Using english songs to improve listening skills for students at academy of music

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled USING ENGLISH SONGS TO IMPROVE LISTENING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS AT ACADEMY O

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

English has become a global language, facilitating communication across borders and conveying thoughts, feelings, and messages worldwide (Rao, 2019) In the era of globalization, English is prevalent in various countries and disciplines, leading to an increased demand for its mastery In Vietnam, English holds prominence as a foreign language, with students required to study it from primary school through university This underscores the significant role of English both within and outside the education system.

Among four skills of English language, listening is a significantly important language skill in the acquiring process of English language; it is also one of the most difficult skills learners need to acquire Brown (2004) indicated, “Listening performance is the invisible, inaudible process of internalizing meaning from the auditory signals being transmitted to the ear and brain” (p.118) Mastering listening skills is the first step toward fully acquiring the English language (Liu, 2008) In addition, Mendelsohn (1994) reaches to a conclusion that during a communication process with total time spent, listening skills makes up 40 to 50%; whereas speaking skills needs 25 to 30 %; followed by reading skills which occupies 11 to 16%; and the last one is writing skills, about 9% The figures above show the importance of listening skills in achieving success in communication

It may be difficult for an individual to understand a lecture and conversation in a second language; sometimes even in the mother tongue In some situations, both the speaker and the listener can become the cause of such difficulties People meet difficulties in listening when speakers speak too fast; or distracted by too much noise

Or there is a hinder of talking on the phone; or listeners have limitations in vocabulary, lacks knowledge of the topic, inability to distinguish individual sounds, etc As a result, listening ability is always a problem that makes many learners care for

Communication-oriented language teaching has emerged as the dominant approach in foreign language education, prioritizing learners' communication abilities This approach emphasizes the development of all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with a particular focus on listening comprehension.

2 requires receptive skills as some teachers previously thought Listening comprehension becomes an active skill in which learners play an active role of participants in the information heard, process the information, understand and decode the information to finally respond to it It is exactly like the process of four operations: perceive - understand - evaluate - respond proposed by Steil, Barker and Wakson (1983) Only when the listener can respond and the listening process complete, the communication process will achieve the desired result Bad listening skills can ruin communication Listening comprehension, therefore, is considered a basic element of the communication process Learners who want to improve communication have no choice but to hone this listening comprehension skill

Presently, there are many strategies/ methods/ and tools used in learning and teaching listening skills as well as other language skills Some people are successful in applying listening learning strategies/ methods/ and tools in learning listening skills; however, some others cannot achieve high results in listening skills There are many factors causing the success and failure in listening skills, such as kind of listening strategy; learners’ linguistic knowledge; affective factors, etc Using English songs is a way to help students improve their learning skills

Songs hold immense value in various domains, including linguistics, education, culture, and entertainment They serve as effective teaching and learning tools, fostering the development of all language skills As Vernon notes, songs provide a rich resource for language instruction and acquisition.

Music can be a powerful tool in the English classroom, fostering a stimulating and engaging learning environment By incorporating English songs into lessons, educators can spark interest, enhance listening comprehension, and boost student confidence Not only do songs provide linguistic benefits but also enrich the learning experience, making it more enjoyable and memorable for students.

As cited in Larsen-Freeman (1985), Georgi Lozanov stated that he would like to use music in his teaching as it is the instrument creating a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere in classroom, which booster learners’ language learning Agreeably, Stanislawczy and Yavener as cited in Kusnierek (2016) mentioned about the usefulness of songs in the classroom that song is considered as a beneficial tool that language teachers should use to teach language to their students during the language practice The acquisition of a non-native language is a new and challengeable experience; so songs applied in teaching and learning can help students relax and achieve good results in learning Learners can not only learn but also relax their minds through adopting

3 songs in learning language Similarly, as cited in Arevalo (2010), Futon appreciates the role of songs in providing relaxed lessons Song plays a crucial part in forming the foundation for language lessons English songs are assessed to have a great impact on language learning as it contains cultural characteristics, develops vocabulary knowledge of learners, and promotes listening skill; speaking skill; and grammatical knowledge In other words, an English song are used for learning and teaching different language skills Being support by Shen (2009), songs with the combination of language and music have lots of benefits that deserve to be paid attention Songs are rich in themes and culture; songs express idiomatic and poetic sentences; the songs have therapeutic functions; etc So, songs are assessed to be a perfect tool for language learning and teaching, especially learning and teaching listening skill On the word of Tri Listiyaningsih (2017), listening skill of children can be improved through listening practice to English songs The reason is that most of children like singing songs, which is considered to be a positive change compared to traditional habits of a foreign language learning For English teachers, they can get a nice break from following a set curriculum by using songs in the classroom Many international previous studies have analyzed that adopting songs is an effective teaching material in teaching a foreign language (Eken, 1996 Geoff, 2003; and Maley, 1997)

In acquiring English language, most of students have difficulties in acquiring listening skills The students at Academy of Music as well, listening skill is the most difficult for them Their listening test score mostly are low

Base on the statements above, the researcher decided to conduct the study: “Using English songs to improve listening skills for students at Academy of music” The current research is to explore the effectiveness of employing English songs in augmenting English listening skill and help English become more attractive to the learners at Academy of Music.

Research aim and objectives

This research aims to use English songs to augment students’ listening skill at Academy of Music In order to achieve the aforementioned aim, this research focuses on the following objectives:

- To find out students’ attitudes toward listening skills;

- To identify difficulties faced by students in learning listening;

- To assess the effectiveness of using English songs in listening skills at Academy of Music;

Research questions

Based on the research objectives, three research questions are deployed as the following:

RQ1: What are the attitudes of the students toward listening skills?

RQ2: What are the difficulties faced by students in learning listening?

RQ3: To what extent do the English songs effect the students’ listening?

Scope of the research

The present study is carried out at Academy of Music, Ha Noi, Vietnam Its objectives are to explore Academy of Music students’ attitudes towards using English songs in learning listening skill; to explore their difficulties in acquiring listening skills through English songs; and to investigate effects of the adoption of English songs on augmenting Academy of Music students’ listening skills

Thus, this research adopts Nunan’s (1992) action research approach 110 students at Academy of Music from five classes are randomly taken to join in the study The research instruments are a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and a pretest and a posttest The questionnaire is aimed to clarify Academy of Music students’ perceptions of adopting English songs to learn English listening skills and their difficulties in learning speaking; the pretest and the posttest are aimed to identify the impact of English songs on augmenting their listening skills; and the interview aims to crosscheck qualitative data with quantitative data generated from the questionnaire and the tests The researcher uses quantitative and qualitative method to analyze quantitative and qualitative data respectively The study is carried out at the first semester of the school year 2023-2024.

