Effectiveness of information transfer activities in teaching listening for the 10th form non english major students at bacninh specialized high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Hanoi university of languages and international studies Department of postgraduate studies  NGO THI THANH THUY EFFECTIVENESS OF INFORMATION-TRANSFER ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING LISTENING FOR THE 10TH FORM NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BACNINH SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL (HIệU QUả HOạT động chuyển đổi thông tin việc dạy nghe cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên TIếNG anh tr-ờng thpt chuyên bắc ninh) MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Department of Postgraduate Studies NGO THI THANH THUY EFFECTIVENESS OF INFORMATION-TRANSFER ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING LISTENING FOR THE 10TH FORM NONENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT BACNINH SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL (HIệU QUả hoạt động chuyển đổi thông tin việc dạy nghe cho học sinh lớp 10 không chuyên TIếNG ANH tr-ờng THPT chuyên bắc ninh) MA MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI VAN QUYEN, MA Hanoi, 2009 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv Lists of abbreviations v List of tables and charts vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale Scope of the study Significance of the study Aims and research questions of the study Method of the study Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Background concepts of listening 1.1.1 Definition of listening 1.1.2 Listening skill 1.1.3 Listening process 1.1.3.1 Bottom-up process 1.1.3.2 Top-down process 1.1.4 Stages of a listening lesson 1.1.4.1 Pre-listening stage 1.1.4.2 While-listening stage 1.1.4.3 Post-listening stage 1.1.5 Listening activities 1.1.5.1 Pre-listening activities 10 1.1.5.2 While-listening activities 10 1.1.5.3 Post-listening activities 11 1.2 Background concepts of Information-transfer activities 12 vi 1.2.1 Definition of Information-transfer activities 12 1.2.2 Why should we employ Information transfer-activities 14 1.2.3 When should we employ Information transfer-activities 16 Chapter 2: THE STUDY 19 2.1 Background of the study 19 2.1.1 The settings 19 2.1.2 Population 19 2.1.3 Sampling 20 2.2 Listening material 21 2.3 Data collection instruments 22 2.3.1 Survey questionnaires 22 2.3.2 Observation 22 2.4 Data collection procedures 23 2.5 Data analysis 24 2.5.1 Analysis of the Survey questionnaire for teachers 24 2.5.2 Analysis of the Survey questionnaire for students 30 2.5.3 Analysis of the researcher’s class observation 36 Chapter 3: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 38 3.1 Major findings 38 3.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ attitude toward IT activities 38 3.1.2 How teachers of English at BnSHS employ IT activities 39 3.1.3 Difficulties teachers and students at BnSHS encounter in employing IT activities 39 3.2 Suggestions for more effective employment of IT activities 40 3.2.1 Using some soft-wares to edit listening materials 40 3.2.2 Making the visual aids more attractive 41 PART 3: CONCLUSION 44 References Appendices iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BnSHS : Bacninh Specialized High School IT : Information-Transfer MOET : Ministry of Education and Training LIST O TABLES Table : Johnson’s classificati Table : Aspects of a listening Table : Students’ preferences Table : Problems students en Table 5.1 : Teachers’ preference Table 5.2 : Common tendency of Teachers’ preferences for activities in while-listening stage…………………… Table : Aims of employing I Table : Teachers’ comments Table : Teachers’ difficulties Table : Teachers’ suggestion CHARTS Chart : The place students co Chart : The time students Chart : Students’ evaluation Chart : Students’ interest in l Chart : The necessity of imp Chart : Students’ evaluation Chart : Students’ preferences Chart : Teaching-years of tea Chart : Listening aspects …… Chart 10 : Teachers’ evaluation Chart 11 : Frequency of IT activ PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale The real need for good communication skills in English has created a huge demand for English teaching and learning around the world Millions of people today want to be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency Employers too insist that their employees have good English language skills The demand for an appropriate teaching methodology is therefore as strong as ever Currently with the entry into the WTO and opening markets to the outside world, language policies of Vietnam put more emphasis on communication skills in English than ever The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) of Vietnam made reforms in national education system In 2006 the MOET introduced a new high school curriculum This lead to a significant change in English teaching and learning methods: from deep-rooted grammartranslation method to communicative one English 10 designed by a group of authors: Hoang Van Van, Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Do Tuan Minh, Nguyen Thu Phuong, Nguyen Quoc Tuan consists of 16 teaching units Each unit contains five 45-minute periods corresponding to five parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language focus Among the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), listening is considered to be the most difficult and challenging for both teachers and students, which leads to the fact that non- English major students, at Bacninh Specialized High schools are afraid of learning listening They seem to neglect listening skill during their language learning process As a result their listening skill is often weak Information- transfer (IT) activities have now become commonplace in language teaching However the application of these activities in teaching