An investigation into the relation between learners’ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance at hanoi university of business and technology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***  *** NGÔ THỊ XUYÊN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CORRELATION BETWEEN LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING AND THEIR LISTENING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Điều tra mối tương quan thái độ học tập khả nghe hiểu sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh Doanh Công Nghệ) M.A MINOR THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***  *** NGÔ THỊ XUYÊN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATION BETWEEN LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING AND THEIR LISTENING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Điều tra mối quan hệ thái độ học tập khả nghe hiểu sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh Doanh Công Nghệ) M.A MINOR THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dương Thu Mai, Ph.D Hanoi, 2013 DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of University of Languages and International Studies relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in some ways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis I would also like to express my thanks to the teachers of English, freshmen and second-year students at Faculty of Accountancy and Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology for their willingness to participate in the research Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled Last but not least, I am most thankful to my relatives who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study Hanoi, December 2013 Ngo Thi Xuyen ii ABSTRACT This paper reports the result of the study that aimed at identifying first-year and second-year students‟ attitudes towards learning listening and the relation between these attitudes and learners‟ listening performance at a university in Hanoi Three issues, hence, are investigated: (1) the attitudes towards learning English in general and learning listening in particular; (2) the differences between two groups of students in terms of their attitudes; and (3) the correlation between the attitudes to learning listening and their listening performance The findings based on a survey with 130 students reveal that there was an interest in learning English, but listening lessons and tasks, and course objectives beyond their level was a barrier to learning English A lot of the assistance from the teacher with explanation on test format and scoring was appreciated However, that they listened to no materials but listening sections in the course books is a hindrance to their listening performance Though admitting that their listening results can influence their future performance, students‟ gradual improvement in listening result was not ensured Secondly, there was a distinction between first-year and second-year students regarding the acknowledgement of difficulties with listening comprehension, test relevance to the course objectives, teachers‟ explanation to the test scoring criteria, and the agreement on the stimulation of good listening results over their later performance Thirdly, no strong correlation between attitudes and listening performance was found There are many other factors that contribute to listening performance like the reliability of the test, teachers‟ teaching style, and so on iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS HUBT Hanoi University of Business and Technology SD Strongly disagree D Disagree N Neutral U Undecided A Agree SA Strongly agree L2 Second language ID Identity SLA Second language acquisition SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ELT English language teaching Q Question iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Figure 1: Range of student attitudes towards target language Figure 2: Range of attitudes to learning L2 expressed as learning outcomes Figure 3: Representation of Socio-educational Model of SLA 15 Figure 4: Atttitudes towards learning English and learning listening 27 Figure 5: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question and 27 Figure 6: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 5, and 28 Figure 7: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question and 10 29 Figure 8: Attitudes to tests 29 Figure 9: Attitudes to teachers interms of teaching content 30 Figure 10: Attitudes to teachers regarding scoring 31 Figure 11: Attitudes towards materials 32 Figure 12: Attitudes to listening performance 32 Table 1: Results of Mann Whitney U Tests on the Differences between Year 33 Students and Year Students in the Attitudes toward Learning Listening Table 2: Results of Spearman Rho Tests on the Correlation between Students' 35 Listening Learning Attitudes and Listening Performance v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii List of abbreviation terms iv List of tables and figures v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: Literature Review 1.1 Learner factor/ (Affective factors which affect English learning performance) 1.2 Learning attitudes 1.2.1 Definition of learning attitudes 1.2.2 Classification of learning attitudes 1.3 Differences between motivation and attitude 10 1.4 Learning performance 12 1.4.1 Learning performance in English Language Teaching 12 1.4.2 Learning performance in listening 13 1.4.3 Assessing listening performance 13 2.1 Theories on the relation between attitudes and performance 15 2.2 Studies on the relation between attitudes and performance 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19 2.1 Context of the study 19 2.2 The study 21 2.2.1 Participants 21 vi 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 21 2.2.3 Data collection procedure 22 2.3 Data analysis 23 2.3.1 Analysis techniques 23 2.3.2 Data presentation and analysis 24 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 26 3.1 Students‟ attitudes to learning listening (research question 1) 26 