Organizational structure of the study

The thesis is divided into five chapters as the following:

Chapter 1 is introduction, which describes the research rationale, the research aims and objectives, the research questions and scope of the research

Chapter 2 is literature review, which present some theories and concepts of listening skill and English songs Moreover, previous studies are also reviewed and analyzed in this chapter The summary of literature review and conceptual framework are presented at the end of the chapter

Chapter 3 is the research methodology, which describes the research design, the research setting, samples, research instruments, the procedure of data collection, the procedure of data analysis, and the reliability and validity

Chapter 4 is the findings and discussion, which presents the results from the questionnaire, tests and interview focusing on the attitudes of the students towards listening skill; their difficulties in learning listening skill, and the effectiveness of using English songs in learning listening skills at the Academy of Music

Chapter 5 is conclusion and recommendation, which summarizes key points of the research, implications, limitations, and recommendations for further studies

LITERATURE REVIEW

Concepts of listening

Many scholars on the globe has given the definition of the term “listening” Accordingly, Babita (2013) defined listening is a modality of language Listening is one of four language skills (writing, speaking, reading, and listening) A person needs to be active to involve in listening so that he/she can understand what the speaker is saying Listening process is the involvement of message, sender, and receiver Listening is succeeded through receiving message psychologically, understanding the meaning of the message, and responding to the spoken and nonverbal message Similarly, Barker (1971) stated that listening is a selective process, which a listener needs to attend to hear, to understand, and to remember aural symbols Listening is a complicated skill that requires listeners’ high concentration if not they can lose key words/messages Tucker (1925) understood the role of listening and provided a deep view of listening that listening means to analyze impressions that listeners make a great effort to concentrate on the message As a results, it is clear that Baker (1971) and Tucker (1925) both thought that listening needs a highly concentrated brain The listening result is not good if listeners’ minds are distracted by other issues Surely, they will not understand what the key content of the message is

Listening, as defined by experts, involves active engagement (Thomlison, 1984), empathy (Gordon, 1985), and the same cognitive skills required for reading and writing (Ronald & Roskelly, 1985) Empathy extends beyond polite acknowledgment to encompass genuine concern for the speaker's well-being Furthermore, listening requires the ability to discern and interpret aural information (Ahmadi, 2016), and it is essential for remembering and understanding key points.

7 the most under-researched (Field, 2014; Lynch, 2011) This research focuses on listening skills in terms of learners’ kinds of listening learning strategies and its correlation with learners’ listening comprehension

Brown (2004) explained that listening means a learner’s reflection of correct or incorrect auditory process through his/her written or verbal responses During listening performance, learners have to present their active thought so that they can be able to enhance their listening comprehension Listening is a component of some practices of language learning inside class, even outside the class Hidayat (2013) asserted that listening ability is the ability and capacity of a learner in listening to a listening text Someone’s language ability is developed based on the listening skill development

On the words of Dakin and Howatt (1974), listening means that someone is able to recognize and perceive the speeches of others This is the involvement of understanding pronunciation, accent, grammar, the meaning comprehension, and vocabulary A person that be good at listening is able to do these things simultaneously Wolvin and Coakley (1985) points out that listening is the process of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli Based on this definition, listening is suggested being a complex and problem-solving skill According to Steinberg

(2007), listening is not only hearing, but more complicated than hearing Listening is a synthetic process of four stages, including sense and attend; understand and interpret; remember; and respond Although these stages sequently occur, they are not generally awared According to Grant (1987), the listening skill is everything that a learner learns a particular sound and comprehend a complicated message If there was no listening, there would be no communication As a result, whether or not communication is successful, it really depends on listeners’ message

Therefore, successful communication really depends on listeners or receivers of messages Similarly, Steil and Watson (1982) agreed that listening is a major activity of communication

The process of listening activities can be divided into three stages as the following:

In the listening process, educators must acknowledge the diverse listening backgrounds of their students The meaning listeners derive from a message is greatly influenced by their attitudes, beliefs, and biases Therefore, teachers must be cognizant of the varying experiences and perspectives that learners bring to the listening context.

8 these factors, it is necessary for the teachers to know the influence of the students’ backgrounds on the message they have received

Before listening to the text, teachers need to assist their students in activating their background knowledge of the ideas that they are going to hear In other words, its not enough to mention about the listening topic, but before listening activities, the teachers need to tell the students something about the listening topic to form their background knowledge and create the listening purpose It is important that the students have to know the procedure of listening practice; its not just hearing but needs critical thinking as well as good deal of interest information that both speaker and listening have in common

In the process of listening, the implication of rate is extremely important that requires the students’ understanding According to the study of Nichols, people think and listen at four times the normal conversation rate During the listening process, the teachers need to encourage their students to use the rate gape to actively process the message The students can be encouraged to process the message through several things According to Temple and Gillet, the students can comment on it mentally; doubt it; extend it; and talk back to it They can make questions for the speaker They can note down important phrases and words They may make questions about what they are going to listen to; whether it is true or not What motivates the speaker to have speeches in the text Whether or not the speaker reveals his/her personal feelings rather than objective assessment

In this phase, the students must act upon what they have heard to make clear about the meaning of the listening text and develop their critical thinking It is important to plan post listening activities well Some instances of post listening activities are as the following: a) To start listening, the students can make questions for themselves and the speakers on the purpose of clarifying their understanding and confirming their assumptions b) To recommend that the post listening activities is crucially important The students are suggested to talk about the speaker’s announced utterances, make questions about statements of opinions, amplify certain remarks and recognize parallel incidents form literature and life

9 c) The students can be able to conclude the speaker’s speeches in oral form, in writing paper, or just an outline Apart from the traditional outline format, the students can use flowcharts, webs, diagrams, maps, and time lines d) This phase creates the students an opportunity to review their notes and supplement info that they lack during the listening process e) The students can critically analyze and evaluate the listening message that they have heard This phase creates opportunities for the students to have the involvement in building and developing the concept acquired during the process of oral presentation The involved activities can be writing which is shown in learning log, response journal or composition, etc; reading which is shown in a contradictory view point, further research on a topic, etc

Listening serves diverse purposes in daily communication Brown and Yule distinguish between interactional and transactional purposes: interactional listening fosters social connections and conversational rapport, while transactional listening focuses on exchanging information, such as following instructions Galvin further expands this framework, proposing five listening purposes: engaging in social rituals, expressing emotions, exerting control, finding enjoyment, and exchanging information These purposes highlight the multifaceted nature of listening and its central role in both personal and professional contexts.

