Use at While-listening Stage .50 c. Techniques Used at While-listening Stage 51 d. Activities Teachers usually Conduct to Motivate Students’ Participation at Post-listening Stage .52 4.2.1.5. Teaching Procedures of a Listening Lesson Applied by Teachers .53 4.2.1.6. Adaptation of the Textbook 55 a. Frequency of Teachers’ Adaptation of the Listening Tasks 55 b. Purposes of Teachers’ Adaptation .56 2 c. Teachers’ Adaptation of Listening Sections of the Textbook “Tieng Anh 11” .57 4.2.1.7. Listening Difficulties Perceived by Teachers .58 4.2.2. Informants' Suggestions for Better Listening Lessons 59 4.2.2.1. Student Informants' Suggestions 59 4.2.2.2. Teacher Informants' Suggestions 61 4.3. DISCUSSION 62 4.4. PILOT TEACHING .78 4.4.1. Designed Activities and Its Procedures .79 4.4.2. Students’ Feedbacks on the Lesson .84 4.4.3. Teachers’ Comments on the Pilot Teaching 85 4.4.4. The Researcher’s Reflection .87 CHAPTER 5: .87 CONCLUSION 87 5.1. CONCLUSION 88 5.2. IMPLICATIONS 92 5.2.1. For Teachers 92 5.2.2. For Textbook Designers 94 5.2.3. For Educational Administrators 94 5.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .95 5.4. SUGGESTED FURTHER RESEARCH 96 REFERENCES 96 APPENDICES .100 LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language e.g. : Exempli gratia (for example) etc : et cetera No : Number Ss : Students T : Teacher 3