Test taking strategies for listening tests by second year english majors at university of foreign languages hue university

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI TU OANH TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR LISTENING TESTS BY SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI TU OANH TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES FOR LISTENING TESTS BY SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: ASSOC PROF DR LE PHAM HOAI HUONG THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - NGUYỄN THỊ TÚ OANH CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC LÀM BÀI KIỂM TRA MÔN NGHE CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH TẠI ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS TS LÊ PHẠM HOÀI HƯƠNG THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Signed: ………………………… Nguyễn Thị Tú Oanh Date: ……/ ……/……… i ABSTRACT This study was conducted to explore the awareness of English majors from a university regarding their employment of test-taking strategies during listening tests and to identify their most frequently used test-taking strategies Two hundred forty-two sophomore English majors participated in the study The data were gathered through two main instruments: questionnaire and interview The findings indicate that the majority of participants had a favorable attitude toward using test-taking strategies in four areas: test performance, listening comprehension, degree of concentration, and anxiety It was also found that employing test-taking strategies had the most significant impact on students‟ test performance among the four factors considered Besides, metacognitive strategies were reported to be the most frequently used among the six groups of strategies that adhered to Oxford's (1996) taxonomy However, students held an inconsistent view regarding the use of L1 during listening tests Based on the findings of this study, some implications concerning test-taking strategy use were suggested for students taking listening tests and for teachers preparing their students for these tests ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Assoc Pro Dr Le Pham Hoai Huong for the continuous support of my study and research, for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Master's study Incredibly, her "beginner's mind" attitude in tackling academic projects has motivated me a lot during the process of writing I am indebted also to several students from the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, who so generously took time out of their schedules to participate in my research and make this project possible Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, friends, and Thầy who have supported me mentally and spiritually throughout my life as always iii List of Tables Table 2.1 Listening test-taking strategies (adapted from Cohen & Dörnyei, 2002) Table 2.2 Formats of the listening test for second-year students at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University (adapted from Unit Description of Listening course) Table 4.1 Reliability statistics Table 4.2 Students‟ perception of employing listening test-taking strategies Table 4.3 Reliability statistics Table 4.4 The mean score of listening test-taking strategies Table 4.5 Pre-listening memory strategies Table 4.6 While-listening memory strategies Table 4.7 Before-listening cognitive strategies Table 4.8 While-listening cognitive strategies Table 4.9 Before-listening compensation strategies Table 4.10 While-listening compensation strategies Table 4.11 Before-listening metacognitive strategies Table 4.12 While-listening metacognitive strategies Table 4.13 After-listening metacognitive strategies Table 4.14 Before-listening affective strategies Table 4.15 While-listening affective strategies Table 4.16 While-listening social strategies iv List of Figures Figure 2.1 Classification of language learning strategies (adapted from Oxford, 1990, p 17) v List of Abbreviations HUFL …………………… University of Foreign Languages, Hue University VSTEP ………………… Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency vi Table of Contents Statement of Original Authorship i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of Tables iv List of Figures v List of Abbreviations vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research Objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Research Significance 1.6 Structure of the Study Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Strategies and Test-taking Strategies 2.2.1 Strategies 2.2.2 Test-taking Strategies 2.3 Taxonomies of Language Learning Strategies 2.5 Test-taking Strategy and the Listening Skill 19 2.6 Listening Tests at HUFL 20 2.7 Previous Studies 22 2.7.1 Studies in other Countries 22 2.7.2 Studies in Vietnam 23 vii Bachman, F., & Palmer, S (1996) Language Testing in Practice Oxford, England: Oxford University Press Bagheri, M S., & Fazel, I (2011) EFL learners‟ beliefs about translation and its use as a strategy in writing An International Online Journal, 11(3), 292–301 Brown, H D (2006) Principles of language learning and teaching Pearson Longman Bulushi, A A., Seyabi, F A., & Al-Busaidi, S (2018) The role of test taking strategies in improving Omani students‟ listening 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Appendix Student Interview Questions Do you think employing test-taking strategies is necessary? What impacts test-taking strategies have on your listening tests? Do you use any strategies when taking listening tests? What types of strategies you employ in listening tests? Appendix Student Interview Transcription Student A I consider listening test-taking strategies as important To be specific, employing those strategies in listening tests, I can keep track with the audio and then figure out the proper responses Appropriate strategies help me to boost such a huge confidence Test-taking strategies are beneficial, however; tests‟ results might propably lean on students‟ level of proficiency rather than merely utilizing listening test-taking strategies Those strategies work efficiently among intermediate students Listening strategies help me not get distracted by minor details and more focus on the objectives of each listening task Overall, I will give it 70/100% in terms of level of effectiveness I highlight the key words of the questions before listening and find out the answers based on the key words I hear in the audio The second and paramount importance point is all