Problems that students encounter in learning listening and solutions

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT LAM KINH SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM PROBLEMS THAT STUDENTS ENCOUNTER IN LEARNING LISTENING AND SOLUTIONS Người thực hiện: Lê Sỹ Thắng Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh mực môn: Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2016 CONTENTS Chapter I: Chapter II: Chapter III: Chapter IV: Reason to choose the study Presentation Problems Solutions Result after applying the research Conclusion Suggestion Page Page Page Page Page 10 Page 11 Page12 Chapter I: REASON TO CHOOSE THE STUDY I FROM THEORY: In the recent years, teaching languages with communicative approach has been considered as the main method used widely in most foreign language classes Communicative basic competence is regarded as the basic aim in teaching English and the four communicative skills: Listening – Speaking – Reading – Writing are all emphasized From a set of materials ELT methodology: teaching oral English – D Byrne Longman, Teach English – Adrian Doff, Communication in classroom- K Johnson - Listening comprehension is no longer a passive skill requiring receptive skill as it used to be thought With listening comprehension learners have become more active in learning languages They play the active roles in listening information, analyzing it, understanding and being able to decode the information It’s clear that we can’t develop speaking skills unless we develop listening skills; to have a successful conversation, students must understand what is said to them Later, the ability to understand spoken English may become very important (for listening to the radio, understanding foreign visitors, studying ) to develop this ability, students need plenty of practice in listening to English spoken at normal speed II FROM REALITY However, in reality students encounter a lot of problems in listening lessons They find it really a difficult part in learning languages As a result, they will ignore practicing this skill Gradually, it has certain negative effects on learning languages How can students comprehend or understand what someone might be saying, if they don’t understand how they can develop speaking skills With some teaching experiences I would like to present some problems that students often encounter when learning “Listening” and some solutions to help them overcome the problems III FACTUAL BASE To the learners: Most learners find listening comprehension to be a new and the most difficult subject However, the time for listening lesson is not much (45minutes for each unit) and they hardly spend time studying this subject at home That’s why most of them read the tapescript and the listening tasks instead of practicing listening skill This gradually forms students’ bad habit and makes listening process useless Furthermore, most of them feel confused, tired and bored when trying to understand 100 % the information Consequently, students can’t understand spoken English and this also means that they fail in communicating with other people.(It is said that the more you listen, the better you speak) To the teachers: Using traditional method in language teaching, especially in teaching listening comprehension makes the problem worse and worse Most teachers think that listening is a receptive skill and learner is required to get information without being well- prepared before listening They are not required to feedback specifically after listening Such problem makes listening more and more difficult to students With such factual base, I would like to raise some problems and solutions that help teaching and learning listening become more effective Last year, I tried applying these solutions into practice with students in class 11C2,C7 at Lam Kinh high school and I got some certain success Therefore, I would like to introduce my research to everybody who is teaching and learning English and I hope that it will give them something new in teaching and learning the listening skill Chapter II: PRESENTATION PROBLEMS THAT STUDENTS ENCOUNTER IN LEARNING LISTENING AND SOLUTIONS I PROBLEMS: Topic/ Theme: It’s difficult for students to listen comprehension if they don’t know much about the situation, the theme or topic It’s true that they find it hard to understand the tapescript and they will not be able to the exercises Target language knowledge: Most of students lack of target language knowledge They know little or hardly know about the topic of the listening They have little knowledge of the vocabulary, structures and background information of the listening they are going to listen Trouble with sound: Most learners complain that they have trouble catching the actual sounds of the foreign language It’s difficult for them to recognize the speaker’s intonation, stress and attitude In listening they must be able to recognize the differences between phonological sounds; for instance, we must be able to notice the difference between the sounds /g/ and /k/ as in the word “pig” and “pick” These two words are called minimal pair because they only have one sound difference between them Other problems which make their listening more and more difficult are they are not used to the speaker’s accent, elision, assimilation and homophone Trouble with structures and the ability to infer information that is not stated: Listening also involves the comprehension structures; for example, in the sentence “Would you please pick the phone up?” Listener must notice that “pick” functions as a part of a verb in the sentence while “phone” is a noun Most of them are not able to infer the information that is not directly stated For instance, if students hear the sentence: + “Yesterday, after Beth got up and breakfast she went to the park” He or she should be able to infer that Beth went to the park in the morning * In unit 12 –Listening (Grade 11) if students hear the sentence: “He crashes into the bar He’s landing The bar has fallen, too” Students should be able to infer that this man fails to win in his performance 5 Students usually pretend to listen or day dreaming: Why they have to so? Most of them are lazy in listening and practicing this skill They find listening comprehension really difficult so they can’t hear well To cope with the teacher they just learn by heart the tapescript in any guidebooks and use it to the tasks in the textbook To them, it’s not very important to listen and understand what the speakers say Translate into Vietnamese and try to understand every word when listening: Listeners get