A study on difficulties that 11th grade students at nguyen viet xuan high school encounter when learning listening skills

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN CÔNG HIỆU A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES THAT 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AT NGUYEN VIET XUAN HIGH SCHOOL ENCOUNTER WHEN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT NGUYỄN VIẾT XUÂN GẶP PHẢI TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE) M.A.MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI – 2016 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN CÔNG HIỆU A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES THAT 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AT NGUYEN VIET XUAN HIGH SCHOOL ENCOUNTER WHEN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN MÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT NGUYỄN VIẾT XUÂN GẶP PHẢI TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE) M.A.MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr KIỀU THỊ THU HƯƠNG HA NOI – 2016 DECLARATION I hereby state that I – Nguyễn Công Hiệu, being an M.A candidate of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authorship of the study entitled A study on difficulties that 11th grade students at Nguyen Viet Xuan High School encounter when learning listening skills I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work and that all the information in this paper was presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct As required in the rules, I fully cited all the sources of the results that were not original to this work Hanoi, November 2016 Nguyễn Công Hiệu i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Kieu Thi Thu Huong for her guidance, comments, enthusiasm, encouragement and heartfelt sympathy throughout the whole research process Without her assistance, this thesis could not have been completed Second, my big thanks go to all the lecturers and staff of the Faculty of PostGraduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their profound knowledge and guidance during my two years of studying at the Faculty Third, I would like to thank all the librarians for their helping me with the reference materials and their efforts to make the atmosphere of reading rooms as pleasant as possible Especially, I wish to express my special thanks to the students and teachers at Nguyen Viet Xuan High School for their full support in completing the questionnaires and their detailed answers to the questions in the interview I also wish to send my grateful thanks to examiners who will spend their time reading and making comments on this thesis And finally, I wish to send my thanks to my family, relatives and friends who always cheer me up and support me at hard time ii ABSTRACT This study aims at discovering difficulties that the students of class 11D2 at Nguyen Viet Xuan High School encounter when they study listening skills and suggesting solutions for the teacher to improve students‟ listening competence To collect the data for analysis, two instruments have been used: the questionnaire and classroom observations The findings show that there are fourteen problems that cause difficulties to the students of class 11D2 The problems have been classified into four categories, namely (i) problems related to the bottom-up processing, (ii) problems related to top-down processing, (iii) problems related to materials and listening tasks, and (iv) other problems Based on the findings, the researcher has offered some solutions to the teacher, so that he will make changes in his approaches, methods and techniques to help his students overcome the problems and become better listeners iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION Error! Bookmark not defined ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Error! Bookmark not defined ABSTRACT Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ix PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Objectives of the study Research question Scope of the study Methodology of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Notions of listening 1.1.1 Nature of listening 1.1.2 Importance of listening skills 1.1.3 Types of listening 1.1.4 Listening processes 1.2 Procedures of a listening lesson in a language classroom 10 1.2.1 Pre-listening .10 1.2.2 While-listening 10 1.2.3 Post-listening .10 1.3 Problems related to bottom-up processing 11 1.3.1 Problem related to hearing sounds .11 1.3.2 Problem of understanding stress and intonation 13 iv 1.3.3 Problem of understanding different accents 13 1.3.4 Problem of mismatch between learners‟ vocabulary and vocabulary used in listening texts 14 1.3.5 Problem of mismatch between learners‟ syntactic knowledge and syntax used in listening texts 15 1.4 Problems related to top-down processing 16 1.4.1 Problem of cultural differences 16 1.4.2 Problem of unfamiliar topics 16 1.5 Problems related to materials and listening tasks 17 1.5.1 Problem related to length and density of the text 17 1.5.2 Problem related to delivery speed 17 1.5.3 Problem related to the complexity of the task .18 1.6 Other problems 18 1.6.1 Problem of failing to apply effective learning styles and strategies .18 1.6.2 Problems of fatigue and lack of concentration .19 1.6.3 Problem related to physical settings 19 1.6.4 Problem related to lack of visibility of the speaker .20 1.7 Review of previous works 20 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 22 2.1 Research context, learning materials, research subjects 22 2.1.1 Research context 22 2.1.2 Learning materials .23 2.1.3 Research subjects .23 2.2 Data collection instruments 24 2.2.1 Reasons for using the questionnaire 24 2.2.2 Format of the questionnaire .24 2.3 Data collection procedure 25 2.4 Students’ background information 25 2.4.1 Students‟ time experience in learning English 25 v 2.4.2 Students‟ average scores in listening skills last semester 25 2.4.3 Students‟ perception of the importance of listening skills 26 2.4.4 Students‟ perception of the difficulty of listening skills in comparison with other skills 26 2.5 Students’ responses to the questions about problems related to bottom-up process 28 2.5.1 Students‟ responses related to problem of hearing sounds 28 2.5.2 Students‟ responses related to problem of understanding stress and intonation 29 2.5.3 Students‟ responses related to problem of understanding different accents 30 2.5.4 Students‟ responses related to problem of mismatch between learners‟ vocabulary and vocabulary used in listening texts 30 2.5.5 Students‟ responses related to problem of mismatch between learners‟ syntactic knowledge and syntax used in listening texts 31 2.6 Students’ responses to questions about the factors related to top-down processing 31 2.6.1 Problem of cultural differences 31 2.6.2 Problem of unfamiliar topic .32 2.7 Questions about problems caused by materials and tasks 32 2.7.1 Students‟ responses related to problem concerning length and density of the text, and delivery speed 32 2.7.2 Students‟ responses related to problem of the complexity of the task 34 2.8 Students’ responses to questions about other factors 34 2.8.1 Students‟ responses related to problem of failing to apply effective learning styles and strategies 34 2.8.2 Students‟ responses related to problems of fatigue and lack of concentration 36 2.8.3 Students‟ responses related to problems of physical settings 37 vi 2.8.4 Students‟ responses related to problems related to lack of invisibility of the speaker 37 2.9 Summary 38 PART III CONCLUSION 41 3.1 Recapitulations 41 3.1.1 Students‟ listening performance and their assessment of listening skills 41 3.1.2 Difficulties 11D2 students at NVXHS encounter when studying listening skills 41 3.2 Suggestive recommendations 42 3.2.1 Problems related to bottom-up processing 42 3.2.2 Problems related to bottom-up processing 43 3.2.3 Problems related to listening materials and tasks 43 3.2.4 Other problems 43 3.3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDICES I vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS NVXHS: Nguyen Viet Xuan High School L2: Second Language ESL: English as a second language EFL: English as a foreign language viii The problems concerning intonation and accents can be alleviated and avoided by giving students much listening practice The materials to practice should be varied and can be taken from the news on radio or television, movies and so on 3.2.2 Problems related to bottom-up processing Speaking of the problem related to cultural differences and unfamiliar topics, the teacher should spend time adapting listening materials beforehand to choose suitable topics for students On the other hand, in the pre-listening stage, the teacher should raise students‟ schemata so that they have some background information about what they are going to listen to Fortunately, the topics of the listening task in the new set of textbooks, in general, are quite familiar with students 3.2.3 Problems related to listening materials and tasks When it comes to the length of the listening text and listening tasks, the teacher can break long texts down into shorter sections with appropriate pauses so that students have more time to analyze the information With more challenging tasks, the teacher should spend some time explaining new words, new structures and teach students how to use suitable strategies to take notes of key words or specific details as well as to interpret the tasks and strategies to deal with specific kinds of tasks to reduce and overcome possible difficulties The problem faced by most students is their lack of possibility to control the speed of speakers‟ speech Students believe that during the listening task they might miss important information and they cannot control the listening process Ur (1996) suggests that students should be exposed to as much as possible to the natural speech, which is of great help to them Besides, the teacher can choose listening materials in which speech is delivered at a suitable speed to students and then increase the speed gradually 3.2.4 Other problems Apart from raising