Listening for non-English majors at high schools has not got much concern This fact has encouraged the author to investigate into the effectiveness of Informationtransfer activities employed by teachers of English at Bacninh Specialized High School Hopefully, the study will be helpful for the author and other teachers to find out appropriate ways to handle Information-transfer activities effectively to develop students‟ listening skill -22 Scope of the study Listening is a broad and complex field that many linguists take much time to study There have been many activities designed to improve learners‟ listening skill Therefore my study focuses mainly on Information-transfer activities employed by teachers of English in th teaching listening for the 10 non- English major students at BnSHS Significance of the study The study highlights the important role of listening skill in general and Informationtransfer activities in particular The findings of this study reinforces the value of IT activities in teaching listening Moreover, the author hopes that the suggestions of this study can help high school teachers employ IT activities effectively in teaching listening for non- English major students Aims and research questions of the study The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of Information-transfer activities employed by teachers of English at Bacninh Specialized High School The specific aims of the research are: To investigate the teachers‟ and students‟ attitude towards Information-transfer activities To find out how teachers of English at Bacninh Specialized High School employ those activities  To give some suggestions for employing IT activities more effectively to develop listening skill of non- English major students at BnSHS The investigation has been carried out to answer the following research questions: (1) What are teachers‟ and students‟ attitude toward IT activities? (2) How teachers of English at BnSHS employ those activities? (3) What are difficulties facing teachers and students at BnSHS in employing IT activities in teaching and learning listening? Methods of the study In order to accomplish the study, the author used Survey Research method which is a study of a large group through direct study of a subset of that group These research methods are widely used to gather data at a particular point in time to: • Describe the nature of existing conditions -3• Identify standards against which existing conditions can be compared • Determine the relationships that exist between specific events Survey methods have been used by second language, bilingual education and foreign language researchers to study a wide variety of issues that impinge on language learning: (1) The policies affecting learning and teaching (2) Program administration (3) Attitudes of teachers / learners toward a teaching method (4) Classroom practices (5) Target language norms (6) Responses of people toward a language phenomenon (7) Sociolinguistic studies of language use (8) The institutional settings The specific aims of the author are to investigate the teachers‟ and students‟ attitude towards IT activities and how teachers of English at Bacninh Specialized High School employ those activities These aims match with ones of Survey Research method (3Attitudes of teachers / learners toward a teaching method and 4- Classroom practices) Therefore the author used Survey Research method Design of the study The study consists of parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The first part, “Introduction”, describes the basic information such as rationale, scope, significance, aims and research questions as well as methods of the study The second part, “Development”, comprises chapters: • Chapter 1, Literature Review, provides theoretical background of listening and information-transfer activities • Chapter 2, The study, presents the settings to the study, target population, sample, instrumentation and data analysis • Chapter 3, Major findings and suggestions, offers some main findings and recommendations on how to make IT activities more effectively The last part, “Conclusion”, is a review of the study, the limitations and directions for future study -4- PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter involves different issues in the theories of the listening in a foreign language and Information-transfer activities Two main features will be presented: background concepts of listening and of IT activities 1.1 Background concepts of listening: 1.1.1 Definition of listening It seems to be difficult to define what listening is People in different professions such as applied linguists, anthropologists, psychologists define listening in many different ways That‟s because there is no universally accepted definition for the term “listening‟ Howatt and Dakin (1974) define listening as the ability to identify and understand what others are saying This involves understanding a speaker‟s accent or pronunciation, his grammar and vocabulary, and grasping his meaning An able listener is capable of doing these four things simultaneously Thomlison's (1984) definition of listening includes “active listening”, which goes beyond comprehending as understanding the message content, to comprehension as an act of empathetic understanding of the speaker Furthermore Gordon (1985) argues that empathy is essential to listening and contends that it is more than a polite attempt to identify a speaker‟s perspectives Rather more importantly, empathetic understanding expands to “egocentric prosocial behavior” Thus, the listener altruistically acknowledges concern for the speaker‟s welfare and interests According to Ronald and Roskelly (1985) listening is an active process requiring the same skills of prediction, hypothesizing, checking, revising, and generalizing that writing and reading demand; and these authors present specific exercises to make students active