Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS vai trò của tính tự chủ của sinh viên trong việc phát triển kĩ năng nghe IELTS tại trường đại học ngoại thương m a thesis linguistics 60 14 01 11

Rationale of the study

Learner autonomy in language learning has attracted a large number of researchers all over the world with a great deal of the research originating in Europe (see Holec, 1981; Little, 1991; Dam, 1995) It has been further studied and promoted by Asian researchers in countries such as Hong Kong (Benson, 2001;

Littlewood, 2007) and Japan (Aoki & Smith, 1999; Aoki, 2001) The research on learner autonomy recognizes the benefits and the possibility of fostering learner autonomy in language education (Benson, 2007) In 1980, Holec mentioned the main purpose of language teaching as “to help the learner acquire the linguistic communicative abilities he has defined for himself” (Finch, 2001: 7) When we consider this purpose of teaching language, it may be obvious that an autonomy is a necessity in the learning process which can be handled by the learners not by the teachers It will be more effective and long lasting if the role of teachers in the learning process is limited to show students how to acquire the knowledge in a suitable way as the motto of strategic learning “life long lasting”

Traditionally, language curriculum has aimed to teach knowledge and skills, and has neglected to teach learners the way to learn Mostly the main elements of learning will be the teacher and then the learners The teaching method that the

“teacher does to their learners” (Little, 1993, p.3) has been widely applied The teachers were and are always be the only people who take charge of all the knowledge which is necessary for the learners on the assumed items The increase in learning demands with the change of technology, social values, and standard life brings about the change of role of teachers A new term-“self-directed learning”- or –“autonomy”- has emerged nearly at the end of 1970’s Learner training in second or foreign language teaching is a new way of teaching learners explicitly the techniques of learning, and an awareness of how and when to use strategies to enable them to become self-directed (Williams and Burden 1997) Today, therefore, there is a growing trend to explore learner autonomy in foreign language contexts (Benson, 2013) The trend, however, has been to research the application of learner autonomy in particular educational contexts such as in mainstream language education environments (Benson, 2007) This research recognizes the global trend of an increasing approach to learner-centered education in the context of Vietnam as the result of current needs:

- Needs from students: Littlewood’s (2000) study show that learners are not that passive and they now do not wish to be merely “obedient listeners”

(p.33) but “they would like to be active and independent” (Littlewood, 2000, p 34) This is clearly a new direction of investigating how students learn and want to learn in Vietnam In another study with 300 Vietnamese learners of English, Tomlinson and Dat (2004) reported that learners would be eager for changes to the culture of their classrooms However, most teachers in the study were unaware of what their students felt and thought about the methodology of their courses (Tomlinson & Dat, 2004)

- Needs from teachers: Dang (2010) mentioned that “being strongly considered part of the Eastern culture, teaching and learning in Vietnam is more teacher-centered” (p 5) Nonetheless, “teachers of English in Vietnam seem to have accepted that the grammar-translation method is not effective in English language teaching and learning” and that “they have begun to realize that communicative teaching method and student-centered approaches are what they need to implement in their teaching” (Brogan & Nguyen, 1999, p 3) to improve students’ learning

- Needs from the government: Nowadays, it is necessary that education and training must not only be able to equip students with new scientific and cultural knowledge but also develop their reasoning, creative abilities and team work skills (Moet, 2005) As a result, perceptions about teaching and learning philosophies should be changed by Vietnamese educational authorities (Pham, 2008) They have put into consideration that the traditional teaching and learning approach, with its emphasis on individual achievement and transmission of information has become inadequate in developing students’ thinking and learning skills in current global society (Dang, 2010) Therefore, the importance of learner autonomy has been acknowledged in a new educational policy number: 43/2007/QD-BGDDT (Moet, 2007, p.3) issued by the Vietnamese government In this policy, managing and teaching by credit system is strongly emphasized “One credit point is equivalent to 15 class hours In order to learn well, students must spend at least 30 hours of preparation for an equivalent credit point” This policy aims to develop more autonomous learning with more active and responsible students, then to develop lifelong and autonomous learners

According to this new policy, all universities and institutions have to adapt their syllabus and teaching and learning processes to a central accreditation- based system, which includes the development of learner autonomy It is suggested that teaching strategies should be changed to meet the expectations of the new requirements Students’ roles are to become more active and responsible for their studies because they have now got the chance to choose their own courses and teachers and so they themselves must learn how to manage their time and learning process

To date, there have been few studies that focuses on the role of learner autonomy in listening skills in general and in IELTS listening skills in particular In fact, teaching IELTS is a combination of English language training and IELTS examination requirements and procedures in order that when students take this exam, they are better able to produce their best results There is no magic remedy for getting a high band in the exam Students themselves will be guaranteed to have a good knowledge of English and to be more active and responsible for their studies in order to achieve a band score which will make them eligible to follow CLC curriculum in Foreign Trade University (FTU) In other words, autonomous learning in IELTS listening skills has been strongly encouraged with the support from the teacher As a starting point, the current research argues that in order to understand how learner autonomy can be effectively applied in FTU, its role in the improvement of IELTS listening skills is necessary to be investigated in generally Vietnamese educational context and particularly Foreign Trade University.

Aims and Objectives of the study

The main aim of this study was to investigate the role of learner autonomy in the improvement of IELTS listening, especially to identify the role of students’ attitudes and their abilities to self-regulate their learning in the improvement of IELTS listening skill in Foreign Trade University Personally, it is challenging when taking charge of first-year CLC students Such CLC ones are assigned to achieve an essential band score of IELTS to meet the linguistic demands of Foreign Trade University That effectively counts only if there exists enthusiastic lecturer involvement and excellent student performance, especially students’ autonomous learning As a matter of fact, the students are not well-aware of autonomy

Therefore, I would like to conduct a survey research so that the goal is achieved

To be more specific, the primary objectives were set as shown below:

- To investigate the students’ attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning towards IELTS listening skills at Foreign Trade University (FTU)

- To identify the effects of autonomous learning in IELTS class at FTU on the improvement of first-year CLC students’ IELTS listening band score.

Research questions

To achieve the aims and objectives, the following research questions were formulated and needed to be answered satisfactorily:

(1) What are the students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning for IELTS listening?

(2) How do students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning affect their IELTS listening tests?

Methodology

To find the answers to research questions, a survey research was adopted in this study, a design of questionnaires and interviews was employed as the main instruments of the study The population included all first -year students in 7 CLC classes in the different departments of Business Management, Banking and Finance and International Economics; about 175 students The 36 students enrolling CLC program from Business Management Department are the sample chosen for this study A convenient sampling design was used in this study Moreover, tests were used as the additional instrument to see the students’ improvement and support main instruments to find the answers to research questions.

Scope of the study

The study will not discuss the effectiveness of learner autonomy in learning all skills of official IELTS tests, but focus on listening skill only This is also a situational study in the learning and teaching IELTS setting of Foreign Trade University with the population of 175 students 36 CLC students in the researcher’s own classroom will be the sample and respondents to the questionnaire, in-depth individual interviews of the method themselves Since this study is carried out to figure out learner autonomy in learning IELTS listening of CLC students in FTU, the results of the questionnaire will give the researcher supplementary support for the conclusion drawings Thus, the findings of this paper may not be necessarily generalized to students at other universities.

Significance of the study

The research on the role of autonomy plays a significant part, especially meaningful to pupils that have just graduated from high schools and entered new university environment with new teaching methods If students still keep applying traditional teacher-centered learning method at universities, they will be overloaded with wide knowledge that teachers cannot transmit in limited time If their learning methods have not been gradually changed, especially to specialized IELTS practice, it turns out difficult to get high band scores Moreover, a variety of IELTS materials confuses students; then, they get difficulty making good selections of sources relevant to their language competence and CLC requirements Time arranged for each lesson has just been enough for lecturers to introduce sources for students to get know well and guide them some necessary tips based on listening techniques to practice at class Their autonomous performance involves students’ attitudes and abilities to control their own learning, their own learning strategies and self-search for further practice and Cambridge IELTS Tests, Online Banks of Official IELTS, and so on… are some of suggestions That is a good opportunity for students to come into contact with real tests, self-evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in IELTS study, and consider whether their practice materials currently suit their ability and meet first-year linguistic demands.

