A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** LÊ THỊ MÙI A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN BẮC NINH) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** LÊ THỊ MÙI A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN BẮC NINH) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Xuân Thơm Hanoi, 2014 i DECLARATION I, Lê Thi ̣ Mu ̀ i, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Study on the Effects of Pre-listening Activities on Listening Comprehension Tasks in the Training Program to Non-English Major Students of Grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at VNU University of Languages and International Studies. Hanoi, September, 2014 Lê Thi ̣ Mu ̀ i ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this thesis, I am indebted to many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thom for his valuable and prompt advice and helps, without which, this thesis could not come into being. My thanks also go to all my lecturers and officers from Post Graduate Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, who have facilitated me with the best possible conditions during my whole course of studying. Last but not least, let my gratitude go to my family and friends, whose encouragement and assistance are of extreme importance during the course of my writing this thesis. iii ABSTRACT The present study attempted to find out the effects of pre-listening activities on listening comprehension tasks in the training program to non-English major students of grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school. The survey was randomly conducted with 7 teachers of English and 105 tenth form students in 5 classes whose major subject is not English. The data used to analyze in this study were the participants’ answers to questionnaires, to some interview questions and the researcher’s observation in four listening lessons. The results of the study show that both teachers and students at the school highly appreciate the importance of pre-listening activities. Besides, some activities that are the most frequently used by the teachers are also considered the most effective on listening comprehension tasks in the training program by students. They are pre-teaching vocabulary and structures; guessing the topic of the listening text and questioning. Moreover, some effective techniques teachers often use to implement these activities are really helpful. After taking part in pre-listening activities, students get better results of listening comprehension tasks. iv TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT i ii iii PART A. INTRODUCTION I. Rationale II. Objectives of the study III. Scope of the study IV. Methods of the study V. Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW I. The concept of listening I.1. What is listening? I.2. Listening processes I.3. Component skills for listening II. The concept of listening comprehension tasks II.1. Definitions II.2. Types of listening comprehension tasks III. The concept of pre-listening activities III.1. Stages of teaching listening III.1.1. Pre-listening stage III.1.2. While-listening stage III.1.3. Post-listening stage III.2. Definitions of pre-listening activities III.3. Types of pre-listening activities 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 v III.4. Factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities IV. Prior studies related to pre-listening activities V. Summary CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY I. Background of the study I.1. The context of English teaching and learning at Bac Ninh Gifted High School I.2. Materials I.3. Limitations of a listening lesson in the classroom at Bac Ninh gifted high school II. Research methods II.1. Participants II.2. Data collection instrumentations II.3. Summary CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION, MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS I. Questionnaires I.1. The questionnaire for the teachers I.1.1. Teachers’ opinions about the importance of pre-listening activities I.1.2. Teachers’ opinions about the purposes of pre-listening activities I.1.3. Teachers’ frequency of using pre-listening activities I.1.4. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for pre-teaching vocabulary and grammar structures. I.1.5. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for working in pairs/ groups……………………………………………………………………… I.1.6. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for brainstorming for the details of the text. 11 11 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 17 17 17 17 17 18 19 20 20 vi I.1.7. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for introducing the topic I.1.8. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for questioning I.1.9. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for previewing tasks I.1.10. Teachers’ frequency of using pre-listening activities in the textbook “English 10” I.2. The questionnaire for the students I.2.1 Students’ opinions about the importance of pre-listening activities I.2.2. Students’ opinions about the factors that make listening lessons more difficult I.2.3. Students’ opinions about the purposes of pre-listening activities I.2.4. Students’ preferences for pre-listening activities I.2.5. Students’ opinions about the effects of pre-listening activities on listening tasks I.2.6. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to pre-teach vocabulary and grammar structures. I.2.7. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to raise questions. I.2.8. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to work in pairs/ groups. I.2.9. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to guess the topic I.2.10. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to brainstorm for the content. I.2.11. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to pre-view tasks. I.2.12. Students’ opinions about the pre-listening activities in the textbook “English 10”. 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 31 vii II. Class observation III. Interviews III.1. Interviews for students III.2. Interviews for teachers IV. Major findings V. Recommendations for implementing pre-listening activities VI. Summary PART C: CONCLUSION I. Conclusion II. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires Appendix 2: Interview questions Appendix 3: Class observation 32 33 33 34 34 36 37 38 38 39 40 I I IX X 1 PART A. INTRODUCTION I. Rationale In our modern society, English plays an essential role because it is a very effective means of communication and of course it is a factor that decides the success of a person as well as a nation. As second language learners, it is not easy at all to acquire English. This requires good combination of four skills. While reading and writing are important ways of gaining and consolidating information, vocabulary and structures in language learning, listening and speaking are the means of language communication. Therefore, these four skills cannot be separated and they can be improved only by training and practicing. Among four skills, listening is considered the most difficult. Like other skills, listening is closely related to store of vocabulary that carries most meanings of the passage but learners have to get it aurally, which is very difficult because of the speed, the accent, the intonation of the speakers and even the external factors that interrupt the sound. Moreover, Vietnamese learners do not have many opportunities to communicate or speak to native speakers, especially high school students. They only learn language through materials or Vietnamese teachers that do not provide them so good pronunciation as native speakers. Last but not least, learners’ motivation, one of the most important factors to study language well, is discouraged by all of the factors mentioned above. If they cannot hear anything or little, they cannot communicate in the language they are listening to. As a result, to help students improve listening skills, teachers first have to find out teaching techniques to attract them to the listening lesson, then to help them enlarge store of vocabulary, be familiar with the pronunciation of native speakers. As a teacher of English, I think interesting and suitable pre-listening activities can raise students’ motivation and have other positive effects on learning procedures. Hence, I choose the topic “A Study on the Effects of Pre-listening Activities on Listening Comprehension Tasks in the Training Program to Non-English Major Students of Grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school” with the hope, to some extent, to discover the real effects of pre-listening activities on the students’ participation in listening comprehension tasks as well as their studying results. [...]... Background of the study I.1 The context of English teaching and learning at Bac Ninh Gifted High School The research was conducted at Bac Ninh Gifted High School, which has been considered the first ranked school of the province because of the teaching and learning achievements that make a great contribution to the education of the province and the nation as well This is due to the good quality of teaching and... students ability to do listening comprehension tasks II.3 Summary In short, this chapter presents the background information resulted in the study such as the context of English learning and teaching at Bac Ninh gifted high school; the materials and the limitations of a listening lesson in the classroom Then, the subjects and instruments of the study are also clearly stated 16 CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS,... comprehension tasks in the textbook English10? III Scope of the study This study is carried out at Bac Ninh gifted high school in order to find out the effects of pre -listening activities on listening comprehension tasks in the Training Program to non-English major students of grade 10 IV Methods of the study In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher uses qualitative method with some data... Objectives of the study The study aims at: - investigating the teachers and students opinions about pre -listening activities of a listening lesson in the classroom at Bac Ninh gifted high school - discovering the frequency the teachers use pre -listening activities; the pre -listening activities students like best; the most effective ways to carry out these activities and their effects on listening comprehension. .. argues that the framework which combines simplicity with the power to analyze the majority of learning tasks should also incorporate learning goals He says, “learning goals are the vague general intentions behind any given learning tasks that provide a point of contact between the task and the broader curriculum” So learning tasks should be planned in such a way to attain the specified learning goals... goals According to Harmer J (2007), he claims that choosing listening comprehension tasks is the key feature in the successful teaching of listening He emphasizes that the best kinds of tasks are those that raise students expectations, help them tease out meanings, and provoke an examination of the passage Although using comprehension tasks is a way to test students learning, they should be used to. .. data collection instruments: interviews, survey questionnaires, and class observation The survey is carried out with the participation of 105 non-English major students of grade 10 and 7 teachers who have been teaching non-English major students for years at Bac Ninh Gifted High School They are asked to give their responses by completing the questionnaires Then the collected data are analyzed and interpreted... comprehension tasks in the training program - recommending some useful techniques in order to make pre -listening activities more effective on listening comprehension tasks Above all, the purpose of the study is to encourage non-English major students at Bac Ninh gifted high school to eagerly take part in the lesson and listen effectively through interesting and suitable pre -listening activities In order to achieve... deviation learning It means that the students often focus their learning on their major subject and two related others called sub -major that are used to take part in the university entrance exam In other words, they do not pay much attention to the other subjects called nonmajor This may be either true or false because attracting students to any subject (major, sub -major or non -major ) much depends on. .. tasks The period prior to act on listening tasks, pre -listening phase, is associated to preparation stage in which learners are provided by some activities as a kind of support to help them act on tasks Also defining pre -listening activities as preparation stage, Underwood (1989) says before listening, students should be “tuned in so that they know what to expect, both in general and for particular tasks . GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG. GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG. NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN BẮC NINH) M.A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: