An evaluation of the listening component in the textbook new headway elementary to teach listening skills for non major english college freshmen at hanoi university of industry

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN THỊ THANH XUÂN AN EVALUATION OF THE LISTENING COMPONENT IN THE TEXTBOOK NEW HEADWAY ELEMENTARY TO TEACH LISTENING SKILLS FOR NON-MAFOR ENGLISH COLLEGE FRESHMEN AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Đánh giá phần nghe giáo trình New Headway Elementary để dạy kĩ nghe cho sinh viên cao đẳng không chuyên Tiếng Anh trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.01.11 Hanoi - 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* TRẦN THỊ THANH XUÂN AN EVALUATION OF THE LISTENING COMPONENT IN THE TEXTBOOK NEW HEADWAY ELEMENTARY TO TEACH LISTENING SKILLS FOR NON-MAFOR ENGLISH COLLEGE FRESHMEN AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Đánh giá phần nghe giáo trình New Headway Elementary để dạy kĩ nghe cho sinh viên cao đẳng không chuyên Tiếng Anh trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.01.11 Supervisor: Dương Thu Mai, PhD Hanoi - 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially Hanoi, July 2014 Trần Thị Thanh Xuân i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Ms Duong Thu Mai, PhD from Vietnam National University, University of Languages and International Studies, for her precious advice, academic guidance and support Without her invaluable assistance, this thesis would not have been fulfilled I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their useful lessons and materials which are of great values to my thesis I am appreciative of all my colleagues, and the non- major English college freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry for their precious cooperation in giving valuable information Last but not least, I find myself in debt to my dear family, and my friends who are always supporting me with their considerations and encouragement ii ABSTRACT This study was conducted to obtain knowledge about the evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary used for non- major English college freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) from the perspectives of the users of the material (i.e non- major English college freshmen and their listening teachers) It took into consideration the listening needs of the target students in order to suggest changes for the improvements for teaching listening skill to non- major English college freshmen at HaUI The participants included 110 students chosen randomly among non- major English college freshmen at HaUI and 22 teachers who were in charge of teaching English for non- major English college freshmen Two survey questionnaires were employed to discover the participants‟ perspectives of the students‟ listening needs and how the materials met these needs Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse data obtained from the aforementioned data collection instruments Quantitative data were processed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) The findings of the research provided insight into the listening needs of nonmajor English college freshmen at HaUI as well as how the textbook New Headway Elementary was evaluated in the students and teachers‟ viewpoints It can be clearly seen from the results of the study that listening to English was a challenge to the students Hence, they needed support in various forms such as facilities, materials, teachers‟ guidance, etc in order to improve their listening skill The results were generally in favour of the textbook However, there was a need to improve some elements of the book such as language input, post- listening and pair or group activities, active listening periods, visual materials, etc to better meet the Ss‟ needs Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations for the materials being evaluated and other elements of the listening course were suggested iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a foreign language ESL : English as a second language ESP : English for specific purposes FCE : First Certificate in English HaUI : Hanoi University of Industry MA : Master of Arts NA : Needs analysis SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Ss : Students Ts : Teachers iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1.1: Comparison different criteria for materials evaluation Figure 3.1: Ss‟ needs in the aim of listening in a course Figure 3.2: Ss‟ in lessons and kowledge of the lessons Figure 3.3: Ss‟ needs in three stages of listening Figure 3.4: Ss‟ needs in activities Figure 3.5: Ss‟ needs in topics Figure 3.6: Ss‟ needs in methods Figure 3.7: Ss‟ needs at the end of a course Figure 3.8: Ss‟ needs in layout and practical concerns