Nghiên cứu thực trạng tổ chức các hoạt động trước khi nghe ở lớp tiếng anh năm thứ 3 tại trường đại học phú xuân an investigation into the reality of using pre listening activities in english third year

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI TAM AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REALITY OF USING PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH THIRD-YEAR CLASSES AT PHU XUAN UNIVERSITY FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: LE TAN THI, Ph.D HUE, 2012 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - NGUYỄN THỊ TÂM NGHIÊN CỨU THỰC TRẠNG TỔ CHỨC CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE Ở CÁC LỚP TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ BA TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC PHÚ XUÂN CHUN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ GIÁO DỤC HỌC NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS LÊ TẤN THI HUẾ, 2012 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Author Nguyen Thi Tam i Firstly, I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Dr Le Tan Thi, for his professional guidance and support Without his help, this research paper cannot be completed Second, I would like to show my deep gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Truong Vien who gave me early suggestions and enthusiastic support for the research Third, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the participating teachers of listening and students at Phu Xuan University for their help during the time I carried out this research Last but not least, from the bottom of my heart, I am really thankful to my family who had to take more workload while I was busy with the thesis paper and my close friends for their kindness, sincere, and unconditional help ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF CHARTS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Research 1.2 Rationale of the Research 1.3 Research Aims 10 1.4 Research Questions 11 1.5 Research Scope 11 1.6 Research Significance 11 1.7 Structure of the Study 11 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 13 2.1 The Nature of Listening 13 2.1.1 Definition of Listening 13 2.1.2 The Importance of Listening Skill in Communication 14 2.1.3 The Importance of Listening Skill in Language Teaching and Learning 16 2.1.4 The Process of Listening 17 2.1.5 The Relationship between Listening and other Language Skills 20 2.2 The Procedures of Teaching Listening in the Classroom 21 2.2.1 Pre-listening Activities 21 2.2.2 While-listening Activities 22 2.2.3 Post-listening Activities 23 2.3 An in depth Overview of Pre-listening Activities 24 2.3.1 Purpose of Pre-listening Activities 24 2.3.2 Factors Affecting the Choice of Pre-listening Activities 26 2.3.3 Forms of Pre-listening Activities 28 2.3.4 Integration in Pre-listening Activities 28 2.4 Summary 29 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Introduction 30 3.2 Research Approach 30 3.3 Research Method 30 3.3.1 Questionnaires 30 3.3.2 Classroom Observations 31 3.3.3 The Interviews 31 3.4 Participants 32 3.5 Research Site 32 3.6 Data Analysis 32 3.7 Summary 33 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Students‟ Perception towards the role of Listening Skill 34 4.1.1 Students‟ Views towards Listening Skill 34 4.1.2 Students‟ Purposes of Learning Listening Skill 35 4.1.3 Students‟ Responses to their Interest in Listening Lessons 38 4.1.4 Reasons for Students‟ Interest and Lack of Interest in Listening Lessons 38 4.2 The Reality Conducting Pre-listening Activities from Students‟ Perspective 40 4.2.1 Real Stituation of Carrying out Pre-listening Stage 40 4.2.2 Frequency of Using of Pre-listening Activities 41 4.2.3 Students‟ preference of pre-listening activities 42 4.3 Teachers‟ Perception towards the Role of Listening Skill 44 4.3.1 Teachers‟ Perception towards Listening Skill 44 4.3.2 Teachers‟ Perception of the Most Difficult Skill in Teaching English 45 4.4 The Reality Conducting Pre-listening Activities from Teachers‟ Perspective 46 4.4.1 Teachers‟ Perception of the Pre- stage of a Listening Lesson 46 4.4.2 The frequency of organizing pre-listening activities 47 4.4.3 Teachers‟ Techniques of Conducting Pre-listening Activities 48 4.4.4 Frequency of Teachers‟ Organizing Different Kinds of Pre-listening Activities 50 4.4.5 Teachers‟ Comments on Effectiveness and Ineffectiveness of Prelistening Activities 51 4.4.6 Some Difficulties the Teachers at Phu Xuan University Have Faced in Conducting Pre-listening Activities 52 4.4.7 Teachers‟ suggested solutions to overcome identified difficulties at the pre-listening stage 54 4.5 Summary 57 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 