Using website “breakingnewsenglish com” to improve sophomores’ self study ò english listening skills at hong duc university

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHUNG THUY DUONG USING WEBSITE “BREAKINGNEWSENGLISH.COM” TO IMPROVE SOPHOMORES’ SELF-STUDY OF ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HONG DUC UNIVERSITY Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English Language Teacher Education THANH HOA, 2022 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and the substance of this research has not been submitted for degree to any other university or institution Student Phung Thuy Duong i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the process of completing of this graduation paper, I have benefited a great deal of useful and practical support from my teachers, friends and family First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my respected supervisor, M.A Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan for her close and experienced guidance She has been my source for inspiration throughout my study Secondly, I would like to show my sincere thanks to Dr Nguyen Thi Quyet – the Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages for giving me a chance to the thesis and all the lecturers of the Department who have enriched my academic knowledge of English during the past four years Thirdly, I wish to acknowledge my thanks to all the authors of the books, magazines, and the other materials listed in the reference part for their ideas that have been reflected and developed in the study In addition, I warmly thank all my friends for their encouragement and precious assistance Especially, I am grateful to 60 second-year students at Hong Duc university for their enthusiastic and effective cooperation in the process of completing survey questionnaires and the tests Lastly, I am greatly indebted to my parents who believed in me ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iii ABSTRACT vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES viii PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Research aims and objectives 3 Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Organization of the study PART II DEVELOPMENT Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Understanding English listening skills 1.1.1 Definition of listening 1.1.2 Definition of listening skills 1.1.3 Listening process 1.1.4 Strategies of listening skills 1.2 Using website to improve listening skills 11 1.2.1 Definition of website 11 1.2.2 Research about using online website to improve listening skills 11 1.3 Website “breakingnewsenglish.com” 14 iii 1.3.1 Overview of website BreakingNewsEnglish.com 14 1.3.2 Features of the site 16 1.3.3 Advantages and disadvantages 19 1.3.4 How we use this website 20 1.4 Summary 23 Chapter RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24 2.1 The setting of the research 24 2.2 Participants of the study 25 2.3 Steps of the intervention 25 2.4 Instruments of data collection 25 2.4.1 Questionnaire 25 2.4.2 Pre-test and post-test 26 2.5 Data collection and analysis procedures 27 2.5.1 Data collection 27 2.5.2 Data analysis 27 2.6 Summary 28 Chapter RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS 29 3.1 Results of questionaires 29 3.1.1 The results of questionaire before application 29 3.1.2 The results of questionaire after application 37 3.2 The results of pre-testing and post-testing 38 3.3 Summary 39 PART III CONCLUSION 40 Conclusion 40 Recommendations 41 iv 1.1 Strategies 41 1.1.1 For students 41 1.1.2 For teachers 44 1.2 Using technology 46 Limitation and suggestion for further studies 48 Summary 48 REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I v ABSTRACT This research aims to suggest a method of using the website BreakingNewsEnglish.com for sophomores at Hong Duc university to improve listening skills by self-study and to see how effective the website help learners understand and be more prepared to use English as a language both in and outside of the classroom in general and self-studying in particular Using a method such as listening audio from native speakers on the website is something that with the correct testing has shown a major improvement in the understanding, pronouncing of new words and more importantly the use of those new words in conversation more frequently The method used in this research was questionnaire for interview sophomores at Hong Duc university to collect the necessary information for the analysis and assessment of the current status of the students’ listening ability and the difficulties that they have faced with And action research in using website to learn English, then evaluate its effectiveness Moreover, the researcher used observation questionnaire to collect the data To analyze the data, the researcher uses descriptive quantitative to present the result of the study in the form of descriptive explanation Statistics analysis is used to analyze the data about the improvement of students’ English listening skills Based on the results of this research showed that using the website to improve learners’ listening skills is an effective method In conclusion, the writer hopes this thesis can be used as an additional reference, there will be a further researcher with different discussion vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation EFL: English as a Foreign Language Etc: Et cetera FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages HDU: Hong Duc university TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Chart 3.1 The time period of learning English Chart 3.2 Students’ purpose of studying English Chart 3.3 Chart 3.4 Chart 3.5 Chart 3.6 Chart 3.7 Students’ attitudes toward the importance of English listening skills The students’ interest in learning listening skills Time to practice listening skill every day Students’ difficulties in learning listening skills The ways the students use to improve English listening at home The amount of the students who have use website to learn listening Chart 3.8 skills and ones never The students’ experiences when using online websites to learn Chart 3.9 Chart 3.10 Chart 3.11 listening skills The students’ interests in using the website The students’ improvement after using the website The comparison of the students’ marks before application and after Chart 3.12 application viii PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale In today’s globalization movement, the influence of English cannot be rejected and overlooked because they universally use it in all parts of the world English is the official language of over 53 countries and territories, and it is the official language of the European Union We can say that English has become a global language and is like a travel ticket, a bridge to help you easily get a steady career with higher wages Especially for a developing country like Vietnam, English was taught very early, from the late 1980s, in the early 1990s when the country implemented innovative policies, and the relations with The United Stated were normalized, the movement to learn English thrived Since then, English has been introduced into the national education system in Vietnam as a compulsory subject Besides, there are many young people who are aware of its importance for reasons such as finding a high-quality job, communicating with the outside world, accessing the scientific resources that they are following So, that is also the reason many universities and colleges now teach a lot of content in English and regulate foreign language output standards (English) for graduates Therefore, teaching and learning English has been a concern of many universities and colleges nationwide In fact, Vietnam is currently in the group of countries with average English ability, ranking 41/88 according to the report on English skill of the public Education First (EF) published November 2018 The reception of the new language will make learners face many obstacles related to the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing But most learners have many difficulties with listening skills As a final year student in the Faculty of Foreign Languages, the writer realized that listening is an important skill but difficult to practice So, my research will focus on difficulties of sophomores’ listening skills at Hong Duc University Then, to suggest and check the effectiveness of the website And to find out some solutions to help sophomore to improve the self-study English listening skills for further research There are many reasons for me to choose this topic for research The first reason comes from the fact that the second-year students’ English listening skills are quite weak in listening comprehension Most second-year students are all too familiar with the is to train students to produce accurate pronunciation Students are asked to predict what the text is about or what the speaker is going to say next In order to encourage students to imagine and predict what they are going to hear, the teacher may tell something about the topic of the listening text or something about the speaker(s) Besides, students can be asked to predict the grammar structures that are likely to be used in the listening text or make a list of words, phrases that relate to the topic and may appear in the listening text In this way, they can familiarize students with key concepts and vocabulary before listening to spoken text When students have a certain vocabulary in mind, they will be more self-confident and thus ready to listen effectively The teachers need to arouse interest and Motivating Students to Attend to the Spoken Message Students will be more willing to listen actively to what the speaker says if they are able to relate the listening experience to their own lives Besides, teachers can create an environment conducive to listening and encourage effective listening behaviors that are necessary lifelong skills 1.2 Using technology Teaching foreign languages integrated with skill development, learning foreign languages on the basis of technology is an educational trend that is being applied in the world and in Vietnam This advanced training method is effective, helping learners approach the