Design of the study

Part A (Introduction) provides an overview of the study, containing the rationale of the study, aims and objectives, research questions, research methodology, scope, significance and the design of the study Part B (Development) consists of 4 chapters Chapter 1 presents literature review relevant to the study This chapter provides the background knowledge of learner autonomy, learner autonomy in language learning, the importance of learner autonomy, IELTS test, general listening and IELTS listening This part also illustrates some related research (literature review) conducted by other researchers as well as their gaps in the field which inspire the writer to conduct the study Chapter two describes the methodology underlying the research, which presents the context of the study, the rationale for using survey research, the details about the participants and all instruments employed by the researcher as well as procedures to collect data

Chapter three presents the process of data analysis Chapter four is devoted to a detailed description of the significant findings from data collection, and discussions after analyzing gathered data from described instruments Part C (Conclusion) presents the conclusion which focus on the findings and summary of the main points of the study This chapter also points out several limitations of the research as well as some implications which presents some further recommendations for the effective application of learner autonomy in IELTS CLC class as well as suggestions for further study

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical background

The term “autonomy” which is derived originally from the fields of politics and moral philosophy, is a slippery term because it is widely confused with self- instruction and independent learning It is also a multifaceted concept whose meaning has been discussed from many perspectives by theoreticians (Benson 2001,

2007) The below table representing the definitions of autonomy made by different thinkers is adopted from Finch (2001: Appendix 1-2)

1 Holec (1981) The ability to take charge of one’s own learning… This ability is not inborn but must be acquired either by

“natural” means or (as most often happens) by formal learning, in a systematic, deliberate way

2 Young (1986) Authoring one’s own world without being subject to the will of others

Complete responsibility for one’s learning, carried out without the involvement of a teacher or pedagogic materials

2 (1992) An attitude towards learning in which the learner is prepared to take, or does take, responsibility for his own learning

4 Boud (1988) Students take some significant responsibility for their own learning over and above responding to instruction

Decision-making process involved in identifying problems and making relevant decisions for their solution through access to sufficient sources of information

The goal of all developmental learning and, is, moreover, fundamental to its processes Acceptance of responsibility for one’s own learning

A capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making and independent action

A constantly changing but at any time optimal state of equilibrium between maximal self-development and human interdependence

8 Wenden, A (1991) In effect, successful or expert or intelligent learners have learned how to learn They have acquired the learning strategies, the knowledge about learning, and the attitudes to enable them to use these skills and knowledge confidently, flexibly, appropriately and independently of a teacher Therefore they are autonomous

9 Kant (1991) Foundation of human dignity

An ability that has to be acquired (learning how to learn) and is separate from the learning that may take

Littlewood (1996) place when autonomy has been acquired

The concept of autonomy is indeed beginning to enter the mainstream of language learning methodology

Autonomization is necessarily a transformation of the learner as a social individual… autonomy not only transforms individuals, it also transforms the social situations and structures in which they are participants

12 Cotteral, S (2000) Autonomy is an incontrovertible goal for learners everywhere, since it is obvious that no students, anywhere, will have their teachers to accompany them throughout life

13 Fenner, A (2000) An attitude or even a philosophy than a methodology

14 Shrader, S.R (2003) Self-directed learning or a shift of responsibility for learning from teacher to student

From these definitions, it is clear that researchers try to explain autonomy in five main categories: 1 an inborn capacity which is supposed by institutional education; 2 a set of skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning; 3 situations in which learners study entirely on their own; 4 the emphasis of learners’ responsibility for their own learning; 5 the right of learners to determine the direction of their own learning (Benson and Voller, 1997:1)

While the first time when the term ‘learner autonomy’ was used in second language education is not known, it first appeared officially in the Council of Europe Modern Languages Project in 1979 by Holec This resulted in the publication of Holec’s 1981 seminal report (Holec, 1981), in which he defined learner autonomy as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (p 3)

Benson (2007a: 22) remarks that ‘Holec’s (1981) definition of learner autonomy has proved remarkably robust’ and Little (2007: 15) has recently described it as a

Following this, learner autonomy with various other definitions have been considered For instance, Wenden (1999) recognized the importance of metacognitive awareness when she claimed that true learner autonomy mentioned how students reflect on their learning and how they are able to realize when they have effective learning opportunities In another example, Littlewood (1996) took the notion of autonomy as “learners’ ability and willingness to make choices independently” (p 427) He argued that “this capacity depends on two main components: ability and willingness” (p 428) These two abilities are interdependent and are divided into subcomponents of knowledge about the alternative choices and skills available for carrying out appropriate choices

Willingness depends on the motivation and confidence a person has in order to take responsibility for necessary choices In order to become autonomous successfully, a person needs to have the four subcomponents of knowledge, skills, motivation, and confidence Littlewood also suggested that these components be focused in the development of learner autonomy

In short, definitions of learner autonomy have been varied (Littlewood (1999: 71)) However, the basis of autonomy has always been the ability to take responsibility for (or take control/charge of) one’s own learning (Cotterall ((1995:

21); Little (2007: 14)) This definition of learner autonomy is also used for the current research: Autonomy refers to abilities and attitudes (or whatever we think the “a capacity to control your own learning”) The point is, then, that “learning by yourself is not the same thing as having the capacity to learn by yourself Also, autonomous learners may be better than others at learning by themselves, but they do not necessarily have to learn by themselves” (Nguyen (2014:16)) 1.2 Learner autonomy in language learning

In fact, in the traditional education setting, the main and most important element is the teacher, then the learners The teachers are responsible for all of the learners and their learning process They were and are always be the only people to decide necessary information for the learners from delivering, explaining, motivating, setting standards for this piece of knowledge to assessing them For more details, they have to supply the knowledge, transmit the knowledge, set the standards of the knowledge or learning and also motivate the learners to absorb the knowledge and finally assess the improvement of the learners meanwhile assess themselves as the information provider at the end of each semester In terms of responsibilities of the learners, it is clear that their main role is to achieve the standards set by the teachers at the beginning of each semester To reach this goal, they may absorb the information, display understanding and skill, apply the theory into practice Obviously, the traditional education system has put a great pressure on the shoulders of the teachers

Also in Vietnam, traditionally, teaching and learning English is limited to giving students lessons and far from teaching them how to learn; that is, the main task of the teacher is to transmit the knowledge to his/her students (Trinh, 2005) rather than encouraging students to become autonomous in their learning Kramsch and Sullivan (1996) studied that teachers are traditionally considered as masters of knowledge in the classroom Researchers (Mumphreys & Wyatt, 2014; Nguyen, Toulouw & Pilot, 2006) indicated that Vietnamese learners have been influenced by the Confucian perspective in that there are “traditional beliefs of relational hierarchy in classrooms, where the roles of teachers and learners are rooted deeply in people’s thinking” (Ho & Crookall, 1995, p 237) Students are in these classes not aware of construct the information that they receive from the teachers They tend to be dependent and believe that all the knowledge from teachers seem to be all right In the classroom, the students are passive and not directly confront teachers This would be disrespectful and cause the teacher to lose face As a consequence, schools are formed in a structure where the authority is not shared; individuality and creativity are less encouraged (Harman & Nguyen, 2009) In short, developing learner autonomy in the traditional system tends to be insupportable during the learning and teaching process

The changing world urgently demands for the change in teachers’ roles and new term-“self-directed learning”- or –“autonomy”- has emerged as a result of that fact In language teaching, Holec is one of the thinkers who mostly prefers to use the word autonomy instead of the other words such as self-directed learning used for autonomy In Holec (1980) it is indicated that “adult education becomes an instrument for arousing an increasing sense of awareness and liberation in man, and in some cases, an instrument for changing the environment itself” From the idea of man ‘product of his society’, one moves to the idea of man ‘producer of his society’

(Finch, 2001:2) Related to this movement, a number of learner-centered approaches took place in 1980’s and in 1990’s which mainly included autonomy as the basis of their curriculum These are briefly learner-training (Ellis and Sinclair 1989;

Dickinson 1992), the learner-centered curriculum (Nunan 1988c), learning-strategy training (Oxford 1990b; Wenden 1991a), the project-based syllabus (Legutke and Thomas 1991), and learner-based teaching (Campbell & Kryszewska, 1992) All these approaches are named by many of the researchers as the early work on learner autonomy which was developed in 1980’s by Strevens, Holec Allwright, Dickinson, Wenden and Rubin, Little, Devitt and Singleton, etc (Finch, 2001: 2)

Among a number of terms related to ‘self-directed learning’, the most popular one nowadays is “autonomy” It has been mostly agreed that autonomy and autonomous learning are not directly the synonyms of ‘self-directed’, 'self- instruction', 'self-access', 'self-study', 'self-education', 'out-of-class learning' or 'distance learning' These terms can be distinguished in various way and basically describe various degrees of learning by yourself, while autonomy mentions abilities and attitudes (or whatever we think “a capacity to control your own learning”) As mentioned before, this means that “learning by yourself is not the same thing as having the capacity to learn by yourself Also, autonomous learners may be better than others at learning by themselves, but they do not necessarily have to learn by themselves” (Nguyen (2014:16)) Autonomy has been widely applied in language teaching with the pedagogical concerns on ‘learner-centered’ aims and methods that mainly focuses on the independent learner and how they think, learn and behave

