Rationale
Listening skill is a critical dimension in language learning in general and in learning English as a foreign language in particular (Kurita, 2012) This input skill plays a vital role when communicators exchange information It is clear that once mastering this skill, students can carry out the conversation with other people, state their ideas and exchange the information (Rost, p 94)
For this importance, learners try their best to improve their English listening competence; however, few students have succeeded A large number of students after a long time learning English find it difficult to listen to dialogues, recording, or to native speakers Hence, according to Kurita (2012), a lot of research addressing various issues in learners‟ low achievement has been carried out
Learning a language, especially listening to it, is considered a complex process, which is often affected by many factors such as attitude, motivation, age, intelligence, learning environment, etc These variables have been researched to see how they affect an individual learner‟s response to the task of learning a L2 (Ellis,
1985) Of these contributing factors, attitude, regarded as a positive or negative disposition toward an object, situation, or behavior, is believed to have great impact on success or failure of a language learner (Burstall, 1975) As cited in Gardner‟s book (1985), learner attitude has become key issues in language learning in general, and the subject of many studies for a long time
In Vietnam, English is considered as an indispensable subject in all universities‟ curriculum Communicating in English or being competent in English is considered a preferable tool to make learners understood in a workplace context, or have an advantageous job over the others
At Hanoi University of Business and Technology (hereafter HUBT), a private university, English is a compulsory subject for all students of all faculties
For freshmen who have not been familiar with the ways of studying at university, the question about whether they are fully aware of the importance of learning English, especially learning listening is left unanswered in this context Also, the transition from the first to the second school year does not seem to mean great changes in students‟ listening skill and listening performance Besides, listening results which are seen as a tool to evaluate their progress are not up to teachers‟ expectations and to the course‟s objectives The reasons for these symptoms, therefore, need more explanation
Recently in Vietnam, although motivation and attitudes has been the subject of many studies (Đỗ, 2011; Nguyễn, 2011, et al), the correlation between learners‟ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance has not been investigated Also, at the Department of English- Hanoi University of Business and Technology, there have been no attempts in investigating this issue Regarding the critical relation between attitude and language learning, it is greatly important to research the matter intensively
The aforementioned reasons have encouraged the writer as a teacher of English at English Department at HUBT to explore this matter so as to find out how learners‟ attitudes towards listening and their listening performance correlate
Hopefully, the results of this research could contribute to completing the insightful understanding about learners‟ attitudes, to enhance teaching and learning English at the institution, and to lay a foundation for subsequent research.
Aims of the study
The study is to investigate the relation between learners‟ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance Surveying the first-year and second-year students, the author firstly aimed at identifying their general attitudes towards learning English, and towards learning listening as the main focus of the study Besides, the study examines how two groups of students differ in their attitudes Finally, the question whether their attitudes correlate with their performance will be answered.
Research questions
In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions are raised in the study:
1 What are students‟ attitudes in/ towards listening?
2 How do different groups of students differ in their attitudes?
3 To what extent do students‟ attitudes correlate with their performance?
Scope of the study
Learning attitudes and listening performance are broad topics, and they cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper Thus, this minor thesis attempts to investigate only the targeted students‟ attitude towards learning listening to English and the correlation between that attitude and their listening performance
The subjects of the study include 130 students at the Department of Accountancy and Management at HUBT who are not English majored but learning listening skills according to the Communicative language teaching approach
Therefore, the results of this study may be generalized to all Vietnamese non-English majors.
Method of the study
This study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to get a more detailed and comprehensive picture about what is investigated
A survey questionnaire was used with 65 freshmen and 65 second-year students in the Faculties of Accountancy and Management to collect information on their attitudes towards learning English and listening, and to gather the recommendations on how to learn listening successfully
The qualitative research method involves the constructing and validating of the questionnaire Firstly, the literature review of the study relies on thorough document analysis of related theories and research on ELT listening and attitudes
Moreover, teachers at the HUBT were invited to state their opinions in paneling the questionnaire before it was revised for surveying purpose.
Design of the study
This study is composed of three following parts:
Part A: Introduction presents the background, aims, research questions, the significance, the scope, and the design of the study
Part B: Development is organized in three chapters as follows
Chapter 1- Literature review, conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussion of issues and ideas on theories of learners‟ attitudes towards listening and listening performance
Chapter 2 - Methodology, presents the context, the methodology used in this study including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis
Chapter 3 – Findings and Discussions consists of a comprehensive analysis of the data and a discussion on the findings of this study
Part C: Conclusion offers a summary of the findings, recommendations, limitations, and future directions for further study.
Literature Review
Learner factor/ (Affective factors which affect English learning performance)
Learning language is a challenging task for learners, especially the ones who learn English as a foreign language Undeniably, how to learn a language successfully depends on many factors It is said that nearly all the research into the learner variables has either investigated their effect on the proficiency levels achieved by different learners, or described how they affected an individual learner‟s response to the task of learning a second language (L2) (Ellis, 1985)
Petrides (2006) says that foreign language learners vary in terms of such factors as attitudes, motivation, age, learning style, and aptitude These factors come to a notion of and its users, and with their emotional responses Ellis, however, coined these affect which is defined by Arnold (1999) as involving “aspects of emotion, feeling, mood or attitude which condition behavior Also, Dickinson (1987:25) characterizes affect as it is concerned with learners‟ attitude towards the target language factors into a term called general factors Whatsoever, these scholars share the same view on the elements which influence on what learners perform
Though contributing to learners‟ success, each of these factors is not a
“unitary construct but a complex of features” (Ellis, 1985) However, this part provides definitions of some factors that have been seen as contributing causes to learner‟s performance
Aptitude is considered as one of these variables According to Ellis (1985), it refers to the specific intellectual ability involved in language learning Similarly, Carroll and Sapon define aptitude as a complex of “basic abilities that are essential to facilitate foreign language learning” (cited in Dửrnyei, 2005: 23) In line with this, aptitude as a certain „knack‟ for languages enables best language learners to perceive languages faster than the others (Lightbown and Spada, 2006)
Also, personality of learners contributes to either the success or failure in language learning It encompasses such personal characteristics as extroversion/ introversion, risk- taking, empathy, tolerance of ambiguity, self-esteem, and need excitement
Foreign Language Learning theories also advocate that motivation, an important factor relating to students‟ learning performance can be defined in relation to two factors- the needs of the learners, and their attitudes towards the second language and the second language community Learners are motivated if they need to learn the language in order to achieve a goal, or if they want to communicate with the speakers of the target language and learn about the country where the language is spoken (Nakanishi, 2002) In addition, it is grouped together with various aspects of personality and emotion
Though both motivation and attitudes have been taken into consideration, this study focuses on learning attitudes Learning attitudes will be discussed in more details in the section that follows.
Learning attitudes
Savignon (1976:295) claims that “attitude is the single most important factor in second language learning” This learning attitude is defined from different angles ranging from the psychological to educational ones
From psychological stand-point, attitudes refer to evaluative, emotional reactions (i.e the degree of like and dislike associated with the attitudinal object) encompassing three categories, affect, cognition, and behavior Also, Allport (1954:
45) states that “an attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized though experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual‟s response to all objects and situations with which is related” It is said that attitudes have cognitive, affective, and behavioral components (cf Harding et al 1954) in which the cognitive component refers to the individual‟s belief structure, the affective to emotional reactions, and the behavioral to the tendency to behave toward the attitudinal object, respectively
From an operational viewpoint, as cited in Gardner‟s book (1985), an individual‟s attitude is an „evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent’
All these views claim that attitudes are responses to an attitudinal object For the first view, there is a learned tendency from personal experience or observation to the attitudinal object to form an attitude According to Allport, though accumulated from previous experience, attitude as a mentally ready state directs the learner‟s reactions to the attitudinal object
These different views on attitudes have resulted in different ways to classify attitudes which are presented in the next section
Learning attitudes have been classified in a lot of research Stern (1983: 367-7) classifies attitudes into three types: (1) attitudes towards the community and people who speak the L2; (2) attitudes towards the learning concerned; and (3) attitudes towards languages and language learning in general These attitudes are influenced by the personality of the learner who is either ethnocentric or authoritarian They may be influenced by the social milieu in which learning proceeds Different attitudes; for instance, may be found in monolingual and bilingual contexts This study, however, focuses on the bilingual context where learners learn English as a foreign language
Gardner (1985) mentioned three different ways of classifying attitudes
Firstly, based on the relationship between the attitude measures and achievement indices in a second language, attitudes can be classified into specificity and generality He exemplifies that attitude toward learning some language is relatively specific as attitude object or learning that language is circumscribed and definite A measure like “interest in foreign languages” is considerably more general Attitudes can also be categorized in terms of their relevance to second language achievement
The last division comes to educational and social attitudes The former involves attitudes towards the teacher, the course, learning the language, etc while the latter encompasses attitudes focusing on the cultural implications of second language acquisition His classification, therefore, contributes partly to the way the researcher categorized the attitudes in the questionnaire design encompassing attitudes to the teacher and material, to the course which involves the objective and relevance to students‟ linguistic proficiency, and the learning language
Later, Stern (1992:88) represents different levels of students‟ attitudes towards target language in Figure 1 He scales attitudes from the very positive to very negative rankings of which three sub-levels follow the same direction
Very positive Positive Neutral Negative Very negative
Feel good and confident about L2
Have no marked sense of discomfort or disorientation
Find it hard to accept L2
Feel uncomfortable and disoriented about most aspects of L2
Feel L2 is odd, annoying, and ugly
Figure 1 Range of student attitudes towards target language (Stern, 1992: 88)
He also describes learning attitudes to L2 as learning performance
Very positive Positive Neutral Negative Very negative
Tackle L2 with confidence and enjoyment
Be willing and co-operative
Handle difficulties in a positive spirit
Treat L2 as an unpleasant task
Figure 2 Range of attitudes to learning L2 expressed as learning outcomes (Stern, 1992)
Besides, students‟ attitudes are believed to vary towards teachers and course materials Gardner in his lecture states that attitudes toward the Learning Situation, involves attitudes toward any aspect of the situation in which the language is learned In the school context, these attitudes could be directed toward the teacher, the course in general, one‟s classmates, the course materials, extra-curricular activities associated with the course, etc Underwood (1989: 28) affirms that teachers play an important role in making sure that lessons proceed in an effective way so that learners feel safe, relaxed and unthreatened by the listening tasks
Learners have different expectations of teachers For example, they expect the teachers‟ guidance on the test format and ranking so that they are not lost in such things during the test Some students do appreciate when teachers make a detailed revision before the test These factors will undoubtedly be reflected in the individual‟s attitudes toward the learning situation if the language teacher does not perform effectively or in a non-responsive way, or the course is not interesting, either Besides, Koch (1975) says that information presentation in teaching materials can result in the development and perpetuation of learners The contents from course materials are important to be adapted; however, they are not varied enough for some students In other words, teachers and course materials are two other important variables which the researcher took into consideration
To sum up, this section has discussed different aspects of learners‟ attitudes in learning English Learners differ in their attitudes towards learning English in general, and towards materials and teachers in particular.
