(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) a study on using movies in teaching listening skills to students at hanoi law university

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN THỊ HƯỜNG A STUDY ON USING MOVIES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM TRONG GIẢNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LUẬT HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2015 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN THỊ HƯỜNG A STUDY ON USING MOVIES IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM TRONG GIẢNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LUẬT HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr HOÀNG THỊ XUÂN HOA HANOI - 2015 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled: “A study on using movies in teaching listening skills to students at Hanoi Law University”, which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Language Teaching Methodology at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, is the result of my own work I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this thesis has not been submitted for any other university or institution wholly and partially Hanoi, 2015 Nguyen Thi Huong i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research paper would not have been completed without the help of people to whom I would like to express my deep gratitude First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, my supervisor, for her wholehearted support, continuous motivation and precious guidance which were decisive factors to the completion of the thesis I would like to extend my special thanks to all the research participants Without their valuable opinions and ideas in the questionnaires, the study would not have been accomplished Last but not least, I owe my parents their continuous support Their patience and love have helped me go beyond what sometimes looks like an insurmountable task ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The aim of this action research was to improve listening skills for students at Hanoi Law University by using movies in teaching listening skills More specifically, the researcher tried to (1) examine the effects of using movies in teaching listening skills for the first- year students (2) find out the students’ attitudes towards using movies in listening lessons The research was implemented with 30 first year students who major in English in Law at Hanoi Law University during five weeks When the theoretical background for the study was finalized, the researcher began designing the data collection instruments, which included two questionnaires, a pre test and a post test The overall result was that the listening skills of the experimented group did greatly benefit from the intervention The students not only got motivated in listening lessons but also made progress in their listening skills iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS IV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES VI PART A INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale 1.2.Aims of the Study 1.3Objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Scope of the study 1.7 Significance of the study 1.8 Structure of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Listening 1.1.1 Definition of listening 1.1.2 Characteristics of listening 1.1.3 Teaching listening skills 1.1.4 Listening difficulties for foreign language learners 1.2 Using movies in EFL teaching 1.2.1 Benefits of using movies in language teaching 1.2.2 Challenges of using movies in EFL teaching 11 PREVIOUS STUDIES 18 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 Research questions 20 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2.2 Participants 20 2.3 Research types 20 2.4 Research approach 20 2.5 Data Collection Instruments 22 2.5.1 Pre- test and Post- test 22 2.5.2 Questionnaires 22 2.6 Data collection procedure 23 2.6.1 Pre intervention 23 2.6.1.3 Collecting 24 2.6.2 While intervention 25 2.6.2.1 Listening Materials 25 2.7 Data analysis 29 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS: RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS 30 3.1 Preliminary investigation 30 3.2 Evaluation 32 3.1.1 The students’ improvement 32 3.1.2 The students’ attitudes towards learning listening with movies 33 1.Recapitulation 37 2.Implications for teachers 39 3.Limitations of the study 39 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES List of Abbreviation L2: Second language EFL: English as a foreign language HLU: Hanoi Law University List of figures Figure 1: Action research model 21 Figure 2: The students’ evaluation of listening materials used 30 Figure 3: Experience of using movies in studying English 31 Figure 4: Effectiveness level of the experimental teaching course 33 Figure 5: The students’ attitudes towards studying with movies at class 34 Figure 6: The students’ satisfaction with the course after the intervention 35 List of tables Table 1: Data collection procedure 23 Table 2: The Syllabus 27 Table 3: Student’s experience of using movies in studying English 31 Table 4:Statistics for the group’s performance in the pre test and post test 32 Table 5: Results of the Pair Sample T-tests 32 Table 6: The students’ preferences in movies 35 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Listening is considered the most frequently used skill in everyday life According to Burley-Allen (1995), more than forty percent of our daily communication time is spent on listening, thirty five percent on speaking, sixteen percent on reading, and only nine