(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) a study on students’ difficulties in learning listening comprehension at IQ centre, hai phong

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILL AT IQ CENTER, HAI PHONG (Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn của sinh viên viêc̣ ho ̣c ki ̃ nghe ta ̣i trung tâm IQ, Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILL AT IQ CENTER, HAI PHONG (Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn của sinh viên viêc̣ ho ̣c ki ̃ nghe ta ̣i trung tâm IQ, Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Mai Thi Loan, PhD ̣ HANOI – 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been submitted to any other university or institution partially or wholly Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in text of the thesis Hanoi, 2017 Student Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr Mai Thị Loan for her enthusiastic guidance, insightful comments, and valuable support throughout my research I would also like to thank all of the lecturers of the Department of Post Graduate Studies, Vietnam National University for their useful lectures and materials which are of great value to my thesis A special word of thanks goes to all of my colleagues and students at IQ Center for their useful information and support Last but not least, I owe my gratitude to my family for their support and encouragement ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Listening skill is appreciated as a key skill in real-life communication as well as language acquisition Therefore, there have been numerous studies of this skill in different aspects The study is concerned with listening comprehension problems which the students at IQ centre have encountered It was conducted on the basis of one questionnaire and interviews The questionnaire was designed for 45 students and the interviews were carried out with both the teachers and the students at IQ centre The results of the study showed that the students dealt with various listening problems which were categorized into two types: learners’ listening difficulties related to texts and learners’ listening difficulties related to listeners Furthermore, the results of the interviews help the researcher have a clearer understanding of the difficulties and then suggest solutions as practical as possible for the students’ better listening learning iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study .1 Aims and objectives of the study .1 Research questions .1 Scope of the study .2 Methods of the study Significance of the study Design of the study .2 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .4 1.1 Review of previous related studies 1.1.1 Previous studies overseas 1.1.2 In Vietnam .6 1.2 Definitions of listening comprehension .7 1.3 The importance of listening comprehension .8 1.4 The process of listening comprehension 1.5 Potential problems in learning listening comprehension .11 1.5.1 Familiarity of topic 11 1.5.2 Familiarity of vocabulary 11 1.5.3 Difficult grammar structures 11 1.5.4 Pause and hesitation .12 1.5.5 Redundancy 12 1.5.6 Psychological problems 12 1.5.7 Limited memory .12 1.5.8 Predicting .13 1.5.9 Pronunciation, intonation, stress 13 1.5.11 Noise 14 1.6 Solutions to problems in learning listening comprehension skill .14 1.6.1 Using schema theory in teaching listening to EFL students .14 1.6.2 Pre-teaching and activating vocabulary .15 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 1.6.3 Building up learners’ vocabulary .15 1.6.4 Providing authentic materials .15 1.6.5 Improving learners’ pronunciation 15 1.6.6 Encouraging prediction 16 1.6.7 Using visual aids 16 1.6.8 Encouraging learners to develop listening strategies 16 1.7 Summary .16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Restatement of the research questions 17 2.2 The setting of the study .17 2.3 Participants 17 2.3.1 Students 17 2.3.2 Teachers .18 2.4 Research types 18 2.5 Data collection instruments 18 2.5.1 Questionnaire 18 2.5.2 Interviews .19 2.6 Data collection procedures .19 2.6.1 Questionnaires .19 2.6.2 Interviews .20 2.7 Data analysis methods .20 2.8 Summary 20 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 21 3.1 Questionnaire 21 3.1.1 Learners’ perceptions of listening difficulties related to texts 21 3.1.2 Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to speakers 21 3.1.3 Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to listeners 22 3.1.4 Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to physical setting 25 3.1.5 Learners’ opinions of solutions to listening difficulties 26 3.2 Interviews 27 3.2.1 The teachers’ answers about teaching listening 27 3.2.2 The teachers’ and the students’ answers about the listening problems 28 3.2.3 The teachers’ and the students’ suggestions about solutions 31 3.3 Summary 31 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .32 4.1 Difficulties in learning listening comprehension