language and learn more practical and applied ways It emphasizes the creativity and initiative of the learners Currently, the lecturers are still dominant used audio listening material in the laboratories with tapes and tape recorders as the main media The use of visual aids in teaching listening is only a variation Furthermore, the use of multimedia-based materials is almost non-existent This is one of the causes of the students’ low ability to listen is the lack of a variety of teaching materials used in listening In fact, activities listening with videos are more attractive to students and they can understand because they are supported by visualization A visual aid is something the students can see and helps them to get the speaker's message Visual aids help students to shape a clear picture of the concept in our mind which is being spoken 46 They also help them to eliminate misunderstandings that might otherwise occur So, teachers need to exploit visual aids or draw pictures and diagrams related to the listening topics to aid students to guess and imagine actively Visual aids draw learners’ attention, increase their motivation on the topic and help them relate to the content of the spoken text, thus the listener overcomes difficulties such as unknown words, minimal pairs of words First of all, songs, pictures, videos, or other sorts of visualization in listening skills will probably help widely in the conception of learning a foreign language Use illustration in listening skills and leads us to realize this tool assists students in translation definition and description of particular topics and vocabulary involved The different types of visual aids are useful because they provide students with a pre-listening knowledge of the topic or activity they are going to face This kind of material could include diagrams, films, pictures, magazines or books, etc Diagrams of a sequence of events could help students to get details from the listening If students are going to fill in gaps, films are a great way to understand what someone is talking about because they can be heard not only in the speech itself but also in the movements and facial gestures Films could be about a place in a city or countryside, about an animal and its habitat, or a domesticated animal living in a certain place either in the city or in the countryside Pictures about famous people like singers, actors and so on Magazines and books with a variety of topics like food, sports, natural life, and so on The presence of this material in the classroom is of huge value in contextualizing and bringing to life the listening situation as well in aiding comprehension of the language The management of visual aids differs from one to another type For example, pictures and sketches are simple for being gasped at a glance and they could be attached on the board for being watched for students On the other hand, films, or videos could be presented to the whole class with a television set or a DVD system, which could show not only the sound or listening itself but also the movements of the actors These will have great attractive power on students and it will make them be engaged in the activity Alternatively, magazines, books, and photocopies could 47 be distributed among students to be watched and to be deducted in order to grasp the topic`s main idea Limitation and suggestion for further studies In spite of the researcher’s effort and enthusiastic support of supervisor, this paper still has got some shortcomings Firstly, because of the limited time, some other books, documents, research, which related to this study, could not be covered Secondly, the number of participants in the is small, which somehow does not generalize to the whole population Therefore, for further studies, the researcher suggests more students with different background and achievement in order to get more listening techniques In the future, studies may consider the following directions: i The present study needs to be carried out with a large sample because the sample size was too small to generalize an overall conclusion applying to all HDU learners ii The present study needs to be studied in different English learning contexts in Viet Nam iii Further research needs to be conducted with more comprehensive samples including the primary, secondary, and preparatory levels in order to get a complete picture of the problem It is hoped that the results of this study will contribute to improving the teaching and learning in general or self-studying in particular in the field of listening comprehension at Hong Duc University Summary This chapter has once again summarized the findings of the research and related them to previous studies The questions of the study are discussed fully It drew conclusions based on the findings In particular, providing solutions to improve listening skills for second-year students of the FFL at Hong Duc University Moreover, the researcher wrote some suggestions for teachers, researchers and curriculum designers As well as figured out the limitation of the paper and suggestions for further studies 