Using storytelling to enhance grade 10 students listening comprehenhension at a high school an action research project

Trang 1 NGUYEN DUY HUNG USING STORYTELLING TO ENHANCE GRADE-10 STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT A HIGH SCHOOL: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT MASTER''''S THESIS OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION Tr

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES –––––––––––––––––––––––––– NGUYEN DUY HUNG USING STORYTELLING TO ENHANCE GRADE-10 STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT A HIGH SCHOOL: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT MASTER'S THESIS OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION THAI NGUYEN - 2022 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES –––––––––––––––––––––––––– NGUYEN DUY HUNG USING STORYTELLING TO ENHANCE GRADE-10 STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT A HIGH SCHOOL: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT English language teaching methodology Code: 8.14.01.11 MASTER'S THESIS OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Ph.D NGO THI BICH NGOC THAI NGUYEN - 2022 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP In this thesis, apart from the reference, the writer has presented my own work and data In addition, the work is submitted for this MA thesis only and has not been published anywhere else No other person‘s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Thai Nguyen, May 2022 Nguyen Duy Hung ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor who has kindly given me valuable instructions, critical feedback, constant encouragement, and useful suggestions Without her guidance, this research could not be completed Besides, I also want to express my sincere thanks to all the lecturers from the English Department of the University of Education, Thai Nguyen University The knowledge that they taught me is extremely useful for me in having a deeper understanding of the English language and in doing the research In addition, I am very grateful to the school board, teachers, and students at the high school where I conducted this research for their support and participation during the process of doing and collecting data for my research Last but not least, I am thankful to my family and friends for motivating, supporting, and encouraging me during the time of doing this research iii ABSTRACT This study investigates how tenth graders at a high school respond when applying storytelling in teaching listening lessons and how storytelling works in enhancing these skills The main respondents of the study were 60 tenth grader Pre- and post-tests, as well as pre- and post-questionnaires, were used to collect data for the analysis The findings of the study showed that storytelling could help in improving the students‘ attitude toward listening and enhancing their listening skills Based on the results of the research, implications for teachers, students, and institutions were recommended by the researcher In addition, suggestions for further research were also provided iv TABLE OF CONTENTS The Information of the Study i Table of Contents iv Lists of tables and figures v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives 2 1.2.1 Aims of the Study 2 1.2.2 Objectives 2 1.3 Scope of the Study 2 1.4 Research Questions 2 1.5 Significance of the Study 3 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 2.1 Theoretical background 4 2.1.1 What is listening? 4 2.1.2 The importance of listening skill 5 2.1.3 Listening problems 5 2.1.3.2 Linguistic Features 6 2.1.3.3 The Speaker 6 2.1.3.4 The Listener 6 2.1.3.5 The Physical Setting 7 2.1.4 Teaching listening 7 2.1.5 Storytelling 11 2.1.5.1 Definition of storytelling 11 2.1.5.2 Storytelling model 12 2.1.5.3 The positive impacts of storytelling on learning 14 2.1.5.4 Three Participations of Storytelling 18 2.2 Literature Review 19 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Research design 21 3.2 Participants 27 3.3 Data Collection Instrument 28 3.3.1 Questionnaires 28 3.3.2 Tests 29 3.4 Data collection procedure 30 3.5 Data analysis 30 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 32 4.1 Findings 32 4.1.1 Findings from the pre-questionnaires 32 4.1.1.1 Students’ attitude toward listening 32 4.1.1.2 Students’ difficulties in listening 34 4.1.1.3 Other difficulties in listening listed by students 36 4.1.2 Findings from the post questionnaires 36 4.1.2.1 Students’ interest in listening after using storytelling in classes 36 4.1.2.2 Students’ attention in listening after using storytelling in classes 37 4.1.2.3 Students’ evaluation on the effectiveness of storytelling in improving students’ listening comprehension 38 4.1.3 Findings from the tests 39 4.2 Discussion 41 4.2.1 Students’ response when applying storytelling in teaching listening lessons 41 4.3.2 The effectiveness of storytelling in improving students’ listening comprehension skills 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 44 5.1 Summary of the study 44 5.2 Implications 46 5.2.1 To teachers 46 5.2.2 To students 48 5.2.3 To institutions 48 5.3 Limitations of the study 48 5.4 Suggestions for further study 49 APPENDIX x v TABLES LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Table No 29 Table 4.1 Table Name 30 Table 4.2 Students' difficulties in listening 32 Table 4.3 Students' other difficulties in listening Students‘ opinions on the effectiveness of storytelling in 35 Table 4.4 improving students‘ listening comprehension Pretest and posttest average score report FIGURES Figure Name Page Figure No Storytelling Pathways 13 Figure 2.1 Students‘ evaluation of the importance of listening 26 Figure 4.1 comprehension in acquiring the English language Students‘ interest in listening lessons at school 27 Figure 4.2 Students‘ attention to listening lessons 28 Figure 4.3 A comparison of the students' interests in listening before 31 Figure 4.4 and after using storytelling in classes A comparison of the students' attention in listening 32 Figure 4.5 before and after using storytelling in classes A comparison of the minimum score and maximum score 35 Figure 4.6 between the pretest and posttest 1 CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Thanks to globalization and integration, English has become an indispensable tool to connect the whole world In every area, from business, research, etc to daily life, English is used worldwide That is the reason why English proficiency has become one of the most important criteria to consider when recruiting a candidate or promoting an employee Understanding the significant role of English, the Ministry of Education has continuously updated the textbooks so that students have modern and constructive materials to study this international language The new textbooks are written in order to develop all of the four skills, listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills However, in the teaching process, the author realizes that students encounter a lot of difficulties practicing listening skills In general, students cannot recognize some words due to their mispronunciation Intonation is also a barrier for them to understand Nevertheless, among the reasons, demotivation is the main cause of unimproved listening skills At school, teachers have to follow the curriculum; therefore, listening is taught in a traditional way That means students learn listening lessons passively When the teachers play the recordings, they listen and do the tasks in the textbooks According to my observation, the majority of students are not eager to learn listening lessons Therefore, they just try to fulfill the tasks because they follow their teacher‘s instructions The passive learning style causes demotivation among students, resulting in poor listening skills While listening is one of the most important skills for learners, most students find it hard to make progress As a teacher, this matter has been my concern for a long time That is the reason why I have looked for a lot of materials to find ways to get my students involved in listening lessons I have found that storytelling can be a good way to improve the listening skills of students in general and my students at a high school in particular