encountered by the students at IQ centre, Hai Phong 32 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 4.2 Recommendations to help the students overcome difficulties in learning listening comprehension 33 4.2.1 Improving teachers’ performance in their listening lessons .33 4.2.2 Assisting students to build up rich vocabulary 35 4.2.3 Teaching pronunciation with spoken features 35 4.2.4 Developing listening materials 36 4.2.5 Using different kinds of input .37 4.2.6 Training students to become active listeners 37 4.2.7 Encouraging self-study .38 4.3 Summary 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 Recapitulation 39 Conclusions .39 Limitations of the study 40 Suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES .41 APPENDIX I APPENDIX V APPENDIX VIII APPENDIX IX APPENDIX X APPENDIX XII vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to texts Figure 2: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to speakers Figure 3: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to listeners’ listening competence Figure 4: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to listeners’ psychology Figure 5: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to physical setting Table: Learners’ opinions about solutions to difficulties in learning listening comprehension vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study It is undeniable that listening plays a vital role in human being’s communication Communication will not take place unless people understand the language to which they are exposed Listening is also the skill which is used most frequently in verbal communication Furthermore, listening skill is of primary importance in foreign language learning and acquisition The development of other language skills can be enhanced through this receptive skill Nevertheless, English teaching in Vietnam has put emphasis on boosting vocabulary and grammar through reading texts for many years This leads to the fact that a great number of English learners cannot listen to native speakers as well as communicate in English The students who join English communication courses at IQ center are no exception Most of them have a great desire to master listening skill for the general purpose of proficiency in communication However, from my own teaching experience as well as my observation of English communication classes at IQ center, it can be found that many students had difficulty in learning listening skill It is my responsibility to help the students at IQ center to overcome those difficulties In addition, the researchers of previous related studies suggest that more listening difficulties should be found out Therefore, it is necessary for me to carry out a study on “The students’ difficulties in learning listening comprehension at IQ Center” Aims and objectives of the study The aim of the study is to help the students to overcome the difficulties which they have encountered in learning listening comprehension at IQ centre The objectives of the study are: - To investigate the difficulties that the students have encountered in learning listening comprehension; - To suggest some solutions to help the students overcome the difficulties Research questions The study is intended to explore the difficulties which the students have encountered in learning listening comprehension and then suggest solutions to these difficulties TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART C: CONCLUSION Recapitulation Being aware of the significance of listening comprehension skill as well as the real situation of learning listening of the students at IQ centre, the researcher conducted a study to help the students enhance their listening ability After reviewing literature related to students’ difficulties in learning listening comprehension skill, the researcher designed a survey questionnaire for the students The questionnaire was employed to recognize the difficulties which the students have perceived in learning listening comprehension skill Next, the questionnaire was delivered to 45 students belonging to three English communication skill classes at IQ Centre to collect data After completing the analysis of the data from the questionnaire, the researcher made a list of interview questions for both the teachers and the students The interviews with three teachers and ten students were carried out to verify the students’ listening problems found out from the questionnaire and explore the reasons behind them The data analysis from the questionnaire and interviews showed the problems which the students have faced in learning listening comprehension skill Furthermore, numerous solutions were proposed for better listening learning and teaching Conclusions It is obvious that listening comprehension is a very challenging skill to the students at IQ centre The difficulties they have faced most frequently in learning listening comprehension are ones related to unfamiliar