Suggestions to improve the teaching of listening comprehension for intermediate learners of english at foreign language centre of ho chi minh city university of education luận văn thạ

HO CHI MINH CITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION FOR INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of arts (TESOL) Supervisor: ĐẶNG THỊ HƯỞNG, EdD Student: LÊ VĂN HÙNG Ho Chi Minh City, February 2007 STATEMENTS OF AUTHORITY I certify that this thesis entitled “Suggestions to improve the teaching of listening comprehension for intermediate learners of English at Foreign Language Centre of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in my other institution Ho Chi Minh City, February 2007 Le Van Hung ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my thesis supervisor, Dr Dang Thi Huong, who read my manuscript with great care, gave thoughtful and insightful comments, supplied extremely valuable advice, and provided valuable support for my thesis improvements and completion With the great encouragements and constant guidance, she has been really my great help to complete the thesis successfully Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to send my special thanks to all of my colleagues who have been great help for my survey done in the busiest time of the year during the course In addition, my special thanks go to the learners in two classes in UEFLC who gave me their useful and helpful advice and experience during my carrying out the survey Without their help, the thesis could not have been possible Finally, yet importantly, I am greatly indebted to my mother and my wife for their wholehearted support during the thesis being done ABSTRACT The thesis aims 1) to investigate the listening problems of the intermediate learners of English at one of the foreign language centre of University of Education (UEFLC); 2) to examine the factors that could affect the listening competence of intermediate learners of English at UEFLC; and 3) to suggest ways to be better in teaching listening comprehension for those learners Both quality and quantity were employed in the survey to explore their benefit to make clear what the real obstacles of intermediate learners of English are In order to this, the survey questionnaires were delivered to intermediate learners of English and Vietnamese teachers of English at UEFLC An interview was also conducted with teachers to collect data to be able to understand the teaching and learning of listening comprehension at UEFLC Teachers’ experiences and learners’ requirements as well as their reactions to the listening teaching and learning at UEFLC shows that (1) listening is an active process and a key point that learners should not ignore because it helps them a lot in studying other English skills; (2) school facilities are in a bad condition, causing a lot of difficulties for intermediate learners of English in learning listening comprehension; (3) listening activities need teachers’ good preparations in the lesson plan to make it more feasible; (4) intermediate learners of English at UEFLC are still weak at their listening comprehension for many reasons The thesis suggests that (1) the development of listening techniques and strategies should be encouraged; (2) teacher should teach, not test listening comprehension, and try to avoid using activities that tend to focus on memory rather than on the process of listening comprehension; (3) teacher should be a main factor and creative in making lesson plans to meet the learners’ requirements; (4) textbooks used for listening comprehension should be authentic and relevant; and (5) school facilities should be in good conditions Obviously, teachers, learners, materials, and school facilities are important elements for the success of teaching and learning English listening comprehension at UEFLC TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Statements of Authority i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii Table of Contents v List of Abbreviations viii List of Tables ix List of Figures x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 The aims of the study 1.3 The structure of the study CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Several basic concepts of listening comprehension 2.1.1 Definitions of