The purpose of listening presented by Underwood (1989) is related to school context that teachers prepare their students for these situations:

- The purpose of listening in the situation of attending a lecture/lesson is to perceive main concepts and able to differentiate main info

- In the situation of listening to news, announcement, and weather forecast; listeners target at getting relevant info

Live situation listening implies non-participation, often referred to as eavesdropping Eavesdropping occurs when a listener overhears a conversation without being directly involved The listener lacks contextual awareness, hindering their ability to engage in the dialogue.

- In the situation of listening to a radio for pleasure, watching TV, and watching plays; its purpose of listening is to get entertainment

- In the situation of listening to someone’s speech, the listeners usually present their interests in views and the speaker’s attitudes

Hornby (1995) stated that achievement of something means that it is done successfully with skill and effort According to Arikunto (2006), the achievement means that someone has his/her ability and capacity to achieve something in a certain time and condition In this research, the achievement of the students in listening is known by adopting listening tests

The achievement in listening tests is to know how much progress the students have achieved in listening after a time period they have learned listening practices Teachers make an evaluation to know the students’ listening achievement after their learning process The evaluation helps the teachers know whether their students have already understood what they have been taught to On the word of Gronlund (1976), achievement is something that the students have learned In other sentence, the achievement is the conclusion of evaluation and assessment in learning within an extended time The achievement can’t be perceived if the students never obtain it before Similarly, Thoha (2003) gave a definition of the achievement that someone has achieved the expanse It is more explained that he/she’s learning results are achieved after a time period of learning This results is called achievement The achievement can be obtained through tests Conclusively, the achievement in listening skill means that the ability of the students is recognized through listening test scores after a time period attending in the course of listening skill The achievement only can be perceived after the students’ listening learning in an extended time The students can be able to achieve the results in listening if they have improvements in what they have learnt and achieve good results in the tests

The achievement or success in listening is considered in terms of listening strategies In other words, listening strategies have a big contribution to the success and achievement of listening skill Learners are taught through applying effective listening strategies to help them approach and manage their listening effectively As cited in Nahed Mohammed Mohammed Ghonein (2013), Chomot (2005) stated that language learners who do not achieve success in learning do not have knowledge of selecting an appropriate strategy in learning As cited in Nahed Mohamed Mohammoud Ghoneim (2013), Goh (2000) emphasized the importance of learning strategies in achieving results in learning; he argued that the learners’ awareness is correlated to an effective learning context

Concept of English songs

A song is a poetic expression performed with specific timing, pitch, and rhythm, creating a harmonious arrangement (Minarti, 2016) It comprises an abstract blend of sounds and tones organized in a sequence, resulting in musical compositions The combination of varied sounds and rhythmic patterns forms the essence of a song, capturing emotions and conveying messages through auditory experiences.

Song, defined as a musical composition involving the human voice, manifests through vocal performances featuring fixed melodies Its creation encompasses diverse forms, including the structuring of sections through variation and repetition.

Nietzsche (1889, p 33) said, “Without music, life would be a mistake” Music is the rhythm, a reflection of our physiological life Music is also the melody, the sound sequence, connected with daily emotional life As a universal icon, song shave a great reputation Not only kids, but also adults love songs Liao (2006) and Jiang (2004) claim that English songs have beautiful melodies and the lyrics are easy to imitate and memorize Being a combination of music and language, songs have innumerable virtues that deserve our attention

Shen (2009) indicated some features of English songs Firstly, songs are a culture Songs can be used in discussions of culture They are a rich mine of information about human relations, ethics, customs, history, humor, and regional and cultural differences Music and language are presented in songs on the purpose of communicating a reality and a cultural value in an impressive way Through English songs, the native speakers have opportunities to show off their culture As the cases of the call for respect and equality of Black American; marriage and friendship; attitudes

12 towards love; Western festivals; and the legends of American West, the expressions of these words are found in rhythmic melodies and language of the songs

Another feature of songs is expressiveness Songs have high expressiveness Some songs present emotions and love Some other songs present moving and memorable stories Some songs present ideals and dreams of a person And some songs remember precious past So, there are lots of themes in songs; and the expressions of the songs help to promote learners’ memory Acquisition of automatic language skills depends on rich, meaningful, repeated exposure to comprehensible input without awareness (Bolitho et al., 2003)

Needless to say, recall ability is a specified function of songs Songs with poetic, beautiful, lucid and colloquial lyrics can be learned quickly and kept in mind in a long time; and so attracting learners It is more meaningful and delightful than rote learning when singing a song by heart Although a lot of people can’t recall the songs that they studied in their childhood, they can remember some fragments of the lyrics and the melodies

The last feature of songs is therapeutic functions Gaston (1968) identified such therapeutic functions of music as the promotion of self-esteem via increasing self- satisfaction in the performance of a music and the use of the uniqueness of rhythm to energize and have order

In short, Shen (2009) suggested four effective functions of English songs: a kaleidoscope of culture, expressiveness, recall ability and therapeutics

2.2.2 Advantages of using English songs to improve listening skills

By incorporating songs into the classroom, students reap numerous benefits, including a more relaxed and enjoyable learning experience (Kuśnierek, 2016) Songs serve as a rich source of language, promoting cultural understanding, vocabulary retention, listening comprehension, and grammatical knowledge (Arevalo, 2010) Moreover, the melodies and rhythms of songs engage students, making lessons less monotonous and more memorable.

Songs are an effective tool for teaching foreign languages (Shen, 2009) They offer a blend of music and language, encompassing diverse themes and cultural nuances Moreover, they are rich in poetic and idiomatic expressions Through music, learners can relax and engage in the learning process, fostering motivation and enhancing listening skills.

Listiyaningsih (2017) expressed his opinion that listening to English songs helps learners to augment their listening skills as they almost like songs So, frequency of listening to English songs is recognized to become a good change compared to the traditional habits of a foreign language acquisition The teachers also receive benefits of using songs in classroom The teachers have opportunities to have a nice break and not having to follow a fixed syllabus

Many researchers stated that songs are assessed to be keys to primary practices

In a primary school context, most of teachers adopt songs as one of teaching techniques According to Cameron (2001), rhymes and songs are important in foreign language classes Similarly, Johnstone (2002) expressed that the teachers can have an important role in contributing to early language education of children by introducing their classes to recorded songs Demirel (2004) strongly claimed that it is the most effective way to teach learners pronunciation, dictation, and listening comprehension through using songs

