Raw marks in listening (post - test)
Rationale of the study
Among four skills of English, listening is often considered the most challenging for students due to the complex and subtle nature of listening comprehension in second language (L2) or foreign language It takes much time and effort to make progress in this skill At Hai Duong Medical Technical University, many students are afraid of learning listening and they often say that they do not want to learn listening
Like many other teachers, I think that this problem can only be solved by finding an answer to the question: ―How to help students change from the feeling of fear to the one of interest when they are doing listening?‖ However, interest is something very unstable and unpredictable because it depends on many factors such as: the content of the subject, the necessity of it, the method of the teacher, or even the weather of the day That explains the reason why it takes teachers a great effort and trial to maintain the students‘ interest in the lesson and avoid the boredom also
Research shows that there are some main ways to hold students‘ interest such as: audio-visual aids including objects, flash cards, pictures, overhead projector transparency, film, video, and language activities like games, songs, story-telling, projects Of all the items, songs seem to be the most available and easiest to exploit
Therefore, the author chose English songs as the means to do a research to improve the efficiency and motivation for first-year non-English major students at Hai Duong Medical Technical University.
Aims and objectives of the study
The study aims at finding out benefits of using English songs in teaching listening skill to non-major students, finding out the tasks the teacher should design to teach listening to students with the use of songs, and discussing criteria to choose appropriate songs in teaching listening in classroom
To be more specific, the objectives of this study are to:
- investigate the positives sides of using English songs in teaching listening skill to non-major students;
- find out the tasks teachers should design to teach students with the use of songs;
- work out criteria to choose appropriate songs in teaching listening in classroom.
Research questions
With these aims, the researcher carries out this study to answer the following questions:
(1) What are the benefits of using songs to teach listening skill to students?
(2) Which tasks should teachers design to teach listening to students with the use of songs?
(3) What are criteria to choose appropriate songs in teaching listening in classroom?
Scope of the study
In this study, the author intended to use famous love songs to teach listening for non – major students at the pre – intermediate level at HMTU Songs may include many types such as: classical, pop, jazz, rap, traditional, love songs, etc This research just focuses on the use of famous loves songs that have soft music with quite simple words, catchy tunes and are easy to listen to.
Significance of study
The study is hopefully useful for students and others of concerned Students will be motivated to learn listening with the use of songs and they will be able to memorize the lessons easily Besides that, the use of songs may help them to disappear their boredom in learning The study also provides the teachers with the benefits of using English songs to teach listening skill at HMTU.
Methodology
All comments, remarks, assumption and conclusion of the study were based on the data and analysis Data collection for analysis in the study was gained through the following resources:
- Survey questionnaires for teachers and students
Design of the study
The paper was designed with three parts as follows:
Part A: Introduction presents the rationale of choosing the topic, the aim and objectives of the study, the scope of the study, significance, methods and design of the study to be applied
Part B: Development composes of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review sets up some theoretical backgrounds that are relevant to the purpose of the study: the definition of listening skill, types of listening, the difficulties in learning listening skill, the definition of motivation, types of motivation and its importance in listening classes, songs as a motivator for students to listen
Chapter 2: Method of the study mentions setting of the study and research design including participants and data collection
Chapter 3: This chapter includes data analysis and findings
Part C: Conclusion deals with major findings of the research Limitations of the study and some suggestions for further study were also included in this chapter.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Listening
According to Howatt and Dakin (1974:34 - 36), listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying This process involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, the speaker‘s grammar and vocabulary, and comprehension of meaning An able listener is capable of doing these four things simultaneously
Ronald, K and Roskelly (1985:78) define listening as an active process requiring the same skills of prediction, hypothesizing, checking, revising, and generalizing that writing and reading demand; and these authors present specific exercises to make students active listeners who are aware of the inner voice one hears when writing
Besides, according to Rost (1991:164), listening comprises some component skills such as discriminating between sounds, recognizing words, identifying grammatical groupings of words, identifying expressions and sets of utterances that act to create meaning, connecting linguistic cues to non-linguistic and paralinguistic cues, using background knowledge to predict and later to confirm meaning and recalling important words and ideas
Underwood (1989:187) also says that listening is the ability of paying to and trying to get meaning from something we hear She explains that to listen successfully to spoken language, we need to be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways on particular occasions, and not simply to understand the words themselves But listening is different from hearing Whilst hearing can be thought of as a passive condition, listening is always an active process From these ideas, listening involves a multiplicity of skills It is a complex, active process interpretations in which listeners match what they hear with what they already know
According to Wolvin& Coakley(1996) (cited in Goh 2000), five types of listening have been identified according to their purposes as follows:
Discriminative listening is where the objective is to distinguish sound and visual stimuli This objective does not take into account the meaning; instead the focus is largely on sounds In a basic level class, this can be as simple as distinguishing the gender of the speaker or the number of the speakers, etc As mentioned before, the focus is not on comprehending; but on accustoming the ears to the sounds If one thinks s/he can see that this is where L1 listening begins - the child responds to sound stimulus and soon can recognize its parents' voices amidst all other voices Depending on the level of the students, the listening can be discriminating sounds to identifying individual words
Comprehensive listening is a kind of listening which the focus is to understand the message The writers consider this as the basis for the next three types of listening
However, the problem can come in the form of understanding Depending on both individual and social factors, students can end up understanding the same message in different ways Lots of work in teaching listening in the classroom has to happen here in facilitating the students to develop their comprehension skills
Therapeutic listening - is one kind of listening where the listener's role is to be a sympathetic listener without much verbal response In this kind of listening, the listener allows somebody to talk through a problem This kind of listening is very important in building good interpersonal relations
Critical listening is the fourth kind of listening where listeners have to evaluate the message Listeners have to critically respond to the message and give their opinion
Appreciative listening focuses on enjoying what one listens When students listen to English music, even if they do not understand, they still enjoy challenging notion of comprehensive listening as the basis for other three types of listening Generally, students listen to the songs once and try to make out the lyrics before listening a second time with the lyrics Then they recalled that they appreciated the song better during the second time and were able to see the relation between how one would enjoy something that s/he is able to make sense of
In this way, the discussion of the five types of listening turned out to be quite informative and thought provoking for all underscoring the adage when one teaches to learn
According to Johna Kline (1996: 29 - 42), different situations require different types of listening We may listen to obtain information, improve a relationship, gain appreciation for something, make discriminations, or engage in a critical evaluation
While certain skills are basic and necessary for all types of listening, each type requires some special skills He identified five types of listening
Informative listening is the name we give to the situation where the listener‘s primary concern is to understand the message Listeners are successful in so far as the meaning they assign to messages is as close as possible to that which the sender intended Informative listening, or listening to understand, is found in all areas of our lives Much of our learning comes from informative listening
Relationship listening aims at either helping an individual or improving the relationship between people Therapeutic listening is a special type of relationship listening Therapeutic listening brings to mind situations where counselors, medical personnel, or other professionals allow a troubled person to talk through a problem