listening comprehension 2.1.2 The role of listening comprehension 2.1.3 Different views of listening comprehension 10 2.2 Listening comprehension activities 13 2.3 The differences between teaching and testing listening 15 comprehension 2.4 Listening comprehension stages 18 2.4.1 Pre-listening: preparing learners for listening comprehension 18 2.4.2 While-listening 20 2.4.3 Post-listening comprehension 21 2.5 Some popular methods of foreign language teaching available in the 23 Vietnamese context 2.5.1 The Direct Method Approach 24 2.5.2 The Audio-Lingual Approach 25 2.5.3 The Communicative Approach 28 2.6 The roles of teachers and learners 29 2.6.1 Teachers’ role 30 2.6.2 Learners’ role 31 2.7 Summary 33 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 34 3.1 Research questions 34 3.2 Research design 34 3.2.1 Characteristics of the subjects 36 3.2.1.1 Learner subjects 36 3.2.1.2 Teacher subjects 37 3.2.2 Instruments 38 3.2.2.1 Survey questionnaires for learner subjects 39 3.2.2.2 Survey questionnaires for teacher subjects 41 3.2.2.3 Interviews for teacher subjects 42 3.3 Data collection 44 3.4 Summary 44 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 45 4.1 Data analysis 45 4.1.1 Learners’ responses to the survey questionnaires 45 4.1.2 Teachers’ responses 62 4.1.2.1 Teachers’ responses to the survey questionnaires 63 4.1.2.2 Teachers’ responses to the interviews 66 4.2 Summary 79 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 80 5.1 Conclusions 80 5.2 Recommendations 82 5.3 Summary 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY 86 APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire for intermediate 94 learners of English (in Vietnamese) APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire for Vietnamese teachers of English 103 (in English) APPENDIX 3: Interview for Vietnamese teachers of English LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CUP Cambridge University Press EFL English as a foreign language 107 IELTS International English Language Testing System MA Master of Art OUP Oxford University Press TEFL Teaching English as a foreign language TESOL Teaching of English to speaker of other languages TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL IBT Test of English as a Foreign Language – Internet Based Test TOEIC Test of English for International Communication UEFLC The University of Education, Foreign Language Centre at Ho Chi Minh City LIST OF TABLES Page 3.1 Background information about the learner subjects 37 3.2 Background information about the teacher subjects 38 4.1 Learners’ frequency in practising listening comprehension 46 4.2 Learners’ difficulty in listening to pronunciation 52 4.3 Learners’ responses to vocabulary in listening comprehension 53 4.4 Learners’ responses to topic 55 4.5 Learners’ responses to a short listening task 57 4.6 Learners’ responses to a long listening task 59 LIST OF FIGURES Page 4.1 Learners’ idea of listening materials applied in at UEFLC 47 4.2 Learners’ listening comprehension improvements 49 4.3 Learners’ opinions about how to improve listening 61 comprehension 4.4 Learners’ activities 62 4.5 Teachers’ opinions about the learners’ difficulties in listening 64 comprehension 4.6 Teachers’ opinions about different activities of listening 66 comprehension 4.7 Teachers’ responses to the syllabus 67 ngày hiệu trân trọng ý kiến đóng góp anh chị Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác anh chị! THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Xin q anh chị đánh dấu  vào ô chọn Với thông tin khác, xin anh chị điền vào khoảng trống cho sẵn Giới tính:  Nam  Nữ Độ tuổi:  10 – 19  20 – 29  30 – 39  40 – 49  50 Số năm theo học tiếng Anh 1–2 3–4 5–6  Trên năm Nghề nghiệp: _ HƯỚNG DẪN Để thu thập thông tin sau cho nghiên cứu, xin có hướng dẫn cụ thể sau: Đối với việc đánh giá môn nghe hiểu, đưa 04 (bốn) mức đánh giá lực nghe dành cho học viên theo hướng dẫn sau:  Kém  Trung bình  Khá  Giỏi BẢNG 1: CÂU HỎI CHUNG VỀ THỰC HÀNH NGHE HIỂU 1) Anh chị có thường xuyên luyện tập môn nghe hiểu lớp không? Tại sao? 2) Anh chị có thường xuyên luyện tập môn nghe hiểu lớp không? Tại sao? 3) Theo anh chị, giáo trình học Trung tâm cung cấp có phù hợp không? Xin cho biết lý do? 4) Anh chị cảm nhận khả nghe hiểu anh chị kể từ lúc anh chị tham gia khóa học Trung tâm? Taïi sao? BAÛNG 2: NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH NGHE HIỂU 1) 2) nào? Mức độ nghe anh chị phần phát âm nào?     