Differences between motivation and attitude
In a lot of research, many authors have shown an interest in the relationship between motivation and attitudes, and learners‟ performance in some learning skills like reading and speaking In other words, motivation and attitudes have been two inseparable common terms though there is still no final agreement on the relationship between motivation and attitudes Therefore, this part mainly deals with the comparison between motivation and attitude
It has been indicated in some research that a number of measures of attitudes and motivation are related to each other, and to measures of achievement in a second language Gardner (1979) suggests that attitudes are related to motivation since they function as supports of learners‟ overall orientation Later, Gardner and his partner, Smythe (1981) in their research, Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) show a number of variables of motivation which also include attitudes as a component Among four categories, the first is motivation, which encompasses desire to learn a language, intensity of effort to achieve this, and attitudes towards learning the language The second is integrativeness which involves attitudes towards the target language group, and which touches on the affective factor of ethnocentricity The third refers to attitudes towards language teachers and the language course That is, these two factors are co-related in a sense of extension and intension
Also, Lifrieri (2005:14) asserts the importance of attitudes, but still considers them insufficient indirect conditions for linguistic attainment He says that “only when paired up with motivation do attitudinal tendencies relate to the levels of student engagement in language learning, and to attainment” From these standpoints, attitude and motivation are two inseparable factors involved in learner performance
It is suggested that a better understanding of students' motivation and attitudes may provide curriculum and instruction designers with suitable language teaching programs that generate the attitudes and motivation beneficial to the production of more successful learners (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Midraj, 1998, 2003) This is also the intention of the researcher who wants to investigate the attitudes of students from two different school years and their correlation with learning performance Then adjustments may be made to suit learners in her university
The second views come to the differences between the two factors
According to Schumann(1987), attitude is listed as a social factor equipped with such variables as “size of learning group”, and motivation as an effective factor alongside “culture shock” Gardner and Lambert (1972) define motivation in terms of L2 learners‟ overall goal or orientation, and attitude as the persistence shown by the learner in striving for a goal They argue that the type of motivation is distinct from the attitudes displayed to different learning tasks, so there is no relationship between the two Brown (1981) also distinguishes motivation and attitudes He identifies three types of motivation: (1) “global motivation”, a general orientation to the goal of learning a L2; (2) “situational motivation” depending on the situation in which learning takes place; (3) “task motivation” - the motivation for performing particular learning tasks By contrast, he uses the terms “attitudes” to refer to the set of beliefs that the learners hold towards members of target language group (e.g whether they are seen as “interesting” or “boring, “honest”, or dishonest) and also towards his own culture It is clear that there is no general agreement on what precisely
“motivation” or “attitudes” consist of, nor of the relationship between the two
More evidence seems to suggest that attitudes and motivation are two different traits with different components although they may overlap and correlate in determining students‟ achievement.
Learning performance
Learning performance is always discussed together with learning competence Hence, the research went over both learning competence and learning performance Ellis (1997) presents 2 norms, competence and performance in his book entitled Understanding Second Language Acquisition The former norm consists of mental representation of linguistic rules which constitute the speaker- hearer‟s internalized grammar (Chomsky 1965) while the later consists of comprehension and production of language Brown (1980) also defines competence and performance in a different way Competence is considered as an individual‟s underlying knowledge of a system, event or the ability to perform something, which cannot be observed Performance, on the other hand, can be observed overtly, and it is the realization of competence That is, competence can be measured and evaluated by means of the observation of performance through “tests” and
“examinations” He also notes that performance is “actual production” which encompasses speaking and writing, and comprehension which involves listening and reading
The more specific view on learning performance in listening will be discussed more in the next part
Listening performance, as Brown defines, refers to listening comprehension
Therefore, the discussion about learning performance in listening involves listening comprehension Listening comprehension is a complex process of decoding since it starts with the data reception accompanied with analysis until learners perceive the meaning In order to comprehend, listeners use both bottom-up processes (linguistic knowledge) and top-down processes (prior knowledge) In other words, according to Richards, bottom-up processes refer to the use of incoming input as the basis for understanding the message whereas the latter stands for using background knowledge to understand the meaning of a message This performance can be seen through learners‟ contribution to the lessons, the tasks and activities in the class
Lessons are by far larger than the other two when it involves a 3-part sequence including pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening from which tasks and activities are elicited Field (1998) says that this sequence contains activities which link bottom-up and top-down listening
Along with tests, tasks and activities are made use of to observe learners‟ listening performance The subsequent discussion will be about the assessment of listening performance
A typical way to assess learner‟s performance is through tests Buck (2001) defines test items as the part of the test that requires a scorable response from test- takers Testing is to make inferences but ignored because some testing procedures, particularly in performance assessment, appear to involve direct observation Even where the test simulates real world behavior – reading a newspaper, role playing a conversation with a patient, listening to a lecture – test performances are not valued in themselves, but only as indicators of how a person would perform similar, or related, tasks in the real world setting of interest
Rost (2002) outlines 6 major methods to test listening performance
However, only four of these types are mentioned in this discussion because they are the most commonly used in the research context The first type is discrete-item tests in which multiple choice questions following listening texts refer to responses scored true or false; open questions following presentation of a listening text, which questions are scored on a scale of correctness and completeness), or standardized test scores like TOEFL or TOIEC Likewise, Long (1983) insists that the effects of classroom “learning” be observed only on discrete-point tests Secondly, integrative tests involves open question to summarize a listening text (scored on scales of accuracy and inclusion of facts and ideas), cloze question to summarize a text (score based on correct completions of blanks), and dictation, complete or partial (score based on supplying the correct missing words) The third type is communicative tests or written communicative tasks involving listening (scored on the basis of successful completion of a task, such as writing a complaint letter after hearing a description of a problem) Finally, interview tests refer to direct performances with the teacher or another student (score are based on a checklist of such items as appropriate response to questions, appropriate use of clarification questions) or extended oral interview (scoring relies on a scale of native-like behaviors, such as the Foreign Service Institute scale)
At universities in Vietnam the application of the above methods in performance-based testing is common This kind of testing is to evaluate what learners have learnt and achieved over a period of time Though four types of tests outlined by Rost are employed, the two first ones are common in HUBT to the first and second year students Their listening results or performance are assessed based upon these tests At HUBT, students sit placement tests which are designed to assess their learning progress over one-credit time
The subsequent discussion is about some theories and studies into the relation between attitudes and performance.