But it can also be used when you listen to friends or acquaintances and allow them to get things off their chests Although relationship listening requires you to listen for information, the emphasis is on understanding the other person Three behaviors are key to effective relationship listening: attending, supporting, and empathizing
Appreciative listening includes listening to music for enjoyment, to speakers because you like their style, to your choices in theater, television, radio, or film It is the response of the listener, not the source of the message, that defines appreciative listening The quality of appreciative listening depends in large part on three factors: presentation, perception, and previous experience
As for critical listening, the ability to listen critically is essential in a democracy On the job, in the community, at service clubs, in places of worship, in the family—there is practically no place you can go where critical listening is unimportant Politicians, the media, salesmen, advocates of policies and procedures, and our own financial, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual needs require us to place a premium on critical listening and the thinking that accompanies it Effective critical listening requires careful judgment about the expertness and trustworthiness of the speaker In fact, ethos or speaker credibility may be the most important single factor in critical listening and thinking However, ethos without logos is not enough
Motivation
Motivation is defined in different ways by different researchers
According to Gardner (1985: 134), motivation in his socio – psychological model is the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitude toward learning the language Penny (1996: 95), considers motivation difficult to give a definition; she prefers to think about motivation in terms of motivated learners, that is, learners who are willing to involve themselves in learning activities to progress She states that teaching and learning can become much easier and more pleasant when there is learners‘ motivation Psychologists have made the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
According to Penny (2004: 375), it is difficult to define motivation as it is better to think of the motivated learner: ―One who is willing or even eager to invest in learning, activities and making progress Learners‘ motivation makes teaching and learning immeasurably easier and more pleasant as well as more productive‖
Williams and Burden (1997: 120) see motivation as a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, a state which leads to a conscious decision to act and gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort
Relating motivation to learning a second language (L2), (1997: 75), stated that motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2, Brown (2000: 160) indicated that motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something
Literature shows that different researchers have different ways of defining motivation However, they all share the same point of view that motivation combines effort and desire plus favorable attitudes and occurs as a result of a combination of internal and external influences
From my little experience, I have found out that it is important to be interested in what students like or who they admire Then it is easier to get them closer to the teacher because then they can speak more together about the issue that they are interested in The author agrees with the definition of motivation proposed by Gardner
(1985) According to Gardner (1985:50), motivation includes four aspects: goal, effortful behavior to reach the goal, desire to attain the goal, positive attitudes towards the goal However, a goal is not necessary a measurable component of motivation, but a stimulus that gave rise to motivation
According to the self-determination theory, there are two types of motivation, one based on intrinsic interest in the act vity and the other based on extrinsic rewards to the activity itself (Deci & Ryan (1985), cited in Lucas (2010: 6))
Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal interests in doing something and helping to set their goals People are intrinsically motivated not because accomplishing the activity they do bring a reward, but because doing the activity itself is a reward (Dörnyei‘s 1998: 51)
Dörnyei‘s (2001: 55) notes that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his or her learning for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feeling of accomplishment it evokes
Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (1985: 201) believe that intrinsic motivation is founded upon innate needs for competence and self-determination (cited in Lucas, (2010: 6))
Another type of motivation is extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, derives from an anticipation of rewards such as praise, awards, prizes, and evaluation, and fear for punishment An extrinsically motivated student does the activity in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself, and this kind of motivation refers to learning situations where the reason for doing a task is something other than an interest in the task itself (Williams and Burden (1997: 40))
Foreign language teachers should be conscious of the fact that learners bring to the classroom not only their intelligence but also attitudes and interests which are consequences of a variety of psychological and sociological factors Therefore, that is part of responsibility for teachers to channel these affective elements (Girard (1997:
Apart from intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, Ellis, R (1997: 76) adds another type of motivation, which is resultative motivation In his opinion, motivation is result of learning
Gardner and Lambert (1972) first made the most famous distinction between two types of motivation: integrative and instrumental
Integrative motivation is the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community According to Garner and Lambert (1972, cited in Ellis, 1997:509), motivation is strongly influenced by integrative orientation to language learning In their words, an integrative orientation involves an interest in learning an L2 because of a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other group
Instrumental motivation, on the contrary, is something which concerns the practical value and advantages of learning a new language‘ (Lambert 1974: 98, cited in Ellis, 1997), and which is characterized by ‗the wish to learn the language for purposes of study or career promotion (Penny 1996: 276) and the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson 2000) In other words, instrumental motivation is the learner‘s desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as employment/travel/exam purposes) in the context of language learning
Both kinds of motivation are essential elements of success in learning a second language, but it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long-term success when learning a second language Ellis (1997) In some of the early researchers by Gardner and Lambert (cited in Ellis, R 1997), integrative motivation was viewed more important in a formal learning environment than instrumental motivation
Songs as a motivator for students to listen
The importance of motivation in second language teaching and learning has been discussed for many years Teachers and researchers believe that motivation plays an important part in the process of acquiring an additional language because motivated students are usually those who participate actively in class, express interest in the subject-matter, and study a great deal But since motivation is something very personal, it is not easy to develop (Lightbrown & Spada 1999) If we can make our classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the atmosphere is supportive and non-threatening, we can make a positive contribution to students‘ motivation to learn For this sake, songs seem to do very well
Songs have a great tendency to attract the attention of students that other forms of the mass media lack Even the person who is totally tone deaf may at times considers himself a good singer and a person who cannot understand the words of a song can still appreciate the song itself Songs, especially current pop songs exert a great influence over the young generation from which our students come And because songs deal with the whole realm of human emotions and experiences- from love, hate, joy, to loneliness and sadness, they really appeal to the young people
While many students find it difficult and stressful to learn a new language, songs can help wash away these feelings Each song has its own lyrics and as the lyrics come out from the composer‘s heart with tempo and rhyme, it is easy to penetrate into other people‘s hearts That is the reason why when students mumble the words of the songs along the lyrics, they gradually get used to the language and find it easier to learn According to McDonald (1984:187), the use of the songs in English classroom allows the students to hide behind the music and then avoids the heat of an early spotlight landing on timid students By that way, it also wraps the students‘ perceptions of how difficult it is to use the new language
In addition to that, when songs are played, the group spirit is really fostered, which is a great help to students in their practice of the language skill And because the students can carry the songs beyond classroom doors and sing for their family and friends This, in turn, tends to reinforce the students‘ interest in learning English
From the opinions above, it can be concluded that songs are one of the best methods to teach and motivate students to learn listening skill So teachers should take advantages of songs to stimulate and help students improve their listening skill.
