Forming and developinglistening skills in english for sixth and seventh graders at vietnam junior high schools

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIE S Y , FORMING AND DEVELOPINGLISTENING SKILLS IN ENGLISH FOR SIXTH AND SEVENTH GRADERS AT VIETNAM ,JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS i\ thesis submitted in partial fulfillm ent or the requirements lor the degree or ki aster I' i\ rts (' n.so L) Submitted by NGU YEN TIll LAN TI IANII , i_ LA ' ~ " L·' _ - ; l - Acudcmic Supervisor LE '1'1 -11 TI IANI-I , Ph.D ; ~ i Hochiminh city Octobe r 2005 STATJF:MENT OF AUTHORSHIP r hereby certify tha t th is th e si s e n title d "Forming and Developin g Listening Skills in En g lish for Sixth and Seventh Graders at Vie tna m Junior High Schools" is my ow n wo rk Thi s the sis s not be e n su b m itte d for th e a w ard of a ny de g re e o r d ip lo ma in a ny other in stituti on Hochirninh City Oc to ber 20 , 2005 Nguye n Th i Lan T hanh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, my thanks go to Dr Le Thi Thanh who s given me valuable and generous assistance over the lengthy period of researching and writing this thesis Without her careful guidance and encouragement I could not have finished this thesis Secondly, I am indebted to all my teachers for their helpful instructions during the course; to my Director who has given me the time and opportunity to complete my Ma ster especially to Miss Sheila for her valuable studie s; and revisions and suggestions for this thesis Thirdly, I would like to thank all of my colleagues and the students for their help with data collection, and their cooperation and participation in the study Finally, thanks go to my family I would like to thank my parents who have givcn me much cncouragement and help; and to my husband for his support and understanding II ABSTRACT Vietnam e se stude nts have show n defects 111 the ir ah ility to listen to Eng lish Listenin g compreh en sion on any kind of tes t see ms to be the most diffi cult part for which Vietn am e se stude nts a lwa ys ge t poor mar ks Can we cre ate ways to form a nd de vel op listenin g s kills for Vie tna mese student s imm ediate ly from their hc ginniu g stages of le arnin g English to help the m o vercome the se defec ts? T hat is the qu e stion guid ing this the sis which I ve e ntitled " f or ming a nd De ve lopi ng Liste ni ng Skills in Eng lish for Si xth a nd Sev e nth G rade rs a t Viet nam Ju nior High Sc hoo ls " As defined hy the j unio r high schoo l curr iculum these stude nts ar c a ll ;It a he ginni ng leve l of Eng lish with limit ed or eve n no proficien cy in und ersta ndin g a nd spea king English a nd lillie or no skill in readin g a nd writing Eng lish My first a im in this the si s wa s II I desc ribe the ge ne l te ach ing a nd le arnin g situa tion of English in Vie tna m j unior high sc hoo ls a nd the co m mo nly used tea chin g method s Thi s led me to loo k critica lly a t the typica l role s o f te ach ers in teachin g English es pe cia lly in a listen ing class since the laun ch o f the ne w seri e s of English te xtb ooks for stude nts a t j unior high schools To obta in informa tion relati ve to the ar ea s menti on ed in the g uid ing q ues tio n of the study ~ de sign e d a survey usi ng a que sti o nnaire an assessm ent of liste ning tc st se d O il t he co ntent of the tc xthonks a nd a co-re Iation a I a na lysis for bo th s ixth an