Theories on the relation between attitudes and performance
Gardner (1985) hypothesized that L2 learners with positive attitudes toward the target culture and people will learn the target language more effectively than those who do not have such positive attitudes In their earlier studies, Gardner and Lambert (1959) found that aptitude and motivation were the two factors most strongly associated with learners' L2 achievement Gardner and MacIntyre (1993) drew together the findings from many studies over several decades and developed Gardner's “socioeducational model of second language acquisition” (see Figure 3)
Figure 3 Representation of Socioeducational Model of SLA (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993)
This model of SLA (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1992, 1993) suggest that individual-difference variables (e.g., cognitive variables and affective variables), influenced by antecedent factors (i.e., biological factors such as age and experiential factors as previous language training experience), interact with language acquisition contexts and influence both linguistic and nonlinguistic outcomes (i.e., students' reactions to the learning experience) They mean that such affective variables as attitudes correlate with language acquisition, or language performance Again, as can be seen from Figure 3, among important experiential variables to the learning outcome, language attitude is the foundation to boost the motivation It does play an important role in language performance
Gardner and MacIntyre (1993:9) argue that this model shows the importance of what takes place in the learning contexts: “Teachers, instructional aids, curricula, and the like clearly have an effect on what is learned and how students react to the experience.” The model also predicts that students' degree of success (i.e., linguistic outcomes) affects their feelings (i.e., nonlinguistic outcomes) and that both types of outcomes will have an influence on individual-difference variables including language attitudes and motivation That is, they all share that positive attitudes towards learning, teachers, and materials influence a lot on learning
When discussing a number of methods which „advocate‟ a wide range of classroom techniques, Nunan (1991:234) believes that “if a learner can be encouraged to adapt the right attitudes, interests and motivation in the target language and culture, as well as in the learning environment in which they find themselves, then successful learning will occur”
These theories suggest that there is a clear relation between attitude and learning performance, which is the basis for the later studies Some studies involved in this matter will be discussed in the next part.
Studies on the relation between attitudes and performance
There has been a great deal of research done on the roles of attitudes and motivation, or attitudes concerning some variables in second/ foreign language learning Lambert (1955) began to investigate attitude by speculating that an interest in learning a foreign language develops because of emotional involvement with the target language‟s community or because the learner has a direct interest in the language Among many variables, he only discusses two including the interest in learning a foreign language, and the attitude towards the target language‟s community Research findings show that attitudes and motivation are indeed related to successful L2 learning but it has not been indicated how they do so
John Oller and his partners (Oller, Hudson, & Liu, 1977; Chihara & Oller, 1978; Oller, Baca, & Vigil, 1978) conducted several extensive studies investigating the relationship between attitudes and language success They looked at the relationship between Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican students‟ achievement in English and their attitudes to self, the native language group, the target language group, and their reasons for learning English The researchers identified a few meaningful groups of attitudinal variables that correlated positively with attained proficiency
Petrides (2006) studied the relation between attitudes and motivation and their impact on the performance of young English as foreign language learners concerning listening and speaking interaction The study found that motivated children with positive attitudes towards the target language who enjoy their classroom and realize the importance of language learning have better performance
Also, the author recommended that to equip learners with positive attitudes, teachers should pay much attention to their visual-aided lectures and communicative chances to meet leaner‟s interests and level This study encounters some limitations of the number of examiners and markers, and the decision on the type of test which learners are not familiar with As a result, the findings are not objective However, the author mentions the importance of the teacher‟s influence on learners‟ interest, hence their attitudes towards learning
Burstall (1975) supplies evidence to suggest that attitudes might be somewhat dependent on prior achievement in the language She states (p 399)
“ early achievement in French affected later attitudes toward learning French and later achievement in French affected the subsequent development of either attitudes or achievement.” She insists that the mutual relationship between attitude and achievement be clear, one boosting the other and vice versa This suggestion was integrated into the questionnaire design of this study since the researcher wanted to understand whether this statement is applicable in the context she was investigating
In sum, a lot of studies have been conducted to investigate the relation between attitudes and learning performance In Vietnam, students‟ attitudes towards learning English have been looked into in some papers However, such a study on the relation between learners‟ attitude and their listening performance has not been investigated The author of this study hopes to find out such a relation among first year and second year students in her university.