Review of related studies
In the context of Vietnam, there have been few studies on the use English songs and its effectiveness on learning English skills
Tran Thi Tuyet Mai (2010) at Duy Tien High school conducted a study titled
―Using English traditional songs to improve students‘ pronunciation‖ with its aims are finding out whether the use of English traditional songs to teach pronunciation for high school students is effective or not and working out the most effective ways of using English songs to teach pronunciation for high school students
Tran Thi Oanh (2008) conducted a study titled ―The use of song to improve listening skill for students at ITC foreign language center in Hai Duong‖ In her study, she focused mainly on investigating the effectiveness of using songs in teaching listening skill
Bui Thi Thu (2011) exploited songs to motivate students in learning English grammar She illustrated that the English songs have an important role in helping students memorize the grammatical rules more easily
Not only in Vietnam, there have been so many foreign researchers investigating the teaching language methodology with the use of English songs
Andrew Yau Hau Tse, a teacher of English in Malaysia conducted a thesis on
―Malaysian teachers' perspectives on using songs in English language teaching‖ The purpose of his study is to probe the angles of Malaysian ESL teachers on the employment of songs Specifically, it aims at inquiring their philosophy on the pedagogical value, attitudes, and cerebration on the impact of songs in English teaching Based on appropriate literature, songs have proved to be the most impressive characteristics of ESL programmes that they are helpful listening materials, and the most relaxing and language learning strategy reported by young learners of English In addition, they are vital and indispensable elements
Kwong, Suk-mun, Elsa, (2006) also studied about English through songs: factors affecting students' motivation in English as a second language classroom
Knowing that students at school did not have a desire to learn English songs but are attracted by the popular songs, the researcher would like to take her dual role as a teacher of English and teacher of music to use the English songs to investigate the factors that affect students‘ motivation in learning English through songs
Neil T Millington in Japan had a thesis on ―Using songs effectively to teach English to young learners‖ This paper starts by analyzing why songs should be considered as useful pedagogical tools The author then proposes using songs as language learning tasks to maximize the benefits of using songs and attempts to show how this might be done using practical examples The paper also explores how classic children‘s songs could be modified to help teachers use them more frequently to teach a wider variety of topics
Hans Mol in Australia investigated the use of songs in English classroom He explained that songs will help learners become familiar with word stress and intonation, and the rhythm with which words are spoken or sung and that songs also help memorization
As a teacher of English, the author realized that songs will enable learners to remember chunks of language which they can then use in conversations or in writing As language teachers, we can use songs to practice listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Summary
This chapter has provided the relevant literature, which has helped to form the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study Firstly, the definition of listening skill, types of listening process and the difficulties in learning listening skill are given based on some authors‘ ideas in which listening has been considered as a vital role in communicative language teaching Secondly, the importance of motivation in listening classes and songs as a motivator for student to listen are also presented in this chapter.
METHODOLOGY
Setting of the study
Up to now, there are 11 English teachers at Hai Duong Medical Technical University All of them are quite young, well – trained and energetic which is a very good condition for HMTU They are both males and females, and all of whom graduated from
Ha Noi National University, Ha Noi University and Ha Noi Open University Five of them had an M.A degree Eight are in their thirties with more than 7 years of teaching experience
Three others are in their forties with over 15 years of teaching experience Most of them were aware of the importance of listening skill and tried hard to improve their teaching of listening, motivate students and help them overcome those difficulties However, not all of the teachers choose the same techniques to teach listening Some chose to use giving background information and new words, while others chose authentic materials or some extra activities that were suitable for their students
This research was carried out at Hai Duong Medical Technical University with the participation of forty first year non-major students They all were in the first term and from two different classes For those students, English was not their major but a compulsory subject in the schedule Being technical students, English was really an impossible subject as they always complained that it has so many rules, it is so complicated, and they have no head for English However, as English was taught and examined through four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, it is become more indigestible to them Of the four skills, listening was always the most horrible to the students as it was the first time they learn English via skills, so they could not get used to listening to English That was the reason why many of them either often played truant or did their private things during listening lessons
2.1.3 Teaching and learning condition at HMTU
HMTU was founded 45 years ago and this university is situated in the center of Hai Duong city English is not an old subject at this school It was introduced 20 years ago Before that, Russian had been taught
Due to the fact that this school was founded a long time ago, it has enough classrooms and modern equipment It not only has projectors in all classrooms but also two language labs for English classes HMTU has a foreign language center with 11 teachers of English and they are passionate teachers The difficulty in teaching and learning comes firstly from students In general, students in the school differ in their level of language proficiency Most students have been learning English since grade 6, but a small number of students who come from the cities started learning English in grade 3 Some of the students live in the remote rural areas where living and learning conditions are difficult
Although most of the students started learning English at the early age, many of them have low proficiency of English because they paid more attention to other subjects Before coming to this university, they had to take an exam with three subjects and these subjects are not English The students have wrong attitudes toward learning English as well as shortage of time for English Despite the above difficulties, the teachers of English at HMTU are young, well – trained and energetic which is a very good condition for HMTU
In terms of language teaching method, most of the teachers at HMTU are familiar with the traditional teaching method which put a great emphasis on grammar and vocabulary and there is a little time for teaching listening When working with new syllabus, they feel it difficult to initiate activities and manage the class
Fortunately, all of them are young teachers and they have great desire and motivation to acquire knowledge of communicative competence to apply in teaching English.
Research design
The study was carried out with the participation of 60 non-English major first year students at elementary level These students were chosen from two classes The study was conducted when they were in their first term of the first year at HMTU In this term, they had to finish unit 6 of New Headway Pre-Intermediate book
11 teachers participated in answering questions These teachers are in charge of teaching English to first-year students, among which 9 are female and 2 are male All teachers graduated from Hanoi University or Vietnam National University, English Department 5 teachers out of 11 have Master degrees, 3 teachers are doing a Master enthusiastic teachers and willing to help their students to overcome their listening comprehension problems
Both questionnaires and test were employed in this research so as to get the accurate data
Questionnaire was delivered to teachers at the end of the first term It aims at finding out teachers‘ frequency of using songs, their opinions about advantages and disadvantages of using songs, kind of tasks they designed to teach listening skill, teachers' opinion about the criteria for choosing appropriate songs in teaching listening skill The questionnaire is written in English with six questions: question 1 aimed at finding out the frequency the teachers use song to teach listening; question 2 made clear about teachers‘ opinion about benefits of using songs to teach listening skill; question 3 found out teachers‘ opinion about disadvantages of using songs to teach listening skill; question 4 worked out the tasks that teachers design to teach with the use of songs; question 5 worked out the criteria for teachers to select songs in teaching listening in classroom; questions 6 found out the sources teachers collect songs to teach listening
Questionnaire for students was delivered at the end of the first term It aims at identifying students' degree of interest, students‘ improvement, their opinion about the benefits of learning listening through the use of English songs, their favorite activities while they are listening to English songs and reasons that students listen to English songs The questionnaire for students is written in Vietnamese so that students can understand the questions more easily and it consists of five questions: question 1 aimed at finding the degree students like listening through songs; question 2 worked out the extent which songs can help students to improve their listening; question 3 found out the students‘ opinion about the benefits of learning listening through the use of English songs; question 4 aimed at discovering students‘ favorite activities while they are listening to English songs; question 5 pointed out the reasons that students listen to English songs
Two tests of listening (pre- test and post- test) were designed to assess students‘ listening skill in the first term
These tests were designed with the same form and level of difficulty There are two parts in these tests Part I: Listen to conversation and choose the best answer; part
II: Listen to short talk and tick true or false statements Time allowed for each test is fifteen minutes The aim of the tests is to answer the question whether teaching listening skill through the use of songs is effective or not
2.2.2.2 Data collection and analysis procedure
The researcher carried out this study in two first - year - student classes during the first term of the school year 2013 – 2014 There are 30 students in each class with various levels of English Class E1102.1 was taught with English songs in the listening part and class E1102.3 was taught without using English songs The data was collected in the following steps
Step 1: Two classes (E1101.1 and E1101.3) were handed a listening test as a pre- test at the beginning of term
Step 2: At the end of the term, these two classes were given another listening test as the post – test to find out the effectiveness of teaching and learning listening through songs
Step 3: The survey questionnaire for students was delivered to the experimental class to find out the degree students like learning listening through songs, what extent can they improve their listening skill through songs, what benefits of learning listening skill through songs, what favorite activities while they are listening to songs and why they listen to English songs A survey questionnaire was also delivered to the teachers of English at HMTU to find out the frequency teachers use English songs to teach listening skill, teachers' opinions about advantages and disadvantages of using songs in class, the tasks that teachers design to teach with the use of songs, criteria to choose appropriate songs, and the sources they collect songs These two questionnaires were delivered at the end of the term
The results then were analyzed and presented in forms of tables and charts
Data analysis and findings will be presented in the next chapter.