listeners who are aware of the "inner voice" one hears when writing Significance of listening Listening is the Cinderella skill in second language learning and teaching (Nunan, 1997) For most people, being able to claim knowledge of a second language means being able to speak and write in that language Listening and reading are therefore secondary skills However, listening comes into fashion In the 1960s, the emphasis on oral language skills -5gave it a boost It became fashionable again in the 1980s, when Krashen's (1982) ideas about comprehensible input gained prominence A short time later, it was reinforced by James Asher's (1988) Total Physical Response, a methodology drawing sustenance from Krashen's work, and based on the belief that a second language is learned most effectively in the early stages if the pressure for production is taken off the learners During the 1980s, proponents of listening in a second language were also encouraged by work in the first language field Here, people such as Gillian Brown (1990) were able to demonstrate the importance of developing oracy (the ability to listen and speak) as well as literacy, in school Listening is assuming greater and greater importance in both first and second language learning and teaching According to Rivers (1981) listening is used nearly twice as much as speaking and four to five times as much as reading and writing That finding confirmed what Wilt had found in 1950 that people listen 45 percent, speak 30 percent, reading 16 percent and write percent of the time they spend communicating By emphasizing the role of comprehensible input, second language acquisition research has given a major boost to listening Rost (1994: 141-142) summarized the role of listening in second language learning as followed: - Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learners Without understandable input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin - Listening to spoken language gives us opportunities to acquire the language - to pick up structures and vocabulary If learners are living in a country where English is the first language, they have plenty of exposure to the language - they hear it all the time, and acquire it more easily than learners not hear English spoken around them So we need to give these learners as much opportunity to listen to spoken English as possible Doff, A (1988:198) agreed that to have a successful conversation, students must understand what is said to them Later the ability to understand spoken English may become very important We cannot develop learners‟ communication skill unless we also develop listening skill Therefore students need a lot of practice in listening to spoken language Types of listening There are many different types of listening that can be classified according to a number of variables, including purpose for listening, the role of the listener, and the type of text being -44- PART 3: CONCLUSION Paper review th The late 20 century has witnessed the widespread of adoption of communicative language teaching in many English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) countries, and Vietnam is no exception From the previous chapters, it is undeniable that listening plays an important role in foreign language teaching and learning Students have to learn how to listen just as they have to learn how to speak, and therefore they should be exposed frequently, from the earliest stages of language learning Rost (1994:142) claims that not only does listening create the right conditions for language development, but it can also provide enjoyment and stimulate cultural interests With the aim of investigating the effectiveness of IT activities in teaching listening, for the theoretical basis, the researcher has reviewed relevant concepts of listening and of IT activities A lot of reference materials have been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly For the practical basis, based on the current situation of teaching and learning listening at BnSHS, survey questionnaires and researcher‟s class observations are carried out to gather the most reliable data for the study From the findings of the study, the author has offered some suggestions for more effective employment of IT activities And below are two main suggestions: The first suggestion is using some softwares to edit listening materials It is believed that modern technologies have penetrated all spheres of human life, education being one of them Teachers should get used to using a simple display processing program (e.g., Microsoft Powerpoint) and some audio-editing soft-wares This helps teachers find themselves involved in a new process and the role of his learners differs from traditional teaching and learning The second suggestion emphasizes the value of visual aids When teachers make the table, chart, grid attractive, he/she attracts students‟ attention and interest more This table, chart, grid… for IT activities can be at stages of the lesson - introducing the topic, practicing or reviewing the language Doff, A (1988:82) agreed that good visual aids are not just used once, but again and again, and can be shared by different teachers -45It is hoped that the study will make a small contribution to the ongoing process of renovation for foreign language learning and teaching in Vietnam My suggestions here might not be fully appropriate for other High schools in our country, but it is my strong belief that they could inspire my fellow teachers into thinking of other ideas to make IT activities more interesting and enticing Limitations and suggestions for further study In any research, limitations are inevitable This study presented in this minor-thesis is of no exception Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this study cannot focus on aspects related to application of ICT in teaching listening They can be: the strategies for employing IT activities in teaching listening, IT activities with the aid of ICT in teaching listening, the design posters in IT activities… Further studies on the listed issues above should be conducted to have a full view of the effectiveness of IT activities in teaching listening REFERENCES: Asher, J (1988) Learning another language through actions: The complete teacher's guidebook (3rd ed.) Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions Brown, G (1990) Listening to spoken English (2nd ed.) London: Longman Djiwandono, P.I (1995) Learning strategies, degrees of extroversion and their relationship with oral communication proficiency in English Atma Nan Jaya, (1) Doff, A (1988) Teach English - A training course for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Field, J (1998) Skills and Strategies: Towards a New methodology for listening ELT Journal 52 (2) April, 110-118 Gordon, R D (1985) Empathy: the state of the art and science Paper presented at the International Conference of the World Communication Association, 16pp [ED 260 470] Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press Hedge, T (2002) Teaching and learning in the Language Classroom Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press Howatt, A & J Dakin (1974) Language laboratory materials, ed J P B Allen, S P B Allen, and S P Corder 10 Johnson, D.M (1992) Approaches to Research in Second Language Learning London: Longman 11 Krashen, S (1982) Principles and practice in second language acquisition Oxford: Pergamon 12 Lacey, C (1976) “Problems of sociological fieldwork: A review of the methodology of “Hightown Grammar”, in SHIPMAN, M.(Ed.) The organization and impact of social research, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul 13 Lund, R.J (1990) A taxonomy for teaching second language listening Foreign Language Annuals, 23, 105-115 14 Nation, I.S.P & Coady, J (1988) Vocabulary in reading In R Carter and M.McCarthy (eds.) pp.62 - 82 15 Nation, I.S.P (1990) Teaching and learning vocabulary New York: Newsbury House Publisher 16 Nation, I.S.P & Thomas, G.I (1991) Communicative Activities Victoria University of Wellington 17 Nation, I.S.P & Newton, J (2008) Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking London and NewYork: Routledge 18 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Heinle & Heinle Publications 19 Palmer, D.M (1982) Information Transfer for Listening and Reading English Teaching Forum 20:1, pp.29-33 20 Rixon, S (1986) Developing listening skills London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Ltd 21 Ronald, K & Roskelly, H (1985) "Listening as an act of composing." Paper presented at the 36th Conference on College Composition and Communication 12pp [ED 257 094] 22 Rost, M (1991) Listening in Action Activities for developing listening in language teaching Hertfordshire, UK: Prentice Hall International Ltd 23 Rost, M (1994) Introducing Listening Penguin 24 Rivers, W.M (1981) Teaching foreign language skills (2 nd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press 25 Thomlison, T D (1984) "Relational listening: theoretical and practical considerations." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the 5th International Listening Association 30pp [ED 257 165] 26 Underwood, M (1989) Teaching Listening New York: Longman 27 Wilt, M.E (1950) “A study of teacher awareness listening as a factor in of elementary education” Journal of Educational 43 (8) April, 626-636 Research 28 Wisker, G 2001, The Postgraduate Handbook, New York: Palgrave 29 Yagang, F (1993) “Listening: Problems and Solutions” January, pp 189-96 In Kral (ed.) Websites Nunan, D (1997) Listening in Language Learning Retrieved March, 31, 2009 from http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/97/sep/nunan.html http://www.newkerala.com/self-help/Articles/Develop-listening-skills.html http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/bec/bec_vantage/listening/aboutthepaper/what _is_listening.htm APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (For teachers) This survey questionnaire is intended for the thesis “Effectiveness of InformationTransfer activities in teaching Listening for the 10th form non- English major Students at Bacninh Specialized High school” I am grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in completing the questionnaire All the information you give will be used for the research purpose only You will not be identified under any circumstances There are questions in this survey questionnaire Please, put a tick in the appropriate box or write your answer where necessary Thank you very much for your assistance! How long have you been teaching English? ……………………………………………… Which of the following while-listening activities you often use in your listening lesson? (You can tick more than one) a Choosing the best options b Completing the following table, chart… c Answering questions d Giving the right order of pictures/ statements What you often focus on when teaching listening? (You can tick more than one) a Sounds b Stress c Intonation d Sentences e Main ideas How you find the Information-transfer activities in your current textbook? a very interesting b interesting c little interesting d boring Reasons (please specify)………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… How often you employ Information-transfer activities in teaching listening? a always b sometimes c rarely d never What you employ Information-transfer activities for? (You can tick more than one) a Checking students’ comprehension of the text b Reconstructing the text orally c Others (please specify): ……… …………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… When using Information-transfer activities in teaching listening, you find (You can tick more than one): a These activities are communicative and authentic b These activities foster the development of new learning skills c These activities help students reduce their