d se ve nth g de rs learnin g from the te xtbooks Ti en g /\ 11 11 O Ti cn g ;\1111 In additi on in orde r 10 discove r the opinions a nd te aching methods o f te achers (If sixth a nd seve nth g rades a q ue st ionn aire for the tea ch ers was e mploye d I II The d ata co llecte d reveal ed valuable in formatio n whi ch could be o f benefit for teaching a nd le arn in g E ng lish First o f a ll, for mi ng a nd de ve lo p in g listening sk ills for beginn ers of s ix th a nd seventh grades is w hat we te a ch e rs ca n o n ly when w e a re able to act as teache rs connecting s tude nts a nd the language Secondl y, stude nts' re sponse s a nd performan ce o n th e list ening te st revealed that th eir list enin g a b ility w a s not in proporti on to th eir le arning time So , forming and de velopin g list ening sk ill to geth er wi th o the r s ki lls s to be a n important part in any Engli sh tea ching program o f ES Lrr EFL And fina lly , th ough te aching listenin g sk ill ,to junior hi gh sc hool stude n ts is a compl etely o new thing for junior high te ache rs, a nd is rather diffi cult for m any teach ers w ho a re used to te a chin g E nglis h th rou gh Vi etn am ese, te a chers ve show n th e ir efforts in appl yin g new m ethods in te a ching listen ing a nd s peak in g to lay a good fo unda tio n for beg inne rs o f Eng lis h a s a requ irem ent by th e M inis try of Ed ucatio n In a n a ttemp t to co ntri bute a sys te matic lo o k at the teachers' roles a nd s tude nts ' actua l per form an ce to ge nera l ins ti tu tio na l process o f for m ing a nd de vel op ing listeni ng sk ill for beg inn ers of 1h a nd th grades, the a uthor o f th is th e si s wi shed to o ffer a de pi ct ion (If th e se matte rs in th e a na lysi s and interpretation o f th e data co lle ct e d M o st im porta n tly , reco m me nda tio ns we n: s ugge s te d ba sed on this perception Be cause o f th e lim it of tim e a nd scope o f the s tudy , th ere must be limitati on s Ho w e ver, be cau se te a chi ng listenin g s kill • to j u n ior high school s tude nts is a comple tel y ne w thin g w hich cau sed ma ny trove rs ia l m atters, this s tudy ca n he use d o n both eva lua tive and instru ct ion al le vel s w he n there see m s to be ve ry few papers m en tio n te a ch ing l istenin g s ki lls III Eng lis h fo r V ietn a m e se jun ior hig h s tudent s in an effe ctive way IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page i St atement of authorship Acknowledgements , ii iii Abstract T abl e of contents v viii List oftablcs List of figure s ,, Abbreviation s " , :\ :\i INTH.ODlJc·rl()N 0.1 WilY I CIIOSE THI S TOPi C 0.2 AIMS OF TillS STI JJ)Y WITII AN OV ERVIEW OF TIlE TH ESIS 0.3 ORGANIZATION O F 'nu : STUDy Chapter I BACKGROUND TO Tim STUDY 1.1 A SUMMARY O F GE NERAL LISTN EING PROBL EMS 1.2 A DESCRIPTION OF T EACIIIN G ENG LISH AND POP ULAR T EACHING METHODS USE D IN VIET NAM MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS 1.3 TEACHING ENGLISIIIN VIETNAM MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS IN 'n u: NEW CONTE XT 1.4 A SUMMARY OF TIENG ANII (j AND TIENG ANI! SYLLABUS AND REQUIREM ENTS Chapter LITERATURE I~EVJEW DIFFERENT Or::FINITIONS OF LIST ENING v JI 11 2.2 THE NATURE or LIST ENING , 12 2.3 LIST ENI NG IN /\ FO REIGN LANG UAG E 13 2.4 T HE RELATI O NSHIPS OF LIST EN ING TO OTH ER AS PECTS AND SK ILLS 16 2.4.1 Th e relation between liste ning and ot her aspects 1() 2.4 The relation between liste ning and speaking 2.4.3 Listening and Read ing , 19 , 2.5 FACTORS AF I'I:C rl NCi T i lE LISTE NING PROCT SS 2.5 Thc listener : 2.5 Thc spea ke r 21 , , 21 , 2.5.3 T he conte nt 1R , , , 22 22 2.5.4 Visual Aids 22 2.5.5 Th e physical mechan ism of the ca rs 23 2.5.