Summary
In this chapter, the author introduces the setting of the study and research design including participants, data collection and analysis procedure.
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Questionnaire for students
The questionnaire was used to explore students‘ attitude and opinion toward the use of English songs in teaching listening lesson
The participants of this survey questionnaire are 60 students in two classes who were taught with and without the use of songs
3.1.3 Data analysis 3.1.3.1 Students’ attitude towards English songs
Chart 1: Students’ attitude towards English songs
The pie chart clearly shows the students‘ attitude towards the English songs
From the chart, it can be seen that most of the students were fond of listening English songs which takes up for (88%) More than half of them (73%) expressed their great love for this way of teaching However, there are some students said that they did not enjoy the use of English songs (12%)
3.1.3.2 The improvement of students’ listening after they had been taught with the use of songs
Very little Much Very much
Chart 2: Students’ improvement after they had been taught with the use of songs
There were 86% of students reported that they made some improvement in their listening skill after a term of learning with songs And 67% stated that their listening was improved a lot Some of these students said that they could hear and understand what the singers sang However, there are still a few students (14%) frankly said that they did not make any progress
3.1.3.3 Students’ opinion about the benefits of learning listening through the use of English songs
Note: 1: Strongly disagree 2: Disagree 3: Don’t know 4: Agree 5: Strongly agree
Make the listening lesson more relaxing 5 5,7 8 37,3 44 Make the listening lesson more enjoyable 1 9 7.3 42 40.7 Develop my confidence in listening to English 11 19 17 22 31 Help me to listen to English better 3.3 10 16.6 50 20
Help me to recognize key words while listening
Help me pay greater attention to word stress 7 9 25.6 36.7 21,7 Help me to discriminate English sounds better 13.3 22.3 39 13.4 12
These numbers illustrates students‘ awareness of the effectiveness of English songs to their listening lessons Firstly, it can be clearly seen that most of the students agreed that English songs make their lessons more relaxing 81,3 % of the students agreed with the first choice, and 44 % expressed their strong agreement The number for the second choice, which is that songs make the listening lesson more enjoyable is 82,7% This is really important as it means the class is no longer covered with the feeling of anxiety and unwillingness but joy and fun This marks a raise in students‘ motivation for the skill as when they find the lesson enjoyable, they will like to learn it more and more and when they feel relaxed in it, they will do it better and better
Especially, more than half of the students approved that they felt much more confident in doing listening skill, which never happened before As much as 53% of them stated strongly that they were no longer nervous or stressed when doing listening task This positive result reassures that English songs do a great help in raising students‘ motivation in learning listening skill However, there still exist 17% of them showing no concern about this question When being asked for reasons, they explained that they felt excited to solve the tasks with songs but this excitement could not erase the feeling of nervousness when they dealt with the real listening exercises
In addition to that, 70% of the respondents claimed that thanks to English songs, their listening skill is better than before Of the rest, 16.6% made no decisions, and 13.3% found no progress in their study of the skill
Guessing skill seems to be the most progressive one as 54.4 % students said that their guessing skill was improved through songs
Word recognition stands at the second place with the number of 56,4% and it is followed by the skill of awareness of word stress which is illustrated by 58,4%
Surprisingly, sound discrimination skill is put at the bottom of the list with only 25,4% of the learners who claimed that songs helped them discriminate sounds better Most of the students found this sub-skill quite difficult to do, so they either showed no concern for it (39%), or disagreed with the statement (35,6%)
The thing should be noted here is that the number of students who had no idea on these points seems to be high 35.6% and 25.6% are the respective number of students who did not know whether songs help them to recognize key words while listening or pay greater attention to word stress For guessing skill, it is 25.3% These people, perhaps, neither saw any progress in their skills nor paid much attention to them
Regardless of these things, it can be concluded that songs can help students improve some bottom-up listening skills such as word recognition, awareness of word stress, and enhance their attention while listening
3.1.3.4 Students’ favorite activities while they are listening to English songs
Tick True or False sentences 55%
Finding the words appeared in the song 52%
Discussing about the meaning of the song 33%
Table 2: Students’ favorite activities while they are listening to English songs
From the table, it can be seen that the students‘ most favorite activity is arranging the jumbled lines, counting for 97,3 % This maybe due to the fact that this kind of task was the easiest and it did not require much their attention Listening to the songs and fill in the blank with a missing word is at the second position of their choice, which makes up 91% Perhaps, this type of activity was quite difficult but very interesting as it took a lot of their concentration while listening and they felt excited about the words they wrote down Nothing was more wonderful if those words were correct answers
Besides, 55% of the respondents regard listening and ticking True or False sentences is the third of their most favorite activities In fact, this task was not too difficult and they could practice concentration while listening
Another type of task would attract students a lot is listening to the song and circling the words appeared in the song, which was chosen by 52% Besides, many students also like listening to the songs and correcting mistakes in the songs such as finding out the extra words or wrong words in the lyrics This is realized with the portion of 43%
The next activity that students show their concern is discussing about the meaning of the songs 33% of the students were eager to know about the content of those songs because it could make them understand more about the songs they were listening to
At the bottom of their choice, only 12% of the students show their interest to dictation, even a smaller number of them (6,3%) think that doing the multi-choice questions while listening is interesting It is understandable because these tasks are often too difficult and take them a lot of time and sub-skills to fulfill
3.1.3.5 Reasons that students listen to English songs
Table 3: Reasons that students listen to English songs
A large amount of the informants (over 80%) share the same opinion about their aim of listening to songs is for relaxation and pleasure Listening to songs really make them feel comfortable and relaxed after hours of working or studying hard
Meanwhile, there is 59% of students saying that their main purpose is to improve listening skill Only 1% or 2% of the students listen to English songs to stay awake or for other reasons.