topics, unfamiliar vocabulary, learners’ poor pronunciation, limited memory, focus loss and incompetence in three sub-skills The sub- skills are guessing the meaning of an unfamiliar word, predicting what will come next, and realizing speakers’ signals of moving from one point to another The main reasons behind the difficulties are the teachers’ teaching techniques, the students’ lack of strategies, poor pronunciation and limited vocabulary For the purpose of helping the students make progress in learning listening comprehension, some solutions have been recommended As for the teachers, they should improve their teaching techniques It is necessary for them to assist the students to build up rich vocabulary, get acquainted with pronunciation rules, and especially 39 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com listening strategies As for the students, they should practice listening strategies, pronunciation and enhance vocabulary through their self-study It is necessary to include authentic materials in listening lessons To conclude, it is hoped that the study will be useful for teaching and learning listening comprehension at IQ centre Limitations of the study Limitations are unavoidable in any researches and the study is not an exception First, the study has been limited to investigate the difficulties encountered by the students at pre-intermediate level Therefore, there are more listening problems which have not been discovered yet Second, the study was only carried out at IQ centre Thus, the result of the study may not be applied to all schools or other centers Finally, the study was concerned with listening skill, so the result of the study may not be useful to other language skills Suggestions for further study Further studies should be conducted to investigate more difficulties encountered by students at different levels There should be a research carried out to find out the difficulties that the teachers at IQ centre have faced in teaching listening comprehension to the students 40 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com REFERENCES Anderson, J R (1995) Cognitive psychology and its implications 4th ed New York: Freeman Anderson, A & Lynch, T (2003) Listening (11th ed) Oxford University Press Bloomfield, A et al (2010) What Makes Listening Difficult? Factors Affecting Second Language Listening Buck, G (2001) Assessing Lisnening Cambridge University Press Devine, T G (1982) Teaching study skills Boston, MA: Allyn& Bacon Field, J (2003) Promoting Perception: Lexical segmentation in second language listening ELT Journal, 57, 325-334 Fodor, J., Bever, T & Garret, M (1974) The psychology of language New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company Goh, C (1999) Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4, 17-42 Hamouda, A (2013) An Investigation of Listening Comprehension Problems Encountered by Saudi Students in the EL Listening Classroom International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development 2(2), 113-155 10 Hasan, A (2000) Learners' perception of listening comprehension problems Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 13, 13-153 11 Hasan, A A (2015) The difficulties encountered by EFL learners in listening comprehension as perceived by ELC students at the Arab American UniversityJenin An- Najah National University 12 Hedge,T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford University Press 13 Hung, F S (1998) Word familiarity and content schemata in EFL listening comprehension Studies in English and Language Literature, 4, 45-62 14 Jeon, J (2007) The study of listening comprehension of academic lectures within the construction-integrated model, Published Doctoral Dissertation, School of the Ohio State University 15 Lê Thị Hồng Loan (2012) Difficulties in learning listening skill experienced by first- year students at Maritime University in Ha Phong City Hanoi University of International Language and Studies 41 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 16 Nadig, A (2013) Listening Comprehension Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1743 (Afrah, 2015) 17 Nowrouzi, Shu Sim Tam, Gholamreza Zareian, Vahid Nimehchisalem (2015) Iranian EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5, 263-269 18 Phạm Thị Phượng (2014) Problems experrienced by non- major students of English at Hai Phong Foreign Language Center Hanoi University of International Language and Studies 19 Pourhosein Gilakjani, A., & Sabouri, N B (2016) Learners' listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review English Language Teaching, 9(6), 123-133 20 Richard, J (1990) The language teaching matrix Cambridge University Press 21 Rost, M (2002) Teaching and Researching Listening Longman 22 Selamat Suzanah , Sidhu Gurnam Kaur (2013) Enhancing Listening Comprehension: The role of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction (MetSI) Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90, 