Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning english listening skills at ho chi minh city university of foreign languages and information technology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - LE HOANG THAI THUONG STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Major: English Language Course code: 8220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER / 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in English Language (Words: 18,554) Course code: 8220201 by LE HOANG THAI THUONG Supervised by DUONG MY THAM, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER / 2022 The thesis entitled “Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning English listening skills at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology” was successfully defended and approved on March 29th, 2023 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) Academic supervisor: Duong My Tham, Ph.D (full name, title, signature) Examination Committee Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D Chair Cao Thi Phuong Dung, Ph.D Reader Le Van Tuyen, Ph.D Reader Tran Quoc Thao, Ph.D Member Nguyen Thi Thu, Ph.D Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair (full name, title, signature) HCM UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE HCM, December 2022 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: Le Hoang Thai Thuong Sex: Male Date of birth: June 1st, 1992 Place of birth: Dong Thap Province Major: English Language Student code: 2041900026 I- Thesis title: Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning English listening skills at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology II- Objectives and contents: This study aimed to examine second-year English majors’ attitudes towards the use of mobile applications in learning English listening skills at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology The researcher applied the mixed methods, using a survey questionnaire and the semi-structured interview The findings from both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that most of the one hundred and one participants had positive attitudes towards the use of mobile applications in learning English listening skills in the classrooms Furthermore, the study revealed that English majors with stronger levels of English listening skills were more inclined to use mobile applications for practicing English listening skills III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University) IV- Completing date: December, 2022 V- Academic supervisor: Duong My Tham, Ph D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) (full name, signature) CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: “STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY” In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 Le Hoang Thai Thuong i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LE HOANG THAI THUONG, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of the Master’s These deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 Signature: LE HOANG THAI THUONG ii SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS HCMC, ……/……/……… Supervisor’s Signature iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the entire study process, I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Duong My Tham, for her compassion, guidance, insightful comments, and consistent support This thesis would not have been finished without her strong support and direction I'm thankful to Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, the Postgraduate Institute, and the Faculty of English Language for giving me the chance to go to college and for always being there for me when I had problems while I was studying Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Dean of the Faculty of English Language, has always made everything useful for myself and my fellow students During the learning process, my classmates and I could not have completed all of our tasks on time without her assistance I am thankful to Mrs Bui Thi Thanh Truc, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, for granting me permission to perform my research experiment In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs Nguyen Thu Hien, my English lecturer who provided me with effective cooperation and assistance with data collection and the pilot project at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology Le Hoang Thai Thuong iv ABSTRACT Technology continues to create new avenues for inspiring language learners Collaboration among institutions, teachers, students and communities is crucial to unlock technology’s potential in a particular setting English learners should also learn to use technology to develop their listening skills, which are essential in learning English language In English as a foreign language classes, this ability is likely to be underemphasized This can lead to misunderstandings and make it difficult to interpret what speakers intend to say This study aimed to investigate how sophomores majoring in English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) thought about using mobile devices to improve their English listening skills One hundred and one English majors at HUFLIT participated in the mixed-methods study Using the mixed-methods research design with a survey questionnaire as the primary data collecting instrument and the semi-structured interview, the study obtained significant findings and accomplished its objectives The quantitative data collected from the questionnaire were processed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0 (SPSS 20.0) The findings from the quantitative and qualitative data indicated that the majority of participants had positive sentiments regarding the use of mobile applications inside classroom Moreover, the study also found out there was a positive correlation between the English majors’ attitudes towards the intention to use mobile applications in learning English listening skills and their levels of English listening skills The result indicated that the higher scores of English listening skills the participants have, the more they consider using mobile applications to practice English listening skills (257 words) Keywords: attitude; English listening skills; English major; mobile application; mobile learning v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv ABSTRACT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xi LIST OF ABBREVIATION xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Aims and objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Definition of key terms 1.8 Organization of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) 11 2.1.1 Definition of MALL 11 2.1.2 The impacts of MALL on language skills 13 2.1.3 The application of mobile applications in language education 16 2.2 Listening skill 19 2.2.1 Definition of listening skill 19 2.2.2 Approaches to learning and teaching listening skill 20 2.2.3 Difficulties during teaching and learning listening skill 20 2.3 Attitudes 21 vi 93 94 95 96 97 98 99