Trang 1 --- GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS A STUDY ON TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE NOTE-TAKING SKILL IN LISTENING CLASSES FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR AT HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF
HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS A STUDY ON TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE NOTETAKING SKILL IN LISTENING CLASSES FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR AT HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION (NGHIÊ N CỨU CÁC KĨ THUẬT ĐỂ CỦNG CỐ KĨ NĂNG TỐC KÝ TRONG LỚP NGHE CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊ N NGÀNH NGÔ N NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM KĨ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN) Supervisor: Nguyen Thi My, MA Student: Le Thi Mai Student number: 11317037 Hung Yen - 2021 HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS A STUDY ON TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE NOTETAKING SKILL IN LISTENING CLASSES FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR AT HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION (NGHIÊ N CỨU CÁC KĨ THUẬT ĐỂ CỦNG CỐ KĨ NĂNG TỐC KÝ TRONG LỚP NGHE CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊ N NGÀNH NGÔ N NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM KĨ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN) Supervisor: Nguyen Thi My, MA Student: Le Thi Mai Student number: 11317037 Hung Yen - 2021 i DECLARATION I certify that the study entitled “A study on techniques to improve note-taking skill in listening classes for the first-year English major at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education” is the result of my own research and the substance of this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions and that if this declaration is found to be false, disciplinary measures and penalties can be taken and imposed in accordance with university policies and rules Signature Le Thi Mai ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Mrs Nguyen Thi My, teacher at Faculty of Foreign Languages, who has enthusiastically helped and encouraged me during the period of writing this research paper Without her experienced guidance, valuable comments and tireless help, I cannot complete the study on time My sincere thanks are sent to the teachers in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education for their useful lessons and hearted advice I am also grateful to all my friends and my beloved family, who gave me useful advice on writing process Finally, I wish to acknowledge the kind help of the teachers and English major students (TAK18) at FFL who helped me to collect data, and their valuable support for finishing the study iii ABSTRACT The purpose of the graduation thesis is to study techniques to improve note-taking skills in listening for first-year English majors at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education Listening skill is an important skill for English major students, many students have encountered many difficulties in the process of learning listening skills, especially first-year According to many previous studies, the note-taking technique is one of the techniques that help students improve their listening skills better during school and self-study Therefore, the author cherished the idea of providing students with a rich source of information and prioritized for future studies related to the topic "A study on techniques to improve note-taking skill in listening classes for first-year students major in English at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education" Methodologically, note-taking studies were studied using survey questions of 100 first-year English majors and 05 English teachers Questions focus on basic note-taking theory and the findings of previous studies After collecting and analyzing data, the researcher presented the current situation of learning listening skills as well as difficulties encountered by first-year English majors at UTEHY, thereby proposing some solutions difficulty overcoming and notetaking techniques to improve English listening skills Taking notes plays an important function in improving English listening skills iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aim and objectives of the study 1.3 Research question(s) 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the study CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Listening 2.1.1 Definition of Listening 2.1.2 Classification of listening 2.2 Note- taking 2.2.1 Definition of Note- taking 2.2.2 The importance of note-taking while listening 2.2.3 What to Note 2.2.3.1 Main Ideas 2.2.3.2 The Links v 2.2.3.3 Non contextualized Information 2.2.3.4 Verb Tenses 2.2.4 How to note 2.2.4.1 Learn to abbreviate and use symbols 2.2.4.2 Two - column method to take notes 11 2.2.5 Which Language Used In Notes 12 2.2.6 When to Note 13 CHAPTER III: THE STUDY 14 3.1 Background of the study 14 3.1.1 Introduction 14 3.1.2 The Objective of the Survey 14 3.1.3 Subjects 14 3.1.4 Data collection instruments 15 3.1.4.1 Survey questionnaire for students 15 3.1.4.2 Survey questionnaire for teachers 15 3.1.5 Procedure of data collection 15 3.2 Data analysis 16 3.2.1 Analyzing from the students’ survey questionnaire 16 