Besides, many researchers proved that songs help to create natural and safe feelings in classroom Songs are considered a significant teaching tool in ESL and EFL teaching process (Cullen, 1999) The reason is that students like listening to and singing songs in a language class; and they also have positive perceptions and attitudes towards music The students’ love to music makes songs become important tool to build up a safe and natural environment in classroom; at the same time, songs becomes tools to help students overcome feelings of hesitation and shyness Normally, the students’ attention to lesson is limited; so, they need to have various activities Actually, students usually feel shy; thus, they are recommended to engage in activities inside the class when they being ready rather than when being required by their teachers (Djigunovich & Vilke, 2000) It is songs that create this opportunity for them The students’ learning characteristics also revealed that it is necessary to develop a strong emotion attaching to the teachers Listening and doing songs support the

14 attachment of emotion to the teachers because both learners and teachers physically involve in implementing the same actions So, they together have shared a common experience The education of students means that the students are encouraged to contribute emotionally, physically, and intellectually So, the learning can be achieved best when the teachers create a safe and non-threatening context in classroom (Sevik,

Another advantage of songs in classroom is to provide opportunities for repetition and practice It is very pleasurable to repeat language; for example, repeating choruses or singing cumulative songs Rumley (1999) stated that the repetition of rhythms and melodies of a song is often combined with physical actions, which is helpful for learning and make learners be comfortable with the acquisition of the foreign language Moreover, Sharpe (2001) argued that through listening to and singing songs, students can gradually internalize the structures and patterns of the foreign language as well as the specific language items that the teacher wants them to learn

On the word of Sharpe (2001), songs are helpful in providing learners with opportunities to use language in reality in enjoyable and funny situations Sharpe also claimed that it is so vital in life of children when singing a song both inside and outside their school context According to this way, learning a foreign language becomes more normal Learners are ready to repeat sounds of songs and usually feel pleasured to both sing and play with rhymes when they are still very small

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methods

This study employs an action research approach to investigate students' attitudes and difficulties in listening skills development Action research is a reflective process where educators examine and enhance teaching and learning practices The researcher conducts the entire study process, including teaching, data collection, analysis, and report writing.

McTaggart and Kemmis (1988) presented three characteristics of the action research First, researcher students do study rather than outside researchers Second, there is the collaboration in the process of doing the research Third, the aim of doing study is to change things On the word of Latief (2012), a classroom action research aims to develop innovative instructional strategies to augment the success of English learning learners Additionally, its aim is also to explore issues happening in a problematic situation; from that improving the practice immediately Many various scholars have developed the action research model Accordingly, the model developed by Kemmis and McTaggert (1988) has two cycles and each cycle has tour steps, including planning; acting; observing; and reflecting The researcher in this study follows Nunan’s (1992) the action research model to conduct the research There is one cycle and seven steps in the action model, consisting of initiation; preliminary investigation; hypothesis; intervention; evaluation; dissemination; and follow up, and these steps are grouped into three phases: preaction (phase 1); action (phase 2); and postaction (phase 3) The survey of this research is carried out within thirteen weeks At

1 st week, the first phase is carried out The second phase lengthens from 2 nd week to 12nd week; and the last phase is carried in the last week (week 13)

Figure 3.1 Nunan’s (1992) action research model

Participants

For collecting quantitative data, 110 first year students of Academy of Music,

Ha Noi are purposively selected to join in the survey They come from five intact classes These five intact classes include 43 male and 67 female who are from 18 to

All these 110 students together participate in the questionnaire survey and the tests The tests in this research consist of a pretest and a posttest The students do the pretest before they learn listening skill via English songs; and the pretest is done at 1 st week The posttest is done at the last week after the teacher applying Nunan’s action research model to teach listening skill to the students through English songs The results of the posttest and the pretest can prove the students’ progress in learning listening skills through using English songs For collecting qualitative data, the researcher uses interview to know their attitudes toward listening skills and their difficulties in listening learning process

Among 110 students participating in the questionnaire and pretest and posttest,

10 among 110 participants are randomly chosen to respond to interview

Research instruments

Three instruments of the research are the questionnaire, tests (pretest and posttest), and semi-structured interview

The researcher uses the questionnaire to get the participants’ responses and opinions of learning listening skill In other words, the questionnaire is adopted to examine the participants’ attitudes towards learning listening skill The questionnaire is adapted from the studies of Diora (2020) and Abbas (2013)

The researcher uses five Likert scales to design the questionnaire The five Likert scales are from one point (strongly disagree) to five points (strongly agree) The questionnaire is written in English version Vietnamese version is translated from English version; and the researcher uses the Vietnamese to survey the participants The Vietnamese aims to help the participants be clear about the items in the questionnaire and to avoid misunderstandings

The questionnaire is divided into two parts Part A consists of the participants’ demographic information like gender, age, department, self-study hours of listening skill, and years of learning English Part B focuses on investigating the participants’ attitudes towards listening skill learning and difficulties they encounter in the listening skill learning process

After fixing the questionnaire, the researcher asks the supervisor for the comments and recommendations on it After that, the researcher revises and edit the questionnaire After the revision and edition of the questionnaire and agreement from the supervisor, the questionnaire is officially used for the survey

To assess participants' listening proficiency before incorporating English songs into teaching, a pretest was devised based on the IELTS practice test The pretest consisted of 40 questions divided into four sections: write words and multiple choices Each question carried 0.25 points, resulting in a maximum score of 10 points.

In the first section, the questions 1-6 is “write no more than two words and/or a number”; and the question 7-10 is “choose the correct letter A, B, or C” In the second section, question 11-13 is “choose the collect letter A, B or C”; questions 14-20 is

“write no more than three words and/or a number for each answer” In the third

23 section, questions 21-28 is “write no more than one word”; questions 29-30 is “choose the correct letter A, B or C” In the final section, questions 31-34 is “write no more than two words and/or a number for each answer”; and questions 35-37 is “choose the correct letter”; and questions 38-40 is “write answers in boxes”

The time to complete the pre-listening test is 40 minutes

The aim of the post-test is to check the participants’ progress in listening skill after a time period of using English songs to learn listening skills The posttest is designed similarly to the pre-test It means that the post-test has 40 questions and includes four sections Each section has 10 questions Each question has 0.25 points Thus, the post- listening test has max of 10 points

In the first section, questions 1-6 is “write no more than two words and/or a number”; and question 7-10 is “choose the correct letter A, B, or C” In the second section, question 11-13 is “choose the collect letter A, B or C”; questions 14-20 is

“write no more than three words and/or a number for each answer” In the third section, questions 21-28 is “write no more than one word”; questions 29-30 is “choose the correct letter A, B or C” In the final section, questions 31-34 is “write no more than two words and/or a number for each answer”; and questions 35-37 is “choose the correct letter”; and questions 38-40 is “write answers in boxes”

The time to complete the post-listening test is 40 minutes

Semi-structured interviews were employed in this study to triangulate findings with questionnaire and pretest-posttest results As defined by Guion (2007), semi-structured interviews involve engaging with individuals one-on-one to gather in-depth information on the research topic By allowing for flexibility and probing follow-up questions, this method facilitates a rich exploration of participants' perspectives.

