During the process of learning TOEIC Listening Comprehension, students encounter many different difficulties that arise depending on their English ability. This paper was based on referencing sources and survey questionnaire as a quantitative analysis. Thus, this study is limited and data cannot reflect all the comprehensive aspects of the difficulties faced by learners at “Thay Giang Co Mai” English Center when studying and taking the TOEIC LC tests. TOEIC Listening Comprehension included 4 sections named part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. Owing to limited time, lack of experiences and documents, this research was restricted to present a few common difficulties in part 1 and part 2.
Ho Chi Minh City – 2019 GRADUATION THESIS Major ENGLISH LANGUAGE Topic Some strategies to Part and Part of the TOEIC listening new version 2019 for the learners at “Thay Giang Co Mai” English Center Instructor Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Student Dao Ngoc Bich ID: 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of doing this study, I am most grateful for receiving useful help and encouragement from many people First of all, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Kim Chung, who has supported me in this thesis and given me much helful advices as well as thorough guidance so that I can fulfill this graduation paper In addition, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the inspiring and precious knowledge and experiences through each lesson of all my subject teachers throughout my years of study at SIU Moreover, I wish to express my appreciation to the Management of the Sai Gon International University for giving me a chance to complete my last mission in this year and the assistance of fellow my classmates (TOEIC class) for part – taking in my survey Last but not least, I am really in the debt to my family, my classmates, my friends and authors in the internet for their enthusiastic encouragement, useful advice and great support throughout the process in which I complete this graduation thesis Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis COMMENTS Advisor’s Signature Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS COMMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATION CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale Research goals Scope and Limitation of the Research 10 Significance of the study 10 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11 Listening and Listening Comprehension 11 1.1 What is listening? 11 1.2 What is Listening Comprehension? 12 TOEIC Listening Skills 13 2.1 What is the TOEIC test? 13 2.2 Typical TOEIC topics 14 2.3 What is the format of TOEIC test? 15 2.4 Types of TOEIC listening comprehension 18 Types of listening skill in TOEIC test 21 Comparison between the old and the new format of the TOEIC test 23 Summary of books, thesis 24 Research questions 25 Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 26 Research method 26 Research tools, data collection 26 2.1 The Center 26 2.2 Participants 27 Data Collection Procedures 27 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND RESULTS AND DISCUSSTION 29 Had you ever done the old format of the TOEIC examination? 29 Chart 29 Have you ever taken the new format of the TOEIC examination? 30 Chart 31 In your opinion, how difficult you encounter in the vocabulary in part of TOEIC listening section? 31 Chart 31 In your opinion, what are the traps you often make a mistake in part 1? 32 Chart 33 How can you improve vocabulary in part 1of TOEIC listening section? 33 Chart 33 How can you improve listening skill in part 1of TOEIC listening section? 34 Chart 34 How can you improve picture observation or identification skill in part 1of TOEIC Listening section? 35 Chart 36 Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis In your opinion, how difficult you encounter in the vocabulary in part of TOEIC listening section? 36 Chart 36 In your opinion, what the traps you often get an obstacle in part 2? 37 Chart 38 10 How difficult you encounter in the types of question in part 2? 38 Chart 10 38 11 How can you improve listening comprehension in part of TOEIC listening section? 40 Chart 11 40 12 How you improve your skill in identifying the types of questions in part of TOEIC listening section? 41 Chart 12 41 13 How can you improve exclusion skill in part of TOEIC listening section? 42 Chart 13 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENTDATIONS 44 Conclusion 44 2.1 For Learners 45 REFERENCES 47 APPENDIX: SURVEY 49 Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis LIST OF ABBREVIATION TOEIC – Test of English for International Communication TOEIC LC –TOEIC Listening Comprehension Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale In the past few years as well as in the future English language is the most popular language in the world because it is very useful So, English becomes a common language for every country Firstly, this language helps us to communicate, live and travel easily Secondly, English playing the role of a common language enables us to work and cooperate with any people or organization in different country that offers us many opportunities to spread International Trade Thirdly, most of the books, materials, newspaper written in different languages were translated into English, so it is necessary and beneficiary to learn English to get a more universal and comprehensive source of information and knowledge that can contribute to all aspects of our lives For these reasons, people from all ages have learnt English to catch up with the trend, development and innovation of technology Vietnam is among the most developing countries with great opportunity to integrate to the world Therefore, it is extremely important to learn English and use the language as a tool – of communication, especially for fresh graduates We realize that English is a key to get a good job with a high salary, communicate to people beyond borders and access to scientific resources Thus, almost all colleges and universities conduct many teaching skills in English as well as regulate the output of foreign language Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Before the universities, colleges and companies required students or workers to have English Certificate A, B, C or D However, nowadays TOEIC Certificate is used as a common standard to classify and evaluate English skills of students as workers The skills in the TOEIC help us easily integrate in the international working environment Notably, Vietnam has become one of the countries that attract many foreign companies and investors TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is an international English certificate of communication for working people who not use English as their native language TOEIC Certificate is valid for years and recognized in many countries, including Viet Nam Because students not usually use English and communicate with foreigners, so they frequently encounter difficulties in doing the test Therefore, this thesis will highlight difficulties and ways to improve listening skills in the TOEIC LC of leaners at “Thay Giang Co Mai” English Center Research goals As the above rationale, I carried out this study with the desire to point out the causes of difficulties in studying TOEIC LC In addition, this research provides ways to overcome these difficulties and make it easier for students to learn as well as achieve high scores on the test Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Scope and Limitation of the Research During the process of learning TOEIC Listening Comprehension, students encounter many different difficulties that arise depending on their English ability This paper was based on referencing sources and survey questionnaire as a quantitative analysis Thus, this study is limited and data cannot reflect all the comprehensive aspects of the difficulties faced by learners at “Thay Giang Co Mai” English Center when studying and taking the TOEIC LC tests TOEIC Listening Comprehension included sections named part 1, part 2, part and part Owing to limited time, lack of experiences and documents, this research was restricted to present a few common difficulties in part and part Significance of the study This paper will highlight the difficulties and ways to overcome difficulties in learning TOEIC LC of learners at “Thay Giang Co Mai” English Center to help students achieve high scores in the test and improve listening skills Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 10 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Listening and Listening Comprehension 1.1 What is listening? As we may know, Listening is receiving language through the ears Listening involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences When we listen, we use our ears to receive individual sounds and we use our brain to convert these into messages that mean something to us Acording to Feyten (1991) in his article said that: “Listening has emerged as an important component in the process of second language acquisition Listening is the first language mode that children acquire Language learning depends on listening since it provides the aural input that serves as the basis for language acquisition and enables learners to interact in spoken communication It provides the foundation for all aspects of language and cognitive development and it plays a life-long role in the process of communication” According Chastain (1971) said that listening is the competence to comprehend vernacular at normal speech Purdy (1997) defined listening is a process of absorbing information, making sense and responding to verbal or nonverbal Rost (2009) emphasized that listening is important factor in making a successful communication It aids us to comprehend everything around us Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 11 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis There are 12 types of listening: Active listening, Appreciate listening, Casual listening, Comprehension listening, Critical listening, Dialogic listening, Discriminative listening, Empathetic listening, Relationship listening, Sympathetic listening, Therapeutic listening, Importance of Listening 1.2 What is Listening Comprehension? According to Pourhossein Gilakjani, A., & Sabouri, N B (2016) in their research indicated that listening Comprehension is the different processes of understanding the spoken language These include knowing speech sounds, comprehending the meaning of individual words and understanding the syntax of sentences Besides, Hamouda (2013) defined LC is individual understanding of what he has heard and it is the listener’s ability to repeat the text despite the fact that the listener may repeat the sound without real comprehension As you know, Listening Comprehension is the precursor of reading comprehension, so it is an important skill to develop LC is not just hearing what is say – it is the ability to understand the words and relate to them in some way For example, when you listen to a song, good LC skill enables you to understand the song, remember and even sing it Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 12 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis TOEIC Listening Skills 2.1 What is the TOEIC test? The test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is “an English language test designed specifically to measure the everyday English skills of people working in an international environment The TOEIC test program was derived from the idea of a Japanese team, who played the main role is Mr Yasua Kitaoka Besides, Educational Testing Service - ETS has developed the TOEIC test program based on the TOEFL test program Therefore, the TOEIC test can be considered a hybrid program between Japan and the United States According to an Aug.11, 2009 Japan Times – a Japanese newspaper expressed that “In the 1970s, Kitaoka began negotiating with ETS to create a new test of English communication for use in Japan ETS responded that it required a nonprofit organization to work with as their partner Kitaoka tried to enlist the help of the Ministry of Education, but their bureaucrats did not see the need for a new test to compete with the step Eiken, an English test already backed by the ministry To overcome this opposition, Kitaoka received help from his friend, Yaeji Watanabe Watanabe's influence as a retired high-ranking bureaucrat from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (renamed the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, or METI) proved crucial to TOEIC's establishment Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 13 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Watanabe had remained in contact with his old ministry while working on the board of directors for the World