Questionnaire for teacher
The aim of questionnaire for teacher is to find out teachers‘ frequency of using songs and kind of tasks they designed to teach with the use of songs and teachers‘ comment on advantages and disadvantages of using songs to teach listening skill, criteria for choosing appropriate songs
For improvement in listening skill 59%
The participants of this survey questionnaire are 11 teachers at HMTU All of them are quite young, well – trained and energetic which is the very good condition for HMTU Five of them had an M.A degree Eight are in their thirties with more than 7 years of teaching experience Three others are in their forties with over 15 years of teaching experience Their duties at the university are the same, and they all have to teach four skills: listening, writing, reading and speaking
3.2.3 Data analysis 3.2.3.1 The frequency of using songs to teach listening skill
Always Usually Sometimes Realy Never
Chart 3: The frequency of using songs to teach listening skill
Teachers‘ frequency of using songs can be clearly seen from the pie-chart above Through the questionnaire, the researcher found that most of teachers said that they liked English songs, and they always or usually use English songs in teaching listening skill (88%) 12% of them admit that they sometimes use songs in class, and none of them never or rarely use English songs in class Moreover, in our currently used books, there are at least five English songs Overall, it can be concluded that songs have been used rather frequently to teach English in general and listening skill in particular
3.2.3.2 Teachers’ opinion about advantages of using songs to teach listening skill
Pay attention to the pronunciation of the words 23%
Help students relax during the lesson 82%
Table 4: Teachers’ opinion about some advantages of using songs in class
It can be seen from the table that all of the teachers share the same view that songs can be used as a means of reducing boredom in class (90%) There are also a large number of teachers agreeing with the point that songs can help students relax during the lesson (82%) Next is those songs help students listen better (70%) In the contrary, fewer teachers (23%) approve the idea that listening to English songs can attract their students to the pronunciation of the words in songs because they said that singers‘ speed and different accents made their students confuse a lot
3.2.3.3 Teachers’ opinion about disadvantages of using songs to teach listening skill
Teachers cannot find suitable songs 75%
Students are distracted by music 65%
The class becomes noisy and out of control 53%
The sounds are not clear because singers usually link sounds together
Table 5: Teachers’ opinion about some disadvantages of using songs in class
The most popular problem is that 75% of the teachers find it really difficult to find appropriate songs for their students At the second rank is the problem with students being distracted by music, which accounts for 65%, and over half of the teachers (59%) show that the time is limited for listening lessons Another problem is the class becoming noisy, out of control making up 53% Nearly a third of the teachers think that songs are not clear enough for student to hear because singers often link sounds together In addition, teachers worry about their ability to sing More than a fifth of the teachers say that they could not sing and they feel ashamed if their students ask them to sing in front of class
3.2.3.4 Kind of task(s) the teachers usually designed to teach students with the use of songs
Chart 4: Kind of task(s) the teachers usually designed to teach students with the use of songs
Results from the chart show that, 18% of the teachers designed gap – filling task with the use of songs The number of teachers designed multiple choice task accounts for 36% On the other hand, 33% of the teachers reported that mistake correction would be the best choice for easy and short text More than a tenth of the teachers choose the other kinds of task such as jumbled words, grammatical review, vocabulary learning
3.2.3.5 Criteria for selecting songs of the teachers
The songs should contain limited vocabulary 85 % The songs should have positive contents 79 % Topics of song should be within the experiences of students
The rhythm should be straightforward and repetitive 60 % The songs should present a limited musical challenge 55 % The songs should have refrain: a repeated stanza, between verses of the song
Table 6: Criteria for selecting songs of the teachers
It is obvious that not all songs are suitable in the classroom From the table we can see that the degree of difficulty in vocabulary is the most important factor for teachers to decide whether to choose the songs 85 % of the teachers agree with the idea that songs should contain limited vocabulary, the songs with a lot vocabulary may make students neglected More than two thirds of teachers (79%) choose popular songs with positive contents which will likely suit the purpose of teaching
Furthermore, 65% of them report that the topics of song should be suitable with experiences of students because these kinds of songs are more attractive Over half of the teachers (60% and 55% respectively) show that the rhythm should be straightforward and repetitive and songs should present a limited musical challenge
Nearly a third of the teachers (33%) think that the songs should have refrain, which may help students feel more confident when they are listening and then practising In addition, some teachers point out other criteria to choose appropriate songs such as: classroom environment, length of the song and cultural relevance, etc
3.2.3.6 The sources for teachers to select songs
Table 7: The sources for teachers to select songs
The table illustrates that most of the teachers (95%) use the internet to select songs Apparently, this is the easiest and fastest way, because they can find any songs on the internet that adapt to their students' levels More than half of the teachers (55 %) say that CDs or VCDs is also a helpful material for choosing a song The teachers can bring a CD, or a VCD to anywhere they want and choose suitable songs Besides, none of the teachers use radio or television to choose songs.
Tests
The aim of the two tests (pre – test and post test) was to make it clear whether the using of English songs helps students to improve their listening skill
60 students of two classes E1101.1 and E1101.3 were involved in these tests
Class E1101.1 was taught with the use of English songs and class E1101.3 was taught without songs
The time for the test was within fifteen minutes The class with English songs in teaching process was called class E1101.1, the other was E1101.3 The same test design in the pre - intermediate level was delivered to students in two different periods of time: at the beginning and at the end of the term
After the tests were collected and marked, the author then analyzed the test scores in terms of Frequency distribution to find out the range of marks each class reach and measures of central tendency to clarify the progress tendency of each class
In the same way, the results of the post test were interpreted and compared with those of pre-test And then the standard deviation (s.d) was taken into consideration as a very powerful measure of dispersion These data helped the author explore the degree to which the group of test scores are deviated from the mean, then find out what effects the using of English songs in teaching listening have on students
3.3.4 Data analysis and findings 3.3.4 1 Pre – test (At the beginning of the term) 3.3.4.1.1 Frequency distribution
Table 8: Frequency distribution (pre - test)
Chart 5: Raw marks in listening (pre - test)
The data in the table above shows that the marks are ranged from one to eight, in which mark five and six are the most common and students in class E1101.3 seem to be of more uniform level whereas class E1101.1 has more excellent individuals
This is shown in the table where the column of marks five and six is higher in class E1101.3 whereas the column of marks seven and eight is higher in class E1101.1
However, the comparison of the modes reveal that the class E1101.3 seems to be better than class E1101.1 as its mode of six is higher than that of class E1101.1 which is five
Class N Mean Std Deviation Median
Table 9: Mean and Std Deviation (pre - test)
The mean of 5.3667 says that class E1101.1 is a little bit better than class E1101.3 whose mean is 5.1667 The means also show that in general the students are only at average level However, the two classes both have the median of five which is fairly corresponding to the mean The standard deviation of 1.56433 and 1.59921 shows a very small spread of scores which implies a narrow range of ability institution of both classes
3.3.4.2 Post-test (At the end of the term) 3.3.4.2.1 Frequency distribution
Table 10: Frequency distribution (post - test)
Chart 6: Raw marks in listening (post - test)
Overlooking through the data and the table, we can see that there is a shift in the mark range of the two classes, in which the lowest mark is not two any more but three and the highest one climbs to nine This positive sign of six shows a raise in progress of the two classes in their listening skill The evidence becomes more persuasive by the median which is one point higher than that of the pre-test However, the full mark (mark 10) is still untouched, which indicates an average level of difficulty of the test From the table, it can be seen that class E1101.1 is inferior to class E1101.3 in the below average marks but it outnumbers class E1101.3 in the above average marks In addition, if in the pre-test mode, class E1101.1 is at the second position to class E1101.3, with the mode of seven, it takes a reverse place now
As so, it can be drawn out that class E1101.1 seems to overtake class E1101.3 on the way to improve their listening skill
Table 11: Mean and Std deviation (post - test)
The comparison of the mean reconfirms that class E1101.1 left class E1101.3 behind in the progress of listening skill Comparing with the mean of the pre-test, we can see that while class E1101.3 made a little bit progress (from 5.1667 to 5.300), class E1101.1 took a big pace with a raise from 5.3667 to 6.3667 This large difference in the mean scores between pre-test and post-test shows very clearly that after a term of using songs in teaching listening skill, the students‘ skill is improved significantly
However, there is hardly any change in the standard deviation of the two classes The standard deviation of 1.62912 and 1.23596 shows that though there is a shift in the mark range, the range of ability among students of both classes is still narrow
In short, the better result of class E1101.1 can be considered the means to lead to the conclusion that English songs bring much efficiency to the listening skill.