24 attention to probing responses The content of questions must base on the objectives of the research to be designed and are open-ended questions

There are seven questions in the interview The researcher conducts the semi- structured interview with ten students randomly selected from the sample pool During the interview process, the researcher uses Bryman and Teevan’s (2005) methods to interview the participants At first, the research arranges the questions in a coherent logic way Second, the interview language is easily understandable for interviewees Third, the information recorded carefully to aid for the future interpretation

In this research, the researcher interviews the interviewees in Vietnamese language so that the interviewees can be able to be clear about the questions.

Data collection procedure

The researcher employs Nunan’s action research model of using English songs to teach and learn listening skill through three Phases as the following:

The researcher/the teacher recognized poor listening ability of selected students Specifically, they have low scores in listening tests They have difficulties in listening to transcripts So, they do not understand the listening text, and certainly cannot give correct answers for the tests Still, to make sure this problem one more, the researcher asks the selected students of Academy of Music to do the pre-test within 40 minutes The test has 40 questions, corresponding to 0.25 points per each correct answer They do the test within 40 minutes

The researcher spent a little time to overview the students’ listening ability through watching previous test scores of listening test In addition, the researcher asks the students about their opinions of listening skills and ask them to present their difficulties of learning listening skills

- Researchers conducted a survey using a questionnaire developed by Diora (2020) and Abbas (2013) to assess participants' attitudes and difficulties with listening skills.- The questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese and distributed to 110 music academy students.- The translation aimed to adapt the questionnaire to the participants' language and cultural context.

25 from English into Vietnamese is to help the participants be clear about the items in the questionnaire

After the revision of the initial data, a hypothesis about the effect of English songs on the students’ improvement of listening comprehension is proposed The hypothesis is “using English songs is effective for improve the learners’ listening ability”

After recognizing the research matters, the researcher/teacher plans to adopt English songs over thirteen weeks to augment the students’ listening comprehension The intervention lasts eleven weeks These weeks are in turn coded as W1, W2, W3… to W13 English songs chosen for this study are Golden hour, Easy on me, Never enough, A thousand years, Symphony, Stronger, Sevent rings, Perfect, Water melon sugar, What makes you beautiful

Basing on the pretest results, the researcher has explored the students’ poor listening ability English songs named Golden hour, Easy on me, Never enough, A thousand years, Symphony, Stronger, Sevent rings, Perfect, Water melon sugar, and What makes you beautiful are used as the materials to teach listening skills

Table 3.2 List of English songs

No Name of the song Artist

5 Symphony Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson

9 Water melon sugar Harry Styles

10 What makes you beautiful One Direction

Listening lessons encompass pre-listening, while listening, and post-listening stages Pre-listening involves introducing vocabulary through visual aids and questions During listening, the song is played multiple times (paused and unpaused) while students fill in missing lyrics in provided handouts Post-listening requires students to submit their completed worksheets This structured approach promotes comprehension and engagement throughout the learning process.

After 11 weeks adopting English songs in teaching and learning listening skill, a posttest is given to the students The purpose of the posttest aims to check whether or not the students obtain the progress in listening performance after the treatment with English songs Their scores are based on their correct answer

After completing the implementation of the research procedures and drawing the results, the researcher write all in the thesis paper Then, the thesis paper is handed out to other teachers of Academy of Music

The researcher consider lessons and suggestion for improving the application in the next week after the previous week

Table 3.3 The action research approach procedure

Time Activities Steps of conducting

Pre listening: teacher presents new words, ask students questions, and hand out song lyrics While listening: teacher plays songs three times: no pauses, with pauses, and no pauses

-Simultaneously, the students have the task to fill the missing words in the gaps

- Post listening: the students are required to give their answers

- Simultaneously, the students have the task to fill the missing words in the gaps

-Pre listening: teacher presents new words, ask students questions, and hand out song lyrics -While listening: teacher plays songs three times: no pauses, with pauses, and no pauses

-Post listening: the students are required to give their answers

Data analysis procedure

The researcher uses both quantitative and qualitative method to analyze data Whether the implementation of the action can reach the success or not is shown through the research results The researcher employs a qualitative approach method to analyze data generated from the interview; and a quantitative approach method to make analysis for data generated from the tests and questionnaire

After generating quantitative data from the tests and cleaning the data, IBM SPSS 20.0 is used to know the pretest’s and posttest’s descriptive statistics Then, the paired samples statistics is used to compare the pretest’s mean score and posttest’s means score Then, we can know the students’ listening ability

Moreover, quantitative data generated from the questionnaire is also cleaned and imported into excel and use SPSS 20.0 to generate the results In other words, after collecting data, the researcher sorts out, cleans, verifies, and codes and enters in the laptop to run for descriptive analysis

The mean scores for the students’ perceptions of English songs in the acquisition of listening skills and their difficulties in the listening learning process are presented based on the calculation of Mohammed (2016) as the following:

1-1.80-> strongly disagree (SD) 1.81-2.60-> disagree (D) 2.61- 3.40-> neutral (N) 3.41 – 4.20-> agree (A) 4.21-5.0-> strongly agree (SA)

In consideration of qualitative data, all interview records of the responses are translated into English and transcribed to make an analysis The researcher analyzes the interview responses by the use of content analysis approach with the combination of familiarize and organize, code and recode, and summarize and interpret.

Analytical framework

This study investigates three objectives related to listening skill acquisition: students' attitudes, difficulties encountered, and improvement through the use of English songs To understand these objectives, a combination of qualitative and quantitative data was collected through pretests, posttests, questionnaires, and interviews These data provide valuable insights into the students' perspectives and the effectiveness of using English songs as a pedagogical tool for listening skill improvement.

Pretest and post test and questionnaire:

Frequency Mean score and standard deviation Pair sample t-test

Mean score of the pretest is compared with that of the posttest

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Introduction

This chapter describes the results of the research which clarify three research objectives The results of the participants’ attitudes towards listening skills are presented at first Then, the results of the students’ difficulties in the acquisition of listening skills are shown Finally, the researcher presents the findings of the effect of using English songs in learning listening skills at Academy of Music This chapter also describes discussion at the end The quantitative results from questionnaire in mean scores and standard deviation are presented at first Then, the qualitative results from the interviews are shown later.