Economic Information Services (WEIS) and as chairman of the Japan-China Economic Association, both publicinterest corporations operating under METI Watanabe declined an interview request, but his memoirs describe how he overcame Ministry of Education opposition to the TOEIC by taking cover "behind the ministry of trade shield." Watanabe convinced his old ministry it should play the lead role in establishing a new English test, and formed a TOEIC Steering Committee under the WEIS umbrella Members of the committee included other retired MITI bureaucrats and influential business leaders Government support secured, ETS began developing the test in 1977 In 1979, English learners in Japan filled in the first of many TOEIC multiple-choice answer forms” The TOEIC test program has been addmited and organized in over 150 countries and becomes the most popular English ability test.TOEIC was organized from 2001 and IIG Vietnam is the sole representative in Viet Nam 2.2 Typical TOEIC topics The content of the TOEIC test focuses on the following topics below: Banking Industry Entertainment Jobs Health Offices Housing Restaurants Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 14 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Transportation 2.3 Travel What is the format of TOEIC test? The TOEIC listening and reading test a multiple – choice question paper – based test It contains 100 questions (Listening section) and 100 questions (Reading section) In addition, the TOEIC has skills including Speaking and Writing Scores is scaled from 10 to 990 points The tests use common everyday vocabulary, phrases and key expressions that reflect real – world tasks More detailed information on test content and sample questions can be found in the TOEIC listening and reading Listening section: The listening section tests how well you understand spoken English It consists of four parts and contains 100 questions administered by audiocassette or CD You will be asked to answer questions based on a variety of statements, questions, conversations, and talks recorded in English Total time is approximately 45 minutes The TOEIC listening is structured as below: TOEIC Photographs: questions Questions – Response: 25 questions Listening Conversations: 39 questions; 13 conversations with questions each Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 15 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Short Talks: 30 questions; 10 short talks with questions each Part 1: Photographs (6 questions) For each question in this part, you will hear four statements about a picture in your test book This picture may include objects, people, locations, actions… When you hear the statements, you must select the one statement that best describes what you see in the picture Then find the number of the question on your answer sheet and mark your answer The statements will not be shown on your test book and will be spoken only one time Part 2: Questions – Response ( 25 questions) You will hear a question or statement and three responses spoken in English The question may ask about people, time, emotions, opinions, location or an activity… They will not be printed in your test book and will be spoken only one time Select the best response to the question or statement and mark the letter (A), (B), (C) or (D) on your answer sheet Part 3: Conversation ( 39 questions ) You will hear some conversations between two or more people You will be asked to answer three questions about what the speakers say in each conversation The question will ask about the general idea of the conversation You will be asked about Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 16 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis an activity, the location, a relationship or main content of the conversation In some cases, you have to reason base on the information in the dialogues Select the best response to each question and mark the letter (A), (B), (C) or (D) on your answer sheet The conversations will not be printed in your test book and will be spoken only one time Part 4: Short Talks ( 30 questions ) You will hear some talks given by a single speaker You will be asked to answer three questions about what the speaker says in each talk Select the best response to each question and mark the letter (A), (B), (C), (D) on the answer on your test book The talks will not be shown on your test book and will be spoken only one time Reading section: the reading section includes three parts, testing how well you understand written English You will read a variety of materials and respond at your own pace to 100 questions based on the content of the materials provided to you Total time is 75 minutes The TOEIC reading test is structured as below: TOEIC Incomplete sentences: 30 questions Text Completion: 16 questions Reading Single Passages: 29 questions; 10 reading texts with – questions each Multiple Passages: 25 questions; sets of double & sets of triple Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 17 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis passages with questions per set 2.4 Types of TOEIC listening comprehension As mentioned above, TOEIC listening consists of four parts Each section was designed to assess examinee’s level of English proficiency This paper focuses on analyzing the difficulties students may encounter in part & (Photographs & Questions – Response) an equivalence of Question to Question 31 in TOEIC LC, verifying the causes of these issues and remedies to solve the problems The following instances describe details of questions in TOEIC LC Part and Part Sample questions: Human: Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 18 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 Graduation Thesis 19 Advisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – MA Graduation Thesis Object: Dao Ngoc Bich– 97011400938 20 ... 13 2 .1 What is the TOEIC test? 13 2. 2 Typical TOEIC topics 14 2. 3 What is the format of TOEIC test? 15 2. 4 Types of TOEIC listening comprehension 18 ... 10 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11 Listening and Listening Comprehension 11 1. 1 What is listening? 11 1. 2 What is Listening Comprehension? 12 TOEIC Listening. .. Graduation Thesis TOEIC Listening Skills 2 .1 What is the TOEIC test? The test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is “an English language test designed specifically to measure the