accustomed to trying to understand every word when listening If they miss something they feel that they are failing and feel worried and depressed This is a very common problem usually caused by teachers or listening comprehension materials which encourages the learners to believe that everything that is said to us equally important for information as every word is thought to be said equally, loudly and slowly In fact, in a sentence, there are only some words, in a text only some sentences which are vital to understand Lack of cultural knowledge: Cultural knowledge also has effects on listening If students have good cultural knowledge, they will be able to guess the information, analyze it and the listening tasks better For example, in unit (Grade 11 – basic book) students will listen to a tapescript about Japanese New Year It’s obvious that students can the task better if they know something about Japanese culture such as: + The date of Japan New Year + The preparation + The way to decorate the house + What they on New Year Eve + The dress they wear + What they on New Year Day Psychology: Psychology does have effects on listeners: They are so worried about what they are going to hear that they can’t hear well They are also afraid of not being able to hear well Their psychological tension does have effects on their listening ability II SOLUTIONS: As we know, listening to spoken English in an important way of acquiring the language However, with such problems, students find it really difficult to listen to any listening materials How can they communicate with other people without understanding what the speaker said? This also means that we don’t succeed in teaching language In this study, I merely show the experiences that I have acquired What I would like to present are some solutions to help students overcome difficulties in practicing listening skill Introduce the topic/ the theme of the material and help students be familiar with the topic: Teacher should get students to think well before they listen, then provide them with important words, key sentences relating to the tasks they are going to In other words, student should be well prepared before listening For example: In unit 14 (Listening) “Before getting students to listen to the tape and the tasks, teachers must help students be familiar with the topic of the listening material” First, have students brainstorm with a set of eliciting questions Brazilian coach ? famous for Pele ? 1990 When was he born? How old is he now? What is his nationality? What’s his job? (In the past – now) What is he famous for? Next, teachers deliver students a diagram and have them pay attention to important events of Pele’s life Powerful kicking-controlling → score goals → here → retirement → international ambassador → promote peace Help Students with target language knowledge: It’s really difficult for them to listen if they lack of the target language or they know little or hardly know about the target language of the listening Therefore, teacher can help Ss to solve this problem by giving them some ideas of what they are going to listen to When doing listening activities in class, we can also ask students to guess what they are going to hear next, this will help them develop listening skills and this is also a good way to keep the class actively involved in listening E.g1: A few minutes ago, I was asleep at home as usual About three o’clock in the morning (what happened?) I was suddenly woken by noise (what noise?) of rushing water (what was it?) I found to my dismay that the cold water pipe had burst and water was pouring all over the floor (so what did I do?) So I got a bucket and put it underneath (what should I have done?) Then I realized what I should have done I went to the hall and tuned off the main tap E.g2: Unit Listening (Grade 11 – Basic) The story happened (when?) I was suddenly woken up by a terrible heat (what happened?) (What caused the fire?) I forgot to turn up the gas stove (How did you escape or who rescued you?) I heard my mother’s voice calling my name She carried me out Help students out with trouble with sounds: First of all, pre-teach students key words that will appear in the listening as well as provide them with some difficult words or phrases that might appear in the tapescript; For example, The words pronounced in different accent, homophone, elision, assimilation Students will get familiar with these sounds so it’s obvious that they can find their listening task easier The more carefully we teach the vocabulary and phrases, the more easily students get information from the listening tapescript Draw students’ attention to the tape listening The reason why students pretend to listen while attending listening lessons is that they find it difficult to listen and understand the tapescript Therefore, many of them use the guidebook to the tasks To get over this obstacle, to draw student’s attention and to help students listen to the tape attentively, teachers should change the tasks in the textbook into other similar tasks With the new tasks, most of them will try their best to listen In addition, teacher should observe and prevent them from using the guide- book By this way, teachers gradually helps students forget the bad habits in listening process and this will help students develop their listening skill I would like to present some examples of converting tasks in English 11 to help students pay more attention to the lesson * Some examples of converting tasks UNIT 12: LISTENING (ENGLISH 11) While You Listen TASK 1: Listen to the sport report and decide whether the following statements TRUE or FALSE Yuko won the gold medal in women's swimming She set a new world record Lily got an average of 5.9 points in her gymnastics event Lee Bong Ju jumped 8.9m and won the silver medal in men's long jump Vichai jumped over the bar at 2.3 m The sports mentioned in the report are gymnastics, bodybuilding, swimming, and long and high jumps TASK 2: Listen to the sport report again and answer the following questions What time was" The Asian Games Report "? How many gold medals have the Japanese athletes won in the first three days? Is this the first time Lee Bong Ju competed in the long jump? Was Vichai successful in his games? How was Vichai after he finished his performance? UNIT 13: LISTENING (ENGLISH 11) TASK 1: Listen to the tape and choose the best answer A, B, C, or D for the following sentences l The writer started reading when he was………… A years old B free C at school D a little boy The writer had always wanted his parents to read …………… and other stories