Results

4.2.1 The participants’ attitudes towards listening skills

This part is going to present the results of the participants’ attitudes towards listening skills The quantitative results from the questionnaire are shown at first Then the researcher presents the results from the interviews

In order to ascertain the perspectives of students on hearing, the challenges they encounter, and the utilization of songs in listening classes, the author administered surveys The participants' responses are assigned a numerical value ranging from 1 to

5 To clarify, the rating scale assigns a score of 1 to "strongly Disagree," a score of 2 to

"disagree," a score of 3 to "Neutral," a score of 4 to "Agree," and a score of 5 to

"strongly agree." Subsequently, the mean score is determined by summing all the valid values and subsequently dividing by the total number of values

Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics of the participants’ attitudes towards listening skills

1 I am interested in listening skills 2.19 1.15

2 Listening skill is a difficult skill 3.65 1.09

3 Listening skill is a boring skill 2.97 1.18

4 Listening skill is very important 3.88 0.92

5 I am confident in listening comprehension 2.33 1.31

6 Listening to English language texts improves my listening ability

7 Listening to English language texts makes language learning more enjoyable

8 Listening practice has to be continuous and intensive 2.99 1.02

9 Listening practice inside class is essential for improving my listening skill

10 Listening practice inside class is not sufficient 3.65 1.05

11 The more I practice , the more efficient my listening skill becomes

12 Listening practice helps me become more familiar with the language

13 Listening to various types of materials improves my pronunciation

14 Listening practice makes me less afraid of listening exams 2.55 1.39

15 Listening practice helps in improving my speaking skill 3.07 1.15

As displayed in table 4.1, the mean scores of items of the participants’ attitudes towards listening skills range from M=2.19 to M=3.88, which means that the participants presents their negative, neutral and positive attitudes towards listening skills Specifically, the participants do not agree with the statements that they are interested in listening skill (M=2.19; SD=1.15) and confident in listening comprehension (M=2.33; SD=1.31) They also do not think that listening practice inside class is essential for the improvement of their listening skill (M=2.38; SD=1.06)

The participants have no idea on the statements that listening skill is a boring skill (M=2.97; SD=1.18) Moreover, they do not know whether or not listening to English language texts makes language learning more enjoyable (M=3.18; SD=1.17); no idea about continuous and intensive listening practice (M=2.99; SD=1.02); no idea

36 about the help of listening practice in making learners more familiar with the language (M=3.15; SD=1.09); no idea about the improvement of pronunciation due to listening to various types of materials (M=3.15; SD=1.21); no idea about being less afraid of listening exams due to listening practice (M=2.55; SD=1.39); and whether or not listening practice helps in improving their speaking skill M=3.07; SD=1.15)

Referring to the interview results, the students show similar ideas with the quantitative results from the questionnaire The followings are some evidence of their statements:

“In my opinion, listening skill is a difficult and important among four language skills So, it is necessary to improve listening skill to perfect language skill Learners need to practice listening more so that they can improve their listening comprehension

In addition, practicing inside the classroom is not enough; so, they need to practice more outside the classroom” (S1)

“I’m interested in listening skill, but it really a difficult skill I need to try more so that I can communicate in English language if I am good at listening (S10)

“In order to acquire listening skill, we are necessary to practice listening skill more and more and continuously Practicing listening at classrooms is the way to improve listening comprehension However, learners also can practice English listening skill at home or outside, for example communicating with foreigners By this way, listening ability as well as communication ability will be better by gradual” (S8)

4.2.2 Difficulties that the participants face in learning listening skills

Three types of difficulties that the participants encounter in learning listening skills, including students’ difficulties related to speaker and physical setting; students’ difficulties related to listener; and students’ difficulties related to listening material The results from the questionnaire are shown at first; then the results from the interview are presented later

Students’ difficulties related to speakers and physical settings

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of students’ difficulties related to speakers and physical settings

1 I lose concentration if the recording a poor quality 4.04 0.94

2 I find difficult to understand the natural speech which is full of 4.00 1.04

3 I find difficult to understand the meaning of the spoken without seeing the speaker’s body language

4 I find difficult to understand well when the speaker in a variety accents

5 I find difficult to understand when the speaker speak too fast 4.07 0.76

6 I find difficult to understand when the speaker does not pause long enough

7 I find difficult if unable to get repeated 3.61 1.18

8 I find difficult to concentrate if noises around 3.97 0.86

Table 4.2 shows that most of the participants have difficulties related to speakers and physical settings in the listening learning process (Mean scores ranges from 3.45 to 4.07) In details, they have difficulties in understanding the natural speech which is full of hesitation and pauses (M=4.00; SD=1.04); understanding the meaning of the spoken without seeing the speaker’s body language (M=3.87; SD=1.17); understanding well when the speaker in a variety accents (M=3.45; SD=1.11); understanding when the speaker speak too fast (M=4.07; SD=0.76); and understanding when the speakers do not pause long enough (M=3.79; SD=0.99) Moreover, the participants have difficulties if unable to get repeated (M=3.61; SD=1.18) They also lose concentration if the recording a poor quality (M=4.04; SD=0.94) and if noises around (M=3.97; SD=0.86)

The results from the interviews with the students are similar to their responses in the questionnaire Here are some of their answers in the interviews:

“Listening skill is very difficult Especially, if speakers speak too fast, I cannot hear and understand what they are speaking I have to listen many times; then can be able to understand a little bit” (S3)

Environmental factors can significantly impact listening comprehension Poor audio quality and ambient noise levels can hinder focus and understanding When recordings are distorted or unclear, it becomes challenging to discern the spoken words and maintain attention Similarly, background noise creates distractions that interfere with the listener's ability to process the audio content effectively.

“If the record is not repeated, I am not able to understand the content of the listening texts You know I am not a native speaker So, repeating is necessary to help me be clear about the content” (S7)

Students’ difficulties related to themselves as the listeners

Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of students’ difficulties related to themselves as the listeners