learning burden d Others (please specify): …………… …………………………………………… ………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………… What problems/difficulties you encounter when employing these Information-transfer activities? (You can tick more than one) a Designing them is time-consuming b Handling them is sometimes out of control c It is difficult for students to pick up the information d Others (please specify): ……… ………………………………………………… ………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, what should be done to make information-transfer activities more effective? (You can tick more than one) a Use technical aids (powerpoint program, projector,…) b Cut the recording into pieces c Organize group works d Others (please specify): ……………………………………………… …………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… … The end Thank you very much for your cooperation! SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (For students) This survey questionnaire is intended for the thesis “Effectiveness of InformationTransfer activities in teaching Listening for the 10th form non- English major students at Bacninh Specialized High school” I am grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in completing the questionnaire All the information you give will be used for the research purpose only There are 10 questions in this survey questionnaire Please, put a tick in the appropriate box or write your answer where necessary Thank you very much for your assistance! Full name: ………………………………………………………… Class: ………………………… Whereabouts in Bacninh province you come from? a city b the towns c countryside How long have you been learning English? ……………………………………………… Which language skill you think the most difficult? a Reading c Listening b Speaking d Writing Do you think it is necessary to improve your listening skill at high schools? a Yes - Reasons: …………………………………………………………………………… … ………………………………………………………………………………………………… b No - Reasons: ………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… How much are you interested in listening skill? a much b rather c just little What you pay much attention to when you are listening to a text? a Sounds d Sentences d not at all b Stress e Main ideas c Intonation f All Which activities would you like to in while-listening stage? (You can tick more than one) a Choosing the best options b Completing the following table, chart… c Answering questions d Giving the right order of pictures/ statements How you find the Information-transfer activities in your current textbooks? a very interesting b interesting c not very interesting d boring Reasons: …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… How would you like to take part in Information-transfer activities? a Work individually b Work in pairs c Work in groups 10 What problems you encounter when participating these Information-transfer activities? (You can tick more than one) a You don’t know how to fill in the table/grid/chart/… b You can’t pick up the information from the listening text c You don’t understand the listening text d Others (please specify): ………………….……………………………………….……… … …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… The end Thank you very much for your cooperation! APPENDIX 2: observational protocols Observational protocol 1: - Class: 10 Physics (Period - from 8.55 to 9.40) - Date: Monday, March 19, 2009 - Unit 13: Films and cinema Task (p.137): Listen again Write their plans for the next week on the calendar Teacher’s activities Warm-up Before you listen 3.While you listen 3.1.Task 3.2.Task 2: (8’) - The teacher ticks the poster prepared in advance on the board Explain task’s requirement - - Divide the whole class into two teams - Play the tape once - Give students minutes to discuss in their teams - Call representatives of each team to fill in the poster - Ask student in Team to comment on the work of Team and vice versa - Correct their work 3.3.Task After you listen Homework Remarks: The teacher always made sure that her students understood what to She organized this activity in teams which created an exciting foreign language learning and teaching Students were eager to participate in this activity Observational protocol 2: - Class: 10 Geography (Period - from 7.00 to 7.45) - Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Unit 14: The World Cup - Task (p.148): You will hear some information about Pele, a famous Brazilian football player Listen and complete the table below Teacher’s activities Warm-up Lead-in Before you listen While you listen (7’) 4.1.Task - Give students minutes to look at the table - Play the tape twice -Ask students to fill in the table themselves in minutes - Call students to give their answers by writing them on the board - Get feedback and give comments by playing the tape backward/ forward to find the keywords After you listen Homework Remarks: Although students listened to the cassette-player, they found it hard to complete the table individually Some students asked their partners for the answers At the end they could fill the whole table but this class seemed to be boring APPENDIX 3: topics of the listening texts in English book 10 Units Unit 1: M Unit 2: Di Unit 3: Di Unit 4: M Unit 5: M Unit 6: M Unit 7: M Unit 8: M Unit 9: M Unit 10: M Unit 11: M Unit 12: Di Unit 13: Di Unit 14: M Unit 15: M Unit 16: M ... effectively in teaching listening for non- English major students Aims and research questions of the study The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of Information- transfer activities. .. According to him, this kind of activities involves changing information from a linguistic form into a diagrammatic or semi-diagrammatic form, or vice versa A listening/ reading text Information transfer. .. problem and then try to solve it by themselves 1.2 Background concepts of Information- transfer activities: 1.2.1 Definition of Information- transfer activities Information- transfer (IT) activities