According to Benson and Voller, “Such an approach is often characterized by tensions between responsibility and freedom from constraint; between the individual and the social; and between the view of language learning as a means to an end (autonomy for language learning) and as an end in itself (language learning for autonomy)” (1997: 5) There was always a duality in the definition of autonomy

Previous research

In 1980s, learner autonomy has been heated debate in language education under the influence of learner-centered teaching methods The main supporters in research into learner autonomy in the field of language learning remain Holec

2001, 2002, 2007), and more recently Benson (1996, 1997, 2001, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c) While Dam’s work has mainly involved working with children, many of her ideas and general principles are applicable to adult learners and she has worked closely with others in the field across sectors Holec (1979) raises a “foundational definition” of learner autonomy: “the ability to take charge of one’s learning” which is a skill ‘to be acquired by “natural” means or in a systematic, deliberate way.’ He believes in the absolute freedom of learners to direct all decisions concerning their learning – the what, when, how, in what order and by what means – and to work with ‘a reality which he himself constructs and dominates’ (Holec, 1981: 21) The society changing with its human-centered retails changes in institutional education with new methods No longer have the learners been dependent than they become the builders and controllers of their own learning in both learning styles and knowledge Therefore, learner autonomy also changes from “direct teaching” to

“self-instructed learning” However, “self-instructed learning” is not innate ability; it must be systematically and intentionally gained through formal teaching Besides, Little (2007) refers three fundamental rules for success in language teaching: learner involvement, learner reflection and target language use Little also puts forward some suggestions to the above rules

Learner autonomy has caught much attention of researchers all over the world for more than three decades More specifically, researchers have extensively investigated learner autonomy in second language learning, especially in developed countries Hereby, the researcher conducts the research in the context of Vietnam; therefore, similar studies in Asian and Vietnamese contexts will be considered to find the gap in the literature Concerning the empirical findings of previous studies in Asian contexts, Dafei (2007) concerns the relationship between learner autonomy and English proficiency of non-English majors in a Chinese college Statistical results reveal that English proficiency is significantly positive and linearly related to learner autonomy That means the more autonomous a learner becomes, the more likely he/she can achieve high language proficiency Moreover, learner autonomy tends to help students to effectively monitor and self-evaluate their learning process rather than the only large quantity of teachers’ efforts Besides that, learner motivation is also highlighted as a major factor promoting the efficiency of autonomous learning Also in Chinese contexts, the study “The Relationship between EFL learner’s Beliefs and Learning strategy Use” done by Yang is investigating the impact of awareness of the self-learning and motivation on language learning success In his study, Yang (1999) tried to answer the question of

“how are foreign/ second language learners’ beliefs about language learning related to their strategy use?” One of the studies which also mentions about self-learning or self-access is the study of Littlewood “Self-access: why do we want it and what can it do?” (In Benson and Voller, 1997:91) He claims that self-access is a means of encouraging autonomy in learning and communication but it has also some limitations Although self-access is strong both in the domain of receptive and productive skills the process of developing self-access or autonomy in learning process needs teacher involvement until the students are seen to be ready for being independent

In another development, Bacikanli (2010) finds that it is crucial for Turkish students to be involved in formulating the objectives of foreign language learning to make the learning process more meaningful Respondents show their clear perception of leaner autonomy and strong preference for a more autonomous learning environment They feel more confident and effective if they have freedom of choices of materials they employ in the classroom The research adds that developing language learners’ ability of self-assessment and self-reflection of their own competence will eventually encourage them to take greater responsibility for their own learning Additionally, Bancikanli (2010) points out that the prevalence of formal teacher-centered educational system in Turkey may hinder the readiness of learners in actual autonomous learning despite of an available well-constructed notion of teachers and learners

Recently, Tanyeli and Kuter (2013) examine the practice of learner autonomy in foreign language learning and instruction The study focuses on the practice of learner autonomy in language studying as a whole and specifically in English writing skill Using questionnaire and semi-structured interview protocols on a group of freshmen, their findings displayed that English learners have a positive attitude towards autonomous learning and be actively responsible for their own learning progress to become “a socially responsible learner” The study also finds out that language learners need to be carefully instructed by teachers through providing appropriate tools and opportunities to practice but it does not mean total dependence on teachers Surveyed students point out inappropriate instructional environment and designed curriculum as major problems inhibiting their autonomy in language learning On the other hand, surveyed teachers think that time constraint and learner passive participation in learning could not produce effective learning autonomy

The studies reviewed here have focused upon learner autonomy within a particular context of Asia The proposed study focuses on the role of learner autonomy in Vietnam In particular it concentrates on how student’s attitudes and their ability of learning by their will have an effect on students’ improvement The current study will be situated in Vietnam, so it is important now to discuss the research on learner autonomy in this context

However, in the context of Vietnam, where traditional teaching methods are commonly employed (Dang, 2010; Pham, 2008; Phan, 2006), research into learner autonomy has been limited Although, learner autonomy is not an entirely new term in Vietnamese educational settings, further research needs to be conducted to develop deeper understandings of learner autonomy and how it might be applied within Vietnamese classrooms

In details, researchers (Ho & Crookall, 1995; Littlewood, 1999) indicate that Eastern learners, including Vietnamese learners, share the same traditional beliefs of relational hierarchy in the classrooms, where the roles of teachers and learners are rooted deeply in people’s thinking In these classes, students tend to be very passive and dependent upon their teachers for learning The general debate has given rise to the vast volume of available related materials in Vietnam Although learner autonomy in Vietnamese contexts has been interpreted differently, in each case, the definitions include learners’ self-regulated skills such as planning, monitoring, and assessing or self-evaluating their own learning (Trinh, 2005;

Dang, 2010; Nguyen, 2010; Le, 2013) Those researchers agree that it is possible to train Vietnamese learners to be autonomous but the process also faces some challenges

For instance, Trinh (2005) conducts pre-test and post-test experiments on EFL first-year students at Can Tho University to investigate the effect of curriculum adaptation and innovation The results show that task-based language learning proves its efficiency in developing learner autonomy and communicative competence Moreover, four parameters of the curriculum (choices, interactions, task features and learner development) are set out to encourage students to integrate into independent learning Trinh (2005) disagrees with the view that (Vietnamese) learners themselves are not autonomous by nature The problem indeed lies on the educational system which should be designed to create learners’ opportunities to use the target language authentically and allow choices of what to do and how to do learning tasks

While Trinh (2005) uses a task-based approach, Nguyen (2010) explores the relationship between learner autonomy and students’ language proficiency through a learner-based approach She supports the definition of autonomous learning as the learners’ capability to self-initiate and self-regulate their learning Nguyen’s study indicated there exists a positive relationship between learner autonomy and students’ language proficiency Nguyen stated that “like other Asian learners…Vietnamese learners are autonomous The Vietnamese culture, did not inhibit but, facilitated learner autonomy” (Nguyen, 2010, p 295) However, “while the self-initiation of learners is not easily changed or improved through teaching, it is possible to enhance it through teaching learners meta-cognitive skills of planning, monitoring and evaluating” (Nguyen, 2009, p 295) Once again, Nguyen emphasizes that teaching meta-cognitive skills of planning, monitoring and evaluating could help learners to design their own learning strategies

Contributing to that literature, Dang (2010) examines the role of learner autonomy in higher education in Vietnam from a socio-cultural view Agreeing with

Ho & Crookall (1995), Dang states a fact that absorbing and memorizing is the popular philosophy of education practices in Vietnam Teacher-centered learning, big size class, rigorous test-oriented system, unequal opportunity to access internet could be considered as socio-cultural aspects which restrict the practice of learner autonomy in Vietnam (supported by M.H Nguyen, 2008; A.N Nguyen, 2011; C.T

Nguyen , 2011; N.T Nguyen, 2012; Phan, 2012) He found that three dimensions of teaching and learning process (resources, learner identities and practices) play an important role in promoting learner autonomy The study also suggests that it is better and easier for the teachers to actively involve their students in autonomous learning practice rather than negotiate with authority Therefore, autonomy- promoting teaching practices need to provide learners wider opportunities for negotiations and choices to help them find their own learning path Supporting that argument, N.T Nguyen (2012) found a good result of the active involvement of the teachers by conducting an experiment in a Vietnamese EFL class In her study, experimental learners have become more active and motivated when they are given chances to involve in class decision making by the teacher