to him A fairy tales B magazines C funny stories D newspapers His parents reading them to him A got accustomed to B got fed up with C were interested in D were absorbed in He started learning to read with A fairy tales B funny stories C picture books D ABC books Which of the following things the writer learns by reading was not mentioned in the tape? A how people lived in by gone days B the wonders of the world C human achievements D gigantic viruses According to the writer, by reading he doesn't have to A learn things the hard way B learn anything C go to school D his homework UNIT 13: TASK 2: Listen and answer the following questions What's the writer's hobby? What kinds of material does the writer often read? Does the writer have to go deep into the jungle to learn about the tiger? Why or why not? According to the tape, what books provide the reader? Does the writer continue to read? Help students pay attention to vital words only Most students have the habit of trying to understand every word in the tapescript and translate it into Vietnamese as much as possible If they listen like this, it’s certain that they can’t finish their listening tasks Thus, teacher should teach students the skill to pay attention to the key, vital words that help them finish the listening tasks effectively Help students get over psychological tension: Teacher must help students prepare well before they listen; For example, introduce to them the topic, help them be familiar with the vocabulary or the vital words that will appear in the listening, help them keep calm before listening… Use principles for teaching listening: l Use authentic texts and present them as naturally and realistically as possible This might mean taping texts from radio broadcasts or interviews such as voice of America or BBC Real language texts are important because they: * Allow background noise or interruptions, which are normal * Use different voice types and accents Avoid out-of-context words 7.2 Include a variety of types of texts These can include conversations, humor, lectures, news broadcasts, songs, stories 7.3 Use primarily meaning – “based tasks” listeners must not only hear sounds; they must understand meaning 7.4 State a specific purpose for listening tasks The task should be designed to practice one or more of the different sub-skills If students are skimming for the main idea, they may miss some specific information Or if they are listening for total comprehension, they may miss the main idea Before a task begins, tell the students what the purpose is 7.5 Introduce a listening task before presenting it This can be done by asking questions, introducing one or two important vocabulary words, having a brief discussion about the topic, or asking the students to talk about their own experiences Whenever presenting a listening text, inform the listeners of the topic or the setting of the text All of these will help the learners to focus their attention 7.6 Generally, previewing lists of vocabulary words does not happen in real life Students should have practice in understanding the meaning of a text without knowing the meaning of all the words The only vocabulary words that should be pre - taught are the ones necessary for understanding the main idea of the text 7.7 Usually it is the best to listen to texts more than once Often the listeners will not catch the full meaning the first time But if the text is repeated, each time with a different focus, this will help the students to understand more fully 10 III RESULT AFTER APPLYING THE RESEARCH IN TEACHING After applying these solutions into practice with students in class 11C2 and 11C7 at Lam Kinh high school, I got the following result Number Class of Excellent % good % Average % 11C2 11C7 Students 42 42 9,5 12 18 19 43 45 18 17 43 40,4 Chapter III: Weak (bad) % 4,5 2,6 CONCLUSION 11 The success of language teaching and particularly in teaching and learning listening comprehension skill is not only based on the great effort of teachers and listeners but also the involving elements such as listening materials, teaching methods, evaluating methods…From the characteristics of the subject, I want to raise some problems teachers and learners encounter in teaching and learning English and solutions to these problems I believe that teachers and learners will get certain success in teaching and learning listening comprehension when applying these solutions into practice I’m looking forward to the contribution from teachers and colleagues to help me finish this study Chapter IV: SUGGESTION 12 The success of teaching and learning listening comprehension skill is not only based on the great effort of teacher and listener but also the involving elements such as listening materials, teaching methods, evaluating methods… To draw students ‘attention into listening lessons as well as develop this skill, we should vary listening materials such as listening to beautiful songs, funny stories, a conversation in a popular film … However, we lack of these materials We also need more time for students to practice this skill because 45 minutes for each unit is not enough I hope that our English teachers will be equipped with new listening materials soon and arranged more time to help students practice this skill XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 20 tháng năm 2016 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, không chép nội dung người khác Lê Sỹ Thắng 13 REFERENCE BOOKS [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Anderson, A & Lynch, T., Listening, OUP, 1998 Brown, G, & Yule, G., Teaching Spoken English, CUP, 1983a Nunan, D., Language Teaching Methodology, Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd, 1991 Steil, L et al, Effective Listening, Mc Graw Hill, Inc 1983 Underwood, M., Teaching Listening, Longman, 1989 Wardhaugh, R., An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1986 Teaching oral English, D Byrne Longman Teach English, Adrian Doff Communication In Classroom, K Johnson 14 ... teaching and learning the listening skill Chapter II: PRESENTATION PROBLEMS THAT STUDENTS ENCOUNTER IN LEARNING LISTENING AND SOLUTIONS I PROBLEMS: Topic/ Theme: It’s difficult for students to... some problems and solutions that help teaching and learning listening become more effective Last year, I tried applying these solutions into practice with students in class 11C2,C7 at Lam Kinh... active in learning languages They play the active roles in listening information, analyzing it, understanding and being able to decode the information It’s clear that we can’t develop speaking skills