A study on problems 10th grade students at hung yen high school encounter when doing comprehension questions in english listening exercises and some suggested solutions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** ĐỖ THỊ THÚY A STUDY ON PROBLEMS 10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN HIGH SCHOOL ENCOUNTER WHEN DOING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH LISTENING EXERCISES AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (Nghiên cứu vấn đề học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Hưng Yên gặp phải làm câu hỏi nghe hiểu phần tập nghe tiếng anh số giải pháp khắc phục) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 HANOI - 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** ĐỖ THỊ THÚY A STUDY ON PROBLEMS 10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN HIGH SCHOOL ENCOUNTER WHEN DOING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH LISTENING EXERCISES AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS (Nghiên cứu vấn đề học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Hưng Yên gặp phải làm câu hỏi nghe hiểu phần tập nghe tiếng anh số giải pháp khắc phục) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa HANOI - 2014 DECLARATION I - Đỗ Thị Thúy, a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TEFL) hereby state that I accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master‟s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Đỗ Thị Thuý i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This section brings me a favourable chance to express my profound indebtedness to a number of people whose invaluable support and encouragement were of great help in the completion of my thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Nguyen Hoa, for his insightful guidance, constructive advice as well as critical comments during almost one year of the research process Without his tireless support, this thesis could not have been completed Secondly, my special thanks go to my respected colleagues at Hung Yen high school for their kindness of saving me much time to pursue the study I would also like to acknowledge forty tenth graders at Hung Yen high school for their full participation and cooperation during the data collection process Last but not least, my special words of thanks are sent to my beloved family and my roommates in the hostel of ULIS, VNU for their constant encouragement, inspiration and unconditional love ii ABSTRACT The present study entitled “A study on problems 10th grade students at Hung Yen high school encounter when doing comprehension questions in English listening exercises and some suggested solutions” was conducted to examine the difficulties of tenth graders at the local high school when dealing with English listening comprehension questions in the course book 10 and also give some pedagogical implications for the teachers at the research site The study used questionnaires and interviews for the collection of quick, valid, and updated data from the respondents There were four prevailing problems which coincidentally emerged from both questionnaires and interviews namely new words, fast speech rate, speakers‟ unclear pronunciation and inability to recognize words that students already know From these findings, some suggestions were given to help the teachers improve their teaching of listening comprehension skills at high school iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of charts viii INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Design of the study DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of key terms 1.1.1 Listening 1.1.2 Listening problems 1.1.3 Listening exercise 1.2 Listening comprehension questions .5 1.2.1 Basic comprehension .6 a Gist questions iv b Detailed questions 1.2.2 Pragmatic understanding c Pragmatic understanding questions 1.2.3 Connecting information d Organization questions e Relationship quesions 1.3 The process of listening comprehension .10 1.4 Review of previous studies 11 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS 2.1 Context of teaching and learning English at Hung Yen high school 14 2.2 Participants 14 2.3 Data collection methods 15 2.3.1 Questionnaires 16 2.3.2 Semi-structured interview .17 2.4 Data collection procedures 17 2.5 Data analysis methods and procedures 19 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Data from the questionnaires 20 3.2 Data from the interview 30 CONCLUSION 36 Summary of the study 36 Pedagogical implications 37 Limitations of the study 39 v Suggestions for further studies 39 REFERENCES .40 APPENDICES I vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS L2: Second language EFL: English as a Foreign Language MOET: Ministry of Education and Training vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Message-related problems Chart 2: Speaker-related problems Chart 3: Listener-related problems Chart 4: Physical setting problems viii LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Survey Appendix 2: Survey results Appendix 3: Questionnaire Appendix 4: Interview Appendix 5: Transcript of interviews I APPENDIX 1: SURVEY Answer the following questions as truly as possible to the best of your ability: When did you start learning English? Since I was in grade Do you find it difficult to listen to English? Yes No Which kind of English listening tasks you find most problematic? True/ False questions Short-answer questions Multiple choice Gap filling Sequencing events How you rate your English listening comprehension ability? Excellent Good Average Thanks for your cooperation! II Poor APPENDIX 2: SURVEY RESULTS All forty students in the survey started learning English when they were in grade All of the students found listening to English difficult The result is shown in the following table T/ F Short answer Multiple Gap Sequencing questions questions choice filling events 18 The result is shown in the table as follows: Excellent Good Average Poor 15 24 III APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE Tên Đỗ Thị Thúy, học viên cao học lớp K21C Khoa Sau đại học, trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, ĐHQGHN Hiện tại, tiến hành nghiên cứu với đề tài “Nghiên cứu vấn đề học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Hưng Yên gặp phải làm câu hỏi nghe hiểu phần tập nghe tiếng anh số giải pháp khắc phục” Nghiên cứu thực với mục đích tìm vấn đề học sinh hay gặp phải làm dạng tập Trả lời câu hỏi phần tập nghe Sự hợp tác em với câu trả lời chân thực đóng vai trị quan trọng tới thành cơng nghiên cứu Những thông tin em cung cấp giữ kín dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn giúp đỡ em! BẢN KHẢO SÁT I Những vấn đề học sinh gặp phải làm dạng tập Trả lời câu hỏi ngắn phần tập nghe hiểu sách giáo khoa Em có hay gặp phải vấn đề sau không? (Đánh dấu X vào cột tương ứng với câu trả lời em.) STT Các vấn đề Không Hiếm Thi Thường Luôn thoảng xuyên Những vấn đề liên quan tới nghe Em gặp khó khăn với từ nghe Em gặp khó khăn với cấu trúc ngữ pháp phức tạp nghe Em thấy khó hiểu nghe dài Em thấy khó hiểu nghe có chủ đề khơng quen thuộc Em thấy khó nhận dạng giản lược can‟t, he‟ll, they‟re Em thấy khó nhận từ tín hiệu người nói chuyển từ vấn đề sang vấn đề khác Những vấn đề liên quan tới người nói Em thấy khó hiểu nghe có ấp úng hay ngập ngừng IV 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Em gặp khó khăn với từ không phát âm rõ Em thấy khó hiểu nghe khơng có ngơn ngữ thể người nói Em gặp khó khăn với chất giọng khác người nói Em gặp khó khăn người nói nói q nhanh Em gặp khó khăn người nói khơng ngắt giọng đủ lâu Em gặp khó khăn khơng thể u cầu người nói nhắc lại Những vấn đề liên quan tới người nghe Em bị tập trung nghe Em thấy khó nhớ từ, cụm từ em vừa nghe nghe Khi em ghi câu trả lời, em không nghe phần nghe Em không nhận từ mà em biết nghe Em gặp khó khăn thiếu kiến thức tảng chủ đề nghe Em gặp khó khăn với việc hiểu nghĩa từ nghe Em không hiểu câu hỏi Em viết câu trả lời cách xác Những vấn đề liên quan tới bối cảnh Em bị phân tán tiếng ồn xung quanh Em gặp khó khăn với âm không rõ chất lượng đài đĩa nghe Em kể vấn đề khác mà em gặp phải làm dạng Trả lời câu hỏi ngắn phần tập nghe có: V APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN Hãy kể vấn đề lớn em làm dạng Trả lời câu hỏi ngắn phần tập nghe sách giáo khoa? Em kể số giải pháp cho khó khăn đó? VI APPENDIX 5: TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEWS Student 1:  My biggest problem is the new words Whenever I come across them, I feel nervous because they hinder my listening comprehension I feel bored and tired if the listening passage contains too much vocabulary My solution to this difficulty is to build the habit of neglecting new words and inferring the message  The second biggest problem to me is loss of concentration I usually lost my focus because of the new words I not know how to solve this problem  My next drawback happens with noise It‟s hard for me to listen to the recording at the back of the class I think the solution is that teachers should find ways to engage the whole class in listening activities  Speech rate is the 4th biggest problem I cannot keep up with the speaker‟s fast speech rate I think listening English regularly through movies, songs, news can help to improve this situation  Last but not least, I would mention unclear pronunciation Words I hear from the listening passage is usually not pronounced clearly So, I cannot match the sounds with the words I think I should practice hearing the words pronounced in a sentence instead of hearing the teacher pronounce it word by word alone Student 2:  The biggest problem to me is the speaker‟s unclear pronunciation I am used to the way my teacher pronounces words clearly without context Hence, VII when those words are spoken fast with intonation, stress, linking … in context, I cannot realize them  Next, fast speech rate also causes me a lot of trouble Frankly, when I encounter a listening passage that the speaker speaks too fast, I usually feel bored and tired Soon, I not pay attention to the recording In my opinion, it‟s necessary for the teacher to pause the recording after several sentences so that students could have enough time to process what they have heard and consequently reduce the bad effect of fast speech rate  My third biggest problem is that I lack background knowledge, which helps to enhance listening comprehension process Hence, it usually takes me much time to get the idea of speaker Well, I not think of any solution to this drawback  Another great problem to me is that I usually feel bored and tired of long spoken text I am not used to hearing and remembering so much information So, as for me, the teacher could divide the long spoken text into smaller parts for students to listen instead of forcing them hearing all at the same time  Complex grammatical structure is another common barrier to me I think my English grammar is not good enough So, it‟s much more difficult for me to hear and recognize grammatical items at the same time To solve this problem, it‟s necessary to listen and improve my English grammar as well Student 3:  One of my biggest problems is that I cannot recognize words I already know It‟s partly due to my mispronunciation Hence, my solution will be to listen to the native speaker pronouncing a word and then correct my pronunciation VIII  My second biggest problem is fast speech rate It confuses me and soon I am fed up with listening because I cannot keep pace with the speaker My solution is to listen English on internet everyday to get used to fast speech rate Another solution is to catch the key word and then infer the message  Reduced forms are another drawback I would like to mention For example, I could not distinguish between “their” and “they‟re” because they are pronounced almost the same I think we can overcome this drawback by basing on the context of the words and by hearing the ending sound  Fourth is the problem with vocabulary I usually stop to think about the meaning of new words, so I miss the following parts of the recording My solutions are to broaden my vocabulary and to have the habit of neglecting new words  Lastly, I have difficulties when dealing with short answer questions because I cannot get things repeated It‟s difficult for me to listen, identify the answer and write down the answers at the same time I would like the teacher to play the sentences which contain the answers several times so that students can take notes Students 4:  Vocabulary is my greatest problem I cannot find out the answer to the questions because of the new words With regard to the solution, I think students should base on their background knowledge and surrounding sentences to guess the whole message instead of trying to guess the meaning of new words  Long spoken text is another problem to me It causes my loss of focus When I have not understood a sentence, another sentence comes, which confuses me a lot I have not thought of solutions to this barrier IX  Reduced forms are my 3rd problem I not recognize them, so they hinder my listening comprehension About the solution, I think the teacher should let students read the tapescript after all so that they get to know how a reduced form is pronounced  Fourth problem is that I lack background knowledge It makes my process of overtaking information in the listening passage become slower I not have any idea for solutions  Another great problem is noise Sometimes my classmates make noise, which badly affect my listening in class As for me, a language laboratory is needed for students at high school Student 5:  Complex grammatical structure causes me most trouble There usually exists some complex grammar in spoken English, which hinders my understanding of the speaker‟s message With this difficulty, I think I should spend time listening English more and simultaneously broaden my understanding of English grammar  Unclear pronunciation is another problem There are many words that I would know in written form, but I could not recognize them in spoken form My suggestion is that students should have a look at the tapescript after finishing the exercise so that they can get to know how a word is actually pronounced in context by native speakers  Next, I will refer to fast speech rate as the 3rd biggest barrier Sometimes speaker speaks so fast to me that I cannot separate streams of speech Fast speech rate also distracts me because I not understand what I am hearing I think the teacher should pause the recording to reduce bad effect of speech rate X  Next, I will talk about my lack of concentration which is usually caused by fast speech rate, new words and noise I not know how to cope with this difficulty  Last but not least, I have problems with noise It‟s unavoidable in real conversation, so I think I should get used to it Besides I should learn to infer meaning of a speech basing on several words that I can catch Student 6:  First, I have difficulty in recognizing words that I know Maybe, it‟s because in speech, words are pronounced differently due to their connection with other words My suggestion to this problem is to practice listening English regularly through movies, songs … on internet  Secondly, when I write down answers, I usually miss the next part of the listening passage I think to take note quickly, I need to use abbreviation  Next, I find it hard to finish the kind of exercise which requires a short answer if I not have things repeated As I mentioned above, I usually miss the next part of the recording when I take notes Hence, I need to have some parts repeated  The fourth problem is speech rate Fast speech rate may cause bad effects among a large number of students such as boredom, disappointment and tiredness Hence, in case of a recording with fast speech rate, I think teacher should make some necessary pause to make sure that students can have enough time to process the new information  Lastly, new words also cause me a lot of trouble If a listening passage has many new words, I‟ll be distracted Soon, I feel bored, tired and stop listening I not know how to overcome this difficulty XI Student 7:  Unclear pronunciation is my biggest problem Maybe it‟s because sounds change and blend with each other in spoken forms Sometimes, it‟s due to the fact that I mispronounce words I think the solution is to better my pronunciation  Next is problem related to fast speech rate When I hear, I need time to match the sound with its meaning Hence, when speaker speaks with fast speech rate, I cannot understand the message My solution is that when a