421-430 23 Tilahun, T (2008) Factors that contribute to the problems EFL learners face in the listening skills classroom Addis Ababa University 24 Trịnh Vinh Hiển (2013) Difficulties encountered by first-year major English students at Lac Hong Uniersity Lac Hong University 25 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching listening Longman 26 Ur, P (1984) Teaching listening comprehension Cambridge 27 Vandergrift, L (2007) Recent development in second language listening comprehension research In Graeme Porte (Ed.), Language Teaching: Surveys and Studies (pp 291-210) Cambridge University Press, Canada 28 Van Duzer, C (1997) Improving ESL Learners' Listening Skills: At the Workplace and Beyond Washington D.C.: National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education 29 Walker, N (2014) Listening: the Most Difficult Skill to Teach Encuentro, 23, 167-175 42 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILL Dear students, This questionnaire is designed for the purpose of collecting data for my research into students’ difficulties in learning listening comprehension at IQ Centre in Hai Phong I desperately hope to get your help in answering the following questions fully and honestly Your participation plays an important role in the success of the research Thank you very much for your cooperation PART I: FREQUENCY OF STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN LEARNING LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILL Instruction: The following is a list of statements that will help you to identify the difficulties you face while you are engaged in listening comprehension skill Read each statement and put the mark (X) under the column which best represents your opinion: Items Statements Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always I find a listening text difficult when its topic is unfamiliar I find listening comprehension difficult when a text contains many new words I find it understand difficult a unfamiliar text to with grammar structures I find it difficult to understand a text which is I TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com full of hesitations and pauses I find it difficult to understand a text which lacks redundant phrases such as “I mean”, “you know” I cannot listen well when I am sick or exhausted I feel anxious before listening I find it difficult to concentrate during listening I am unable to concentrate anymore when I have a problem while listening I find it difficult to fully 10 understand a text which is not interesting to me 11 I quickly forget the words or the phrases I have just heard I find it difficult to guess the 12 meaning of an unknown word while listening At the time of listening, I 13 find it difficult to predict what will come next I understand most words but 14 not intended message I cannot recognize the words 15 I know pronunciation, because stress, my and intonation are limited II TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com I find it difficult to recognize 16 the signals which indicate that speakers are moving from one point to another I understand the meaning of 17 all of the sentence, words but I of a cannot understand the meaning of the sentence I find a listening text difficult 18 without visual clues It is difficult for me to 19 concentrate with noises around 20 Others (please specify) PART II: SOLUTIONS TO STUDENTS’ LISTENING PROBLEMS Instruction: The following is a list of solutions that your teacher and you can to improve your listening skill You can choose more than one answer  Students discuss the topic before listening  Students identify their purposes before listening  Teacher provides tasks to help students improve their pronunciation  Teacher gives students experience in litening to spoken language rather than recordings of written text  Teacher teaches listening through songs, films or funny stories when students are tired  Teacher designs warm-up activities, pre-teaches new words and important grammar structures before listening  Teacher activates students’ background knowledge before listening III TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com  Teacher provides images or pictures relating to listening  Teacher gives extra texts with interesting topics  Teacher teaches students listening strategies  Teacher closes the doors of the classroom during listening  Others (please specify): THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! IV TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX BẢNG CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT Các bạn học viên thân mến, Bảng câu hỏi thiết kế nhằm mục đích thu thập thơng tin phục vụ cho nghiên cứu khó khăn việc học kĩ nghe học viên trung tâm IQ, Hải Phịng Tơi mong nhận hợp tác giúp đỡ bạn cách trả lời câu hỏi sau cách thành thật đầy đủ Sự tham gia bạn đóng vai trị quan trọng thành công đề tài PHẦN I: MỨC ĐỘ THƯỜNG XUYÊN CỦA NHỮNG VẤN ĐỀ MÀ HỌC VIÊN