The most recent research is recorded for T.N Nguyen (2014) In her thesis, Nguyen claims that learner autonomy in Vietnamese educational system is considered a Western-origin construct This study emphasizes the alignment between teachers’ beliefs and their actual teaching practices Teachers’ lack of understanding about learner autonomy and their subsequent teaching do not foster autonomous learning This results from their confusion of the construct and reluctance to transform course designing tasks to learners Even those, who have experienced Western educational environment, are still not confident to implement promoting-autonomous learning activities in their class

METHODOLOGY

The context of the study

The study was conducted in Foreign Trade University (FTU) As considered as one of the leading Universities in Vietnam, Foreign Trade University is well- known for training students to become businessmen in the future It is an urban- setting institution which attracts learners from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from small villages to big cities

Depending on students’ results of University entrance exam and majors, students are normally grouped into different classes of about 25 to 40 students In fact, they are at different English backgrounds While some are from urban areas and have learnt English for more than 10 years ( ranging from pre-intermediate to Intermediate level), others are from countryside and just have 3 years learning English ( elementary level) At university, students have to learn general English for the first two years, which focus on 4 English skills (Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing), and English for Specific Purposes in the third and fourth years Based on this, both teachers and students are aware of the importance of general English in the first and second years because they will provide them with a good background in order that they will develop more in the rest two years Since the open-door policy in 1986, Vietnam is on its way to integrate into the world economy In response to this tendency, Vietnamese people have been putting great efforts in acquiring English, one of the most widely-used languages in the world, for they know that future leaders are required to fully reflect a globalized mind A new language may open up a new horizon to Vietnam, and people’s lives may take up new opportunities Foreign Trade University (FTU), which is renowned for training future businesspeople, is regarded as one of the leading universities in Vietnam

Being aware of the importance of communication skills, the university has introduced IELTS module to the first-year high-quality students

Students in Foreign Trade University are placed in classes based on their majors in accordance with their grades of university’s entrance exam and age- groups A class normally consists of about 25 to 40 students Sadly, there is a wide range of ability in terms of English skills Some of the students who major in English have been studying this subject continually for 7 years in their secondary schools and high schools prior to enrolling into university This group of student is assumed to be at the pre-intermediate or intermediate level Whereas, some others have just learned English for 3 years in their high schools, or some others even learned different languages like Japanese, Korean or Chinese before they enroll in university These students are regarded as beginners when they study English In FTU, CLC is the term that refers to recognizing for achieving high grades or outstanding academic achievement on a coursework or an exam CLC first-year students in Foreign Trade University (FTU) aim at those who get high marks in the entrance examination to FTU and get over 620 of the TOEIC Entry Test Achieving such scores means these students in FTU can acquire basic necessary skills in English competence and ability to independently study (See Appendix 1) In this study, CLC can be understood by the meanings of honored, gifted, high-quality, fast-track These words can be used in different contexts for different purposes but share the same meanings

In the Faculty of English for Specific Purposes, half of the teachers, about thirty of them, are in charge of teaching the first year and second year students to help them form a basis of general English skills, which serves their majors in the two following years The others take the responsibility of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for the senior students and high-quality ones Most of them are well-educated and qualified for the job as a teacher of English Yet, there are still a few teachers who are not trained in the aspect of Teaching English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL), which leads to some limitations in their teaching competence

As a part of the syllabus designed by the Faculty of English for Specific Purposes, CLC learners in FTU have to study IELTS module in their first year

Students study this subject in two semesters with ten weeks for each In each of the two terms, there is a three-period lesson (each period lasts for 45 minutes) a week on this subject After ten weeks, students will take a final test like other subjects

The objective of the course is to equip students with basic skills of IELTS course so that they can easily meet the linguistics demands of first-year CLC students in FTU

The textbook which is assigned for the course is Improve your IELTS listening and speaking skills- Barry Cusack with reference book: IELTS grammar and vocabulary - Sam McCarter published by MacMillan This is a complete preparation course for the Listening and Speaking Modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Through targeted practice, it develops skills and language to help students achieve higher IELTS score in speaking and listening modules The reason why this book is chosen as the core book for the course is that students can use Improve your IELTS listening and speaking skills as a book for studying on their own or in a class If students are studying on their own, Improve your IELTS listening and speaking skills is designed to guide them step-by- step through the activities The book is completely self-contained: a clear and accessible key is provided, so they can easily check their answers as they work through the book There are two CDs which contain all the recorded material necessary for the Listening skills and Speaking skills sections of each unit There is also an audio script which contains all the exam listening material on the CDs If they are studying as part of a class, their teacher will direct them on how to use each activity Some activities, especially in the Topic talk and Speaking skills sections, provide the opportunity for speaking and discussion practice Improve your IELTS listening and speaking skills can help students improve their scores by developing skills, developing language and test technique The skills sections of each unit form a detailed syllabus of essential IELTS Listening There is coverage of Signpost phrases and Prediction skills The Topic talk part of each unit develops vocabulary, phrases, and sentence forms for use in the Listening and Speaking Modules Also, the Listening skills sections introduce learners to the skills they need to tackle the various types of question that can be asked Knowing the best way to tackle each type of question will enable them to get the best mark they can

The Faculty allocates only two semesters with ten weeks per semester for IELTS course while there are so many techniques that students must acquire This assessment framework is designed for the first year CLC students in the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi, Vietnam majoring in Business Management

They enrolled at the FTU after successfully passing the National Entrance Examination which comprised three subjects: mathematics, physics and chemistry

Most of them completed three-year English course at their high school while some had 6 years studying English at secondary and high school Few of them learned other foreign languages such as Russian or French or none at all The overall aim of the three-English course at high school is that after three years of learning English, the students should have general knowledge of basic grammar and an active vocabulary of about 1,000 words that they can use to talk about some familiar topics in the target language At high school, students are assessed through one end-of- semester examination which is mainly focused on grammar under the format of a written test

At the FTU, the four-year English course is divided into two halves, the first half is for teaching general English, the second half for business English (English for specific purposes) The academic year of first-year CLC students is divided into two semesters, each lasting 10 weeks finishing with an end-of-semester examination The first semester focuses on three main aims:

- To develop students’ ability of controlling basic grammatical aspects of English

- To enable students to receptively and productively use that knowledge of grammar

- To provide students with language models that will be directly relevant to be the students’ real needs

For the first semester, CLC students will be assessed by full 60-minute entry- term test and final test in terms of Reading and Listening skills Writing and Speaking skills are continuously assessed during the semester, and their band scores will be added to the attendance marks In FTU, IETLS will be converted to Vietnamese traditional marking system over 10 by a table of converting mark for first-year CLC students below (Table 2)

Table 2: Converting IELTS mark for first-year CLC students

IELTS band score Converting mark

There are two English teachers dealing with giving lectures to first-year CLC students during ten-week length of the module One of them deals with two lessons of Listening and Speaking and the other is in charge of teaching Reading and Writing skill It should be noted that the module focuses on training Listening and Reading skills while the remaining skills are taught for ministerial purposes The two lecturers will cooperate in designing the lessons and the way to organize the class so as to promote an open and supportive learning environment Also, they work with each other to make necessary adjustments in teaching method and updating materials to help students conduct their learning activities

The English curriculum framework which is based on the framework guided by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is designed by the English Faculty and approved by the University Academic Board Textbooks are set out in the framework that all teachers are required to exactly follow There is no diagnostic and formative assessment during the course Students have to sit for the only end-of-semester examination which may vary in types of tests (such as speaking, listening, writing, etc.), depending on the purpose of each semester This has constraints on assessing students during the course and on further improvement of students

In addition, there are limited resources and language lab facilities at the FTU

The library has few English books and some computers connecting to the internet

Three language labs are of 3339 ten booked out Tape recorders which are very old and have been used for a long time are the only teaching equipment available for use Fixed tables and chairs in the classroom do not promote an instructional learning environment and restricts collaborative activities Furthermore, a language class normally consists of 25 to 40 students This contributes to the constraints on assessing listening efficiency

Last but not least, time constraint is also an unavoidable problem in providing effectiveness of autonomous learning Language learning requires continuous practice and interaction but FTU first-year students have to study other modules at that time Also, first-year students need time to transform from passive learning style in high schools into new studying approach at university Therefore, lecturers need more time to undertake and assess the efficiency of autonomy-promoting strategies in the class.