Table 3.1: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on textbook‟s aim in terms of listening Table 3.2: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on lessons and knowledge of students Table 3.3: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on listening Table 3.4: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on topics in listening Table 3.5: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on method used for listening periods Table 6: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on assessment after the course Table 3.7: Ss and Ts‟ overall judgment on layout and practical concerns v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the thesis Aims of the study Scope of the study Significance of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Materials in language teaching and learning 1.1.1 Definitions and Classifications of materials 1.1.2 Roles of materials in language teaching and learning 1.2 Materials Evaluation 1.2.1 Definitions of materials evaluation 1.2.2 Materials evaluation in English language teaching and learning 1.2.3 Criteria for materials evaluation 1.3 Listening comprehension and teaching listening comprehension .8 1.3.1 Definition of listening comprehension 1.3.2 Communicative competence in teaching listening comprehension 1.3.3 Three stages of listening sessions 11 1.3.4 Methods of teaching listening communicatively 12 1.3.5.Potential problems in learning listening comprehension 13 1.4 Needs analysis (NA) in language teaching 14 vi CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16 2.1 Current situation of teaching and learning English listening at Hanoi University of Industry 16 2.1.1 The context of the study 16 2.1.2 The material description 17 2.2 The study 17 2.2.1 Research questions 17 2.2.2 Participants of the study 18 2.2.3 Data collection instrument 18 2.2.4 Methods of data analysis 20 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 21 3.1 Students‟ listening needs 21 3.1.1 Students‟ needs in the aim of listening in a course 21 3.1.2 Students‟ needs in term of lesson and knowledge 21 3.1.3 Students‟ needs in activities 22 3.1.4 Students‟ needs in topics 25 3.1.5 Students‟ needs in methods 26 3.1.6 Students needs at the end of a course 27 3.1.7 Students‟ needs in layout and practical concerns 28 3.2 Evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary for non –major freshmen at HaUI as perceived by the Ss and Ts 29 3.2.1 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of aim of listening .29 3.2.2 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of lessons and knowledge 30 3.2.3 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of listening activities 31 3.2.4 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of topics 34 3.2.5 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of methods used in listening periods 34 3.2.6 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of the student assessment 36 3.2.7 Evaluation of the textbook in terms of layout and grammatical concerns 36 3.3 Interview findings 38 3.3.1 Students‟ needs to improve their listening skills 38 vii 3.3.2 Students‟ opinions on the book‟ changes in order to better meet their needs 39 3.4 Discussion of findings 39 3.4.1 Students‟ needs analysis 39 3.4.2 Evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary for non –major freshmen at HaUI as perceived by the Ss and Ts 40 PART III: CONCLUSION 42 Conclusion of the study 42 Recommendations for material improvements 42 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 43 REFERENCES 45 APEENDIX I viii Hoạt Tiếp cận với ngôn ngữ, động kiến thức liên quan đến chủ đề thông qua hoạt động trước nghe Thực hoạt động đa dạng phù hợ với trình độ trình nghe 10 Làm tập hiệu phần sau nghe 11 Tham gia hoạt động thực tiễn 12 Tham gia hoạt động khích lệ 13 Được tham gia hoạt động phù hợp với muc tiêu học 14 Thực hoạt động từ dễ tới khó 15 Được hướng dẫn tốt hoạt động 16 Tham gia hoạt động cặp , nhóm phù hợp X Bạn nghĩ tầm quan trọng nhu cầu kĩ nghe Hãy tich √ vào ô tương ứng 1: Rất quan trọng 2: Quan trọng 3: Trung lập Phân loại Nhu c Chủ đề 17 18 19 Phương 20 pháp sử vào m dụng 21 Đư qua cá nghe 22 23 ràng Đánh giá sau khóa học 24 thực cuối k 25 Hình 26 thức và chấ vấn 27 đề thực hỗ trỡ tiễn hình ả 28 ghi âm XI APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This questionnaire is designed in order to gain your evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary which is taught listening skill for the non – majored English freshmen at HaUI Your assistance in completing the following items is greatly helpful and highly appreciated Here is a checklist for evaluating the textbook New Headway Elementary to teach listening skill for the non – majored English freshmen at