the listening questions have to be acquired before listening or you will end up missing related information for the tests I rarely neither associate the content of the listening with the mental images nor the sound I encourage myself trying my best before incoming the tests I always attempt to get the answer at first listening time, the second is for checking Paying attention to some negative words or phrases is my frequent-doing Intonation of the speakers worth noticing solely in some cases Translation is quite time-consuming during the listening tests so I don‟t use it as a strategy Background knowledge related to the listening tests; especially, cultural ones assist me making the right decision Student B It is 80/100% necessary for my using listening strategies That my mind goes blank helps me to be more connected to the listening content First thing first, I flick through all the questions to predict the forthcoming content All the predictions occur mentally; in other words, I uncommonly take notes or write them down Before listening, I shut my overthinking mind down by taking some deep breath On the first try, I fully focus to pick up the answers and the next try can be used for checking what I have done I tend to connect the whole content of the listening to generate the mental picture as complete as possible By contrast, I have no idea of how the pronunciation is My auto-pilot mind will convert English into Vietnamese most of the time Instead of analyzing the prefix or suffix, I am more into the big picture, I mean the main content When it comes to the unknown words or phrases, I guess their meanings based on all the connected information previously Student C Employing listening strategies is rewarding in lots of ways Particularly, two main aspects: concentration and confidence have been positive effected The degree of necessary in terms of employing listening test-taking strategies, according to me, is 80 out of 100% Before listening, read carefully and try to understand the requirements of each listening task I normally highlight the key information needed for each question Translating into my mother tongue is my frequent routine I check the whole listening test to make sure nothing is left behind or missing out In general, translation is what I employ almost all the time Student D Before listening, I thoroughly decode the listening questions and highlight some key information When it comes to new words, I try to guess their meanings based on contexts or part of speech of the words I hardly think about synonyms or related words Similarly, I rarely relate the words to imaginary pictures or how they how they are pronounced Perceiving the English meaning is preferred to translating into Vietnamese To keep my monkey mind calm down, I visualize the stunning atmosphere after the tests I now and then summarize the main content of what the speakers try to convey If there is any question that I hesitate, I will make the decision predicated on the flow of connected ideas I have established beforehand In the final phase, I convert all related information of the audio I expect to reflect and remember to mother tongue 60 out of 100 % is the extent I think listening test-taking strategies contributes to my listening tests Using strategies arms your mind with the active status; otherwise stated, you have a prepared mind so the information tends to be accessed effortlessly On the contrary, I will feel overwhelmed and devastating if my mind is not ready or passive Employing these strategies is efficient to remain a stable mood, which in turn dominantly effects the tests‟ result Student E Strategies combined with my English level of proficiency result in an expected outcome of listening tests From to 100, I will score 60 or more than concerning the needed level of test-taking strategies Most of the time using strategies somehow helps the listening test performance Focusing on the details helps me come to a decision Regarding psychological issues like anxiety, my confidence is lifted in case of employing listening strategies Moreover, strategies play a crucial role in listening tests regardless of students‟ level of proficiency I identify the key word in advance then lend an ear to the key words if there are while speakers utter Before listening, I keep my mind relax by noting down some positive phrases Occasionally, I recall relevant information in case it might come out in the audio by paraphrasing the test questions or options I make a guess about word meaning relying on collocations, affixes I will skip the question and wait for the second time to choose the answer; however, if I cannot listen clearly at final chance, I tend to determine the answer based on the whole content of what I have listened Student F Personally speaking, using listening strategies is significantly important Background knowledge considerably to choose right options 90/100 is the level I evaluate the contribution of employing strategies to my listening tests I determine the key words of the listening options and highly pay attention if they appear in the audio I always put corresponding Vietnamese interpretation for the test options/ questions I analyze some conjunctions to better understand the meaning of the uttered conversations Speakers‟ intonation is another factor that I consider Student G Before listening, I hold my hand to fully concentrate on the incoming test I turn my mind off from any not-test-related stuff Read attentively to clarify the purpose of each listening question I not think our brain can tackle multiple tasks at the same time Sometimes, I predict the possible answer based on what I have known about the topic I take a deep breath and pray to reduce my anxiety I guess the meaning of vocabulary based on the context Social and cultural knowledge somehow works I not translation into Vietnamese Student H Utilizing test-taking strategies in listening tests help me cover the objective of what I need to listening Without strategies, the content tends to not systematic so that it is hard to retrieve the information Strategies also have enormous impact on my concentration, anxiety and confidence Noticing the speakers‟ intonation is necessary to understand the message as well as choose the right response I take note the related words right next to the listening questions and options; then comparing information before reaching the decision I also have the pronunciation of words in my mind when reading the test questions and options