GẶP PHẢI TRONG VIỆC HỌC KĨ NĂNG NGHE Hướng dẫn: Dưới khó khăn mà học viên gặp phải việc học kĩ nghe Hãy đọc đánh dấu (X) cột phù hợp với quan điểm bạn: Những vấn đề học viên gặp Không Hiếm Thỉnh Thường Luôn phải thoảng xuyên Em thấy nghe khó chủ đề nghe khơng quen thuộc Em thấy việc nghe hiểu khó khăn chứa nhiều từ Em thấy khó hiểu nghe với cấu trúc ngữ pháp khơng quen thuộc Em thấy nghe khó người nói thường xuyên ngập ngừng ngắt quãng Em thấy nghe khó hiểu thiếu cụm “I mean”, “you know” Em nghe tốt em V TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ốm mệt mỏi Em cảm thấy lo lắng, hồi hộp trước nghe Em tập trung nghe Em tập trung gặp vấn đề nghe Em thấy khó hiểu nghe 10 khơng thú vị Em nhanh quên từ 11 cụm từ vừa nghe Em thấy khó đốn nghĩa 12 từ không quen thuộc nghe Em thấy khó đốn ý 13 người nói nói Em hiểu hầu hết từ 14 không hiểu ý người nói Em khơng thể nhận 15 từ em biết phát âm, trọng âm ngữ điệu em hạn chế Em thấy khó nhận 16 dấu hiệu mà người nói chuyển ý Em hiểu nghĩa tất từ 17 câu, em hiểu nghĩa câu VI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Em thấy việc nghe hiểu khó 18 khơng có tranh ảnh Em khơng thể tập trung có 19 tiếng ồn xung quanh 20 Các khó khăn khác (vui lòng nêu rõ) PHẦN II: NHỮNG GIẢI PHÁP CHO NHỮNG VẤN ĐỀ NGHE HIỂU CỦA HỌC VIÊN Hướng dẫn: Dưới loạt giải pháp mà giáo viên người học làm để cải thiện kĩ nghe hiểu Hãy đánh dấu () vào điều với mong muốn bạn Bạn chọn nhiều câu trả lời  Học viên thảo luận chủ để trước nghe  Học viên nhận biết mục đích trước nghe  Giáo viên tập giúp học viên phát âm tốt  Giáo viên để học viên trải nghiệm việc nghe ngơn ngữ nói nhiều ngơn ngữ viết  Giáo viên dạy nghe qua hát, phim, truyện cười học viên mệt mỏi  Giáo viên thiết kế hoạt động khởi động, dạy trước từ cấu trúc ngữ pháp quan trọng trước nghe  Giáo viên kích hoạt kiến thức học viên trước nghe  Giáo viên cung cấp hình ảnh tranh liên quan đến nghe  Giáo viên dừng lại học viên gặp vấn đề nghe  Giáo viên thêm nghe với chủ đề thú vị  Giáo viên dạy học viên kĩ thuật nghe  Các giải pháp khác (vui lòng nêu rõ): Cảm ơn giúp đỡ bạn! VII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS What teaching activities you use to teach your students? What teaching materials you prepare for your students? - Do you prepare authentic materials for your students? Which difficulties your students often encounter when learning listening skill? - Do your students encounter these problems? What are the causes of these problems? What should you to help your students improve their listening skill? VIII TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHO GIÁO VIÊN Những hoạt động bạn sử dụng cho việc dạy nghe? Những tài liệu bạn chuẩn bị cho học viên bạn? - Bạn có chuẩn bị tài liệu thực tế cho học viên bạn khơng? Những khó khăn mà học viên bạn thường gặp phải học nghe? - Học viên bạn gặp phải khó khăn phải khơng? Ngun nhân khó khăn gì? Bạn nên làm để giúp học viên cải thiện kĩ nghe? IX TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS How these difficulties affect your listening comprehension? - Do your teachers activate background knowledge and new words or difficult grammar structures before listening? - Could you guess the meaning of a new word? - Do you think that your poor pronunciation makes you to quickly forget the words or the phrases you have just heard? - Could you explain more about your focus loss when encountering a problem while listening? - Do you know the signals speakers use to move from one point to another? - Could you predict what will come next? - Are your classroom quiet? - Are your listening tasks often attached with pictures? What measures you think should be taken to solve the listening problems? X TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHO HỌC VIÊN Những khó khăn ảnh hưởng đến việc nghe hiểu em nào? - Cơ giáo em có khởi động kiến thức từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp khó trước nghe khơng? - Em đốn nghĩa từ khơng? - Em có nghĩ phát âm khơng tốt khiến em nhanh quên từ cụm từ em nghe khơng? - Em giải thích nhiều việc em tập trung gặp vấn đề nghe khơng? - Em có biết dấu hiệu người nói chuyển ý khơng? - Em đốn ý người nói nói chưa? - Lớp học em có n tĩnh khơng? - Bài nghe em có thường gắn liền với tranh ảnh khơng? Theo em giải pháp nên thực để giải vấn đề nghe? XI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... and qualitative data The qualitative data (interviews with both teachers and students) was obtained after the quantitative data collection to have a more accurate and deeper interpretation of the... various problems in word recognition such as "reduction, assimilation, elision, resyllabification, and cliticisation" It can be concluded that if learners’ pronunciation, stress, and intonation... significant role of listening comprehension skill in human being’s communication, language learning, and second language acquisition is undeniable This is the reason why teaching and learning listening