3.2.1.1 Years of studying English 16 3.2.1.2 Students’ Attitude toward Listening Skill 17 3.2.1.3 Students’ attitude toward how important is listening to them 17 3.2.1.4 Students’ time allocation for self-study 18 3.2.1.5 The effectiveness of using note-taking in learning English 18 vi 3.2.1.6 Difficulties in taking notes in listening class 19 3.2.1.7 Students using abbreviation and symbols instead of writing all in words 20 3.2.1.8 Students use of diagrams to take note 21 3.2.1.9 Students’ opinion on rewriting their notes 21 3.2.1.10 Student’s opinions on the materials supplied by the teachers 22 3.2.2 Analyzing From the Teachers’ Survey Questionnaire…………………………… 22 3.2.2.1 Teachers’ opinions on students’ competence during their first years in the university………………………………………………………………………………22 3.2.2.2 Teachers’ opinions on students’ common difficulties in note taking skill 23 3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions on the materials supplying to the student 25 3.2.2.4 Teachers’ opinions on the ways to help students improve their note taking skill in listening class 25 3.2.2.5 Teachers’ suggestions to the students to enhance their listening competence 26 3.3 Findings and discussion 26 3.3.1 What is the current situation of using note-taking skill in English listening in firstyears listening classes, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education? 26 3.3.2 What difficulties first-year English majors at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education have in note taking skill in listening classes? 26 3.3.3 What methods should be used to help first-year English major at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education overcome their difficulties? .27 3.4 Some suggested techniques on taking notes 27 3.4.1 The 2-6 28 3.4.2 Split Page Method 28 3.4.3 Use Colors 28 vii 3.4.4 Use mind maps in taking note 28 3.5 Recommendations 29 3.5.1 Recommendations for the students 29 3.5.2 Recommendation for the teachers 29 3.5.2.1 Tips for taking notes 29 3.5.2.2 Materials should be combined with techniques of taking notes 30 3.6 Summary 30 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION 31 4.1 Conclusion 31 4.2 Limitations of the study 31 4.3 Recommendations for further research 32 REFERENCES 33 APPENDIX I APPENDIX IV viii LIST OF THE CHARTS AND TABLE Figure 1.1: Some abbreviations for taking note by Prestyn Kylie (2015, April19) 10 Figure 1.2: Note taking layout 12 Figure 3.1: Number of years studying English 16 Figure 3.2: Students’ Attitude toward Listening Skill .17 Figure 3.3: Students’ attitude toward how important is listening to them 17 Figure 3.4: Students use note-taking in self-study 18 Figure 3.5: The effectiveness of using note-taking in learning English 18 Table 1: Difficulties in taking notes in listening class .19 Figure 3.6: Students use of abbreviation and symbol instead of writing all in words .20 Figure 3.7: Students use of diagrams to take note .21 Figure 3.8: Students rewrite their notes .21 Figure 3.9: Student’s opinions on the materials supplied by the teachers 22 Figure 3.10: Teachers’ opinion on students’ listening competence during their first years in the university 23 Table 2: Teachers’ opinions on students’ common difficulties in note taking skill in listening class .24 Figure 3.11: Teachers’ opinions on materials applying to the first- year English majors 25 Figure 3.12: Mind mapping information and advice 29 25 nervous when they are listening to English In addition, majority of the lecturers (64%) think note taking skill is not good enough to note well 3.2.2.3 Teachers’ opinions on the materials supplying to the student 9% 36% 55% Strongly agree Agree Neutral Figure 3.11: Teachers’ opinions on materials applying to the first- year English majors According to the pie chart, 45% of the teachers think that the materials using for firstyear English majors currently are interesting and appropriate (9% strongly agree and 36% agree) 55% of them not have any ideas Not like 20% of the students, all the teachers consider the textbooks for teaching note taking skill are suitable and interesting to the learners’ proficiency level 3.2.2.4 Teachers’ opinions on the ways to help students improve their note taking skill in listening class To this question, many methods have been introduced with the hope of helping students overcoming their difficulties in listening acquisition There are some of the most outstanding ones: giving students more authentic listening materials; listening more to various accents and from different sources; listening to English through some songs; providing extra listening materials; teaching pronunciation and culture to help students listen better; spending much time for speaking and listening; using games and activities motivating students to listen; practicing 26 makes perfect Especially, students should enrich the techniques and tips as much as they can to improve note taking skill 3.2.2.5 Teachers’ suggestions to the students to enhance their listening competence Here are some tips that the lecturers have been given out to help students enhance their listening ability by themselves: having English environment everywhere; more practicing because of practice makes perfect; self-study with sources and materials from authentic websites on the Internet Overall, the third chapter has