48 REFERENCES English: 1, Ahmed, A and Abdulaziz, E (2006) Examining Students Performance and Attitudes towards the Use of Information Technology in a Virtual and Conventional Setting The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, (3), 1-9 2, Aytekin, I (2004) Attitudes of Students towards Internet Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, (4), 1-8 3, Bite, V (2013) Listening: An Important Skill and Its Various Aspects The Criterion: An International Journal in English, 1-3 4, Bowen, J D., Madsen, H., & Hilferty, A (1985) TESOL Techniques and Procedures Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers 5, Busy Teacher Breakingnewsenlish.com: BusyTeacher’s Detailed Review Retrieved February 12, 2022 from: Breakingnewsenglish.com: BusyTeacher's Detailed Review 6, Chastain, K (1971) The Development of Modern Language 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Retrieved February 12, 2022 from: What is a Website? - Definition from Techopedia 30, Thompson, I., & Rubin, J (1996) Can strategy instruction improve listening comprehension? Foreign Language Annals, 29, 331-342 31, Wallace, T., Stariha, W E., & Walberg, H J (2004) Teaching Speaking, Listening and Writing IAE Educational Practices Series, 14 Vietnamese: 1, Thien Tra Lake How to use breaking news english web for learning English Retrieved February 12, 2022 from: Cách dùng web Breaking News English cho việc học tiếng Anh (zim.vn) 51 APPENDICES QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS The survey questionnaire is designed for my study “The method of using the website BreakingNewsEnglish.com to promote students’ self-study of English listening skills for sophomores at Hong Duc university” Your assistance is fulfilling the following items is greatly appriciated Question 1: How long have been learning English? A Less than year B 1-3 years C 4-7 years D More than years Question 2: What is your purpose of learning English? A To pass all the tests at school B Have good opportunities for future C English give you access to the knowledge of the world D To travel E To make friends F Others Question 3: Do you think English listening is important? A Very important B Important C Neutral D Not important Question 4: Do you like learning English listening skills? A Like very much B Like C Normal D Hate I Question 5: How many hours per day you spend on practicing English listening skills? A Less than hour B 1-2 hours C More than hours Question 6: What are your difficulties in learning English listening skills? A Accent(s) of speaker (s) B Unfamilliar vocabulary C Limited practice time D Fast speaking speed E Other factors Question 7: What are the ways you usually use to improve English listening skills at home A Watch English videos on Youtube/ watch TVs B Listen to a podcast/ music C Talk to foreigners D Others Question 8: Have you learned English listening skills through website? A Yes B No Question 9: If you have ever use website to self-study English, you see it a good way? A Yes B No C Have not Thank you for your co-oprations! II QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS AFTER APPLICATION Do you like to improve your listening skills by self studying through the method of using the website BreakingNewsEnglish.com? A Like very much B Like C Normal D Hate Do you see your listening skills is better? A Very much B Much C Not much D Not any Thank you for your co-oprations! III PRE-TEST EYE DROPS Help is at hand for people whose vision is worsening An American pharmaceutical company called Allergan has developed eye drops that can treat an eye condition called presbyopia This is when people's close-up vision starts getting blurred It usually starts when people get into their 40s It affects over a billion people around the globe About 16 per cent of these cannot afford eyeglasses or access to eye surgery The new eye drops are called Vuity Allergan called them "an innovative new prescription eye drop" It said Vuity is "the first and only FDAapproved eye drop to treat age-related Blurry Near Vision (presbyopia) in adults" It added they may help patients with presbyopia see up close” Presbyopia means it is difficult to see things clearly up close Sufferers need glasses or have to make the text on phone and computer screens bigger On its website, Allergan stated that its eye drops could help people see three lines on an eye chart that would normally be blurred It wrote: "In clinical studies where patients received one drop of Vuity in each eye once daily, this was measured by the proportion of patients achieving a 3-line gain or more reading a near-vision eye chart." The drops work by reducing the eye's pupil size This helps people to focus on text and objects that are near them A user who tested the eye drops said they helped him see smaller letters in focus Link: https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2205/220509-eye-drops-l.html, Medium (N American English) Task 1: Listen and choose the correct answer (6pts) 1)What does the article say is at hand? a) eyesight b) fingers c) help d) a palm IV 2) What is the name of the eye