percent on writing (cited in Miller, 2003) In fact, listening can help students build vocabulary, develop language proficiency, and improve language usage, improve pronunciation and develop speaking skills (Bacon, 1998) Therefore, listening is a very essential element in successful communication Despite the acknowledged value of listening in language acquisition/learning and its complexity, the skill is still not receiving the attention it deserves in the ELT world as compared to literacy skills (Thanajaro, 2000) In Vietnam, many students have difficulty understanding spoken English when communicating with native speakers in spite of a long time studying at schools, which leads to communication breakdown Moreover, some students often panic when they hear the English language on television, radio, or in situations in which speech is fast and nothing is repeated This results from students’ lack of exposure to such real language listening Thus, there is an increase in the need of using authentic materials to teach listening According to Martinez (2002), authentic materials help learners improve English communicative proficiency Authentic materials refer to teaching resources that are not purposely produced for language teaching such as newspaper articles, movies advertisements, maps and comic books (Nunan, 1989) Therefore, the researcher decided to use movies in listening lessons According to Garcia (2011), using movies is the best way to learn English, improves the learners’ listening skills, and increases their vocabulary and English language expressions Besides, watching movies helps the learners to improve pronunciation TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com As a teacher at Hanoi Law University, the researcher finds that the first-year Law students who major in English must encounter a lot of listening problems They complained that they had had few chances to listen to English frequently in class at high school and their listening skills had been scarcely developed, leading to the frustration and pressure about listening examination Exposed to real English through movies, the students are believed to learn English in a natural and effective way as they learned their mother tongue To some extent, it makes students more interested in listening English when they acquired the language for the purpose of entertainment, not merely for completing a compulsory subject 1.2 Aims of the Study As mentioned above, using movies in lessons may assist the student’s listening comprehension Therefore, the study aimed to improve the students’ listening skills by using movies in listening lessons 1.3 Objectives of the study There were two main objectives which were set for the study Firstly, the study was expected to investigate whether using movies in teaching listening could improve their listening ability Secondly, the researcher expected to find out the attitudes of the students towards watching movies to improve their listening skills in class 1.4 Research questions This survey aims at addressing the two following questions: To what extent does using movies in teaching listening improve the students’ listening skills? What are the students’ attitudes towards learning listening with movies? 1.5 Methodology Action research was chosen as the primary research method in order to meet the aim and objectives of the study This method is also justified to offer significant benefits for the researcher, who is also an EFL teacher TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Implications for teachers From the data obtained, the two research questions were answered The research achieved its aims and objectives It could be concluded that the first-year students at Hanoi Law University made a steady improvement in listening skills This leads to important implications for teachers First, movies provide the students with the changes of learning atmosphere, images, real life situations and vocabulary Therefore, the teachers can use movies as a supplementary material combining with the course materials In addition, there should be a variety of activities that can be designed for post listening such as role play, imitation, discussion, debate, information gap, so the students will not get bored with watching movies over and over again Secondly, in order to improve the students’ listening skills, choosing movies should be considered carefully because some movies’ voice speed is too fast to listen or some has too many actions that consume a lot of time Miller (2007) also advised that the teacher should use films in short segments because doing anything at length in a classroom can lead to tedium and inattention, no matter how enjoyable the unit may be Moreover, the teachers had better provide the students with the explanation of slangs and new words in the movies Pronunciation should be taught carefully and contained in feedback in order to help students hear exactly what the characters say Limitations of the study Firstly, despite the researcher’s considerable effort, the study has certain limitations due to the time constraint The course lasted a few weeks, which might not exactly evaluate the result of this method Second, the researcher predicted that the results of questionnaire did not truly reflect the facts Some students might have not told the truths because they would like to please the researcher who was in charge of teaching them Finally, not all the students have the same level According to the department’s arrangement, the students having the same level were arranged in the 39 