Mức độ nghe anh chị âm đọc nối 3)     Mức độ nghe anh chị âm đọc lướt naøo? 4)     Mức độ nghe của anh chị nghe giới thiệu kỹ phần từ vựng naøo? 5)     Mức độ nghe anh chị nghe chưa giới thiệu phần từ vựng naøo? 6)     Khi đề tài giới thiệu qua, anh chị thường nghe mức độ nào? 7)     Khi chủ đề chưa giới thiệu qua, mức độ nghe anh chị nào?     8) Với nghe tương đối ngắn (thời gian nghe 02 phút), mức độ nghe anh chị trường hợp sau đây: a) b) c) d) Nghe dẫn (Directions)     Nghe vaø xác định sai (choosing True / False answers)     Nghe điền từ (filling in the blanks)     Nghe hiểu khái niệm định nghóa việc (understanding definitions) e)     Nghe vaø xác định ý nghóa tổng quát vấn đề (skimming)     f) Nghe xác định ý nghóa chi tiết vấn đề (scanning) f) Nghe chọn câu trả lời trắc nghiêm (multiple choice questions)  9)    Với nghe tương đối dài (trên 02 phút), mức độ nghe anh chị trường hợp sau đây: a) b) c) d) e) f) Nghe trả lời câu hoûi (answering questions)     Nghe ghi (taking notes)     Nghe giải (paraphrasing a listening text)     Nghe tóm tắt (summarizing a listening text)     Nghe điền cụm từ (filing in the blank with a group of words)     Nghe thảo luận vấn đề đặt (discussing a problem)     BẢNG 3: NHỮNG ĐỀ NGHỊ CẢI THIỆN MÔN NGHE Theo anh chị, làm để anh chị nghe tốt hơn? a) Đối với giáo viên: b) Đối với học viên: c) Các điều kiện khác: APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VIETNAMESE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH (IN ENGLISH) AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TEACHING OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION TO INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS AT FPREGN LANGUAGE CENTRE, HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Dir colleagues, In order to have a good preparation for the survey on how intermediate Vietnamese learners of English study listening comprehension at the Foreign Language Centre of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, we would like to have your assistance in answering the following questions All of your answers would be highly appreciated for their value in helping us improve our teaching listening comprehension Thank you for your cooperation! PERSONAL Please tick “” in the box that you think is the best answer For other information, please fill in the blanks provided Gender:  Male  Female Age:  22 – 29  30 – 39  40 – 49  Over 50 Teaching English experience 1–2 3–4 5–6  Over years Qualifications:  B.A  M.A  Ph.D  Other Other: What you want to focus on in the teaching listening comprehension process? Please select “1” as the first choice, and match your choice in column A with the priority number in column B a) Pronunciation b) Semantic meaning c) Grammar structure d) Vocabulary e) Topic f) Purposes of listening comprehension A Choices B The priority number Other comments: What are your priorities when teaching listening comprehension? Please select “1” as the first choice, and match your choice in column A with the priority number in column B a) Directions b) True / False c) Filling in the blanks d) Understanding meanings e) Skimming / scanning the general, or specific meaning f) Multiple choice questions g) Answering questions h) Taking notes i) Paraphrasing a listening text j) Summarizing a listening text k) Filing in the blank with a group of words l) Discussion of a problem that was heard A Name B The priority 10 11 12 number Other comments: APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH What you think of the syllabus applied at UEFLC? Please tick in the box chosen  Very good  Good  Average  Other comments What are your comments on the methods used in teaching English listening comprehension at UEFLC? a) The direct method: - Advantages: - Disadvantages: b) Audio – lingual method: - Advantages: - Disadvantages: c) Communicative method: - Advantages: - Disadvantages: d) Other methods (if any) How good are English textbooks used at UEFLC? Streamline English English: - Advantages: - Disadvantages: Life Lines: - Advantages: - Disadvantages: Do school facilities help much with the teaching and learning of listening comprehension?