condition? a) presbyopia b) Presbyterian c) onomatopoeia d) perspicacious 3) When people usually start getting the condition? a) in old age b) after lunch c) after too much screen time d) in their 40s 4) What percentage of people with the condition cannot afford glasses? a) 3% b) 16% c) 40% d) 12% 5) Who has given the eye drops a green light? a) a light company b) a traffic authority c) the FDA d) the WHO 6) What sufferers of the condition have to make bigger? a) their eyes b) text on small screens c) the drops d) a magnifying glass 7) What kind of studies were mentioned in the article? a) exploratory studies b) longitudinal studies c) latitudinal studies d) clinical studies V 8) How many previously blurred lines could the drops help people see? a) five b) three c) eight d) one 9) What the eye drops reduce the size of? a) the eye's pupil b) the eye c) the iris d) the lens on the eye 10) What could a user of the drops see better? a) colour b) his face c) the horizon d) smaller letters Task 2: Listen to the audio and decide these statements are true (T) or false (F) (4pts) An American company called Allergen developed some eye drops People usually start getting blurred vision in their 50s Around 16% of people with blurred vision cannot afford glasses The eye drops are the first to get approval from the FDA T/F People with presbyopia have trouble seeing things far away T/F The eye drops help people to see all the lines on an eye chart T/F Making the pupil smaller helps people to see things in the distance T/F Someone who used the drops could see smaller text better T/F VI T/F T/F T/F POST – TEST PLANT-BASED MILK Plant-based milks have been growing in popularity for the past decade This is because more people are switching to vegan diets and foods that are more sustainably produced A recent cause of people switching from dairy to plant-based alternatives is the global rise in the prices of foodstuffs This has been exacerbated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine This has increased the costs of fertilizer and feed for cows Many countries in Europe and Asia rely on Russia for over 50 per cent of their fertilizer supply In addition, the supply of Ukrainian corn used to feed cows has almost dried up The UK's National Farming Union has said fertilizer prices have risen fourfold and animal feed by 70 percent The global plant-based milk market is projected to more than double in the next ten years Experts have forecast a rise to $53 billion in 2028 from $22 billion in 2021 Consumers now have a dizzying array of plant-based milk options Supermarket shelves are stocked with milk made from soy, almonds, coconuts, cashews, oats and more In February, the world's first potato milk was launched It is from a Swedish milk brand called Dug and is described as being "deliciously creamy" Dug is advertised as, "the most sustainable plant-based dairy alternative on the market" The dairy milk industry is defending its product It is reminding people that dairy milk is rich in calcium, protein and vitamin D Link:https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2205/220502-plant-based-milk-l.htm, Medium (N.American English) Task 1: Listen and choose the correct answer (6pts) 1) For how long have plant- based products been increasing in popularity? a) a dozen or so years b) two decades c) a decade / 10 years d) a few years VII 2) What has increased the global rise in food prices? a) Moscow's invasion of Ukraine b) global warming c) the coronavirus pandemic d) global demand 3) Where countries depend on Russian fertilizer? a) Europe and Africa b) Asia and Europe c) Africa and Asia d) America and Australia 4) What has happened to Ukrainian corn? a) it has gone up in price b) it was genetically modified c) it turned blue d) it has almost dried up 5) By how much have fertilizer prices gone up? a) 10 per cent b) it doubles c) fourfold d) 10 times 6) By how much is the plant-based milk market set to grow? a) by 10% b) it's set to double c) by 50% d) fourfold 7) What consumers have an amazing choice of? a) plant-based potatoes b) corns c) vegan restaurants d) plant-based milk options 8) What Swedish milk product was launched this year? VIII a) a potato apple b) a potato milk c) a potato steak d) a potato wine 9) What was a potato milk said to have tasted like? a) chicken b) deliciously creamy c) yoghurt d) grass 10) Who is telling people that milk is rich in nutrients? a) the milk industry b) farmers c) doctors d) supermarkets Task 2: Listen to the audio and decide these statements are true (T) or false (F) (4pts) The article says plant-based milk has been popular for decades T/F Rising food prices are causing people to switch to plant-based diets T/F Many Asian countries get over half of their fertilizer from Russia T/F Fertilizer prices have risen by 70% T/F The global plant-based milk market will treble by the end of the decade T / F Many milk products on supermarket shelves make people dizzy T/F A potato-based milk is being advertised as the creamiest in the world T/F The milk industry wants people to know how rich milk is in nutrients T/F IX