() T he degree ofattent ion 2:\ 2,(1 T I II:OR IES AND SOME IU':LATIT) STU DIES 24 2.7 S UMMA Ry 27 29 C pte r M ETHODOLOGY RESEA RCH Q UEST IONS 29 3.2 RES EA RCH D ES[Ci N , 30 3.2 S ubjects , 32 3.2.2 Instrum en ts: Question na ires new textb ooks, listening assessme nt te st 3.2.3 Data co llection procedures 3.3 S UMMARy 35 36 , 38 Chaptcr4 DATA ANALYSI S AND INTERPRETATION 39 4.1 RESPONS ES TO SU RVE Y QUE STI ONNAIRES 4.2 RESPONS ES TO THE LIST ENING ASSES SMENT T EST 39 47 4.3 RESPONSES TO TH E SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE S FROM SIXTH AND SEVE NTH GRADE T EACHERS 63 4.3.1 Teachers ' background information 64 4.3.2 Te achers' opinions and att itud es 65 4.3.3 Teach ers' prac tical meth ods for teaching the listening ski ll 69 4.4 SUMM ARy 74 Cha pter FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION S 75 5.1 FIND INGS 75 5.2 RECOMM EN DATIONS 78 5.2 The roles of classroom teach ers I Serv ing as a bridge between the language and stude nts 78 78 As a conductor creatingan effecti ve cla ssroom env ironme nt 5.3 SUGGETED APPLICABLE T ECHNI Q UES 81 82 5.3.1 Compr,ehens ion befor e produ ction 83 5.3.2 Intensive rep etiti on 83 5.3.3 Quick reactive production 84 5.4 SUMMARY 85 CONCLUSION 86 BIBLI OGRAPlly 88 APPENDIX Ques tionnaire for stude nts ( in Vietn amese) 90 APP ENDI X 94 Q uest ionnaire for teachers ( in Vietn am ese ) vii LIST OF TABLES C pte r Ta ble Sum mary o f the s ample charac teri stics 32 Chapter Ta ble Co mpariso n of percent of 6111 and ill graders' reported co m municat ive ability 40 Ta ble 4.2 Co mpa riso n OU)11l and i ll graders' opinio ns o f their textb ooks ' listenin g cha nne l A3 Ta ble 4.3 Comparison degree o f com prehellsion o f the li stenin g chan ne l in 11l TiclIg 11 1117 () o f the' thrce gro ups o f6 grade rs Table 4.4 Perce nt diff eren ces between the 6111 and i ll graders' dail y time for A :'\ learnin g listcnin g sk ill 47 Table 4.5 Co mparison o f correc t answers in Par t I mad e by 111 and Tabl e 4.6 Co mpa riso n [' co rrec t i h graders AX answe rs in Part I mad e by the three grou ps o f'()1 1l graders 49 Table 4.7 Co m parison of correc t answe rs in Part mad e by the two groups f' 7111 gra d crs 49 Tabl e 4.X Percent age diff eren ces o f correc t a nswers in Part between 111 h and i graders s O Tabl e 4.9 Co mparison of the percen tage d iffere nce s for Part amo ng the th ree gro ups f' (i) th gra: Icrs 51 Tabl e 10 Co mpariso n or the percent age di ff crcn ccs for Par t amo ng the tll two grader groups " "5 I Table 11 Th e percent differenc es in Part be tween ()11l an d i ll gra de rs writin g the correct c lock tim e as they heard from the tape 52 Ta b le 4.1 Th e perc en t diff eren ces ill Part am on g the th ree gro ups or (jlh grade rs 53 Ta b le 13 Th e per cent di ffcrcncc s in Part between the two gro ups or ill grade rs 54 v 111 brother(s) Stephanie older brother (s) younger brother(s) sister(s) older younger siste rts ) siste r ts ) I Donna 3.Bob Rosie Tina III People are asking others for the time Wri te th e ti me you hear 1 1_I , -I_ 4.1' _ 3.11 -_ _ 5~ _ _ -.J IV Listen to the followin g passage and answer