Methodology

“large-scale” investigations to “small-scale” ones carried out by a single researcher

In particular, in survey research, the researchers do nothing to the subjects of research rather than collect data from them In other words, the data are gathered from people or things without altering anything (Nunan, (1992)) For this reason, this study made use of survey research which includes questionnaires and interviews

The questionnaires are used to collect quantitative data while the interviews should bring about qualitative one As stated by Bouma (1996, p.173), “both qualitative and quantitative approaches are essentials to the research process in social sciences.” As a means of quantitative research, questionnaires are believed to

“offer ways of testing hypothesis that are widely accepted or standardized” (Burns,

1999, p.2 2) The data collected from questionnaires are more amenable to quantification” than discursive data like the observers’ journals, field notes, and etc

Therefore, questionnaires were designed for students of IELTS listening to have a check over the students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning for IELTS listening

Meanwhile, interviews in qualitative research are of great help in “capturing people’s opinion, feelings and practice, their experience… ” (Wisker, 2001, p

164) The interviews are conducted to follow up the questionnaires for in-depth and broader information (p 165) In this study, the interview was implemented to chosen high quality students to find out their ability to self-regulate their learning towards IELTS listening skills

Moreover, entry tests and final tests are used as an additional instrument to find out whether students’ attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning affect their improvement in IELTS listening learning.

Research design

2.3.1 Sample and sampling The population included all first -year students in 7 CLC classes in the different departments of Business Management, Banking and Finance and International Economics; about 175 students The 36 students enrolling CLC program of the researcher from Business Management Department are the sample chosen for this study To achieve the aim of the study, questionnaires and interviews were used as the instruments to find the answers to research questions The survey questionnaires were carried out among three different categories of subjects From teaching experience in IELTS class, the researcher divided the class into 3 main categories based on IELTS listening band scores from the final test (See Table 4)

Category 1 included 11 students those got band scores above 7.0, category 2 consisted of 19 students those got band scores ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 and category

3 is made of 6 students those got band scores below 5.0 These students in both sexes are at the same age of 19 and assumed to be at the pre-intermediate level

Background information about the subjects of the study is shown below (Table 3) Table 3: Background information about the subjects of the study

The data of the student lists from the faculty of education and training enabled the researcher to have students’ personal information of gender and their English levels About 67% of the students are female while the remaining 33% are male This figure clearly shows that the number of female students doubles the number of male students in this class The researcher delivered the questionnaires to such different categories in order to investigate what are their attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning towards IELTS listening skill in CLC class in FTU

As an addition to the questionnaires, a semi-structured individual interview was conducted among 9 students of 3 groups based on their improvement of IELTS listening skill Their improvement was calculated by the gain from their entry test and final test There was a considerable improvement among group 1, a small improvement among group 2, and no improvement or slight improvement among group 3

A convenient sampling design was used in this study The researcher chose these students in the survey as a matter of convenience since the researcher was taking charge of these students during the period of the study That is to say, the researcher found it easier to contact them and persuade them to arrange time for an individual interview Individual interviews or face-to-face interviews are made use of in this survey after delivering questionnaires to each group, with the purpose of exploring more details about the relationship between students’ attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning and their final IELTS listening band scores Through individual interviews, the interviewer can pose questions that allow the respondents to explore their ideas more in-depth and avoid the influence of group dynamics and suppression of opinions by peers as would be found with focus group interviews (Johnson, 2011; Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) The researcher designed semi-structured interviews with a desire to encourage the participants to communicate as much as possible Semi-structured interviews use guides or probing questions so that information from different interviews is directly comparable (Kvale, 2007) The interview guide has a standard introduction and conclusion, but allows flexibility to vary the order of intervening questions to provide the natural flow of conversation (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009)

2.3.2 Research Instruments Data were collected through the employment of two main research instruments and an additional one, namely, questionnaires, interviews and tests, which will be discussed in details below

The first data collection instrument was survey questionnaires (Appendix 3:

A survey on student’s abilities and attitudes towards learning IELTS listening skill), which helped to answer the first research question of the study (1) What are students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning for IELTS listening? Nine multiple-choice items related to two sections respectively of students’ attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning towards IELTS listening learning were written in Vietnamese so that the respondents would have no difficulty in understanding the contents of language in the questionnaire Items on the survey questionnaire were constructed from the literature reviewed on definitions of learner autonomy in language learning and teaching As defined in Chapter 2, the working definition of learner autonomy in the current research is that “Autonomy refers to abilities and attitudes (or whatever we think “a capacity to control your own learning” which draws upon definitions for leaner autonomy by Cotterall ((1995:

21) and Little (2007: 14)) Questions in the survey questionnaire were designed with the purpose of having an overview of students’ attitudes and abilities towards their IELTS listening learning (See Appendix 3).This survey used a Likert-type scale

These types of scales are the most useful in descriptive educational research because the use of Likert-scales can help avoid loading participant with immense work and ensure an overall view of the focus of the research (Hinkin, 1995) The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese to assure that respondents did not have any language problems in understanding every statement item (see Appendix 3)

Instrument 2: Interviews The second research tool employed in this study was a semi-structured individual interview The interview design was divided into 2 parts Respondents were asked to share their background information in part 1, which helped the researcher investigate whether their background information have any effect on their autonomous learning and some questions about their abilities to self-regulate their learning were delivered in part 2 As mentioned in the literature review, some characteristics of autonomous and self-regulated learners are also investigated in the framework of the current research “The ability to take responsibility for learning often refers to learners’ ownership of many learning processes traditionally owned by teachers such as setting goals; choosing learning methods, materials and tasks; monitoring and evaluating progress (Ho and Crookall (1995: 235); Cotterall (1995:

195); Littlewood (1999: 71); Benson (2006: 21) Therefore, questions in the interviews were designed to find out whether these students possessed such characteristics, and whether there exists the relationship between these characteristics of autonomous learners and their final IELTS listening band score

During the interview, the researcher would add some other questions to make clear the responses of the interviewees These questions were open enough to allow the interviewees to express their thoughts, feelings, or opinions freely

Instrument 3: Tests Tests were used as a supplementary tool to see the students’ improvement by the way to calculate the gain from the entry tests and final tests Overall, all the data collected from questionnaires, interviews and tests could help the researcher to find the answers to the research questions and identify the effects of the students’ attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their IELTS listening learning on their improvement then

To see the improvement, the entry test and final test were identically designed in terms of the level of difficulty To ensure that the test form follows a structure of a real IELTS test, two listening tests were chosen from online IELTS tests bank in FTU published by Cambridge University Press Regarding the difficulty level, the entry test was easier than the final test because it intended to check the background of all students when they enrolled in the university On the other hand, the final test enhanced the level of difficulty since students were expected to already get used to IELTS listening practice and have their own strategies inferred from frequent practice As required by the university, students should achieve essential level of IELTS listening to meet the linguistic demand for first-year students so they should show their improvement from beginning points

The two tests consisted of almost all types of questions that students have been introduced during studying such as filling the gap, multiple choices, answer questions, etc The records were played once only and students were given 10 minutes to check their answers again The examining and scoring process were conducted strictly and followed the process of a real IELTS test so it should be expected that the results reflected students’ actual competence

Entry test and final test results provide direct indicators of participants’ performance during the semester Looking at the results, the researcher can see where performance improves and where not To ensure the quality of final results, the test must be carefully designed, meeting the requirements for a good test below

Reliability is one of the most important features of all tests in general, and language test in particular The concept of reliability refers to the degree of consistency with which it measures what it intended to measure It should be easier to understand this term after considering a simple example Suppose that a student takes a test of grammar including 100 questions for three times At the first time, he gets 90 correct answers out of 100 After 1 day, he does the test again and scores 45

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Results

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the survey questionnaires were carried out among three different categories of subjects based on their final band scores of IELTS listening test The following table represents students’ band scores of the final test of 3 categories

Table 4: The results of the final test of 3 categories

Category 1 included 11 students those got band scores above 7.0, category 2 consisted of 19 students those got band scores ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 and category

3 is made of 6 students those got band scores below 5.0 Hence, questionnaire results were investigated among these categories of subjects According to explanation of IELTS band scores of “IELTS guides for teachers” (2012), these categories of band scores can be assessed as some different types of users (Appendix

2) The questionnaire is designed with the expectation of obtaining learners’ attitudes towards their own learning IELTS listening, of how they feel about the IELTS listening module at FTU and how they manage their self-studying schedule

Since the questionnaire result implements qualitative information for the study in conjunction with quantitative data, it is simply designed in a small size including 9 questions Questionnaires were sent to the whole 36 participants at the end of the semester It is recorded that 36 responses were sent back and no response had missing values The results are then number-coded and calculated in percentages to easily see which answer is chosen by the majority a An investigation of category 1 (11 students)

Figure 1: Attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning of category 1