HaUI Please tick √ the appropriate box Categories Aim of listening in the textbook Lessons/ knowledge of students XII Instruction sounds(i.e of vowels, consonants) is easy to follow The speed of the listening passage is appropriate to your level Activities Pre activities – listening access your background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text While- listening activities are various and suitable to your level 10 Exercisesafter listening are effective 11 Activities are authentic 12 Activities are motivational 13 Activities are suitable to the lesson aim 14 Activities are arranged from easy to difficult 15 Activities are well- instructed 16 Pair or group activities are appropriated used XIII Topics listening Methods used listening periods Assessmen 24 The book provides ts after the good course practice and knowledge to the final test 25 The book improves your listening skills Layout/ 26 Layout and printing practical are concerns good (colourful quality and appealing illustration) 27 Visual materials (pictures, graphs, video, maps) are helpful 28 Quality of recordings(noise, sound) is good XIV BẢNG CÂU HỎI NGHIÊN CỨU CHO SINH VIÊN Bảng câu hỏi thiết kế để lấy đánh giá bạn sách New Headway Elementary để học kĩ nghe trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nôi Sự giúp đỡ bạn hoàn thành câu hỏi đánh giá cao có ích Đây câu đánh gía sách New Headway Elementary để học kĩ nghe Hãy tích √ vào cột tương ứng Categories Mục phần nghe sách Bài kiến viên Hoạt động XV thông qua hoạt động trước nghe Các hoạt động đa dạng phù hợ với trình độ trình nghe 10 Bài tập hiệu phần sau nghe Chủ đề phần nghe Phương pháp dụng nghe sử XVI Đánh giá 24 Kiến thức thực cuối kì nghe Hình thức 26 Sách màu hấp dẫn vấn đề tiễn chất lượng in tốt thực 27 Các phương tiện hỗ trỡ hữu ích (máy chiếu, loa, hình ảnh, video, ghi âm thực tế) 28 Chất lượng băng ghi âm tốt (tiếng ồn, âm thanh) XVII APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This questionnaire is designed in order to gain your evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary to teach listening skill for the non – majored English freshmen at HaUI Your assistance in completing the following items is greatly helpful and highly appreciated Here is a checklist for evaluating the textbook New Headway Elementary to teach listening skill for the non – majored English freshmen at HaUI Please tick √ the appropriate box Categories I Aim of listening in e the l textbook Lessons/ knowledge e of students l Provided vocabulary is suitable to students‟ level Provided vocabulary is interesting XVIII New grammatical structures are easy to understand Instruction of sounds(i.e vowels, consonants) is easy to follow The speed of the listening passage is appropriate to students‟ level Activities Pre – listening activities access students background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text While- listening activities are various and suitable to students‟ level 10 Exercises after listening are effective 11 Activities are authentic XIX 12 Activities are motivational 13 Activities are suitable to the lesson aim 14 Activities are arranged from easy to difficult 15 Activities are wellinstructed 16 Pair or group activities are appropriated used 17 Topics are familiar to students Topics in listening 18 Topics are interesting 19 Topics are various Methods 20 The book motivates used for students to focus on the listening learning objectives periods 21 Varied activities make students interested in learning listening 22 Students are active in listening periods XX 23 The listening contexts are clear to students Assessmen 24 The book provides ts after the good practice and course knowledge to the final test 25 The book improves students‟ listening skills Layout/ 26 Layout and printing practical are good quality concerns (colourful and appealing illustration) 27 Visual materials (pictures, graphs, video, maps) are helpful 28 Quality of recordings (noise, sound) is good 29 How should the material be changed in order to meet your students‟ needs? This is the end of the questionnaire THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! XXI ... evaluation of the textbook New Headway Elementary used for non- major English college freshmen at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) from the perspectives of the users of the material (i.e non- ... understood that information be gathered and analyzed in a systematic manner and that only relevant information should be included, that is other information can be ignored Nunan (1988) states that... for materials evaluation Theoretical backgrounds to listening and teaching listening includes definition of listening comprehesion, approaches to the teaching of listening skills, methods of teaching