the questions La She works at home 2.a She also cooks lunch for homeless people b She works at a hospit al b She plays with homeless people 3.a She helps homeless people twice a week b She helps homeless people once a week 4.a He repairs machin es in a factor y b He repairs machines at home 5.a He plays football in his fr ee time yea r b He plays golf in his fr ee tim e 6.a He has 10 public holidays eac h b He has public holidays eac h year V .Jane can 't find her things W he re is e ac h it em '? List en and circle th e co r rect answ er The letter is • a on th e tabl e b in the purse c under th e purse refrigerator Th e book is a beside th e compute r b on the sofa c und er th e lamp The ora nge juice is ".'.' ' " a on the refri gerat or b behind the milk c next to the Th e gloves are • • • Th e pencil is a next to the coat a on the desk b on the chair b und er the box c in th e coat c in th e drawer VI Listen to the followin g questions Then ch oose a suita ble response for eac h of the questions yo u hear a I am fine b She is nine c Oh, he is fi ve 4.a May 20 b 12 dollars c not at all 2.a.a lot of mone y b a taxi dri ver c in his office 5.a a rain coa t b an umbrella c go swimming a She is r e ading a book b She is havin g a co ld c She sees a doctor 6.a a t the a ir po r t b a brie fcase c at about 8:1111 92 7.a orange juice b hamburger c tomato 8.a I am sick b I mcet her c I am going to visit Ha Long Bay VII A Read the following passage Then fill in the missing words I am Tim I come from Brazil Let me tell you ahout my (1) There arc four people in my famil y: my father my mother, my sister Susan and me My mom works at (2) She also joins social activities (3) a week, she and other women in our nciuhburhond coo k lunch for hurnclcx people My Dad is a mechanic He repairs machine in a ( ) He oftcn plays (5) in his free time Each ye ar, he gets about (6) public holidays and three weeks for vacation We usually travel to Florida on vacation We always have a g ~lOd time together :\I~' family is the best I love my family B Listen to the passage again and answer the questions you hear I.a She works al home 2.a She also cooks lunch for homd l''i'i people h She plays with 11Onll'lcss people b She works al a hospital 3.a She helps homeless people I wice a week b She helps homeless people OIH:e a week 4.a lie repairs machin es in a fal'lor y h li e repairs machines a t home (i.a Ill' has len public holidays eac h S.a He plays football in his free lime year b He plays golf in his free lime h He has public holidays each year THE E:\J) Thank you vel}' much jill' your cooperation Student ' s namc ' ,Sch C 00 I' L • • Class : Uate: · ·· · ····· ·•·· ·· ····· · ·· ·· ·· · 93 APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS (IN VIETNAMESE) M(rr so CAU HOI KH AO skI' (updated Septemher 28 ,211114 ) XiII kinh chilo quy 7'I/(1y / OJ d811g ughiep, Chung Wi dang thu thap dii' li~u de' thuc hi~n d~ tai nghien cuu Forming And Developing Listening Skills In English For The Sixth And Seventh (;raden; at Vietnam Juniur High Schools, "( Hinh tha nh va phat tri~'n k5' nang nghc e11l1 hrj r sinh lop 6,7 Trung Hue Cli Si~ tai Vi~t Nam) Xin quy Th:1y I Cli vui 1l' Ing hIlt chut thiii gian tra liii giup cho nhii'ng diu hcii xuu bllng each da nh chen ( x ) van ca u tra liii dlNc cht) n, nrli vlli nhii'ng ca u ~e u d u y kie'n cu the', xin cue Anh I Chi vui lilng ghi van khna nj; trrlng chua s:1n Cau tnl liii cua quy TI1