students‟ awareness of listening strategies, the teacher can provide specific instructions that aim to ensure that learners use the strategies more effectively to solve the problems they might face At the same time, the teacher ought to encourage students to practice listening on their own outside of class, and instruct them to develop positive listening styles 44 Though the size of the class proves to create few challenges to students, this should be taken into account The drawback of the big size of the class can be avoided by reorganizing the class so that the sounds from the CD player come to every student To get around with the poor quality of the recording and other listening equipment, it is suggested that listening lessons be carried out in a language laboratory if possible Thanks to the fast-paced development of technology, videos and MP4 files can now be used instead of tape recordings and MP3 files to resolve the problems related to speakers‟ visibility All the problems of fatigue and lack of concentration caused by lengthy texts, complexity of tasks, lack of strategies or the poor quality of the recording, or surrounding noises can be solved when the teacher is made aware of and determined to clear them up Also, it is highly advisable that the teacher choose and make use of interesting activities to motivate students and attract their attentions in listening comprehension classes 3.3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies This study addresses the difficulties that the students from class 11D2 at NVXHS face when they study listening skills at school and come up with some suggestive recommendations for the teacher to improve the situations of learning listening at this class Fourteen problems have been classified, put into four categories, and thoroughly investigated However hard the writer might have tried, shortcomings and limitations are unavoidable The findings of the research would be more reliable and highly applicable if the study were conducted on the basis of more various factors within a longer period of time It is hoped that further studies on a much larger scale will be conducted to fully discover students‟ difficulties in studying listening skills at both schools and colleges/universities in Vietnam, and find out more effective methods and strategies to make up for and overcome the shortcomings and limitations of this preliminary research 45 REFERENCES Anderson, A & Lynch, T (1988) Listening Oxford University Press Bingol, M (2014) Listening comprehension difficulties encountered by students in second language learning class Journal of educational and instructional studies in the world November 2014, Volume: Issue: Article: 01 Boyle J P (1984) Factors affecting listening comprehension, ELT journal, Volume 38, 34-38; Brown, G (1990) Listening to spoken English, Longman Brown, H D (2001) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Longman Brown, G and Yule, G (1983a) Discourse Analysis Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Duzer Van C (1997) Improving ESL Learners' Listening Skills: At the Workplace and Beyond Center for Applied Linguistics Project in Adult Immigrant Education(PAIE) ; Fan, Y (1993), "Listening: problems and solutions", English Teaching Forum In Kral, Th (Ed), Teacher Development, Making the Right Movies (pp 189-196), English Language Programs Division, United States Information Agency, Washington, D.C Field, J 2009 Listening in the language classroom Cambridge University Press 10 Gillham, B (2000) Developing a Questionnaire London and New York 11 Harmer J (1983) The practice of English language teaching London , New York : Longman; 12 Hamouda, A (2013) An Investigation of Listening Comprehension Problems Encountered by Saudi Students in the EL Listening Classroom 46 International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development 13 Lucas, Stephen E 2008 The Art of Public Speaking, tenth edition McGrawHill New York 14 Ma, T (2009) An empirical study on teaching listening in CLT International Education Studies, Vol.2, No www.ccsenet.org/journal.html 15 Nihei, K (2002) How to teach listening The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) 16 Nunan D (2011) The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages Cambridge University Press 17 Rivers, M (1966) Listening comprehension Modern Language Journal 50(4): 196-204 18 Rixon, S (1986) Developing Listening Skills London: Macmillan 19 Rubin J, Thompson I (1994) How to be a more successful language learner: toward learner autonomy Boston, Mass : Heinle & Heinle Publishers; 20 Saricoban, A 1999 The teaching of English The Internet TESL Journal http://iteslj.org/Articles/Saricoban-Listening.html 21 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching Listening Harlow: Longman 22 Underwood, M (1994) Teaching listening Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers Available at: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/englishlanguage/listening-difficulties-in-second-language-acquisition.php 23 Ur, P (2005) Teaching