3.1.1 Attitudes to learning English and learning listening 26 3.1.1.1 Attitudes towards learning English and learning listening 26 3.1.1.2 Attitudes towards listening lessons 27 3.1.1.3 Attitudes to tests 29 3.1.1.4 Attitudes to teachers and materials 30 3.1.1.5 Attitudes to listening performance 32 3.2 The differences in attitudes of the two groups towards learning listening (research question 2) 33 3.3 The correlation between listening attitudes and listening performance (research question 3) 34 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 Conclusion 40 Recommendations 40 Limitations 41 REFERENCES 43 Appendix I vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Listening skill is a critical dimension in language learning in general and in learning English as a foreign language in particular (Kurita, 2012) This input skill plays a vital role when communicators exchange information It is clear that once mastering this skill, students can carry out the conversation with other people, state their ideas and exchange the information (Rost, p 94) For this importance, learners try their best to improve their English listening competence; however, few students have succeeded A large number of students after a long time learning English find it difficult to listen to dialogues, recording, or to native speakers Hence, according to Kurita (2012), a lot of research addressing various issues in learners‟ low achievement has been carried out Learning a language, especially listening to it, is considered a complex process, which is often affected by many factors such as attitude, motivation, age, intelligence, learning environment, etc These variables have been researched to see how they affect an individual learner‟s response to the task of learning a L2 (Ellis, 1985) Of these contributing factors, attitude, regarded as a positive or negative disposition toward an object, situation, or behavior, is believed to have great impact on success or failure of a language learner (Burstall, 1975) As cited in Gardner‟s book (1985), learner attitude has become key issues in language learning in general, and the subject of many studies for a long time In Vietnam, English is considered as an indispensable subject in all universities‟ curriculum Communicating in English or being competent in English is considered a preferable tool to make learners understood in a workplace context, or have an advantageous job over the others At Hanoi University of Business and Technology (hereafter HUBT), a private university, English is a compulsory subject for all students of all faculties For freshmen who have not been familiar with the ways of studying at university, attending two or three English classes a week makes English a burden However, 28 Gabillon, Z (2007) Learner beliefs on L2 attitudes and motivation: An exploratory study Lingua et Linguistica, 1.1, 68-90 29 Đỗ, Thị Hồng Hà (2011) 10th grade students’ attitudes towards teachers’ error correction in classroom activities at Do Son Boarding High school Unpublished M.A Thesis 30 Nguyễn, Thị Như Quỳnh (2011) Learners’ attitude towards learning the courseware “functioning in business” though Dyned software: a survey evaluation by the second year non-E major students at HUBT Unpublished M.A Thesis 31 Nguyễn, Thị Minh Huệ (2004) An Investigation into Vietnamese Upper Secondary School Student’s Attitudes towards Grammar Learning and Teaching: A Case Study Unpublished M.A Thesis 32 Phelan, C., & Wren, J (2005) Exploring reliability academic assessment College of Humanities and Fine Arts Student Outcomes Assessment Retrieved from http://www.uni.edu/chfasoa/reliabilityandvalidity.htm 33 Ushida, E (2005) The Role of Students' Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning in Online Language Courses Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium Journal, 23 Retrieved from https://calico.org/memberBrowse.php?action=article&id=131 45 Appendix Questionnaire for 1st year students This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the relation between learners’ attitudes towards listening and listening performance Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your corporation! ******************************************************************* Which school year are you in? In the following table, you will find statements about your attitudes towards learning English Please tick (v) in the column to show your opinion No Statements Strongl Disagre Neutra Agre Strongl y e l y agree disagre e Attitudes I to learning language English learning like Of four skills, listening skill is of my interest I like listening not because I want to pass the tests I e Attitudes Listening to lessons listening always lessons interest me Listening lessons suit to my ability Listening tasks are up to the level where I am supposed to be Listening tasks in the classroom always excite me Listening to some difficult tasks irritates me Listening tasks are relevant to the course objectives II 10 I acknowledg e difficulties in listening exercises Attitudes 11 Levels of to tests the tests are suitable for me 12 Tests are relevant to the course objectives Attitudes 13 My teacher to always teachers meets and expectations material when my delivering lectures 14 My teacher always meets my expectations giving guidance on tests 15 My teacher explains test III format (types of the test) 16 My teacher revises the most important contents before the tests 17 My teacher explains test scoring criteria 18 Listening to course books is enough for my listening skill 19 Besides a good resource of materials from course books and teachers, other sources like IV the Internet and magazines are important to me in listening Attitudes 20 Good to results listening listening performa test nce encourage me in to better for the next one 21 My past listening scores are always up to my expectations 22 My listening performanc e improves over time THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CORPORATION! V Appendix Questionnaire for students Bảng khảo sát