listening passage is spoken with fast speech rate, the teacher should pause the tape so that we have time to process what we hear  Next, recognition of words that I already know is my third biggest problem I think it is because I am used to hearing my teacher pronounce a word without its context Hence, I cannot realize the word when it is spoken quickly and connected with other words My suggestion for this drawback is to listen to English regularly on internet to learn how sounds are linked  Fourthly, I often miss hearing the next part of the listening passage when I write down the answers into the notebook I think it‟s because of my low proficiency level I find it hard to write an answer correctly by myself, so I tend to write down what I hear from the recording Taking notes takes me a lot of time and consequently, I miss hearing the next part I think I should practice hearing and taking notes at the same time Simultaneously, I should use abbreviations for quick notes  Last but not least, I have problems with concentration There are many reasons for my loss of focus such as new words, noise, complex grammatical structures I have not found out the solution to this drawback XII Student 8:  My biggest problem is lack of concentration I am often distracted by noise outside and inside the classroom, by new words and complex grammar in the listening passage I not know how to solve this problem  Second is problem pertaining to unclear pronunciation In speech, words are usually pronounced in weak forms, but I am used to its strong forms in class  Nextly, I have problems with the recognition of words I already know Although I have familiar with some words, I am unable to recognize its meaning immediately Also, sometimes I not understand the intended meaning of some words though I know their literal meaning I not know how to solve this barrier  Next, I have problems because I cannot have things repeated Sometimes, I hear the answer but I have not got time to take notes After a while, I forget that answer Hence, I need that part being repeated I not have any idea to improve this situation  Lastly, if the listening passage lacks pauses, I hardly finish this kind of exercise The pause is necessary for me to take notes and process information I think to cope with the recordings which lack of pause, the teacher should pause the cassette for a while so that students could write down the answer In addition, students should learn to take notes quickly Student 9:  First, I would like to talk about the lack of pause Short answer questions take me much time to hear and write down the responses So, as for me, pause is essential If the listening passage has not got enough pause, the teacher should pause the cassette so that students could have enough time to take notes XIII  Secondly, I usually miss the next part of the recording when I write down answers It‟s difficult for me to hear and write at the same time I think I should practice it  Nextly, I usually have problems with fast speech rate If the speaker speaks too fast, I will be distracted My solution is to practice listening to English regularly through foreign songs, films, news and so on  The fourth problem relates to the vocabulary New words actually hinder my listening comprehension I cannot find the answers to the questions because I not understand the message I think the teacher should introduce students with several new words to facilitate listening  Lastly, I always have trouble with unclear pronunciation I cannot separate streams of speech In addition, words in the recording are somehow pronounced differently compared with my pronunciation Hence, I think the solution is that I have to practice listening English at home so that I could get accustomed with the way native speakers pronounce words in speech Student 10:  My biggest problem is speaker‟s unclear pronunciation in speech I realize that I pronounce all words in strong forms while in speech, speakers use even weak forms Hence, my suggestion is that students should be introduced with both strong forms and weak forms of words  My second biggest problem relates to fast speech rate When the speaker speaks too fast, I not have enough time to understand the content of the listening passage, which results in my boredom and tiredness I think the teacher should pause the CD player for a while to reduce bad effects of fast speech rate XIV  Another problem is that the recording sometimes lack of pause, which makes it difficult for students to take important notes I think this problem could be partly solved by the same solution with the second problem that I have mentioned above  Next, I often miss the following part of the listening passage when writing down answers to the questions I not know how to solve this problem  Last but not least, I have problems with reduced forms I think practice makes perfect So, I should listen more and more so that I could recognize reduced forms XV ... ideas rather than a single detail These questions are categorized into two types encompassing organization questions and relationship questions d Organization questions Organization questions ask... two questions below - What is stated in the passage? - What is indicated in the passage? 1.2.2 Pragmatic Understanding Questions at the level of pragmatic understanding consist of one question... that 10th grade students at Hung Yen high school encounter when doing comprehension questions in English listening exercises and some suggested solutions? ?? Specifically, the study will pinpoint