Summary
In short, this chapter has presented data analysis and findings of the study
From the findings of the survey questionnaires and tests, it appears that in the process of learning listening skill in general as well as listening to English songs in particular, most of students had a positive attitude towards English songs used to learn listening skill Basing on the findings that are presented and discussed in this chapter, some suggestions for teaching and learning listening skills to students at HMTU will be proposed in the next chapter
Major findings from the research
Data collected by such instruments as questionnaires, and tests revealed valuable findings which were analyzed and discussed above However, in the last words, the result can be reconfirmed and summarized as follows:
Firstly, it is asserted through the study that songs can help motivate students considerably in listening skill Almost all of the learners were activated in listening lessons They were more active, industrious, and more involved in every activity designed in the lesson Therefore, the atmosphere of the class was full of fun and joy
The students themselves agreed that they felt like listening much more than before
And surprisingly, songs allowed maximum participation of all students in listening lessons, which had never happened before Besides, songs also prove themselves as an effective approach to enhance students‘ some bottom-up listening skills such as word recognition, awareness of word linking, awareness of word stress Actually, students no longer listened to the tape passively but they began applying these sub skills in handling the listening tasks
1 2 Research question 2: Which tasks should teacher design to teach listening to students with the use of songs?
The language level of the song teachers choose will affect the type of listening tasks The following are some kinds of tasks teachers should design to teach listening to students with the use of songs
This is a very popular task as it helps improve students‘ listening comprehension and recall the language items also From the data collection, we can find out that 91 % of the students like this type of task In this task, copies of the song sheets are given to students with blanks in between The word in the blank here may be a preposition, an article, a verb, an adjective
Before listening to the song, students are asked to read the word once and predict what is in the blank Then when they listen to the song, they have to fill in the blank with the correct word (see appendix 5 task 1 )
In this kind of exercise, the song word is photocopied with some wrong words in each line; students have to listen to the song, then find and correct the mistakes
This task is really good for students to practise the homophones and homonyms in English (see appendix 5 task 2)
In this task, the teachers prepare some multiple choice questions according to the song content Then, the students are required to listen to the song and choose the correct answer to the question (see appendix 5 task 3 )
The students' most favorite activity is arranging the jumbled lines (97.3%) In this task, copies of the song sheets are given to students with jumbled lines Students have to listen to the song and then rearrange these lines to make the song meaningful
In this task, teachers change a few words or insert wrong words in the lyrics and ask the students to correct them as they listen to the song This is actually an interesting activity in the classroom that gets the students‘ attention (see appendix 5 task 5)
1.3 Research question 3: What are criteria to choose appropriate songs in teaching listening in classroom?
To use the songs effectively to get the best teaching target, there are some criteria of songs that teachers should bear in mind
To begin with, it is advisable that teachers should choose songs with limited vocabulary, because this kind of song may suit non - English major first year students at elementary level Songs with so many vocabulary can make students neglected while listening
Besides, popular English songs with positive contents will likely suit purpose of teaching The songs which contain positive messages have beneficial impact on students On the other hand, listening to songs with violent themes will have harmful effects on students' mental and psychological development
Furthermore, another criteria to choose appropriate songs is that the songs should be within the experiences of students The topics can focus on friendship, love, peace and nature
Also, an important criterion to choose a suitable song is that the rhythm of the song should be straightforward and repetitive as this type of song helps students feel more confident and they will be fond of doing the tasks Some other criteria teachers should take into consideration are: the songs should have refrain and/or present a limited musical challenge.
Limitations of the study
Despite many benefits, the use of songs in English language classroom also involves some attendant problems Below are some of problems relating to using songs
The first problem is noise The neighboring classroom may be disturbed and the teachers in these classrooms far from being colleagues may soon become enemies One way to overcome this problem is to use the language laboratory if there is one or to use the library if it is available Another way is that the teacher may have to ask the students to huddle around the tape recorder so that the volume need not be turned on too high
Another trouble of using songs to teach listening is that it takes a long time to select songs and design the tasks for students Many teachers do not have various types of songs in their hand to choose Therefore, choosing the suitable songs with appropriate content meeting the educational aims is a big concern for teachers.
Suggestions for further study
As presented above, the findings of this study have definite curricular implications Because music is a viable vehicle for second language acquisition to the same extent as other nonmusical means, then songs can no longer be regarded as recreational devices, having little instructional value The researcher does think that English songs can offer more valuable applications if we do more study on them
However, within the limitation of this paper, the study can only assure the role of songs as a motivator in teaching and learning listening skill and stops at proving the ability of songs in improving some bottom-up listening skills bottom-up listening skills such as word recognition, awareness of word linking, awareness of word stress, enhancing their attention while listening as well as comprehension skills The researcher, therefore, really hopes that this paper can be a starting point evoking in the readers some idea for further study and new applications
Further research should focus on:
- The use of English songs in teaching other aspects and skills such as pronunciation, writing, speaking etc
- The effectiveness of using English songs in improving learners‘ vocabulary and grammatical knowledge
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APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
1 To what extent do you like listening English through songs?
2 To what extent can you improve your listening skill through songs?
3 What are the benefits of learning listening skill through the use of songs?
Make the listening lesson more relaxing Make the listening lesson more enjoyable Develop my confidence in listening to English Help me to listen to English better
Help me to recognize key words while listening Help me pay greater attention to word stress Develop my guessing skill
Help me to discriminate English sounds better
Note: 1: Strongly disagree 2: Disagree 3: Don‘t know 4: Agree 5: Strongly agree
4 What are your favorite activities while you‘re listening to songs?
Matching the lyrics Multiple choice questions Gap- filling
Discussing about the meaning of the song Dictation
Arranging jumbled lines Correcting mistakes Finding the words appeared in the song
5 Why do you listen to English songs?
B For improvement in listening skill
CÂU HỎI THĂM DÒ DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN
1 Bạn thích học nghe Tiếng Anh qua bài hát ở mức độ nào?
A Không thích một chút nào
2 Kỹ năng nghe của bạn được cải thiện như thế nào qua bài hát?
3 Học tiếng Anh qua bài hát có những lợi ích gì?
Làm cho bài học nghe bớt căng thẳng Làm cho bìa học nghe thêm thú vị Thêm tự tin khi nghe
Làm cho nghe tiếng Anh tốt hơn Giúp tôi phát hiện ra từ khóa trong khi nghe Giúp tôi chú hơn tới trọng âm của từ
Phát triển kỹ năng đoán Giúp phân biệt các âm tiếng Anh tốt hơn Chú thích:1: rất không đồng ý , 2: không đồng ý , 3: không biết, 4: đồng ý , 5: rất đồng ý
4.Bạn thích các hoạt động gì trong giờ học Tiếng Anh qua bài hát?