METHODOLOGY
In the previous chapter, the theoretical matters related to the topic have been covered In order to see how they work in real learning environment, this research was carried out with the following steps:
2 Delivering the questionnaire to the pilot informants
3 Collecting the completed questionnaires and processing the data
5 Interpreting the results of the questionnaire
This chapter describes only the first four steps The last step will be presented in the next chapter That is, the main contents of the chapter include the context and the subjects of the study, the research questions, the data collection instruments, the data collection procedure, and the data analysis procedure Also, this chapter mentions the advantages and disadvantages when the researcher used those instruments and data analysis procedure
This study was conducted at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT), a private university located in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, Vietnam
HUBT is quite famous for providing good training in two main fields: business and technology Business covers several different majors such as Banking and Finance, Accounting, Business Administration and Commerce Of all, Accounting and Management are the most popular majors of HUBT Every year there are thousands of new students enrolling in these faculties; these faculties, hence, receive a lot of attention from the university
At HUBT, English is considered an extremely important subject to all students; therefore, students have to study English during three and a half years at HUBT English and informatics are two priorities equipped for students in the search for a competitive job That is why HUBT always looks for new ways to improve the quality of teaching and learning English New programs, therefore, have been launched and adjusted to better meet the global changes Currently, a program called Learning to Speak English is being introduced to help students in learning English Learners can interact with computers, a virtual reality environment Laboratory and classroom lessons are altered to help learners overcome their shyness and weaknesses when communicating with foreigners That is, the university principal puts emphasis on learner‟s achievement in learning English In fact, compared to non-major students from other universities, their English tends to be better; however, the efficiency is not up to educators‟ expectations Learners still face up with some difficulties in general, and in listening in particular
For freshmen, English is taught three lessons per week Each lesson is divided into 2 parts: working with computers in the lab, and learning 4 kills, namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing in the classroom 20 multi-media classrooms with computers, projectors, and screens are set up In addition, such high quality equipment as players, tape players, and reference books is also available Each week, students will have one video lesson that assists them with practicing listening skills, and pronunciation Moreover, about 30 students attend each English class, which is a good size for a language class Though supported with interactive video and audio files, few learners find it easy to enjoy listening lessons
Similarly, second-year students study three lessons every week However, they are no longer using the computers during the class hours due to the volume of lessons allocated although they have access to the use of computer in the library or use their own computer to study at home
As regards the teaching, teachers at HUBT usually have an annual meeting where they are informed of the course book, schedule, and principles within the class before the first day of the school year starts Assessment encompasses the attendance marking, and mid-term and final scoring for students Another point to note is that teachers of English graduated from different universities in Vietnam
Moreover, most of them are very young, enthusiastic, and dynamic Nevertheless, some of the teachers were not trained to be teachers For those inexperienced teachers classroom management is difficult, especially when some pedagogical situations happen As a result, attitudes towards learning and learning performance may vary among students
The participants in the study are 130 students including 65 first- year students from 3 different classes and 65 second-year students from 3 classes who are studying in Faculties of Accountancy and Management at HUBT were invited to participate in this study Most of these students have studied English for at least eight years, and are going to finish their first year and second year at HUBT at the time of the study (4 weeks before the end of the school year); thus, they are supposed to have got familiar with the teaching and learning styles at HUBT
The 130 students of Faculties of Accountancy and Management participating in the study are assumed by the researcher to be more hard-working than those at other faculties because of present academic and future career requirements
Therefore, this sample does not necessarily present the whole population of the university Because of the scope of the study, the researcher tries to investigate their attitudes to learning listening though a questionnaire, and whether there is a difference between two groups of students in the attitudes
To reach the primary objectives of the study, a survey questionnaire was used as the main tool for data collection in this research since it „is useful to collect survey information, providing structured, often numerical data, being able to administer without the presence of the researcher, and often being comparatively straightforward to analyze‟ Hence, it would certainly be valuable for helping the author explore the subjects‟ attitudes to learning listening Moreover, this research tool is also relatively more comfortable, time-saving and economical to administer
Also, Ellis (1985: 101) cited that according to Schumann and Schumann, such personal qualities as aptitude, motivation, and attitude are difficult to observe; therefore, using a questionnaire is one of the solutions to the methodological problem Though the use of questionnaire has some weak points, for example,
„participants think the researcher wants to hear, or indulge in self-flattery‟, he emphasized that questionnaires have provided an insight into the personal nature of language learning, particularly classroom language learning
Although the questionnaire is the main instrument, this study encompasses the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods The qualitative data is gained from the interviews with the supervisor and teachers of English when developing and revising the questionnaire After this step, quantitative data is obtained from the self-report questionnaire In order to make sure that the participants can understand correctly the content of the questionnaire, the questionnaire items are presented in Vietnamese as well Explanation was elicited where necessary
The questionnaire consists of 22 items sub-divided into 5 different categories regarding the attitudes towards listening and listening performance (See Appendix
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
In this chapter, the students‟ attitudes towards learning English, towards learning listening, as well as their listening performance, which are reflected through the data of the conducted questionnaire will be in focus This comprehensive analysis leads to a better understanding of how students differ in their attitudes towards learning and how related they are to their listening performance, in turn, will lay a firm foundation for a discussion and further recommendations in the following part of the study
3.1 Students’ attitudes to learning listening (research question 1)