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com same class Their overall levels are intermediate However, their levels of writing and reading might be upper intermediate but those of listening and speaking were pre intermediate Therefore, these students might have found these lessons too difficult or frustrated and they did not like the lessons Suggestions for further studies Since using movies in EFL teaching is a subject that has not been studied much, there are still many factors left unknown Further research is required in order to find out for instance what are the teacher’s attitudes towards using movies in EFL teaching or whether there are factors that affect the teacher’s use of movies Besides, other researchers can study the designing of the interesting activities going along with movies in class An interesting point of view would be the students’ own opinions of using movies for studying both at home and at class In addition, this present research mainly focused on the intermediate students; therefore, other studies can investigate to what extent using movies in teaching students whose English levels are beginners, advanced improves their English skills Moreover, it is recommended that the application of using movies in teaching other skills (reading, writing, speaking skills) be researched This present research only has tested a small number of students, so it is hoped that other researchers can find out the results of this application compared with the traditional method with a larger number of participants 40 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com REFERENCES Allan, M (1985) Teaching English with video London: Longman Anderson, A & Lynch, T (1988) Listening Oxford University Press Bacon, J E (1998) Listening for real in the foreign language classroom Foreign Language Annals, 22, 543 -551 Berne, J E (1998) Examining the relationship between L2 listening research, pedagogical theory, and practice Foreign Language Annals, 31, 169-181 Brown, H D (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Pearson Education ESL; 5th edition (June 1, 2006) Burley- Allen, M (1995) Listening: the Forgotten Skill New York John Whiley & Sons, Inc Canning –Wilson, C (2000) Practical Aspects of Using Video in the Foreign Language Classroom, The Internet TESL Journal, vol VI, No.11, 13/10/2010 : Retrieved from http :// iteslj.org /Articles/Canning-Video html Cohen, L & Manion, L (1994) (4th ed.) 2007 (6th ed.) Research methods in education London: Croom Helm Duangmanee, R(2003) A study of video techniques to enhance English listening and speaking abilities of first – year higher certificate vocational students at Rajamangala Institute of Technology Sakonnakorn Campus Unpublished master’s thesis, Srinakharinwirot University Thailand Edwards, R., & Mc Donald, J.L (1993) Schema theory and listening In A D Wolvin & C.G Coakley (Eds.), Perspectives on listening London: Ablex Eken, A.N (2003) You’ve got mail : A film workshop ELT Journal, 57 (1), 51-59 Field, J (1998) Skills and strategies: Towards a new methodology for listening ELT Journal, 52,110-118 Flowerdew, J (Ed.) (1994) Academic Listening: Research Perspectives Cambridge NY: Cambridge University Press Garcia, J (2011) Practicing English through Movies France: Revoluỗóo eBook 41 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Gardner, R.C & Lambert, W.E (1972) Motivational variables in second language acquisition In R.C Gardner & W Lambert (ed.) Attitudes and motivation in second language learning (pp 119-216) Rowley, MA: Newbury House Goh, C (2010) Listening as process: learning activities for self-appraisal and selfregulation, in N Harwood (ed.) English language teaching materials: theory and practice Cambridge University Press Littlewood, W (2010) Communicative language teaching: An introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Martinez, A.G (2002) Authentic Materials : An overview March 24, 2010 Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/authenticmaterials.html Miller, L (2003) Developing listening skills with authentic materials ESL Magazine, 6, 16-18 Morley, J (1991) Listening comprehension in second/ foreign language instruction In M Celce – Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (2nd ed., 81-106) New York : Newbury House Nunan, D (1989) Understanding language classrooms: A guide for teacher – initiated action New York : Prentice –Hall Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge : CUP Nunan, D (1999) Second language teaching and learning Boston : Heinle & Heinle Purdy,M (1997) What is listening ? In Purdy, M& Borisoff, D (Ed.s) Listening in everyday life : A personal and professional approach (2nd ed.) Lanham, MD : University Press of America Rankin, P,T (1952) The measurement of the ability to understand spoken language (Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1926) Dissertation, 12, 847 848 Rost , S & (2002) Teaching and Researching Listening London, UK: Longman 42 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Schwartz, A.M., (1998) “ Listening in a foreign language” In G Burkart (Ed), Modules for the professional preparation of teaching assistants in foreign languages Washington DC : Center for Applied Linguistics Sherman, J (2003) Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Shrum, J.L , & Glisa, E W (1999) Teacher’s handbook: Contextualized language instruction (2nd ed.) Boston, MA : Heinle & Heinle Smith, G T (2009) Is film an effective teaching tool for high school literature ? Unpublished master’s research project, Ohio University Stempleski, S & Tomalin, B (1990) Video in Action: Recipes for Using Video in Language Teaching New York Stempleski, S., & Arcario, P (Eds ) (1992) Video in second language teaching : Using, selecting and producing video for the classroom Alexandria, VA : TESOL Stoller, F (1988) Films and Videotapes in the ESL/ EFL Classroom Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Teachers of English to speakers of other languages Thanajaro, M (2000) Using authentic listening materials to develop listening comprehension in the English as a Second Language Classroom Doctoral Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnique Institute and State University, Blacksbursgs, Virginia Thi Lan Anh, D (2010) Using movies and videos to teach English vocabulary to the tenth form students (Unpublished bachelor’s graduation paper) University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Underwood, M (1989) Teaching listening New York :Longman Johnson, B M (1995, Fall) Why conduct action research? Teaching and Change, 1, 90-105 Vandergrift, L (1999) Facilitating second language listening comprehension: Acquiring successful strategies ELT Journal, 53,168-176 43 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE THE INTERVENTION Dear students, I am Nguyen Thi Huong, an English teacher at Hanoi Law University I am conducting my MA thesis titled : A study on using movies in teaching listening skills to students at Hanoi Law University This survey questionnaire is designed to gather your precious opinions about this subject Your completion of this questionnaire is highly appreciated and the data collected are used in this research only, not for any other purposes Please give your answers truthfully for a guaranteed success of the investigation by circling the appropriate for the following questions Thank you very much for your cooperation! DIRECTIONS: Please put a tick next to the option that is the most appropriate for you Question 1: What you think about the listening material used in class? Very boring Boring Neutral Interesting Very interesting Question 2: What are the difficulties you have with your in-class listening materials? (you can choose more than one ) Boring topics Boring tasks Lack of pronunciation Inappropriate to your level Lack of pictures/ illustration No difficulties Others: Question Have you ever done any listening tasks which are designed from movies? Yes No I TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Question 3: Do you think watching English movies with subtitle is effective for your English study ? Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Question 4: Do you often watch the same English movies more than twice to study English ? Always Usually Sometimes Never Question 5: Would you like the teacher to use English movies to teach listening skills? Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree Question 6: Which kinds of movie you like watching in order to improve your English skills ? a Action movies b Comedy c Romantic movies d Documentary e Science Fiction f Others: II TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE AFTER THE INTERVENTION Dear students, I am Nguyen Thi Huong, an English teacher at Hanoi College of Education I am conducting my MA thesis titled :A study on using movies in teaching listening skills to students at Hanoi Law University This survey questionnaire is designed to gather your precious opinion about this subject Your completion of this questionnaire is highly appreciated and the data collected are used in this research only, not for any other purposes Your personal information, therefore, will be kept strictly confidential Please give your answers truthfully for a guaranteed success of the investigation by circling the appropriate for the following questions Thank you very much for your cooperation! DIRECTIONS: Please put a tick next to the option that is the most appropriate for you Question Are you satisfied with the five –week learning course which you have experienced? Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Question How you value the effectiveness of this learning approach to the improvement of your listening ability? Not effective Little effective Quite effective Effective Very effective Question Is your listening ability improved throughout the learning sessions? Yes No If the answer to question is : “ No”, please continue with question If the answer to question is : “ Yes”, please continue with question III TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Question 4: Why is not your listening ability improved after the course? ( You can select more than one ) a) I did not learn much b) I see nothing new in the course It is just the same as other listening sessions I have learnt c) I could not understand because of the speed of the speakers d) There was too much slang in the movies e) I did not focus on language because I was attracted by the scenes f) Others (please specify) : Question 5: What helped you improve your listening skills ? (You can select more than one ) a It was easier to understand and guess the contents with the scenes b I gained knowledge about the language used in real-life situations c I learnt and experienced a new way to practice listening d I had fun while listening e I concentrated more on listening to understand the content of movies f Others (please specify) : Question 6: What suggestions can you make to better the teaching and learning sessions ? IV TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX III: PRE-TEST Section Question 1-10 Complete the notes below Write no more than three words