presented the data, which obtained from the survey questionnaire The analysis of the data is carefully done In the next chapter, findings will be discussed in details and recommendations will be given 3.3 Findings and discussion 3.3.1 What is the current situation of using note-taking skill in English listening in firstyears listening classes, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education? Most of the students who participated in the survey recognized the importance of listening skills and the benefits that note-taking techniques bring in the process of listening to English However, very few of you use notes as a habit, up to 90% of students sometimes or rarely practice their note-taking skills at home and only 10% of them it daily as a habit Some of them just use inspired abbreviations and don't follow a certain system, making it even harder to review your notes Allocating students' self-study time at home is also a dilemma and it significantly affects students' mastering of note-taking skills However, that seems to be a limitation of first-year English majors at UTEHY 3.3.2 What difficulties first-year English majors at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education have in note taking skill in listening classes? In the note taking process, most of the first-year English majors have been facing to great deal of prominent difficulties that refer to many aspects of taking notes skill in listening There are some obstacles which students at UTEHY have been facing 27 Firstly, most of the students have been slow note takers It means that they are cannot catch up with the information which speakers say It is a big problem If Students are not fast enough to note which the speakers say they will miss the information and note nothing at all Besides, most of the students have difficulties in note-taking because of limited vocabulary Secondly, they don’t know how to note and how to organize their notes Sometimes they used abbreviation to take notes but their notes are not clear, so they understand nothing about what the speakers say Thirdly, they don’t know what to note As far as we have known what to note is really important thing in the note taking process It requires the listener to go through numerous cognitive processing activities before taking notes Although the issue is very much of personal affair, each listener has his or her own decision on what to note, some general principles be observed Lastly, when to note is their problem as well As the matter of fact, Students only can get the main idea when they note right words or key words of the lecture However, note-taking as quickly as possible does not mean that the listener should note every notion as soon as it is said Grasping the idea, then jotting it down is one of the basic principles for note-taking 3.3.3 What methods should be used to help first-year English major at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education overcome their difficulties? The author suggests some methods for students to help them improve their note-taking skills in listening class such as using symbols, abbreviations, mind-maps, etc In short, after collecting data, the author has identified an overview of learning English listening skills and the use of note-taking techniques while listening, students' difficulties in taking notes Based on students' listening practice, the researcher hopes to find some effective methods to improve students' note-taking skills at FFL, UTEHY 3.4 Some suggested techniques on taking notes The most comprehensive note taking systems require attention on your part You must be alert enough in class to take legible, meaningful notes You can't rely on "writing everything 28 down" because a lot of information in a given lecture won't help you actually learn the material If you have problems determining the specific relevant points in a particular class, you can always ask the professor to clarify them for you 3.4.1 The 2-6 The 2-6 refers to the way you divide the space on your notepaper Make two columns, using the red line on the left of the page as your border Then, when you take notes in class, use the columns for the notes and the smaller columns on the left as a highlighting system Write main headings and important points on the left, including material you think you will be tested on When you're finished, you should have a comprehensive page of information that you can quickly scan for important points 3.4.2 Split Page Method Class lectures and your textbook are the primary sources of course content and you need to learn both So, combine them with the split page method of taking notes Just divide your notebook page in half lengthwise Draw a line down the middle of the page Take class notes on one side of the page and outline the text on the other side When you study, you'll have both class notes and text 3.4.3 Use Colors This may take a little bit longer but it will work Just give it a chance When you are taking notes change the color of your pen! Don't write in blue or black ink Writing in color will help you retain 50% - 80% more of the information without reading it a second time 3.4.4 Use mind maps in taking note The term ‘Mind-map’ was coined in the late 1960’s by Tony Buzan “A mind map is a graphic technique provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the bran