The following parts will be presented into 5 main categories: attitudes towards learning English, attitudes to listening lessons, attitudes to tests, attitudes to teachers and materials, and attitudes to listening performance
3.1.1 Attitudes to learning English and learning listening
As mentioned in the previous chapter, attitudes were classified into 5 groups
Below are the results of the data analysis
3.1.1.1 Attitudes towards learning English and learning listening
As can be seen from figure 4, the majority of freshmen and second-year students like learning English, accounting for nearly 37% among the total This figure is a little higher than that of either disagreement or strong disagreement
Even, except for the neutral opinions and no choice, more students find English learning interesting than those who do not like it (nearly 37% for the former, and 7% for the later) In contrast, when asked whether listening is their favorite subject, both groups of students who disagree and strongly disagree are more than those of agreement and strong agreement Given the third question, there is no clear distinction among five ranks when there are one third of students who were neutral to agreement or disagreement ends and 1.5 % did not give their opinions However, 30.8% of the students said that they like learning listening not because they want to pass the tests, which holds one third of the total number
Figure 4 Atttitudes towards learning English and learning listening
Questions from 4 to 10 refer to the attitudes towards listening However, the reseacher re-grouped the question items in which group 1 contains questions 4 and 7; group 2 encompasses questions 5, 6 and 9; and groups 3 involves questions 8 and
10 based on the ranks of likeness, the relevance of the listening lessons, and their difficulties, respectively
Below is the chart showing the results on questions 4 and 7
Figure 5 Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 4 and 7
The highest proportion belongs to their neutral attitudes towards listening lessons and tasks Respondents did not know how they felt about those things
Nearly a half of the students were reluctant to choose whether the listening lessons always excite them or listening tasks interest them or not Even the number of the neutral answers to question 7 is much higher, accounting for 53.8% Again, 31.5% of the participants who did not find the lessons interesting or were not excited by the tasks Along with 12.3% of students who chose strong disagree option, the total number of students choosing both disagreement and strong disagreement accounted for 43.8%, compared to over 12% with contrasting attitudes and 1.5% having no opinions
Figure 6 represents students‟ comments on the relevance of the listening lessons to the learners and the course (questions 5, 6 and 9)
Figure 6 Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 5, 6 and 9
As can be seen from the chart, 40.8 % of the students claimed that the listening lessons did not suit their English ability, and neither did 11.5% of strong disagreement Though 38.5% were neutral towards this question, nearly 1% did not state their opinions In other words, most students felt that listening lessons were not suitable for them
In contrast, a majority of students were aware of the requirements of the course or their supposed level and expectations for their school year though the number that chose neutral ideas account for a high percentage (48.5% for question 6 and 36.9% for question 9) The number of students who thought or did think the listening tasks were up to their level of the school year is nearly two times as much as that of students of disagreement and strong disagreement Similarly, both groups understood that the tasks during listening lessons were relevant to the course, which is far more than those who disgree with this
Information on the students‟ attitudes towards and the acknowledgement of the listening task difficulties are represented in the chart below:
Figure 7 Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 8 and 10
Apart from 30.8% holding neutral attitudes, 48.5% of the students agreed that when listening to some difficult tasks, they felt irritated In contrast, 20.8% of the students felt nothing when listening to these tasks
Due to some difficult listening tasks, two-thirds of the participants acknowledged the difficulties of the listening exercises Neutral answers accounted for 14.6%, and 11.5% chose disagreement and strong disagreement
Questions 11 and 12 refer to attitudes to tests
About one third of the respondents agreed that the levels of tests were suitable for them However, only 11.5% felt that the tests suit their ability, whereas nearly 41% were not happy with levels of tests and 9.2% strongly disagreed with In contrast, over 52% were reluctant to choose whether tests are relevant to the course objectives, though about 27% agreed
3.1.1.4 Attitudes to teachers and materials
Questions 13 to 19 refer to students‟ attitudes towards teachers and materials
These are divided into two smaller categories, attitudes to teachers (statements 13 to
17), and attitudes to materials (questions 18 and 19)
Concerning the content of the teaching, the researcher grouped questions 13 and 16 as displayed in the following chart:
Figure 9 Attitudes to teachers in terms of teaching content
As can be seen, about 33% of the students were satisfied or strongly satisfied with the lessons delivered by their teachers, compared with over 17% of the students whose expectations were not met
The next question (Q16) was marked with the high percentage of those who either agreed or strongly agreed that teachers always revised the most important contents before the tests Of the total, there were still 24.6% of the students who did not choose whether the teacher gave a revision lesson or not About 15% did not think that teacher gave enough revision for them
Questions 14, 15 and 17 explore the atttitudes towards the teachers in terms of scoring
Figure 10 Attitudes to teachers regarding scoring
For question 14, when asked whether they received the satisfactory guidance on the forth-coming tests, 38.5% agreed and 1.5% strongly agreed, whereas 14.6% and 5.4% disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement, respectively
Interestingly, the number of students with neutral opinions is the same as that of agreement, making the scale move to the right That is, a lot of students were seen to be satisfied with their teachers‟ guidance
Turning to question 15, more than 65 students said that they were clear about the test format given by the teachers, which is nearly five times as much as the number of students who were not (5.4% of strong disagreement and 11.5 % of disagreement) However, there were 1.5% of the total who did not choose any option
Similarly, nearly 51% confirmed that their teachers explained the test scoring criteria Omitting 1.5% without selection, that percentage is ten times as much as that of either disagreement or strong disagreement
Concerning the attitudes towards materials, the below chart shows the data on questions 18 and 19
At first sight, there is a contradiction in students‟ answers to the two questions Over 40% thought that listening to the course book is not enough for them whereas 40% were neutral and about 17% chose agreement on question 18
The findings of this study will be summarized as follows
Of all the answers to the survey questions, many students of both groups chose neutral responses Again, in spite of the interest in English learning, listening is a hindrance when learners dealt with difficult up-to-level lessons and tasks The course objectives were also considered beyond their real ability, and they expected a lot of assistance from the teacher such as explanation on test format and scoring