and/or a number for each answer Library information Example answer Minimum joining age: 18 years For registration, must take  Two and  Two forms of I.D.e.g.driving licence, Cost to join per year ( without current student card): Number of items allowed: ( members of public) Loan times: four weeks Fine start at Computers can be booked up to hours in advance Library holds most national papers, all , and magazines Need .to use photocopier Creative writing class Tutor is john Held on 10 Friday evenings Section Question 11-15 Choose the correct letter, A,B or C BICYCLES FOR THE WORLD 11 In 1993 Dan Pearman went to Ecuador A as a tourist guide V TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com B as part of his studies C as a voluntary worker 12 Dan’s neighbour was successful in business because he A employed carpenters from the area B was the most skilled craftsman in the town C found it easy to reach customers 13 Dan says the charity relies on A getting enough bicycles to send regularly B finding new areas which need the bicycles C charging for the bicycles it send abroad 14 what does Dan say about the town of Rivas? A It has received the greatest number of bikes B It has almost as many bikes as Amsterdam C Its economy has been totally transformed 15 What problem did the charity face in August 2000? A it couldn’t meet its overheads B it had to delay sending the bikes C It was criticised in the British media VI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX IV: POST TEST Section question 1-10 Complete the form below Write no more than three words and/or a number for each answer MINTONS CAR MART Cutomer Enquiry Example Answer Make Lida Engine size Model: Max Type of gears: Preferred colour: FINANCE Customer wishers to arrange Yes Part exchange? Wendy PERSONAL DETAILS Name: 20, Green Banks Title Address: Hampshire Postcode GU8 9EW Contact number ( for.8 .only)0798257643 CURRENT CAR Make : Name: Model Year :1994 Mileage Maximum :70.000 Color Metallic Grey Condition VII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 10 Section 2: Questions 1-5 Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C The speaker says international students at UK universities will be A offered accommodation with local families B given special help by their lecturers C expected to work independently What does the speaker say about university accommodation on campus? A most places are given to undergraduates B no places are available for postgraduates with families C a limited number of places are available for new postgraduates Students wishing to live off-campus should apply A several months in advance B two or three weeks in advance C at the begining of term The university accommodation officer will A send a list of agents for students to contact B contact accommodation agencies for students C ensure that students have suitable accomodaion With regard to their English, the speaker advises the students to A tell their lecturers if they have problems understanding B have private English lessons when they arrive C practice their spoken English before they arrive VIII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX V :SAMPLE LESSON PLAN Level and number of students : 30 intermediate students Objectives After the lesson, the students are expected to - Improve the listening comprehension about Identity - Improve the listening skills: Listening for main ideas Name of lesson: Identity Materials : course book, movie clip, handout Equipment: A computer, a projector, a board, chalk Timing: 120 minutes (After teaching the students important tasks in the course book, the researcher spent 60 minutes using movies in teaching English) Procedure Phases Teacher Students 1.Pre viewing - Show the students the picture in ad Work in pairs to (15m) of the movie with the title: Good Luck predict the storyline Charlie - ask them to guess the storyline from the picture and title - Give some new words and slang, then explain: ruin, in a mood, quitter, Learn and repeat pet control, reschedule, supposed - Teach stress in the sentences to catch the key words: Content function words, key words words, Practice stressing the key words/ content - Teach listening skills: listen for main words in IX TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com the ideas: the key words While Ask viewing the students sentences to listen to Listen understand the storyline ( 30 minutes ) Ask the students to listen for the main ideas: catch the key words and complete the tasks Complete the tasks and work in pairs to Ask the students to listen again and check the answers discuss their answers Check the answers Post Ask the students to watch again and Watch and repeat viewing (15 repeat what the characters say in the minutes) film clips Emphasize the content words, key words Role play : Ask the students to pick up a few scenes and make a role play Work in groups of three or four to have a role play X TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... understanding vocabulary and grammatical rules, interpret stress and intonation, retain what was gather in all of the above and interpret it within the immediate as well as the large sociocultural... listening skills were sharpened by learning vocabulary and pronunciation through movies The students got familiar to the real pronunciation, intonation and body language of native speakers Another... orientation (receiving what the speaker actually says), constructive orientation (constructing and representing meaning), collaborative orientation (negotiating meaning with the speaker and responding),