9 Before doing listening comprehension, I am fear i cannot understand what I will hear

10 I feel worried if I don’t understand spoken text 3.74 1.12

11 I find the pronunciation familiar; but i cannot recognize the word

12 I do not pay attention with intonation of the speakers 4.06 0.97

13 I find difficult to recognize the signals which indicate that the speaker is moving from one point to another

14 I lose focus when got an expected answer in my mind 4.07 1.02

15 When encountering an unknown word, I stop listening and think about the meaning of the word

16 It is difficult to infer the meaning unknown word while listening

17 I lose concentration when I think the meaning of new words 3.59 1.04

18 I find difficult to recognize the word that I know because the way speaker pronounced

19 I found difficult to predict what would come next 4.20 0.97

20 I find difficult to quickly remember word or phrase i have just heard

21 I find difficult when listening without transcript 3.65 0.82

As displayed in table 4.3, mean scores are from 3.44 to 4.20, which means that most of the participants have difficulties in listening skill related to themselves Concretely, they are fear of not being able to understand the listening exercises before doing listening comprehension (M=3.70; SD=1.11) They also feel worried if they do not understand spoken text (M=3.74; SD=1.12) They have difficulty in recognizing the signals indicating the speaker’s movement from one point to another (M=3.71; SD=1.08); inferring the meaning of unknown word while listening (SD=3.52; SD=1.10); to recognize the word that they know because the way speaker pronounced (M=3.72; SD=1.11); to predict what would come next (4.20; SD=0.97); to quickly remember word or phrase they have just heard (M=3.44; SD=1.18); and difficult when listening without transcript (M=3.65; SD=0.82) Most of the participants also have difficulties in concentration when they think the meaning of new words (M=3.59; SD=1.04), when got an expected answer in their mind (M=4.07; SD=1.02) Furthermore, difficulties related to the participants are not being able to recognize the word although finding the pronunciation familiar (M=3.60; SD=1.2), do not care for intonation of the speakers (M=4.06; SD=0.97) Ultimately, their difficulty is when encountering an unknown word, they stop listening and think about the meaning of the word (M=3.75; SD=1.17)

Responding to the qualitative results from the interviews, the students give same opinions with the quantitative results The evidence is given as the following:

“Before listening to a listening test, I usually feel nervous and worried because I am afraid of not being able to understand what I will hear Although I find many words familiar, I cannot recognize them and know their meanings” (S2)

“I can focus on the listening records at first, but then, it is hard for me to focus till the end of the records When I get my answers, I usually ignore the speeches” (S3)

“I have to take a while to be able to remember the meaning of the words that I have just heard Certainly, I will miss some information from the records” (S8)

Students’ difficulties related to listening material

Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of students’ difficulties related to listening material

22 I do not understand listening text in which there are too many unfamiliar words including jargons and idioms

23 Listening comprehension have complex grammatical structures 2.89 1.02

24 I find difficult to interpret the meaning of a long spoken text 3.70 1.06

25 I feel fatigue and distracted when I listen a long spoken text 3.78 0.80

26 I find difficult to understand listening text when the topic is unfamiliar

27 I find difficult to understand reduced form 4.05 1.03

28 I find difficult to understand long conversation 3.45 1.23

Discussion

4.3.1 Students’ attitudes towards listening skill

The quantitative and qualitative results indicated that the participants identify listening still as an important and difficult skill Therefore, learners need to practice

Pre-listening test Post-listening test

46 more so that they can listen to listening text Learners should continuously practicing listening skill They can practice inside and outside the classroom The results revealed that practicing inside the classroom is not enough to improve listening skill The learners need to practice outside the classroom so that their listening ability can be enhance better The result of the research is line with the study of Ridgway (2000); Anderson and Lynch (2003); Anderson (2003) and Moses (2011); Borkowski et al (1990); Buck (2001), who stated that English listening skill is a complex skill and need to practice regularly They said that the more they practice English listening, the more they become good at listening skill Ridgway (2000) emphasized that practice is the most important thing to improve listening performance of the leaners

4.3.2 Students’ difficulties in learning listening skill

English learners face challenges in developing listening skills due to factors related to speakers and physical settings These challenges include difficulty understanding unfamiliar accents, rapid speech, or specialized vocabulary Inadequate lighting, background noise, or uncomfortable seating can also hinder comprehension These environmental distractions interfere with learners' ability to focus and process auditory information effectively.

Learning listening skills can present several challenges related to speakers and physical settings These include poor recording quality, natural speech characterized by hesitations and pauses, difficulty understanding the spoken message without observing the speaker's body language, speakers with diverse accents, excessive speech speed, insufficient pauses, lack of recording repetition, and noisy environments These findings align with Tersta and Novianti's (2016) research, which highlights the impact of external factors, such as physical settings, on students' ability to perceive audio recordings in the classroom.

(2016) emphasized seven difficulties related to physical setting, including poor equipment, poor quality of disks and tapes, noises, inability to get repeated, speed of delivery, variety of accents, and lack of pauses On the word of Rosa (2012), poor pronunciation is a big and main problem causing learners difficulties in comprehending listening texts

The difficulties encountered by EFL learners in listening

Jenin” Students’ difficulties related to themselves as the listeners

The qualitative and quantitative results showed that the students’ difficulties related to themselves as the listeners are anxiety, poor pronunciation ability, no recognition of signals, loss of focus, no prediction ability, poor vocabulary ability This result is

47 harmonious with the result of Diora and Rosa (2020), which showed some difficulties in learning listening skills, consisting of lose focus and sleepy; hard to remember; unable to concentrate, unknown words meaning, and unpredictable pronunciation According to Asmawati (2017) points out that learners get the difficulty in achieving listening ability because of lacking English language skill

Students’ difficulties related to listening materials

The quantitative and qualitative results revealed some difficulties relating to listening materials that the students must encounter in learning listening skill are listening text with many unfamiliar words including jargons and idioms, complex grammatical structures, the meaning of a long spoken text, unfamiliar topic, reduced form, and long conversation The results is in line with the result of Assaf (2015), who stated the ELC students’ difficulties in learning listening skill at the University of Arab American The research of Assaf (2015) explored the difficulties of the students in comprehending listening skill relating to the listening materials are unfamiliar topics, unfamiliar words, jargons and idioms, and complex grammatical structure Furthermore, Hasan (2000) found out that the students’ difficulties related materials in the listening comprehension are long complex text, unfamiliar words, and difficult grammatical structures

4.3.3 The effectiveness of using English songs to improve listening skill

The results from the pre-test and post-test clearly showed the improvement of the students in listening comprehension after 11 weeks using English songs in learning and teaching listening skill The students’ listening posttest scores are higher than their listening pretest scores This is shown in M =4.54 in the pretest; M=5.82 in the posttest; and the mean difference MD=1.28 The results of this research is similar to the study of Solihat and Utami (2014); Omega (2023); and Lintang (2023) These authors presented that English songs is helpful to improve listening comprehension of learners Mailawati and Anita (2022) stated that songs including melodies, rthym, sounds, and poems are helpful in strengthening the memories of the students Consequently, songs is useful in increasing the learning functionality, especially in acquiring English language Songs provide a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere, and contain language patterns, skills in listening, rhythm, and pronunciation Additionally, a peaceful atmosphere can be created thanks to the tune of the songs Most of young people would like to enjoy listening to must have present their similar ideas about the importance of songs; so, the songs are considered as a significant tool used in education

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Introduction

This chapter is going to present summary of the research, implication, limitations and recommendation for further studies Summary is presented at first; then implications, and followed by limitations Recommendation for further studies is presented at last.