Listening Comprehension Cambridge University Press; 24 White, G (1988) Listening Oxford: Oxford University Press M.A Thesis 47 25 Hsieh, K., Dong, D., and Wang, L (2013) A preliminary study of applying shadowing technique to English intonation instruction Taiwan Journal of linguistics, Vol 11.2 43-66 2013 26 Macháčková, E (2009) Teaching Listening, Unpublished M.A thesis, Masaryk University Brno 27 Le, A.T.P (2001) An Introduction to Research Methodology in Foreign Language Education: Required Reading for Students Hanoi: Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies 28 Ta Thi Duong (2014) An investigation into the use of pair work and group work in speaking lessons or grade-10 students at Yen Lac high school 29 Vu QuynhTrang (2013) Difficulties in learning English listening skills: the case of 10-grade students at Thang Long high school Unpublished M.A thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 48 APPENDICES Appendix Questionnaire (English version) Dear class 11D2, This questionnaire is conducted with the aim of collecting information about the difficulties that you, 11th grade students, experience when you learn listening skills at school Your contribution to completing this questionnaire is of great importance to the researcher to find out effective methods to improve your listening skills You can be confident that you will not be identified in the discussion of any data Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part 1: Students’ background information How long have you been studying English? a) less than years b) 3-5 years c) 5-7 years d) more than years What is your average score in the listening section of the previous proficiency tests and final term tests? a) less than 5,0 b) 5,0-6,4 c) 6,5-7,9 d) 8,0 and above What you think about the importance of listening skills? a) not important at all b) a little important c) fairly important d) very important e) extremely important How you evaluate the level of difficulty of listening skills in comparison with other skills (reading, speaking, writing) Please choose an appropriate number on the following scale: a- Much easier than other skills I b- Not as difficult as other skills c- As difficult as other skills d- More difficult than other skills e- Much more difficult than other skills Part 2: Students’ opinion concerning difficulties they encounter in studying listening skills A Direction: Below is the list of statements that help you to identify the difficulties you encounter while you learn listening skills Read each statement and provide your responses basing on the listening difficulties you have experienced according to the following scale Tick Always column if you always encounter the difficulty Tick Often column if you often encounter the difficulty Tick Sometimes column if you sometimes encounter the difficulty Tick Never column if you never encounter the difficulty How often you experience problems related to the following factors when you listen Section Questions about the factors related to bottom-up processing Item Statements Never No I find it difficult to understand reduced forms I find the pronunciation familiar but cannot recognize the words I find it difficult to recognize the words I know because of the way they are pronounced There are words that I would normally understand in writing, but when I hear them in a stream II Sometimes Often Always of speech, I find it difficult to tell where one word finishes and the other begins I find it difficult to understand the meaning of words which are not pronounced clearly I fail to recognize speakers‟ attitude and opinion through their intonation I find it difficult to understand well when speakers speak with a variety of accents There are too many unfamiliar words I find it surprising and difficult to deal with colloquial language and slang 10 The grammar structures used in the listening text are too complex Section Questions about the factors related to top-down processing Item Statements Never No 11 The listening text is about a cultural issue that is unfamiliar to me 12 The topic of the listening text is unfamiliar or of no interest to me III Sometimes Often Always Section Questions about the problems caused by the materials and the task Item Statements Never Sometimes Often Always Sometimes Often Always No 13 I find it difficult to follow the sequence of the spoken text when the sentences are too long and complex 14 The speaker speaks too fast 15 I find it difficult to understand the listening text when the speaker does not pause long enough 16 The questions in the listening task require other than a short answer (e.g why or how questions) 17 I lose my concentration when I think of another question 18 The multiple choice questions in the listening task are confusing or too long Section Questions about the other factors Item No 19 20 21 Statements Never I fail to infer the meaning of an unknown word while listening I find it difficult to understand the recorded material if I am unable to get things repeated I fail to recognize the signals which