The use of the Internet tool as an assistance for first-year non-major students at Namdinh University of Technology Education in basic English self-study

In the experiment, three major points were investigated: 1 The investigation of the influence of utilizing web-based listening activities on the skill of listening for details outcomes o

The use of the Internet tool as an assistance for first-year non-major students at Namdinh University of Technology Education in basic

English self-study Ngô Thị Thơm

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học tiếng Anh

Mã số: 60 14 10 Người hướng dẫn: TS Đỗ Tuấn Minh

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract: This study looks at and reports the results of an individual experiment using

the Internet with web-based listening activities as a supplementary resource for students‟ self-study listening comprehension In the experiment, three major points were investigated: 1) The investigation of the influence of utilizing web-based listening activities on the skill of listening for details outcomes of the first-year non-major students at Namdinh University of Technology Education (NUTE); 2) The students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the application of web-based listening activities in their listening self-study; 3) The difficulties students have during the process of self-study The suggested websites were tested with a group of 20 first-year non-major students at NUTE Students were asked to take the pretest and posttest and answer a questionnaire Analyses revealed that students had favorable attitudes towards web-based listening activities which has positive effect on students‟ self study listening comprehension However, problems encountered by the students during the experiment of using the web-based listening activities outside classroom were also be

pointed out

Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Kỹ năng nghe; Internet; Phương pháp giảng dạy

Content

PART ONE – INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The Internet is a global network of computer networks The hypermedia nature of the World Wide Web has greatly expanded the power of computer-assisted language learning Web-based Language Learning has the potential to increase learner motivation and engage learners in culturally authentic and highly interactive language experience

Listening courses are a combination of paper-based materials in the form of a course book, and sound-based materials in the form of audio on tapes/compact discs However, learners get to keep only the course book, and can access the course audio only in class The web seems to be a new tool contributing to the formation of that alternative mode

This paper studies the use of the Internet tool as an assistance for first-year non-major students at Namdinh University of Technology Education (NUTE) in basic English self-study That is the

students‟use of web-based listening activities to develop the skill of listening for details While

reporting the results of students‟listening activities trial, it investigates the usefulness and the difficulties as well

2 Aims of the study

The following aims are wished to achieve:

(i) To investigate the influence of utilizing web-based listening activities on the listening for details outcomes of the first-year non-major students at NUTE

(ii) To find out the students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the application of web-based listening activities in their listening self-study

(iii) To find out the difficulties students have during the process of self-study

3 Research questions

In order to achieve the aims above, the following research questions will be raised :

(i) To what extent does the utilization of web-based listening activities affect the effectiveness

of teaching and learning the skill of listening for details for first-year non-major students at NUTE? (ii) What are students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the use of web-based listening activities

in the suggested websites in their listening self-study?

(iii) What are the problems that students have during the self- study process of using web-based activities to improve their listening comprehension skill?

4 Scope of the study

The study operates within the following scopes:

(i) Only the use of two activities: listening to the songs and ticking off items in the website http://genkienglish.net/ and listening to a short conversation and filling the gaps in the website http://englishteststore.net/ will be investigated

(ii) The subjects chosen for this research are 40 students from 2 selected groups: ĐK6C and CK14D; these students are studying basic English One- Headway Elementary- Liz and John Soars- Oxford University Press

5 Method of the study

The method in this study is quasi-experimental research design which utilizes a survey questionnaire for students The writer suggests two websites for students to practice listening comprehension on their own One pre-test and one post-test are also used The data collected for the study is from the survey questionnaire and the two tests‟ scores

6 Significance of the study

The data collected from the study can be analyzed and interpreted in terms of using websites and web-based activities with songs and short conversations to promote the effectiveness of teaching Elementary English listening comprehension in general and listening to do ticking off items and gap filling in particular at this university

The result of the study may also be expected to English teachers who have interest in applying new technology in their teaching for higher teaching quality

The study can lay grounds for further researches on the employment of web-based activities in self-study listening comprehension skill as well as other skills

7 Design of the study

The study consists of three main parts:

Part One „Introduction‟ presents the rationale, purposes, research questions, scope, method, significance and design of the study

Part Two „Development‟ consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1 provides the Literature review

Chapter 2 details the a quasi-experemental research

Chapter 3 presents results of the study, the findings and implications

Part Three „Conclusion‟ summarizes the main issues of the study and proposes limitations and suggestions for further studies

PART TWO – DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 The Internet as a language teaching and learning tool

The Internet is a valuable resource to both language teachers and learners:

- allows language learners to communicate with native speakers, facilitates the use of the specific language in an authentic setting

- can be used to acquire information from language resources for a variety of purposes

- serves as a medium for experiencing and presenting creative works

The use of the Internet has been shown to promote higher order thinking skills: logic skills, scanning, discarding, and evaluative judgment, reading skills and strategies

The Internet also promotes literacy for authentic purposes:

- communication with native speakers furthers literacy development for authentic purposes

- enables language learners to compare student perspectives on an issue

- allows them to practice specific skills: negotiating, persuading and authentic discussion

Promotion of literacy also occurs within a social context The interaction can lead to cooperative projects and increased communication between students from all over the world, in turn leading to the development of social skills

The use of the Internet promote computer skills and technical experiences of using it

The Internet provides supplemental language activities which can provide students with additional practice in specific areas of language learning

1.2 Drawbacks of the Internet in language teaching and learning

The nature of the Internet itself can be a disadvantage at times It may take time to access information or browse the net and technical glitches can lead to frustration

Lack of training and familiarity on part of the teachers can make it difficult to implement the Internet in the language teaching and learning

Costs related to training, as well as on-line costs of using a provider are issues that may interfere with implementing such a technology in schools

The Internet offers access to all types of issues and topics, some of which are unsuitable for children, and this in itself may result in various problems

Equity issues may also present difficulties when attempting to implement such technology in the language teaching and learning

Many institutions may also not have the computers or computing facilities necessary to implement such type of technology and foreign language teachers are anxious about computers since they often have little experience with it

1.3 Web-based language learning (WBLL) activities

WBLL is language learning that involves the use of the web and exploits web materials, resources, applications or tools

There are some types of WBLL activities: pre-created web activities, task-based web activities, problem-solving tasks and teacher-made web activities

There are various websites available on the net, what they have to do is to register to be a member and follows the guidelines to freely use activities the websites provide One thing should be paid much attention is to select appropriate ones for certain uses

1.4 Listening comprehension- a brief theoretical overview

1.4.1 Definition of listening

Listening is as an important component in the process of second language acquisition

Listening is an invisible mental process Listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammatical structures, interpret stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate and the larger socio-cultural context of the utterance

1.4.2 Strategies of listening comprehension

Three stages are mentioned

- First, the listener must recognize that the sounds are an actual message and not just noise This recognition means to the listener that the sounds are elements of the language system

- In the second stage, the listener identifies sounds along with lexical and syntactic forms by segmenting and grouping them

- The third stage involves recoding in order to retain the auditory message in long-term storage These stages are necessarily rapid and overlapping

Among all the strategies for listening, three main types of strategies are claimed:

- Meta-cognitive strategy was a kind of self-regulated learning It included the attempt to plan, check, monitor, select, revise, and evaluate Generally, it can be discussed through pre-listening planning , while-listening monitoring and post-listening evaluation strategies

- The cognitive strategies are related to comprehending and storing input in working memory or long-term memory for later retrieval They are investigated from the aspects of bottom-up and top-down strategies Bottom-up processing refers to using the incoming input as the basis for understanding the message Top-down processing went from meaning to language However, listening comprehension was not only utilized bottom-up but also top-down processing models

- For social strategies- techniques listeners used to collaborate with others to verify understanding or

to lower anxiety It was essential to reduce the anxiety, feel confident in doing listening tasks, and

promote personal motivation in improving listening competence .1.4.3 Process of comprehension

in listening

I.4.3.1 Perception cracking the code

The listener has to be able to recognize and discriminate between contrasting sound, stresses, intonations and word shapes This is called “code-cracking”

I.4.3.2 Decoding- making sense of the message

Each short stretch of meaningful listening material has to be

(i) recognized as meaningful and understood on reception

(ii) held in the short-term memory long enough

(iii) for it to be related to what has gone before and what follows

Out of this process come pieces of information which can be stored in the long-term memory for later recall What is remembered later and presumably what is stored in the long-term memory are the gist of the message

1.4.3.3 Prediction and selection

The listener predict what is likely to come next and select which stretches of material he will pay maximum attention to His prediction and selection come from the logic of details in the passage, knowledge of the language and life experience

I.4.4 Types of listening activities

(i) No overt response: Learner do not have to do anything in response to the listening, only understand its main idea or enjoy it silently themselves: stories, songs, films, video, radio

(ii) Short response: Obeying instructions, Ticking off items, True/ False- Right/ Wrong, Dectecting mistakes, Blank-filling/cloze, Guessing definitions, Multiple choice items