It harnesses the full range of cortical skills: words, images, number, logic, rhythm, color and spatial awareness”, stated by Tony Buzan (2012) Mind mapping is claimed to be effective in helping people to visualize, structure and classify ideas 29 Figure 3.12: Mind mapping information and advice 3.5 Recommendations 3.5.1 Recommendations for the students Before the lecture begins: Go over your notes from the previous lecture Make sure you have all the materials needed for the class, such as pen and paper Read the specified document Doing so will help you better understand the material discussed in class In the lecture: Date your notes to be easier to find notes for any particular class when you revisit it later Use abbreviations, symbols and your own words to take notes and organize notes logically Doing so can speed up your notes and thus increase the number of notes you can take in class After the lecture: Review lectures periodically Periodic review keeps information fresh in your long-term memory and helps you integrate new information with old information Reorder your notes, learn to review, correct, and refine notes 3.5.2 Recommendation for the teachers 3.5.2.1 Tips for taking notes Teachers should ask students for developing shorthand If you find there's a term you are writing over and over in your notes, make shorthand There are standard abbreviations, like "w/o" for "without" and "iff" for "if and only if." You can also come up with your own For 30 instance: "EG" for "economic growth" or "org" for "organism." Teachers should provide basic outline as handout to student and organize the lesson logically which can help much to students in note taking skill 3.5.2.2 Materials should be combined with techniques of taking notes Listening materials should be combined from different sources to ensure that they are interesting and appropriate enough for all levels of the students Not only in the topics but also techniques such as abbreviation, symbols, diagrams, and the others those learners can get the basic foundation of taking notes 3.6 Summary Chapter presented a discussion of some of the key findings from the study and some key suggestions for answering the three research questions The findings provide an overview and difficulties encountered in using note-taking skills in the English listening class of first-year English majors at UTEHY Those difficulties to come up with solutions to improve and enhance students' note-taking skills 31 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION 4.1 Conclusion In general, the use of note-taking skills in the listening class of first-year students at UTEHY is essential today The topic is conducted to study the current situation of using notetaking skills in teaching of UTEHY teachers and students and offer many solutions and notetaking techniques for students and teachers to overcome difficulties and increase efficiency learning results in listening class To achieve the main purpose of the study, the researcher used a combination of methods to conduct the research, including a questionnaire for teachers and students Survey questions were given to 100 first-year English majors at UTEHY and 05 English teachers The main findings of the study are as follows: First, most survey respondents use note-taking techniques in their listening classes Second, research has shown learners' difficulties when using technology in learning Third, listening to English through the use of note-taking techniques has brought many benefits to learners such as increasing interest in learning, taking notes helps the body to work, stay engaged and help you not feel sad When you are asleep or distracted, listening carefully and deciding what to take notes will help the student's mind become actively involved in what you hear Finally, some techniques are recommended for FFL students and faculty at UTEHY to use notes in learning more effectively 4.2 Limitations of the study The study focuses on investigating the use of note-taking skills by first-year at UTEHY and offers a number of techniques to strengthen note-taking skills However, the number of participants is limited to about 100 students Therefore, it may not be completely representative of the thoughts of other students Furthermore, the time to conduct the study is limited As such, the study only reflects part of the problem This research is just beginning to reveal how UTEHY students use notes and their attitudes towards it If the study was carried out over a longer period, 32 it would reflect the issues in more detail So, it would be much appreciated for those interested in the topic if they delve deeper into their research 4.3 Recommendations for further research The following guidelines should be considered in future research: - Research to investigate student's learning motivation in using note-taking skills - The relationship between learning outcomes and motivation can also be an object of futureoriented investigation - The topic only studies the current situation of how to take notes and propose some solutions to improve learning efficiency 33 REFERENCES Alvarez, P Jr (1994) Effective Note-Taking The Calren Project, University of California, Berkeley Retrieved March 18, 2004 California Polytechnic State University Notetaking System: methods Student Academic Services - Study Skills Library Career Development & Placement Center, CDPC (2006) A System for Effective Listening and Notetaking Career Development & Placement Center, University of California, Berkeley Retrieved 2006 College of Saint Benedict | Saint John's University (2004) Lecture Note Taking CSB|SJU Academic Advising Manktelow, J (1995) Mind Tools: Improving Note Taking with Concept Maps Retrieved March 19, 2004 Pauk, W (1989) The Cornell Notetaking Technique The Counseling and Career Center, The Brigham Young University Retrieved April 12, 2004, from http://ccc.byu.edu/learning/note-tak.php Procter, M (2003) Writing at the University of Toronto Retrieved April 12, 2004 Sweet Briar College (n.d.) Note-Taking Skills Study Skills Retrieved April 12, 2004 The University of Minnesota Duluth (2002) Taking Notes from Lectures Student: Handbook Retrieved April 12, 2004 10 The University of Texas At Austin (2002) A System for Effective Listening and NoteTaking The University of Texas Learning Center Retrieved April 12, 2004 11 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (n.d.) Note-Taking and In-Class Skills Study Skills Self-help Information Retrieved April 12, 2004 12 York University (1995) Note-taking at University Counselling and Development Centre Retrieved April 12, 2004 I APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on techniques to improve note-taking skill in English listening classes The author would be very grateful to your collaboration and support if you answer the questions honestly The purpose of this survey is to collect information for the research papers, so you not have to worry about any problems Your answer will help me a lot in the research process Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part I: Participant’s information Student’s full name:……………………………… …………………………………………… Age :…………………………………………………………………………………………… Gender: Male Female How long have you studied English? ……… years Part II: For each of the statements below, please mark agreement or disagreement in the appreciated box to make clear your opinion How you think about listening skill? A Very difficult B Difficult C Normal D Easy How is listening skill important for you? A Very important B Important C Neutral D Not very important E Not important at all How often you use note-taking when listening at home? A Every day B Sometimes C Rarely II D Never E Others Do you find your note-taking skills in class effective? A Very effective B Effective C Adequate D Inefficient What difficulties you have in note taking skill in listening classes? Difficulties Strongly Agree Agree Normal Disagree Strongly Disagree There are too much vocabulary and information to remember You have to remember what you heard, write it down while listening to the lecture Not enough time to take notes on what you heard Teachers not have instructions on how to take notes Haven't found the right notetaking method for you Others (Please specify): …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Do you often use abbreviation and symbol in your notes? A Always III B Sometimes C Never Do you often use diagram in your notes? A Often B Occasionally C Never Do you often rewrite your notes? A Often B Occasionally C Never The listening materials supplied by the teachers are interesting and appropriate to you A B C D E Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 10 In your opinion, what your teachers should to help you improve your listening acquisition? Alternatively, you have any useful tips to share the learners? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… IV APPENDIX TEACHERS’ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed for the study on techniques to improve note taking skill in listening class for UTEHY first-year English major Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated Your answers play a very important and useful part to the study All the provided information is solely for the aims of studying, not for any other purposes Please write down the answer or tick in the box! Thank you very much for your cooperation! What you rate the listening ability of first-year at university? A B C D Excellent Good Average Under average Please give your own ideas for these recommendations Factors affecting listening Students’ vocabulary is efficient enough to comprehend the spoken Grammar is important in listening comprehension Various and unfamiliar accents Stress and intonation make them feel hard to understand the message Strongly Agree Agree Normal Disagree Strongly Disagree V It’s difficult for them to understand when native speakers produce spontaneous connected speech The speed rate of speakers is too fast Stressful and nervous while listening Environmental factors that prevent listening Lack of taking note techniques Others (Please specify): ………………………………………………………………………………….……………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Do you think that listening materials applying to the first-year English majors is interesting and appropriate? A B C D E Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree In your opinion, what should you to help the students improve their note taking skill? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… VI Do you have any tips or suggestions to your students to enhance their note taking competence? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… - The end -