57 5.1 Conclusions 57 5.2 Implications 60 5.2.1 For Teachers 60 5.2.2 For Students 61 5.2.3 For Policy Makers 62 5.2.4 For Further Researchers 62 5.3 Summary 63 REFERENCES 63 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT : Communicative Language Teaching Etc : et cetera FL : Foreign Language N : Number SL : Second Language LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 Students‟ views towards listening skill Chart 4.2 Students‟ purposes of learning listening skill Chart 4.3 Students‟ interest in listening lessons Chart 4.4 Reasons for students‟ interest in listening lessons Chart 4.5 Reasons for students‟ lack of interest in listening lessons Chart 4.6 Teachers‟ perception towards listening skill Chart 4.7 Teachers‟ perception towards pre-listening stage Chart 4.8 The frequency of organizing pre-listening activities LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Real situation of carrying out pre-listening stage Table 4.2 Frequency of using of pre-listening activities Table 4.3 The frequency of teachers‟ organizing different kinds of prelistening activities Table 4.4 Teachers‟ difficulties in conducting pre-listening activities REFERENCES Anderson, A & Lynch, T 1988 Listening Cambridge: CUP Brown, H.D (1994) Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Brownell, J (1996) Listening: Attitudes, principles, and skills Buck, G (2001) Assessing listening Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Bui Thi Phuong (2010) An investigation into the reality of organizing the teaching of listening comprehension at Le Hong Phong Junior high school, Hue Unpublished MA Thesis: Hue college of foreign languages Byrnes, H (1984) The role of listening comprehension: A theoretical base Foreign Language Annals 17, 317-329 Condeli and Wrigley (1999), “Real World Research: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Research For Adult ESL”, from http://www.leslla.org/files/resources/RealWorldResearch Gass, S M & Seely, A E (1988) Integrating research areas: A framework for second language studies Applied Linguistics, 9, 36-217 Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching London: Longman 10 Hoang Thi Thanh Nga (2009) An investigation into how communicative approach is applied in teaching listening skill to non-English majors at Hue junior college of education Unpublished MA Thesis: Hue college of foreign languages 11 Krashen, S (1985) The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications Harlow, UK: Longman 12 Mendelsohn, David J (1998) Teaching Listening Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18, 81-101 63 13 Morley, J (1991) Listening comprehension in second/foreign language instruction In M Celce-Murcia (Ed.) (1991) Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp 81-106) Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle 14 Muller, G (1980) Visual contextual clues and listening comprehension: An experiment The Mordern Language Journal, 64/3: 335-340 15 Nauman, G (2002) Teaching students to listen effectively Teacher’s edition, 10, 24-32 16 Newman, W L (2000) Social Research Methods-Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches USA: Allyn and Bacon 17 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classrooms (pp.2226) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 18 Nunan, D (2003) Practical English Language Teaching (pp.23-46) New York: Mc Graw- Hill 19 Peterson, P.W (2001) Skills and strategies for Proficient Listening In M.CelceMurcia (Ed) (2001) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language Boston MA: Heinle & Heinle 20 Richards, J.C., & Rogers, T.S (1986) Approaches and methods in language teaching New York: Cambridge University Press 21 Richards, J.C (2003) Current trends in Teaching Listening and Speaking, JALT journal 22 Richards, J.C (2008) Teaching Listening and Speaking, From Theory to Practice (pp 3-17) Cambridge University Press 23 Rost, M (1990) Listening in language learning (pp.232.234) London:Longman 24 Rost, M (2002) Teaching and Researching Listening London, UK: Longman 25 Rixon, S (1986) Development listening skills London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 64, (97), pp 70-71 26 Pierce, L.V (1989) Teaching Strategies for Developing Oral Language Skills In Selected Articles from the English Teaching Forum (pp.41-47) Washington 64 DC: United States Information Agency, English Language Programs Division, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs 27 Saricoban, A (1999) The teaching of English The Internet TESL Journal, 5(12) Retrieved June 12th, 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Saricobanlistening.html 28 Thomas, K (1995) Creative