1 I am interested in learning IELTS listening skill

2 I focus on the information I need while listening to the recordings in class

3 I find listening materials on the Internet to practice listening at home for myself

4 I am satisfied with the listening lessons in IELTS module at Foreign Trade University

5 I am satisfied with my final band score

Section 2: Abilities to self-regulate my learning

6 I find it difficult to learn IELTS listening

7 I read IELTS guidebooks to find a good way for different IELTS listening tasks

8 I have other sources in my practice, apart from course books

9 I am able to evaluate my learning process

It is clear from the chart that although 100% students have a great interest in learning listening skill, it is undeniable that this skill is one difficult skill Almost students from this category have got difficulty in learning IELTS listening (82%)

When being asked about their own listening strategies, a large number of students in this category, namely 91% said that they all know some basic listening strategies for IELTS tests, 100% attentively listen to all the recordings that the teacher delivered at class and 82% kept good habits of listening to their home assignments Apart from that, about third quarters of this category (73%) have other sources for their own practice besides course books

The questionnaire also provides information about learners’ autonomous listening practice out of class and their thinking about its efficiency Despite of the fact that listening lessons in IELTS module have been carefully formulated for first- year high-quality students, not many participants (46%) are really satisfied with its design and exercises The same figures expressed that they are unable to evaluate their learning process while 27% said that they can and 27% have no idea about this

In short, in spite of their unobvious satisfaction of IELTS module in FTU and difficulty in learning process, most participants in category 1 felt great passion in learning IELTS and found their own ways to learn and practice to get better results in final IELTS band scores b An investigation of category 2 (19 students)

ITEMS AGREE NO IDEA DISAGREE

5 I am satisfied with my final band score 0

6 I find it difficult to learn IELTS listening

It can be seen from the graph that the majority of participants in category 2 lies in the support of their interest in learning IELTS listening skill, the difficulty level of listening skill and their own practice in home assignments with 89.5%, 79% and 73.8 % respectively However, above half of them (52.7%) have a good knowledge of IELTS listening strategies, only 15.7% among them tried to search more references to learn and practice, apart from course books

In terms of self-evaluation, a rather similar number of subjects in this category in comparison with those in category 1 do not have ability of evaluating their process of learning (47.4%) The surprising figure of 0% among participants showed their satisfaction with their final band score of IELTS listening Moreover, 15.7% and 36.9% respectively have no idea of listening lessons in IELTS module at FTU and their final IELTS listening scores

In summary, although not many subjects in this category are completely interested in learning IELTS listening like those in category 1, they have a certain knowledge of learning strategies and are well-aware of their responsibility of attentively listening to recordings at class and doing further practice at home

However, this category does not have a good choice of more materials for self- learning and self-practicing, apart from their course books c An investigation of category 3 (6 students)

5 I am satisfied with my final band score 0

Section 2: Abilities to control my own learning

6 I find it difficult to learn IELTS listening 6

This category consists of a few students (6); hence, it is easier to find out that their attitudes and self-learning from the chart It is obvious that 100% students find IELTS listening tests so hard to learn; therefore, it is understandable that two thirds among them disliked learning this skill The majority of this category do not know IELTS listening strategies, do not listen to their home assignments and consequently do not have any further references for more practice (83%, 67% and 83% respectively) Half of them have no idea of paying much attention to recordings at class, even 17% do not listen carefully Surprisingly, no one has ability of self-evaluating, no one is satisfied with listening lessons in IELTS module and, as a matter of fact, all of them show their unsatisfactory of their final band score

In order to hold an overall view of attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning of these 3 categories, figures 4, 5, 6 were designed to summarize the results of the questionnaire in terms of three aspects, namely agreement, no idea or neutral idea and disagreement among the whole sample

Figure 4: Comparison among 3 categories in terms of their agreement

Figure 5: Comparison among 3 categories in terms of their “no idea”

Figure 6: Comparison among 3 categories in terms of their disagreement

It is clear from figure 4 that category 1 shared the same passion in learning IELTS, attention at class, other sources in practice and rather satisfaction with IELTS module with category 2 They also found their own ways to learn and practice to get better results in final IELTS band scores than the remaining category

In other words, in spite of their greater difficulties in learning listening skill, category 3 show their less interest in their own learning and less knowledge of listening strategies They even had no references for further practice and expressed their dissatisfaction with IELTS module and their final band scores It is clearer to state their indifference to their learning with the highest level of no attention at class and no assignments and other sources to practice at home (See figure 5 and figure 6) in comparison with category 1 and category 2 In short, unlike other categories, students in category 3 do not have a good sense of learning IELTS listening

Findings

What are the students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning for IELTS listening?

As mentioned in previous chapter, autonomous learners in this study is defined as those possess “attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning”

Hence, the researcher tried to investigate her students’ attitudes and abilities to self- regulate their learning towards IELTS listening at FTU in the first question On the whole, the study results indicate that subjects in different categories have different attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning In other words, those who have better attitudes and abilities to self-regulate their learning got better results than others Despite their unobvious satisfaction of IELTS module in FTU and difficulty in learning process, most participants in the category 1 of high band scores felt great passion in learning IELTS and found their own ways to learn and practice to get better results in final IELTS band scores Among category 2 of average band scores, although not many subjects in this category are completely interested in learning IELTS listening like those in category 1, they have a certain knowledge of learning strategies and are well-aware of their responsibility of attentively listening to recordings at class and doing further practice at home However, this category does not have a good choice of more materials for self-learning and self-practicing, apart from their course books From the survey results, all the participants in category 3 of low band scores find it difficult to learn IELTS listening skill and most of them disliked learning this skill The majority of this category do not know IELTS listening strategies, do not listen to their home assignments and do not have any further references for more practice Half of them have no idea of paying much attention to recordings at class, even some do not listen carefully Surprisingly, no one has ability of self-evaluating, no one is satisfied with listening lessons in IELTS module and, as a matter of fact, all of them show their unsatisfactory of their final band score In short, unlike other categories, students in this category do not have a good sense of learning IELTS listening

How do students’ attitudes towards autonomous learning affect their IELTS listening tests?

Results from the interview show that the students seems to have a positive attitudes towards self-regulated learning Findings also show that planning, initiating, monitoring and self-evaluating were the common strategies they use to self-regulate their learning These findings are similar to other studies (e.g Dang, 2010; Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2010; Trinh, 2015) Generally, that means the more autonomous a learner becomes, the higher performance they achieve Scoring results and their sharing during the time of the interviews show that groups have the ability of setting the goals, monitoring their learning to reach the goals, identifying the role of teachers in class and their responsibility of their own learning and assessing their learning process performs significantly better than other groups

Some of students even got an excellent IELTS band score which exceeds their teacher’s expectation The improved performance of some students is believed to be a result of their active practice outside the class Even one of the participants showed their portfolio of IELTS listening tasks designed by their own (See Appendix 6) Obviously, they are able to self-search more listening materials and reference papers at home to practice by themselves Under the control of the teacher, they well performed by their own learning methods

In addition, the role of the teacher is also stressed in promoting the positive effect of learner autonomy on learning performance Interview results represents a high appreciation of learners for useful instructions from their tutor Important skills of autonomous learning such as selecting quality sources of reference, time management and self-evaluation have been proven to help students to acquire more comprehensively the lesson and apply appropriate strategies to achieve high band scores of IELTS listening

However, there also exists difference in performance among participants of the same group Firstly, few cases have been found to dim the role of learner autonomy in improving learning performance In particular, learner background of English and aptitude can help a learner to achieve a high IELTS listening score rather than their practice Those learners already have a solid background of English or have an inherent ability for learning English so they do not need to spend much time on independent learning However, those cases should not be overstated to reject the importance of autonomous learning activities In addition, learner beliefs, personality and preference to English learning are also found to have an effect on learner performance Learners starting at a lower level show a lack of self- confidence in learning English Therefore, despite their hard working at home, they could not achieve their target scores Also, the overall performance was found to be a result of how a learner knowing about himself, i.e a learner self-concept of his own competence, strengths and weaknesses Moreover, a learner performance could be better if they have preference to learning English The quantitative as well as qualitative results provide evidence that those who prefer to study English could have a high motivation to keep continuous progress and reach their goals Last but not least, listening strategies for learning IELTS were highlighted by most of the students in the interviews It is proven that autonomous learning could be wasteful if the learner does not have appropriate learning strategies Once again, the teacher plays an important role in providing tutorials and encouraging students to commit themselves to studying in and outside the class In other words, the autonomous learning could result in a better performance but how better a learner performs depends on their own ways and ability of managing independent learning That fact implies other factors determining a learner performance besides learner autonomy, giving another chance for the researcher to further study if possible

In general, the questionnaire and interview results provide evidence to confirm the positive effect of learner autonomy on improving IELTS listening band score of FTU first-year students and also the answers to the research questions.

DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Contribution of the study to existing literature

The study findings provide an evidence of investigating the effects of autonomous learning in IELTS class at a well-known university of Vietnam It fills the gap in existing literature which has not recorded any research about the effect of learner autonomy in improving listening skill at Foreign Trade University

Related to our study, similar researches which can help us to direct and support our study are searched but in fact any study which has researched the same items was found Some of the studies that are mentioned in the following show some similarities with our study considering the autonomous learning and learners

The study “The Relationship between EFL learner’s Beliefs and Learning strategy Use” done by Yang is investigating the strategy use from a wider perspective The similarity of our research and this research is the impact of awareness of the self- learning and motivation on language learning success In order to succeed in language learning or specifically in language skills learning the students are trying to find some solutions to the difficulties they have in learning such as the use of appropriate strategies The result of the study implies that if the learners are autonomously aware of what they are doing and what they want to do with the information they are acquiring they with a high possibility may tend to find out solutions for their problems of learning

Another study held by Harris (1997), is discussing the issue of self- assessment of the learners He claims that self-assessment is a key learning strategy for autonomous language learning, enabling the students to monitor their progress and relate learning to individual needs The result of the study shares the same ideas with Harris Students are often passive in their approach to learning, and may become demotivated if they cannot see any clear progress But improvement in language is matter of time and also this time can change from one learner to another related to the ability and capacity If the learners are not aware of their individual differences or they are inadequate in applying certain strategies that can help them to solve their problems in learning process, they may be easily demotivated and won’t be eager for an autonomous learning medium In this study as the listening being a difficult and time taking language skill to develop, when some of the students had some difficulties they lost their motivation and self-belief for being successful Since being demotivated, the self-assessments of these learners are not applied appropriately and as a command of the researcher this matter of fact affected the results of the relationship between autonomous learning and development of listening comprehension

Moreover, it cannot be denied that attitudes and learning motivation also distribute to other conditions of learner autonomy Although there is no distinct difference between motivation and attitudes, researchers have so far agreed that learners with positive attitudes toward the subject and high motivation are likely to be successful in second language learning (Gardner, 1985) Caroll (1962) also stated that “The more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she will spend learning an aspect of a second language.” Based on the findings made by Garner and Lambert, Labonde (1982) drew the conclusions “Motivation and attitudes are important factors, which help to determine the level of proficiency achieved by different learners” and “The effects of motivation appear to be separated from the effects of aptitude The most successful learner will be those who have both talent and a high level of motivation for learning while Little claims that “genuinely successful learners have always been autonomous”, that educators must ‘help more learners to succeed” rather than following learner autonomy as an explicit goal (Little, 1995: 175)

Supporting the conclusions of Dafei (2007); Balcikanli (2010); Kamberi (2013); Tanyeli and Kuter (2013), this research confirms that autonomous learning has improved student performance in the case of first-year students It also offers an insight into how learners perceive the importance of learning autonomy in studying English and how they actually adopt independent learning to get higher band scores

The good quality of quantitative and qualitative information provided by the research could be a good source of reference for further research.

Recommendations

From the findings of the study, some suggestions for practice can be drawn so as to help teachers and learners promote autonomous learning, hence, enhance the efficiency of learning as a whole

Firstly, teachers, as the tutors, should encourage their students to engage in out-side-the classroom tasks in order to increase their autonomous behaviors by giving students more responsibilities, cultivating positive attitude and guiding reflection However, it should be noted that not all the identified strategies suit individual preference Since learner autonomy generally go hand in hand with outside-the classroom learning, it would be best to assign some tasks that might appeal to their interests and needs For example, English listening autonomous practice can be conducted with the help of movies, music audios or other visual tools which make it more interesting to commit to learning Moreover, following the suggestions of teachers, learners can choose which source of listening that is related to their favorite things and appropriate to their English levels As a result, learners can be able to manage their own learning progress but still under the control of their tutor to some extents

Secondly, learners should be encouraged to share their experience of autonomous learning outside the class to their classmates and the teacher In addition, each learner has his/her own approach and style of learner autonomy so their selection of learning materials and references could be, in turn; a rich source to update the teacher’s teaching materials

Thirdly, as the center of autonomous learning, learners should show their active and positive involvement in autonomous learning activities It was found that teacher just plays the role of an instructor but the overall performance greatly depends on learner beliefs and preference to learning English For those who do not have a good background of English, they need to put more efforts and engage themselves in designing their own targets to achieve That gives them motivation to keep trying to reach their final goals Self-evaluation skill should also be stressed in independent learning Learners should understand themselves and know where to adjust their learning approach

Finally, the university managers should be concerned about spreading out the practice of learner autonomy in English education Since autonomous learning is a new approach to foreign language learning and foreign language teaching, the primary focus of this approach is on the learner’s individual awareness of learning process As a result, the curriculum will need to go over the course objectives and design tasks or materials in order to enhance autonomous learning Feedback from students should be analyzed and discussed among educators and module leaders to understand the basic principles and aspects of autonomous learning The result of these phases could be integrated into curriculum development For instance, teachers will be encouraged to conduct action research in their classrooms and provide students compulsory tasks like project works, portfolios, journal writing which will enable them to take responsibilities Moreover, education managers should consider the idea that students can be involved in the decision making process concerning the objectives of the course, classroom management, homework tasks and the selection of materials

Summary of results and findings

of autonomous learning and the effects of learner autonomy method in IELTS listening skill Results of the questionnaires and interviews reveal the fact that IELTS listening autonomous learning under lecturers’ control and instructions enables first-year high quality FTU students to perform significantly better In other words, the study can achieve the aims and the objectives set before, and that fact gives answers to the research questions These results lead to the following conclusions:

Firstly, students who were given guidance and tips can manage their own independent work at home effectively They also have freedom of choices of appropriate reference books and sources which they can freely self-search as suggested The method shows its advantage of the active role of learners on their own studying progress without strong pressure Although it cannot be said that the effects of learning autonomy has been completely tested and proved through doing this research, the overall performance has turned out to be better on the chosen sample

Secondly, teachers may need to adjust their teaching method to fit learners’ competence and targets These results are similar to previous studies conducted in language learning such as Dafei (2007); Balcikanli (2010); Joshi (2011); Morrison (2011); Kamberi (2013) In addition, regarding the practice of autonomous learning in language education for freshmen, the study provides evidence to support findings of Tanyeli and Kuter (2013)

Additionally, the results from this study underline the importance of learner autonomy not only in listening practice but also in studying as a whole It can be clearly seen that preparation before lectures and wise selection of reference sources promote students’ full commitment to their own studying process, hence, help them to achieve high performance

Furthermore, the interviewing results reveal some interesting facts about the causal relationship between the practice of learning autonomy and learner performance As proved, most of students have improved their IELTS listening score as a result of frequent practice at home However, few outliers in the entry test and final test results do not follow that logic Several students could not achieve the scores as their expectation although they are hard-working before each lesson

Possibly, inappropriate approach of autonomous learning has led to that situation which should be expected to occur in studying other first-year modules as well In contrast, few participants perform well without awareness or frequent practice of learning autonomy Interviewing results show two reasons of that situation First, they may have a solid English background resulting from a long time studying English at high school Second, they may have an aptitude of studying English listening, i.e they have an inherent ability of memorizing new sounds and understanding the situational function of words in different contexts However, it should be noted that there is just a minority of those cases recorded.

Limitations

is unavoidable that the study faces some limitations

The first shortcoming is that the study is conducted on limited subjects from a single education organization Limited size of the sample makes it difficult to neutralize extraneous differences when conducting the statistical analysis

Moreover, some outliers in the data obtained from students may overstate the variance in the population As a result, the results of this study can develop the practice of autonomous learning at FTU, especially, for first-year high quality students Other education institutions can take it as a source of reference in designing their curriculum but it cannot be generalized as a common principle for every context

Another limitation of the study is that students are chosen from the class in which the researcher is responsible for giving lectures It can be argued that each teacher has his/her own teaching style determining by his/her personality and background, hence, the approach and assessment cannot avoid subjective view of the teacher It would be more objective if more lecturers participate in conducting the research on a larger number of students Moreover, although the researcher conducted individual interviews and delivered questionnaires to students with comfort, results from interviews and questionnaires can limit the reliability because some of participants could not tell the truth.