tiến hành cho nghiên cứu mối quan hệ thái độ với việc nghe kết nghe sinh viên Rất cám ơn bạn tham gia hồn thiện bảng khảo sát Tất thơng tin mà bạn đưa phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu Cảm ơn bạn tham gia *********************************************************************************** ** Bạn học năm thứ mấy? Nhìn bảng phía dưới, bạn thấy câu nói thái độ người học với việc học tiếng anh nói chung việc học nghe nói riêng Hãy tích (v) vào cột mà bạn thấy phù hợp No Statements Thái độ với việc học tiếng Anh Tôi thích học tiếng Anh Thái độ với học nghe Trong kĩ năng, tơi u thích kĩ nghe Tơi thích học nghe khơng bời muốn vượt qua kiểm tra Các học nghe hút Các học nghe phù hợp với khả Các nhiệm vụ học nghe mức độ mà khóa học đề Tôi thấy hào hứng với hoạt động nghe lớp Các tập nghe khó làm tơi khó chịu Các nhiệm vụ học nghe phù hợp với mục tiêu khóa học Tơi thừa nhận khó khăn làm tập nghe Mức độ kiểm tra nghe phù hợp với Các kiểm tra phù hợp với mục tiêu khóa học 10 Thái độ với kiểm tra Thái độ với giáo viên tài 11 12 13 14 15 Strongly disagree Giáo viên đưa giảng mong đợi Giáo viên đưa dẫn cho kiểm tra tơi mong đợi Giáo viên giải thích dạng VI Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree liệu học 16 17 18 19 Thái độ với kết nghe 20 21 22 kiểm tra Giáo viên ôn lại phần quan trọng trước thi Giáo viên giải thích cách thức tính điểm Việc nghe theo giáo trình đủ cho kĩ nghe tơi Ngồi nguồn tài liệu từ sách giáo trình từ giáo viên, nguồn tài liệu khác Internet tạp chí quan trọng với việc học nghe Kết tốt kiểm tra nghe khuyến khích tơi đạt kết tốt kiểm tra tiếp Những kiểm tra nghe mong đợi Khả nghe thiện theo thời gian Điểm thi nghe bạn kì năm 2012-2013:………………………………………… CẢM ƠN SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN! VII Appendix Questionnaire for students This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into the relation between learners’ attitudes and listening performance Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your corporation! ******************************************************************* In the following table, you will find statements about your attitudes towards learning English Please tick (v) in the column to show your opinion No Statements Strongly Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly disagree agree Learning English is interesting Listening lessons are interesting I learn English because it is a compulsory subject at HUBT I really like learning English lessons English are very interesting I need to learn English only to pass the exams at HUBT VIII I feel good and comfortable in the listening examinations Listening s in the classroom always excite me When listening to some difficult tasks, I find them unpleasant I acknowledge differences and difficulties in listening exercises in a positive way 10 I find levels of the tests suitable for me 11 The tests designed should be adjustable to my actual level, not at a level where I am 12 My teacher always meet my expectations when delivering lectures and giving guidance on tests 13 Good listening results in test IX encourage me to better for the next one 14 When equipped with positive attitudes I can improve my listening results 15 My listening performance changes over time THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CORPORATION! Interview questions: In which year are you in the university? How did you feel before/ during/ after the tests? Do you think you should work harder to change the results? X APPENDIX Table of correlations Correlations I like learning Mark English Correlation Coefficient 1.000 Variable I like learning English Sig (2-tailed) (Q1) N Spearman's rho Mark 218* ,015 130 124 Correlation Coefficient 218* 1.000 Sig (2-tailed) 015 N 124 124 * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Variable (Q2) Correlations I like listening Mark English Correlation Coefficient 1.000 I like listening English Sig (2-tailed) N Spearman's rho Mark 262** 003 129 123 Correlation Coefficient 262** 1.000 Sig (2-tailed) 003 N 123 124 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) XI Variable (Q3) Correlations I like listening Mark English not because I want to pass the tests I like listening English notCorrelation Coefficient 1.000 297** because I want to pass theSig (2-tailed) 001 tests 128 122 Spearman's rho Mark N Correlation Coefficient 297** 1.000 Sig (2-tailed) 001 N 122 124 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) XII Variable (Q) Correlations Listening mark lessons always interest me Spearman's rho Correlation Coefficient 1,000 Listening lessons always Sig (2-tailed) interest me N 128 183* Correlation Coefficient 183* 1,000 Sig (2-tailed) 044 N 122 124 Listening mark Mark 044 122 * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) Variable (Q5) Correlations lessons suit my ability Spearman's rho Correlation Coefficient 1,000 Listening lessons suit my Sig (2-tailed) ability N 129 ,286** Correlation Coefficient 286** 1.000 Sig (2-tailed) 001 N 123 124 Mark ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) … ……………………………………………… Variable 22 (Q22) Correlations XIII ,001 123 My listening mark performance improves over time Spearman's rho Correlation Coefficient 1.000 My listening performance Sig (2-tailed) improves over time N 128 227* Correlation Coefficient 227* 1.000 Sig (2-tailed) 012 N 123 124 Mark * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) XIV 012 123 ... and learning listening in particular; (2) the differences between two groups of students in terms of their attitudes; and (3) the correlation between the attitudes to learning listening and their. .. investigating the relationship between attitudes and language success They looked at the relationship between Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican students‟ achievement in English and their attitudes. .. learners‟ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance has not been investigated Also, at the Department of English- Hanoi University of Business and Technology, there have