indicate that the speaker is IV 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 moving from one point to another I find it difficult to get a general understanding of the spoken text from the first listening At the time of listening I find it difficult to predict what will come next I find it difficult to quickly remember words or phrases I have just heard I lose focus of the talk when I have got an expected answer in my mind It is difficult for me to concentrate if there are noises around I lose my concentration when the text is too long I lose my concentration when I think about the meaning of new words I lose my concentration if the recording is in a poor quality Unclear sounds resulting from a poor-quality CD-player interfere with my listening comprehension The big size of the class hinders my listening I find it difficult to understand the meaning of the spoken text without seeing the speaker‟s body language B Direction: Please write your answer in the space provided Apart from the difficulties listed above, you face any other difficulties when you study listening skills at school? Please specify Thank you very much for your time! V APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese) Các em học sinh lớp 11D2 thân mến, Mục đích điều tra để thu thập thông tin phục vụ cho nghiên cứu khó khăn mà em, học sinh lớp 11D2, gặp phải học kỹ nghe trường Câu trả lời em quan trọng nghiên cứu Rất mong em trả lời chân thực câu hỏi Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác em Phần I: Thông tin cá nhân 1.Em học tiếng Anh rồi? 1) năm 3) 5- năm 2) 3- năm 4) năm Điểm trung bình kỹ nghe em kỳ trước bao nhiêu? 1) 5,0 3) 6,5- 7,9 2) 5,0- 6,4 4) từ 8,0 trở lên Em đánh giá tầm quan trọng việc học kỹ nghe nào? Em chọn số phù hợp mức đây: a) không quan trọng chút b) quan trọng chút c) quan trọng d) quan trọng e) vô quan trọng Em đánh giá độ khó kỹ nghe so với với kỹ khác (đọc, nói, viết) nào? Em chọn số phù hợp mức : 1- Dễ kỹ khác nhiều 2- Khơng khó kỹ khác 3- Khó kỹ khác 4- Khó kĩ khác 5- Khó kĩ khác nhiều VI Phần II: Ý kiến học sinh khó khăn họ gặp phải học kỹ nghe A Hướng dẫn: Các vấn đề giúp em nhận khó khăn em gặp phải học kỹ nghe lớp Hãy đọc khó khăn chọn câu trả lời theo mức Chọn cột Luôn ln em ln ln gặp phải khó khăn Chọn cơt Thường xun em thường gặp phải khó khăn Chọn cột em gặp phải khó khăn Chọn cột khơng em khơng gặp phải khó khăn Khi nghe, em có thường xuyên gặp khó khăn với vấn đề sau đây: Phần Câu hỏi vấn đề lien quan đến mơ hình “Từ lên” Số Khó khăn TT Khơng Thỉnh Thường Ln thoảng xuyên Bài nghe chứa từ phát âm dạng rút gọn Từ ngữ băng phát âm quen thuộc em nhận Không thể nhận từ biết cách phát âm đĩa nghe Khơng thể nhận chuỗi lời nói nghe em nhận nó viết Không thể nhận nghĩa từ chúng không phát âm rõ rang Không thể xác định cảm xúc, VII ln mục đích người nói thơng qua ngữ điệu Không thể hiểu nghe người nói có giọng khác biệt Bài nghe chứa nhiều từ không quen thuộc Bài nghe chứa từ ngữ thông tục giao tiếp hang ngày hoăc tiếng lóng 10 Cấu trúc ngữ pháp phức tạp nghe Phần Câu hỏi vấn đề lien quan đến mơ hình ‘Từ xuống’ Số Khó khăn TT 11 Khơng Thỉnh Thường Ln thoảng xun ln Bài nghe nói nét văn hóa mà em khơng biết 12 Chủ đề bà nghe không quen thuộc em không hứng thú với Phần Câu hỏi vấn đề liên quan đến tài liệu nghe Số Khó khăn TT 13 Không Thỉnh Thường Luôn thoảng xuyên Không thể bắt kịp với chuỗi lời nói câu dài phức tạp VIII ln 14 Người nói nghe nói nhanh 15 Khổng thể hiểu nội dung nghe người nói khơng có khoảng dừng lại đủ lâu 16 Không thể trả lời câu hỏi yêu cầu phải trả lời dài (ví dụ câu hỏi với why how) 17 Không thể tập trung nghĩ câu hỏi khác 18 Dạng câu hỏi trắc nghiệm dài khó hiểu Phần Câu hỏi vấn đề khác Số Khó khăn TT 19 Không Thỉnh Thường Luôn thoảng xun Khơng thể đốn nghĩa từ lúc em nghe 20 Không thể hiểu đoạn băng khơng nhớ lại nghe 21 Khơng thể nhận dấu hiệu chuyển ý 22 Không thể nắm nội dung sau lần nghe 23 Khơng thể đốn phần nội dung 24 Khơng thể nhớ lại từ ngữ mà vừa nghe IX 25 Không thể nhớ lại từ ngữ vừa nghe 26 Không thể tập trung tiếng ồn xung quanh 27 Khơng thể tập trung nghe dài 28 Mất tập trung thời gian nghĩ nghĩa từ 29 Mất tập trung chất lượng băng đĩa 30 Chất lượng đài hay thiết bị phát ảnh hưởng đến việc nghe 31 Lớp học đông ảnh hưởng đến khả nghe em 32 Khơng thể nhìn thấy người nói q trình nghe B Hướng dẫn: Hãy viết câu trả lời em vào chỗ trống Ngồi khó khăn kể trên, em có gặp phải khó khăn khác học kỹ nghe? Em nêu rõ Cảm ơn em dành thời gian trả lời! X ... being an M .A candidate of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authorship of the study entitled A study on difficulties that 11th grade students at Nguyen Viet Xuan High School. .. fatigue and lack of concentration Students concentration as well as motivation is one of the crucial factors that affect listening comprehension It can be difficult for students to maintain concentration... in Vietnam paid most attention to grammar, translation and reading materials It was almost impossible to find anything related to teaching listening skills, so listening comprehension skill teaching