Suggestions for further research

In spite of contribution of the study to existing literature and practice, one dilemma still remains unexplored concerning the problem: “Will these students believe in the importance of learner autonomy and develop it for themselves in learning other modules or acquiring new knowledge?” Due to limited scope, this study has not provided solutions to keep learners motivating themselves to be independently involved in learning outside the class Since autonomous learning should finally be a skill of a learner, the solution to make it continuous process is still open for further research

Moreover, during the study, the researcher finds out that the autonomous learning could result in a better performance but how better a learner performs depends on their own ways and ability of managing independent learning That fact implies other factors determining a learner performance besides learner autonomy, giving another chance for the researcher to further study if possible

Regarding the size of the testing sample, further research can investigate the same problem but on a larger scale such as university or industrial scale, or at other levels of education system, for instance, in the elementary or middle schools throughout the country or around the world It would make it possible for generalizing common rules to apply for teachers and educators

Another subject that also remains to be explored is how to determine whether the learner autonomy of male and female learners is related to English proficiency or not In other words, further research can seek the answer for the question “Is gender a factor affecting autonomous learning efficiency?” If proven, it can provide appropriate autonomous activities designed particularly for male and female learners to improve their English proficiency

In conclusion, all above sharing contributes the researcher’s teaching method applied to high quality first year students in Foreign Trade University, with the purpose of IELTS learner autonomy evaluation in relation to linguistic demands of university study of freshman, in Foreign Trade University Even though this method still reveals both advantages and disadvantages; in this study, the researcher hopes that advantages will overweigh disadvantages The contribution is of great interest to motivate students passionate in learning, then development

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APPENDICES Appendix 1: TOEIC TEST READING SCORE PROFICIENCY TABLE

600 Your scaled score is close to

600 Test takers who score around 600 typically have the following strengths:

• They can infer the central idea and purpose of a written text, and they can make inferences about details

• They can read for meaning

They can understand factual information, even when it

• They can connect information across an entire text, and they can make connections between two related texts

• They can understand a broad range of vocabulary, unusual meanings of common words and idiomatic usage

They can also make distinctions between the meanings of closely related words

• They can understand rule- based grammatical structures They can also understand difficult, complex and uncommon grammatical constructions

Test takers who score around

600 typically have weaknesses only when the information tested is particularly dense or involves difficult vocabulary

(Applied in Foreign Trade University)

Appendix 2: IELTS scores – Explanation of results

A SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ ABILITIES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS

The purpose of this questionnaire is to explore student’s attitudes and abilities to control your own learning towards learning IELTS listening skills There are no correct or incorrect responses; I am merely interested in your personal point of view All responses to this questionnaire are completely confidential and will be used for research purpose only This questionnaire will take you approximately 10 minutes to fill out Thank you very much for your time and cooperation!

Section 1: Attitudes (Thái độ học tập)

1 I am interested in learning IELTS listening skill (Tôi thích học nghe IELTS)

(Tôi tập trung vào những dữ liệu cần thiết khi nghe các bài nghe trên lớp)

(Tôi tìm tài liệu nghe trên mạng để tự thực hành nghe ở nhà)

4 I am satisfied with the listening lessons in IELTS module at Foreign Trade University (Tôi hài lòng với những bài học nghe IELTS tại trường Đại Học Ngoại Thương)

5 I am satisfied with my final band score (Tôi hài lòng với kết quả cuối cùng mình đạt được)

6 I find it difficult to learn IELTS listening (Tôi thấy việc học nghe IELTS là khó)

(Tôi đọc sách hướng dẫn học IELTS để tìm cách nghe hiệu quả những loại bài nghe IELTS khác nhau)

(Tôi có tài liệu để thực hành nghe ngoài giáo trình)

9 I am able to evaluate my learning process (Tôi có khả năng đánh giá quá trình học của mình)

Appendix 4: Interview protocol Part 1: Background Information

1 What is your full name?

3 What is your IELTS band score?

4 How long have you been learning English?

5 What are your contact details?

- Mobile number Part 2: Interview questions

1 Have you set the goals for learning IELTS listening before the semester?

2 What are your goals of learning IELTS listening?

3 What do you do to achieve your goals?

4 How do you know you have achieved your goals?

5 How often do you evaluate your progress?

6 How do you feel when achieving the goals/ or not achieving the goals?

1 Vũ Phương Lê Part 1: Background information A: Good morning What is your name?

B: Good morning My name is Vũ Phương Lê A: And your age now?

B: I’ m nearly 19 years old A: What is your IELTS band score?

B: 7.5 A: How long have you been learning English?

B: 11 years A: What are your contact details?

B: You can contact with me by email address: vuphuongletn@gmail.com or my mobile number: 01644688401

A: I would like to ask you some questions about your learning IELTS listening Are you comfortable?

A: Thank you Have you set the goals for learning IELTS listening before the semester?

A: When the semester comes to an end, can you achieve the goals that you set before?

B: Over my expectation, 7.5 Afterwards I am totally confident in my listening skill

A: How do you feel when achieving the goals?

B: Awesome A: What are your goals of learning IELTS listening?

B: 6.0 A: What do you do to achieve your goals?

B: Apart from course books and some tips from handouts that you delivered to us at class, I search for more references such Cambrigde IELTS and Listening strategy for the IELTS tests for further practice I practice listening every day and find chances to speak and listen to foreigners

A: How can you get such chances?

B: I keep the habit of going to some English Clubs in FTU and voice chat on social networking via Viber or Skype

A: How do you know you have achieved your goals?

B: I have all listening tasks done and check the tape scripts to find the correct answers

2 Nguyen Thi Quynh Linh Part 1: Background information A: Good afternoon What is your name?

B: Good afternoon My name is Nguyen Thi Quynh Linh

A: You are a first-year student and you are 19, now?

A: What is your IELTS band score?

B: I got 7.0 IELTS band score A: How long have you been learning English?

B: I have learn English since I was at grade 6 so it has been 8 years

A: What are your contact details?

B: My email address is: linhnguyenthiquynh@gmail.com

My mobile number is: 0967 623 628 Part 2: Interview questions

A: I would like to ask you some questions about your learning IELTS listening Are you happy to answer all?

B: Yes, I think to success we must have the target, so does learning IELTS listening test I not only want to get the higher score for the IELTS listening test but also for the total test

B: I have set my score is 7.5 and as higher as possible A: What do you do to achieve your goals?

B: To achieve the goals, I think there are many ways and everyone has her methods by herself In my opinion, it is a process to get the high IELTS listening score

About me, I not only study from course books and handouts from the teacher, I think it is not enough I usually self-study for more references from books published by Cambridge, practice listening everyday through some websites like: elllo.org, learningenglish.voanews.com… I often listen the TED talks, I think they are very effective, I am accustomed to the different kinds of tone, they speak English with the different accents such as: American accent, Australian accent, Britain accent…

They have some different points, fast or slow speaking speed… All of them help me improve my listening skill Sometimes instead of listening the news, it is quite boring I watch the movie without Vietsub and guess what they said It is quite difficult because there are many new vocabularies or even I sometimes miss the words which I knew due to their speaking speed

B: By the final band score

A: How often do you evaluate your progress?

B: Very often I do the tests by myself and check how many correct answers that I can have

A: How do you feel when achieving the goals?

B: When achieving the goals, I am certainly very happy I am proud of myself about what I can do But I won’t forget to learn very often to improve my English listening skill I think to get the best result which I can, I have to study very hard

The goal which I set is not easy to reach so I must practice more The higher score, the better for me So maybe I still spend time on learning more before having a real test

3 Phung Ba Ngoc A: Good afternoon What is your name?

B: Good afternoon My name is Ngoc and my full name is Phung Ba Ngoc

B: I’ m over 19 years old A: What is your IELTS band score?

B: My band score is 8.5 A: How long have you been learning English?

B: Generally, I’ve learnt English for 13 years

A: What are your contact details?

B: You can contact me by my email: bangoc.fbe@gmail.com or through my phone number: 0934281682

A: I would like to ask you some questions about your learning IELTS listening Are you happy to answer all?

B: Listening comprehensive and gain higher score for the skill (8.5) A: What do you do to achieve your goals?

B: I choose some materials to practice such as VOA Special English, Youtube, Tactics Listening, American Accent training and Vocabulary in use…

B: They are quite effective to me because they bring daily life issues with updated news and facts; which are close to my normal life, and help me improve my vocabulary quickly

Apart from, I usually study with my friends For example, my friends and I exchange some listening passages for each other We create questions about the passages on our own to ask each other, which helps us understand deeper In fact, we did have one portfolio for ourselves

A: Oh, really? Can I have a look at it later?

B: Certainly, my dear Moreover, I set the goals for each week or each month From that, I can find out my strengths and weaknesses and try to improve myself

B: I did all the tests by myself and checked the keys to have my final band score

A: How often do you evaluate your progress?

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