Besides, nearly one-fourth of students had no other sources of input but class materials Luckily, they did think that their listening results could influence their future performance though the answer concerning gradual improvement in listening result was not guaranteed In other words, learners‟ attitudes varied in terms of learning English and learning listening Students did not have the right attitudes towards their learning English and learning listening Factors to raise learners‟ awareness should be considered in the subsequent studies in order to equip them with right attitudes
However, there are differences between first-year and second-year students regarding the acknowledgement of difficulties in listening comprehension, test relevance to the course objectives, teachers‟ explanation of the test scoring criteria, and the agreement on the stimulus of good listening results over their later performance
The survey results showed that there was no strong correlation between attitudes and listening performance Other factors may interfere with their listening performance like learners‟ aptitude, their basic abilities, test design, and teachers‟ ability
Attitudes in learning English in general and in learning listening in particular are a very crucial matter which facilitates a learner‟s performance Understanding what attitudes they have towards every skill and some matters concerned helps adjust learning and teaching effectively
Also, teachers must offer a huge help to the learning since English is students‟ interest, but listening skill seems difficult to them Thus, teachers should give sufficient guidance on learners‟ self-study and have clear instructions on the test to remove test-related matters
It is undeniable that listening lessons and tasks are supposed to be up to the students‟ level Due to this very attribute, the activities or tasks should be tailored to their ability and the course objectives simultaneously Also, teacher should be flexible to equip learners with preparations for the tests, and build right attitudes to learning
Though the study is carefully and clearly designed and based on reliable data, some limitations are unavoidable
As the 130 participants are from Accountancy and Management faculties, the findings of this study can be generalized only to the students in these faculties in particular and at HUBT in general What is more, attitude is a complex phenomenon which is difficult to classify into different types Again, there are different views on the types of attitude; therefore, it took a lot of time for the researcher to decide on its aspects and integrate into her questionnaire survey Due to the time limitation, only some aspects of this matter were investigated in this study
In addition, though the questionnaire delivery was monitored by the teachers who were asked to assist the students, reliability was not guaranteed to some extent
Due to these limitations, shortcomings are inevitable; all comments on the improvement are welcomed and appreciated
The research surveyed one small population of students at HUBT due to the time limitation and the scope of the thesis Therefore, the results cannot be generalized for the whole university Again, all the questionnaire items are not guaranteed to reliably measure the same latent variable Using Cronbach's alpha as a measure of internal consistency can ensure how closely related a set of items as a group is However, due to the time limitation, this function was not applied in this study These very limitations lay a foundation for subsequent research
1 Allport, G.W (1954) The Historical Background of Modern Social Psychology in Lindzey, G (ed.) Handbook of Social Psychology Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-
2 Brown, H D (1980) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching
3 Brown, H D (2005) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching New
4 Buck, G (2001) Assessing Listening Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
5 Burstall, C (1975) Factors Affecting Foreign Language Learning: A Consideration of Some Relevant Findings, Language Teaching and Linguistics Abstracts, 8: 5-125
6 Carroll, J.B (1965) The prediction of success in foreign language training in R.Glaser (ed), Training, Research and Education New York: Wiley
7 Chihara, T., & Oller, J (1978) Attitudes and Proficiency in EFL: A sociolinguistic study of adult Japanese speakers Language Learning, 28, 55-68
8 Dửrnyei, Z 2005 Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition Mahweh ; London : Lawrence Erlbaum
9 Ellis, R 1997 Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press
10 Field, J (1998) The challenging face of listening English teaching professional, 6, 12-14
11 Gardner, R C., & W.E Lampert 1972 Attitudes and Motivation in Second
Language Acquisition Rowley, Mass.: Newburry House
12 Gardner, R 1985 Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation London: Edward Arnold
13 Lambert, W 1955 Measurement of the linguistic dominance of bilinguals
Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 50, 197-200
14 Lightbown, P., & Nina Spada (1999) How Languages are Learned Revised
15 Long, M 1983 Does second language instruction make a difference? A review of the research TESOL Quarterly, 17, 359-82
16 Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K (2007) Research Methods in Education
17 Kurita, T (2012) Issues in second language listening comprehension and pedagogical implications Accents Asia, 5(1), 30-44
18 Nakanishi, T (2002) Critical literature review on Motivation Journal of Language and Linguistics, 1, (3), 278-287
19 Oller, J., Hudson, A., & Liu, P (1977) Attitudes and attained Proficiency in ESL: A Sociolinguistic study of native speakers of Chinese in the United States
20 Oller, J., Baca, L., & Vigil, A (1978) Attitudes and attained Proficiency in ESL: A Sociolinguistic study of Mexican-Americans in the Southwest TESOL Quarterly, 11, 173-183
21 Oppenheim, A N (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement London: Printer
22 Rost, M., & Ross, S (1991) Learner use of strategies in interaction: Typology and predictability Language Learning, 41, 235-273
23 Rost, M (2001) Teaching and researching listening London: Longman
24 Savignon, S (1972) Communicative competence: An experiment in foreign language teaching Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development
25 Stern, H (1992) Issues and Options in Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford
26 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching Listening Longman, London and New York
27 Wilson, N., & McLean, S (1994) Questionnaire Design: A Practical Introduction Newtown Abbey, Co Antrim: University of Ulster Press
28 Gabillon, Z (2007) Learner beliefs on L2 attitudes and motivation: An exploratory study Lingua et Linguistica, 1.1, 68-90
29 Đỗ, Thị Hồng Hà (2011) 10 th grade students’ attitudes towards teachers’ error correction in classroom activities at Do Son Boarding High school Unpublished
30 Nguyễn, Thị Như Quỳnh (2011) Learners’ attitude towards learning the courseware “functioning in business” though Dyned software: a survey evaluation by the second year non-E major students at HUBT Unpublished M.A Thesis
31 Nguyễn, Thị Minh Huệ (2004) An Investigation into Vietnamese Upper Secondary School Student’s Attitudes towards Grammar Learning and Teaching: A Case Study Unpublished M.A Thesis
32 Phelan, C., & Wren, J (2005) Exploring reliability academic assessment
College of Humanities and Fine Arts Student Outcomes Assessment Retrieved from http://www.uni.edu/chfasoa/reliabilityandvalidity.htm
33 Ushida, E (2005) The Role of Students' Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning in Online Language Courses Computer-Assisted Language
Instruction Consortium Journal, 23 Retrieved from https://calico.org/memberBrowse.php?action=article&id1
Questionnaire for 1 st year students
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the relation between learners’ attitudes towards listening and listening performance Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data
Thank you very much for your corporation!