Classroom Activities (pp.25-27) Washington, D.C 29 Underwood M (1989) Teaching Listening (pp.78-80) London: Longman 30 Ur P (1984) Teaching listening comprehension Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 31 Vandergriff, L (1997b) The comprehension strategies of second language French listeners: a descriptive study: Foreign Language Annals, 30 (3), 387-409 32 Wolvin, A & Coakley, C (1991) A Survey of the Status of Listening Training in Some Fortune 500 Corporations Communication Education, USA 33 Yagang, F (1993) Listening: Problems and Solutions In Kral (Ed) Teacher development (pp 189 -196) Washington D.C: United Stated Information Agency 34 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/pre-listening-activities 65 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (For Teachers) This questionnaire is designed to collect information for the research “ An investigation into the reality of using pre-listening activities in English majored third-year classes at Phu Xuan University” Your responses will be a practical and valuable source for the completion of the research The researcher assures that all information collected will be confidential and I won‟t use your real name in my thesis and any publication, with the hope that you will answer these questions accurately and honestly Thank you very much for your enthusiastic assistance In your opinion, which skill is the most difficult in teaching English? a Listening b Speaking c Reading d Writing According to you, how difficult is it to listening skill? a Easy b.Not very difficult c.Difficult d Very difficult How important is teaching listening comprehension skill? a Very important b Important c Not very important d Not important What are the reasons? Do you usually follow all three stages (Pre-While- Post) of a listening lesson? a Yes b No In your opinion, how important is pre-listening stage? a Very important b Important c Not very important d Not important at all How often you organize pre-listening activities? a Always b Often c Sometimes 66 d Never What kind of activities you carry out in pre-listening stage? (Circle the activities and tick the level of frequency that you carry out them.) Pre-listening activities Always Often Sometimes Never Prediction Pre-teaching vocabulary Topic discussion Using visual aids (pictures, photos, video) Guiding questions Games Others How you assess these activities? Please give your reason a.Effective Reasons b Ineffective Reasons 67 What difficulties you often encounter while conducting pre-listening activities? (more than one option) a Lack of time b Lack of facilities c Lack of interesting activities d Students‟ low motivation and passive attitude e Students‟ mixed ability f Lack of listening teaching experience g Others: ……………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… 10 In your opinion, what are some solutions to overcome these above difficulties? Thank you very much for your help! 68 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (For students) This questionnaire is designed to collect information for the research “ An investigation into the reality of using pre-listening activities in English majored third-year classes at Phu Xuan University” Your responses will be a practical and valuable source for the completion of the research The researcher assures that all information collected will be confidential and I won‟t use your real name in my thesis and any publication, with the hope that you will answer these questions accurately and honestly Thank you very much for your enthusiastic assistance Please circle the letters(s) that you choose or fill in the missing information Your name: (optional)………………………………… How important you think listening skill is? a very important b important c not very important d not important at all How difficult is it for you to study listening skill? a Easy b Not very difficult c Difficult d Very difficult What you want to obtain from listening comprehension? (you can choose more than one option) a to improve communication skills b to learn new words and grammatical structures c to know more about the world d to require native-like pronunciation e Others: Do you like listening lessons? a Yes b No C So so 69 Why you like listening lessons? Because of a Useful for language learning and other language skills b Interesting topics c Relaxing Others: Why you dislike listening lessons? a Difficult listening exercises b Low quality of tapes and cassette players c Boring topics d Lack of listening strategies Others: In listening lesson, does your teacher ask you to tasks before listening? a Yes b No What kinds of pre-listening activities you take part in? And how often? Pre-listening activities Always Often a Prediction b.Pre-teaching vocabulary c Topic discussion d Using visual aids (pictures, photos, video) e Eliciting questions f Games Others 70 Sometimes Never Which of the above-mentioned activities you like best? You can choose more than one option Reasons: 10 Do you think these activities have good influence on your learning listening skill? a Yes b No, they are boring and ineffective 11 If Yes, what are the good influences? a Help me to obtain the purpose of the listening lesson b Help me improve communication skills c Help me improve my pronunciation d Others: THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! 