(iii) Longer responses: Answering open-ended questions, Note taking, Dictation, Paraphrasing and translating, Summarizing, Long gap-filling

(iv) Extended responses: Problem solving, Information transfer, Interpretation

1.5 Listening practice in relation to the web

1.5.1 Reasons for using the web for developing and improving listening comprehension

(i) Current students - the “Net Generation”- expect a language school or programme to offer opportunities to use technology in their courses

(ii) The use of technology outside the language classroom can make learners more autonomous

Using technology allows language practice and self-study anywhere

(iii) New information technology skills-Internet search skills can be transferred to real life

(iv) The use of technology via web-based environment can be current

(v) While listening to digital audio or watching a video clip, learners have the opportunity to pause,

listen and read a transcript or get instant feedback on what they have done

(vi) Learners can access authentic websites They can plan out their own use of web-based materials

in their own time Then they become effective listeners and independent learners

1.5.2 An example of free listening material source and web-based listening techniques and activities

Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab – http://www.esl-lab.com/- A non-commercial site developed by

Randall Davis- include over 140 exercises divided into 4 groups: general listening, academic listening, long conversations with video, and short exercises Exercises are divided into easy, medium, difficult, and very difficult Lessons have pre- and post-listening exercises, the latter including quizzes and text completion

Using Randall‟s Cyber Listening Lab Among other things, the author advises students to select familiar topics if they want to focus on language development and processing, and less familiar topics for more of a challenge for global listening For difficult material, especially in an unfamiliar area, they may want to review the script first

CHAPTER 2: METHOD OF THE STUDY

2.1 Quasi-experimental research

Experiments are carried out to explore the strength of relationship between variables

In a quasi-experiment, one has little or no control over the allocation of the treatments or other factors being studied The key difference is the lack of random assignment Another unique element

is use of time series analysis, both interrupted and non-interrupted

There are several types of quasi-experimental designs ranging from the simple to the complex, each having different strengths, weaknesses and applications

Experimental research methods revolve around hypotheses and the final goal of experimental designs is to eliminate alternative hypothesis There are three types of hypotheses: research hypothesis, null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis

The present study is conducted as a quasi-experimental design Three hypotheses were set up The first hypothesis stated in the research questions, the second one was the null hypothesis- there is

no difference between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group Only one the alternative hypothesis was set up for the study: the pretest score of the experimental group and the control group are different

2.2 The setting of the study

The study was conducted among 40 first-year non-major students at NUTE who come from two groups ĐK6C and CK14D A program of English consisting two stages has been implemented at the university The first one is focused on basic English Students are taught intergrated skills and progress from elementary level to pre-intermediate level The course book in this stage is the

Headway series, including Headway Elementary and Headway Pre-Intermediate This stage aims at providing the four language skills and also some sub-skills such as using dictionary, searching for the net, self-study A variety of approaches and methods have been employed during the teaching and learning process

2.3 Participants

The participants included 40 non-major students at NUTE in their first year The students were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group, each has 20 students These participants were not randomly selected and they belong naturally to two available groups: ĐK6C and CK14D They are attending basic English One with the course book Headway Elementary by Liz and John Soars- Oxford University Press Among them, the male students outnumbered the female with 24 (60%) and 16 (40%)

The experimental group practise listening for details themselves with the suggested websites while the control group self-study listening comprehension following the traditional mode- use analogue and tape-based format (cassette ) The experimental group consists of 20 students, 14 males and 6 females while the control group consists of 20 students, 10 males and 10 females

2.4 Instruments

2.4.1 Pretest and posttest

In terms of the content, the tests simply consist of two parts:

The first part includes about fifteen pictures simple and familiar with students What students have to do is to listen to the song and click the correct words This section aims at checking students‟ ability to identify and tick the phrases being sung very quickly

The second part requires students to listen carefully and complete the conversation by filling in the missing words or sentences There were about six gaps This part tests students‟ ability to remember and guess what is said in the dialogue The exercise sometimes asks for knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in a particular context

2.4.2 A survey questionnaire

The survey questionnaire designed for students includes 17 questions and was administered to the experimental group The aims is to investigate students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the use

of web-based listening activities in listening and to find out the difficulties students faced with in the process of self-study

Seventeen questions of the questionnaire were divided into two parts The first one consists of 8 questions with 7 close-ended questions and 1 open-ended question, their objectives were to investigate the students‟ attitudes towards the application of web-based listening activities and their opinions about the effectiveness of that application in their self-study at NUTE The open-ended question was to get students‟ advice and comment for the better use of web-based listening activities:

The second part of the questionnaire consists of 7 questions (from 9 to 15) which aims at stating the difficulties students had when self studying with the suggested websites

2.5 Procedure

The study were carried out as the following procedure: select subjects, divide experimental and control group, administer pretest to the two groups, suggest two websites to the experimental group, the experimental group self-practise with the listening activities in the suggested websites, administer posttest to the two groups, administer survey questionnaire to the experimental group, collect and analyze results, raise conclusion and implications

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Findings

3.1.1 Research question 1

1 To what extent does the utilization of web-based listening activities affect the effectiveness of teaching and learning the skill of listening for details for the first-year non-major students at NUTE?

Table 1: Result of t-test for comparison between pretest scores of experimental group and control group

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

It might be that the experiment group and the control group started at the same level of listening comprehension for details, or at least the ability of doing ticking off items and gap filling exercises while listening

The null hypothesis is repeated here: there is no difference between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest scores of Experimental group

Experimental Group

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest scores of Control group

Control Group

The tables indicate the positive influence of using web-based listening activities in the self-study process

Table 4: Result of t-test for comparison between posttest scores of experimental group and control group

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

A conclusion can be drawn that there was a statistically significant difference between the posttest means of the experimental group and the control group Hence, the null hypothesis- there is no difference between the posttest scores of the experimental group and the control group- is rejected,

in other words, the treatment was effective

Chart 2: Pretest and Posttest Mean Increase

14.5 11.15

11.3 10.75

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Pretest Posttest

Experimental Control

The chart shows that the middle scores of the experimental group increased more significantly after the treatment in comparison with the non-treatment group

However, these results may due to the different starting level of English proficiency of the experimental group and the control group The alternative hypothesis- the two group had started at the same level of English- was totally eliminated based on the result of pretest scores of the two groups

In short, the use of web-based listening activities has better influence on improving NUTE students‟ self-study listening comprehension skill than the traditional mode This study has provided

a strong case for the conclusion that web-based listening activities has positive effect on students‟ self study listening comprehension Students taking part in the suggested web-based listening activities will be likely to make more progress in their listening for details ability than those who follow the traditional way of studying This also means that the answer proposed to the first question can be said to have been confirmed

3.1.2 Research question 2

2 What are students’ opinions and attitudes towards the use of web-based listening activities in the suggested websites in their listening self-study?

The results from the survey questionnaire administered to the experimental group are analyzed

to answer this question,

In general, most of the respondents show agreement on the usefulness of the web-based listening activities in the two suggested websites They hope more activities like these would be introduced This finding gives further support to the assumption that the web-based listening activities will help

to motivate students in their self-study

This questionnaire also reveals that the majority of the students find their listening comprehension improved thanks to the web-based listening activities practice The analysis and the synthesis of the two groups‟ test scores show that the experimental group make a better improvement in the ability of listening for details The two groups‟ pretest scores comparison analysis helps to strengthen the conclusion that the improvement made by those who participating in the web-based listening activities is not due to chance

3.1.3 Research question 3

3 What are the problems that students have during the process of using web-based activities to improve their listening comprehension self- studying?

The questions from 9 to 15 aim at finding out the problems students cope with during self-study process The author focuses on the problems of the amount of instructions, the time, the cost as well

as other difficulties websites

Most participants did not have serious problems The most explicit disadvantage is the problem

of time-consuming Not enough exchange between students and the teacher as well as the teacher‟s guidance come second Other troubles are phonetic and lexical problems, negative attitudes with the tasks‟level misorder, expenses Most students would use these websites to support their learning and introduce to other learners

3.2 Implications

The use of web-based listening activities in the two suggested websites to self- practise listening for details can serve as an effective tool that remarkably supports non-major students at NUTE in their listening comprehension improvement

The web-based listening activities in this study can be introduced widely to other groups at the university with higher language proficiency levels, and also English for Specific Purposes Teachers can explore more common and useful websites and introduce to students to practise other language skills

Whichever websites are explored, some notes should be considered: the sections in the websites must be at the students‟ English proficiency level; students need to be made familiar with searching the Internet for self-study and they should be provided with certain basic knowledge of Information Technology and necessary skills to work on the net

Teachers should take some following characteristics of good web listening lessons into consideration: Are organized, Give comprehension help, Supplement, Challenge students, Are oriented to the global village, Build listening skills