Which school year are you in? 1 2
In the following table, you will find statements about your attitudes towards learning English Please tick (v) in the column to show your opinion
2 Of four skills, listening skill is of my interest
3 I like listening not because I want to pass the tests
4 Listening lessons always interest me
5 Listening lessons suit to my ability
6 Listening tasks are up to the level where I am supposed to be
7 Listening tasks in the classroom always excite me
8 Listening to some difficult tasks irritates me
9 Listening tasks are relevant to the course objectives
10 I acknowledg e difficulties in listening exercises
11 Levels of the tests are suitable for me
12 Tests are relevant to the course objectives
Attitudes to teachers and material
13 My teacher always meets my expectations when delivering lectures
14 My teacher always meets my expectations giving guidance on tests
15 My teacher explains test format (types of the test)
16 My teacher revises the most important contents before the tests
17 My teacher explains test scoring criteria
18 Listening to course books is enough for my listening skill
19 Besides a good resource of materials from course books and teachers, other sources like the Internet and magazines are important to me in listening
Attitudes to listening performa nce
20 Good results in listening test encourage me to do better for the next one
21 My past listening scores are always up to my expectations
22 My listening performanc e improves over time THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CORPORATION!
Bảng khảo sát này được tiến hành cho nghiên cứu về mối quan hệ giữa thái độ với việc nghe và kết quả nghe của sinh viên Rất cám ơn các bạn đã tham gia hoàn thiện bảng khảo sát này Tất cả thông tin mà các bạn đưa ra chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn các bạn đã tham gia
Bạn đang học năm thứ mấy? 1 2
Nhìn bảng phía dưới, bạn sẽ thấy những câu nói về thái độ người học với việc học tiếng anh nói chung và việc học nghe nói riêng Hãy tích (v) vào cột mà bạn thấy phù hợp
No Statements Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Thái độ với việc học tiếng Anh
1 Tôi thích học tiếng Anh
2 Trong 4 kĩ năng, tôi yêu thích kĩ năng nghe
3 Tôi thích học nghe không chỉ bời vì tôi muốn vượt qua bài kiểm tra
Thái độ với bài học nghe
4 Các bài học nghe luôn cuốn hút tôi
5 Các bài học nghe phù hợp với khả năng của tôi
6 Các nhiệm vụ trong bài học nghe ở mức độ mà khóa học đề ra
7 Tôi luôn thấy hào hứng với các hoạt động nghe trong lớp
8 Các bài tập nghe khó làm tôi khó chịu
9 Các nhiệm vụ trong bài học nghe phù hợp với mục tiêu khóa học
10 Tôi thừa nhận những khó khăn khi làm bài tập nghe
Thái độ với bài kiểm tra
11 Mức độ bài kiểm tra nghe phù hợp với tôi
12 Các bài kiểm tra phù hợp với mục tiêu khóa học
Thái độ với giáo viên và tài
13 Giáo viên của tôi luôn đưa ra những bài giảng như tôi mong đợi
14 Giáo viên luôn đưa ra chỉ dẫn cho bài kiểm tra như tôi mong đợi
15 Giáo viên giải thích dạng bài liệu học kiểm tra
16 Giáo viên ôn lại những phần quan trọng trước bài thi
17 Giáo viên giải thích cách thức tính điểm
18 Việc nghe theo giáo trình là đủ cho kĩ năng nghe của tôi
19 Ngoài nguồn tài liệu từ sách giáo trình và từ giáo viên, các nguồn tài liệu khác như Internet và tạp chí là quan trọng với việc học nghe của tôi
Thái độ với kết quả nghe
20 Kết quả tốt ở bài kiểm tra nghe khuyến khích tôi đạt kết quả tốt hơn trong những bài kiểm tra tiếp
21 Những bài kiểm tra nghe của tôi luôn như mong đợi của tôi
22 Khả năng nghe của tôi cả thiện theo thời gian Điểm thi nghe của bạn kì 1 năm 2012-2013:………
CẢM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN!
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the relation between learners’ attitudes and listening performance Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data
Thank you very much for your corporation!
In the following table, you will find statements about your attitudes towards learning English Please tick (v) in the column to show your opinion
Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree
3 I learn English because it is a compulsory subject at HUBT
4 I really like learning English English lessons are very interesting
5 I need to learn English only to pass the exams at HUBT
6 I feel good and comfortable in the listening examinations
7 Listening s in the classroom always excite me
8 When listening to some difficult tasks, I find them unpleasant
9 I acknowledge differences and difficulties in listening exercises in a positive way
10 I find levels of the tests suitable for me
11 The tests designed should be adjustable to my actual level, not at a level where I am
12 My teacher always meet my expectations when delivering lectures and giving guidance on tests
13 Good results in listening test encourage me to do better for the next one
14 When equipped with positive attitudes I can improve my listening results
15 My listening performance changes over time
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CORPORATION!
1 In which year are you in the university?
2 How did you feel before/ during/ after the tests?
3 Do you think you should work harder to change the results?
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
I like listening English not because I want to pass the tests
I like listening English not because I want to pass the tests
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Listening lessons always interest me mark
Listening lessons always interest me
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
Listening lessons suit my ability mark
Listening lessons suit my ability
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