71 CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET Date: Class: School: Lesson: Course book: Name of the teacher: Number of students: Stages Teachers’ activities Students’ Work activities arrangement Prelistening 72 Time APPENDIX LIST OF QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS How long have you been teaching English? Do you find it important to teach listening? What are your reasons? Do you find it difficult to teach listening? What are your reasons? What problems have you faced in teaching listening? (In terms of learners, materials, teaching methods, facilities and so on) Do you follow the three stages in teaching of listening comprehension skill in class? How you think of pre-listening stage in teaching listening? How you organize the pre-listening activities in your class? What are some difficulties you encounter in organizing pre-listening activities? What you to overcome the difficulties at pre-listening stage? 10 Do you have any suggestions to your school to overcome the problem? 73 APPENDIX LIST OF QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS How long have you been learning English? Do you find it important to learn listening? What are your reasons? Do you find it difficult to learn listening? What are your reasons? What you want to obtain through learning listening skill? What problems have you faced in learning listening? (In terms of teacher, materials, teaching methods, facilities and so on) Does your teacher follow the three stages in teaching of listening comprehension skill in class? What you think of pre-listening stage in learning listening? How does your teacher organize the pre-listening activities in your class? What kinds of pre-listening activities you like the best? 10 What you expect at pre-listening stage? 74 PHỤ LỤC BẢNG CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA (Dành cho sinh viên) Bảng câu hỏi điều tra thiết kế để thu thập thông tin cho đề tài nghiên cứu “Điều tra cách thức tổ chức hoạt động trước nghe lớp Tiếng Anh năm thứ ba Trường Đại học Phú Xuân” Sự đóng góp bạn có giá trị cho việc hồn thành nghiên cứu Người nghiên cứu đảm bảo tất thơng tin thu thập giữ kín người điều tra không dùng tên thật bạn luận văn ấn phẩm xuất Chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ nhiệt tình bạn Xin vui lòng khoanh tròn vào câu trả lời phù hợp điền thêm thông tin vào chỗ trống Tên: (không bắt buộc) ……………………………………… Bạn đánh giá tầm quan trọng việc học kĩ nghe? a Vô quan trọng b Khá quan trọng c Bình thường d Khơng quan trọng Theo bạn, học kỹ nghe có khó khơng? a Rất khó b Khó c Bình thường d Dễ Mục đích bạn thơng qua kỹ nghe gì? (Có thể có nhiều lựa chọn) a Nâng cao khả nghe hiểu Tiếng Anh b Học từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp c Giao tiếp với người nước ngồi d Xem phim chương trình truyền hình tiếng Anh Mục đích khác: Bạn có thích học nghe khơng? a Có b Khơng c Khơng thích Vì bạn thích học nghe? Bởi vì: a Giờ học nghe bổ ích cho việc học tiếng Anh kỹ khác b Giờ học nghe thú vị c Giờ học nghe thoải mái Lý khác: 75 Vì bạn khơng thích học nghe? Bởi vì: a Các tập nghe thường khó b Chất lượng băng đĩa nghe c Giờ học nghe thường vô vị d Thiếu kỹ nghe hiểu Các lí khác: Trong học nghe, giáo viên có tổ chức hoạt động trước nghe khơng? a Có b Khơng Nếu có, hoạt động cụ thể nào?(Vui lòng khoanh tròn vào hoạt động đánh dấu X vào mức độ thường xuyên bạn tham gia hoạt động đó) Các hoạt động trước nghe Ln Thường Thỉnh Khơng ln xun thoảng a Đốn b Dạy từ vựng c Thảo luận đề tài liên quan d Sử dụng đồ vật thật (tranh, ảnh …) để gợi suy nghĩ cho người học e Câu hỏi hướng dẫn f Chơi trò chơi Khác Trong hoạt động trên, hoạt động bạn thích nhất?(Có thể nhiều lựa chọn) Lý do: 10 Theo bạn, hoạt động có tác động tốt đến việc học kỹ nghe bạn không? a Có b Khơng 76 11 Nếu có, tác động nào? (Có thể có nhiều lựa chọn) a Giúp bạn nắm bắt mục đích nghe b Giúp bạn phát triển kỹ giao tiếp c Giúp bạn học hỏi cách phát âm ngữ điệu người ngữ d Tác động khác: XIN CHÂN THÀNH CÁM ƠN SỰ GIÚP ĐỠ CỦA CÁC BẠN! 77