Sự lựa chọn Đánh dấu lựa chọn
Chọn đáp án đúng sai Câu hỏi lựa chọn Điền từ vào chỗ trống Thảo luận về nghĩa của bài hát Đoán
Sắp xếp các dòng Sửa lỗi sai
Chọn từ xuất hiện trong bài hát
5.Tại sao bạn thích nghe bài hát tiếng Anh?
A Để thỏa niềm yêu thích
B Để cải thiện kỹ năng nghe
APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS
1 How often do you use English songs to teach listening skill?
2 What is your opinion about benefits of using songs in class?
B Help students relax during the lesson
D Help students pay more attention to the pronunciation of the words
3 What are disadvantages of using songs in class? (You can choose more than one choices)
B The class becomes noisy and out of control
D Students cannot pay attention by music
F The sound are not clear because singers usually link sound together
4 What kind of tasks do you usually design to teach your students with the use of song?
5 Which criteria do you often use to select songs? (You can choose more than one choices)
A The song should contain limited vocabulary
B The songs should have positive content
C The song should present a restricted musical challenge
D The rhythm should be straightforward and repetitive
E The songs should have refrain: a repeated stanza, between verses of the song
F Topics of the song should be within the experiences of students
6 Which sources do you often exploit to choose English songs?
APPENDIX 3: PRE – TEST Part I: Listen to Shona talks about her best friend Then choose the best answer (5 marks)
1 How many good friends does she have?
A two or three B three or four C two or four
2 When did Shona first meet Kirsty?
A When they were 12 B When they were 21 C When they were 20
A She is funny B She is small C She is tall
4 What does Kirsty do to Shona‘s problems
A She always listens B She gives Shona good advice C A and B are correct
5 Where does Kirsty live now?
A She lives in the same town with Shona
B She doesn‘t live near Shona
C She lives in different town but quite near Shona
Part II: Listen to the conversation then choose True or False for the following questions (5 marks)
1 Ben needs someone to help with the cooking
2 The show is going to take place in the park
4 Somebody from Kathy's family has already volunteered to help
5 Ben doesn't think Kathy's card tricks will work
6 Kathy can't dance very well
7 Kathy can't participate because she is helping Susan
8 Ben can‘t sing the national anthem quite well
9 The talent show starts at 4 o‘clock
10 Kathy can sing her song at the beginning of the show
Part I: I have three or four good friends, but I think my best friend is Kirsty We first met when we were 12, she started at my school, and the teacher asked me to look after her, we soon became friends, we look quite funny together, she very tall and I am quite small Because we grew up together we know everything about each other So Kirsty knows me better than anyone else She always listens and then give me good advice! I hope I do the same for her We are both married now and - er we live quite near each other, but in different towns We talk on the phone all the time, especially now, because we are both having a baby this summer!
Ben: Kathy, we need some help for the charity show on Saturday Do you think you can help?
Kathy: Sure, what do you want me to do? I can do some of the cooking if you need
Ben: No, the cooking is taken care of
Kathy: OK, what about the clearing up? I can pick up the litter off the floor There's going to be a lot of people around and the park will get pretty messy I think
Ben: John and Lindsay have volunteered to do all of that
Kathy: So what do you want my help for?
Ben: Yeah, you know The talent contest we are doing The problem is - we don't think many people will volunteer to take part unless there are some people already signed up, so I want you to put your name down now to do something
Kathy: But I can't do anything!
Kathy: No, seriously Ben I am the last person you want for a talent show I don't have any
Ben: You don't have any what?
Ben: Look, I asked Graham and he said he would tell a few jokes to begin the show
Kathy: Have you heard any of Graham's jokes? He can't tell jokes Ben! Who else do you have?
Ben: Your mother agreed to play a piece of music on the clarinet Something from a film
Kathy: Oh, that will be nice She can play well
Ben: Alright! So now we need you to do something What can you do really well?
Ben: I don't think people are going to want to watch you cook, Kathy!
Kathy: I can do some card tricks That could be a nice idea
Ben: Do they always work?
Kathy: I can practice! They usually work!
Ben: Hmm! Is there anything else you can do?
Kathy: Well, I can't dance and I can't juggle
Ben: What about singing? Can you sing?
Kathy: My voice isn't too terrible! I can sing the national anthem quite well
Ben: Hey that's great It will only take a couple of minutes and with three volunteers already, I think other people will be less shy to sign up
Kathy: What time does the talent show start?
Ben: Around 3 in the afternoon Kathy: Oh no! I'm on Susan's cookery stall until 4!
Ben: Can you escape for just 5 minutes?
Kathy: Not really but if you want, I can sing my song at the end of the show instead of the beginning
Ben: Yeah, that sounds perfect We will finish up at about 5pm
Kathy: OK, agreed Put me down as the last act in the talent show
Ben:Thanks a lot Kathy, I really appreciate it
APPENDIX 4: POST - TEST Part I Listen to the conversation and then choose the best answer (5 marks)
1 How did Diana and the tourists travel to the canyon?
A by bus B by train C by car
2 Why did some of the tourists stay at the hotel today?
A They were ill B They were tired C They went to a different place
A A hotel manager B Diana's colleague C A worker at the canyon
4 What did Diana do for lunch?
A She didn't have time for lunch
B She ate something with the tourists
C She had lunch in the canyon café
5 What does Diana think about her job?
A The wages are good, but she hates the work
B They pay her poorly but at least she likes the job
C The wages are good and she likes the job too
Part II: Listen to the conversation then choose True or False for the following questions (5 marks)
1 Richard spent about two months in Thailand
2 This photo was taken near the beginning of his stay in
3 Richard was hiding because he doesn't like having his photo taken
4 Richard is still in touch with the girl from Manchester
6 Melanie's birthday is July 5th
7 Stephanie‘s memory is very good
8 Stephanie never knew Richard had been to Thailand
9 Carlos is sitting next to Sara
Alan: Hey Diana, how is your new job going?
Diana: Great I love driving those tourists around It's one of the best jobs I've ever had
Alan: Where did you take them today? Were you on the bus again?
Diana: Yeah, we had them on bus and we took them to the canyon
Alan: Wow, that must have been great Did you have many people with you today?
Diana: There were a few empty spaces, so the bus wasn't full
Diana: I think a few people didn't feel too great today and decided to stay at the hotel
We did too many things yesterday and a lot of people were feeling tired in the morning when we picked them up from the hotel
Alan: Were you the only guide with the tourist group today?
Diana: No Mark was there and he helped me a lot When he's not there, I have too much to do so I really appreciate it when I'm not alone
Alan: Did you have time for lunch?
Diana: We didn't have any time for lunch at all The tourists had something to eat in the cafe near the canyon entrance but we had to organize the rest of the day with the staff at the park We had a few minutes just to grab a sandwich later on
Alan: That doesn't seem very fair You guys work too hard
Diana: They pay us well and the job's enjoyable so we can't complain
Alan: What time did you get back to the hotel? You look exhausted!
Diana: We got back at five and then we had a little time with the leader of the tourist group discussing tomorrow's itinerary
Alan: Where are you going tomorrow?
Diana: Oh, it's a much easier day tomorrow We are taking them to the city museum in the morning and then to the aquarium after lunch I don't think there will be too many problems
Alan: I didn't even know there was an aquarium in the city!
Diana: Maybe you should join us tomorrow!
Alan: Well, have a nice day and say "hi" to all the fish for me
Stephanie: What's that you're looking at, Richard?
Richard: Look at this photo my friend sent me by e-mail, Stephanie It was taken at a garden party we had in the summer when I was in Thailand teaching English a few years ago
Stephanie: I never knew you had been to Thailand How long were you there for?
Richard: Oh not long, about 8 weeks, but we all had a great time Enjoyable AND educational This was the evening before we came back home, oh what great memories Here, have a look
Stephanie: Where are you? I can't see you
Richard: I know, what a shame That's me in the back, almost hidden Can you see me? I'm sitting next to Carlos wearing the pink shirt I'm wearing a white shirt
Stephanie: That could be anyone!
Richard: I didn't know they were taking the photo That was a wonderful group of people I'm listening to Sara tell a joke She was from Manchester in England
Richard: Yes, I still hear from her sometimes She sent me an e-mail only last week
Now she's working in advertising in London
Stephanie: The guy sitting next to you is Carlos, you said?
Richard: Yes, a very shy person but really friendly once you get to know him a bit He was from Bogotá Where's that, Peru?
Richard: And he was one of the best teachers there He gave me so much help
Stephanie: What about the girl sitting in front of you drinking a Coke?
Richard: Oh what was her name? Melissa, I think She was from San Francisco and our birthday was the same day
Stephanie: Erm, July the 5th
Richard: The eighth! Your memory is awful Melanie, she's called, not Melissa She just wanted to sunbathe every day, I remember
Stephanie: What about the girl in the flowery top who's laughing She looks like a really friendly person Those white shoes of hers are gorgeous
Richard: She was also English Jackie, her name was She was sort of the team leader
She had been teaching there for about two years so knew what she was doing Well, better than me anyway!
Stephanie: Did you like teaching English? Were you teaching kids or adults?
Richard: It was fun and we were teaching the kids out there, but I only wanted to do it for a few months
Stephanie: Who's that good looking guy on the right wearing the sandals?
Richard: I have no idea He was only there for the last couple of days He was a new arrival so he was going to teach the following few months I think he was Irish but I don't know what his name was My best friend there was Rob He's sitting next to me wearing that gray shirt I saw him in LA only a few weeks ago He asked me to go and teach with him in China! Haha, no chance!
Stephanie: That girl he's with looks very friendly with him! Was that his girlfriend?
Richard: No, his wife! They've been married since they were both 17 or something
Rita, no, Maria Rita is her name She's Spanish They met when Rob was teaching in Barcelona
Stephanie: You forgot one, the guy on the right at the back with the striped shirt
Richard: He was on the hotel staff I think he was just trying to chat to Sara
Task 1: Listen to the song and fill in the blanks with one word
Say you will, say you will be (1) …………
I feel so(3) …………., I feel so alone
I just don't dare to open my(4) ………
Into deep, going in too deep
I can't get(5) ……… out of my mind Baby no (6)……… just how hard I try
I don't(7) ………to be alone tonight Won't you be my guiding (8)………
Lead the way to be by your (9)………
Won't you be my star tonight
I need more than a (10)……… light Say you will…
Say you will, say you will be mine
I just keep missing you tonight
I feel so unsure, I feel so alone
I just don't dare to open my eyes Into deep, going in too deep
I can't get you out of my mind Baby no matter just how hard I try
I don't want to be alone tonight Won't you be my guiding light Lead the way to be by your side Won't you be my star tonight
I need more than a neon light Say you will…
Task 2: Listen carefully to the song, find out five mistakes from ten underlined words and correct them
Yesterday, all my (1) love seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to (2) say ,
Suddenly, I'm not (3) help the man I used to be, There's a (4) shadow hanging over me,
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't (6) stay
I said something (7) strong , now I long for yesterday
Yesterday love was such an (8) easy game to (9) play , Now I need a (10) house to hide away,
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be, There's a shadow hanging over me,
Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said, something wrong, now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, Love was such an easy game to play, Now I need a place to hide away,
Task 3: Listen to the song and circle the best answer for these following questions
1 What did the girl do when she was young?
2 Did she love the songs?
3 When she sang along with the song, It made her…………
4 What kind of song would she sing to them?
5 All her best memories come back clearly to her, it can make her
When I was was young I'd listen to the radio Waiting for my favourite songs
When they played I'd sing along
Those were such happy times and not so long ago How I wondered where they've gone
But they're back again Just like a long lost friend all the songs I love so well
Ev'ry sha-la-la-la, ev'ry wo-o-wo-o still shines
Ev'ry shing-a-ling-a-ling That they're starting' to sing so fine
When they get to the part where he's breaking her heart
It can really make me cry just like before It's yesterday once more
Lookin' back on how it was in years gone by And the good times that I had makes today seem rather sad
It was songs of love that I would sing to them And I'd memorize each word
Those old melodies still sound so good to me
As they melt the years away
All my best memories come back clearly to me Some can even make me cry
Just like before it's yesterday once more
Task 4: Listen carefully to the song and rearrange the jumbled lines in the correct order
1 This year, to save me from tears
2 Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
3 I‘ll give it to someone special
4 I know you‘d fool me again
5 Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
6 Once bitten and twice shy
7 I meant it, now I know what a fool I‘ve been
8 I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
9 With a note saying ‗I love you‘
10 Well, it‘s been a year It doesn‘t surprise me
11 But if you kissed me now
12 Merry Christmas, I wrapped it up and sent it
13 But the very next day, you gave it away The order of lines number: ………
1 Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
2 But the very next day, you gave it away
3 This year, to save me from tears
4 I‘ll give it to someone special
5 Once bitten and twice shy
6 I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
7 Tell me baby, do you recognize me?
8 Well, it‘s been a year It doesn‘t surprise me
9 Merry Christmas, I wrapped it up and sent it
10 With a note saying ‗I love you‘
11 I meant it, now I know what a fool I‘ve been
12 But if you kissed me now
13 I know you‘d fool me again
Task 5: Listen carefully to the song, find out the mistakes words and correct them Goodbye - Air Supply
1 I can see the pain living in your hair And I know how hard you do
You deserve to have so much more
I can feel your love and I sympathize
5 And I'll never criticize All you've ever meant to my life
I don't want to let you go
I don't want to lead you on
I don't want to hold you back
10 From where you might belong You would never ask him why
My heart is so disguised
I just can't live alone anymore
15 Than to ever make you cry There's nothing left to say but goodbye You deserve the chance at the kind of love I'm not sure I'm worthy of
Losing you is painful to me