Summary

This research helps readers acknowledge some concepts of listening skill, encompassing its definition, process of listening activities, purpose of listening, and listening achievement Moreover, the research has also provided some theory of songs in terms of its definition and advantages and difficulties when applying songs in learning listening These statements are studied by previous researchers The research also provides some previous studies mentioning about the effects of using songs to improve English language

The research has aimed to explore the students’ perceptions of listening skill, their difficulties in the listening skill acquisition, and the effects of English songs adoption on improving their listening ability 110 students of Academy of Music were chosen to participate in the action research The researcher used instruments including tests, questionnaires and interviews to collect the data The treatment lasted 11 weeks through the cycle model of Nunan (1992)

Research indicates that students view listening comprehension as a crucial but challenging skill They emphasize the need for regular practice both inside and outside the classroom Despite encountering difficulties related to speakers, the environment, themselves, and materials, students realized an improvement in listening comprehension through the integration of English songs This improvement was reflected in increased listening test frequency and higher mean scores from pre-test to post-test.

Implications

Relying on the research findings, the teachers are suggested being aware of the learners’ English listening skill, thus they can recognize the learners’ shortage and difficulties in the acquisition of English listening skill From that, teachers can find out suitable and effective strategies to improve the learners’ English listening comprehension Knowing the problem will make it easier for teachers to solve The result of the study will evaluate themselves whether they are successful or not in teaching English listening skill It is expected that the teacher should enhance the method of teaching English so that the learners are motivated to improve their English listening skill

Students should be aware of the process of learning listening skill and recognize the effectiveness of English songs in learning listening skill The result of the study will show the learners English songs as a good method to be applied in learning and teaching listening skill and to improve listening ability By paying more attention, the learners are expected to increase their listening comprehension, thus they can recover from the situation and improve their listening comprehension.

Limitations

Although making great efforts of doing the study, the researcher still have some limitations in her study At first, the research is conducted at an Academy of Music, with a relatively small size of the sample This has limited generating the findings of the research In addition, in terms of time, the study has just been hold in eleven weeks of the first semester of the school year 2023-2024; the evaluation of learners’ English listening skill is limited If the research was hold in more weeks, the findings of the research would be more meaningful and reliable

Second, considering psychological issues, it may influence the research results The participants’ responses to the questionnaire may be heavily influenced by their preferences and interests Besides, each participant has differently engaged and committed to the questionnaire; someone has highly considered the importance of the questionnaire while some others has neglected it As a results, there is influence on the accuracy of the research results

Finally, because of time and words limited, the researcher can not analyed the results of the research as well as some theories related to the topic carefully and deeply

Recommendation for further studies

Future research in listening skill development should consider expanding the scope to include other aspects of language proficiency, such as reading and writing, as well as exploring alternative strategies like graphic organizers and ICT Additionally, comparative studies examining the effectiveness of English music in improving listening skills between ESP and non-ESP students could provide valuable insights.

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College English as a Second Language (ESL) Students University of

Conducting a research study on utilizing English songs to enhance listening comprehension among students at the Academy of Music, I earnestly request your participation Your invaluable contributions are essential to the success of this research, as your insights will provide crucial data for analysis and interpretation.

This survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete, and all answers will be kept strictly confidential Your participation is voluntary Please do not include your name on the survey

Thank you for your time and cooperation Your input is invaluable and will make a significant contribution to this study

3 Which department are you from?

4 How many years have you learned English language? a 3-5 years b 6-10 years c 11-15 years d More than 15 years

5 How many hours do you spend on learning listening skills? a less than one hour b 1- 2 hours c over 2 hours

PART B: ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS

Please rate how much you think these statements are true about you by crossing (X) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5) Strongly agree

ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS

1 I am interested in listening skills

2 Listening skill is a difficult skill

3 Listening skill is a boring skill

4 Listening skill is very important

5 I am confident in listening comprehension

6 Listening to English language texts improves my listening ability.

7 Listening to English language texts makes language learning more enjoyable.

8 Listening practice has to be continuous and intensive

9 Listening practice inside class is essential for improving my listening skill

10 Listening practice inside class is not sufficient

11 The more I practice , the more efficient my listening skill becomes

12 Listening practice helps me become more familiar with the language.

13 Listening to various types of materials improves my pronunciation

14 Listening practice makes me less afraid of listening exams

15 Listening practice helps in improving my speaking skill

PART C: DIFFICULTIES THE PARTICIPANTS ENCOUNTER IN LEARNING THE SKILLS

Please rate how much you think these statements are true about you by crossing (X) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5) Strongly agree

DIFFICULTIES IN LEANRING LISTENING SKILLS

A Students’ difficulties related to speaker and physical setting

1 I lose concentration if the recording a poor quality

2 I find difficult to understand the natural speech which is full of hesitation and pauses

3 I find difficult to understand the meaning of the spoken without seeing the speaker’s body language

4 I find difficult to understand well when the speaker in a variety accents

5 I find difficult to understand when the speaker speak too fast

6 I find difficult to understand when the speaker does not pause long enough

7 I find difficult if unable to get repeated

8 I find difficult to concentrate if noises around

B Students’ difficulties related to listener

9 Before doing listening comprehension, I am fear i cannot understand what I will hear

10 I feel worried if I don’t understand spoken text

11 I find the pronunciation familiar; but i cannot recognize the word

12 I do not pay attention with intonation of the speakers

13 I find difficult to recognize the signals which indicate that the speaker is moving from one point to another

14 I lose focus when got an expected answer in my mind

15 When encountering an unknown word, I stop listening and think about the meaning of the word

16 It is difficult to infer the meaning unknown word while

21 I lose concentration when I think the meaning of new words

17 I find difficult to recognize the word that I know because the way speaker pronounced

22 I found difficult to predict what would come next

18 I find difficult to quickly remember word or phrase i have just heard

23 I find difficult when listening without transcript

C Students’ difficulties related to listening material

19 I understand listening text in which there are too many unfamiliar words including jargons and idioms

27 Listening comprehension have complex grammatical structures

28 I feel fatigue and distracted when I listen a long spoken text

29 I find difficult to understand listening text when the topic is unfamiliar

29 I find difficult to understand reduced form

30 I find difficult to understand long conversation

Tiêu đề	Using English Songs to Improve Listening Skills for Students at Academy of Music
Tác giả	Dang Thi Thanh Hoa
Người hướng dẫn	Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Van Que
Trường học	Hanoi Open University
Chuyên ngành	English Language
Thể loại	M.A. Thesis
Năm xuất bản	2024
Thành phố	Hanoi

Định dạng
Số trang	72
Dung lượng	2,25 MB