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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE USE OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE STUDE S’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN TOEIC TESTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu hành động việc sử dụng chiến lược siêu nhận thức để cải thiện khả nghe hiểu học sinh thi TOEIC trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THU THỦY AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE USE OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN TOEIC TESTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu hành động việc sử dụng chiến lược siêu nhận thức để cải thiện khả nghe hiểu học sinh thi TOEIC trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn HANOI, 2019 DECLARATION I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: “An action research project on the use of metacognitive strategies to enhance students’ listening comprehension in TOEIC tests at an English centre in Hanoi” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies – University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi I commit that this thesis has not been submitted anywhere for any degree Hanoi, 2019 Nguyễn Thu Thủy i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe great many thanks to so many people who have supported me all the way throughout my study to this final achievement It is with deep gratitude that I wish to thank Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn for his wholehearted guidance, valuable suggestions and academic advice during the course of writing this thesis, without which this work would hardly have been accomplished I also wish to acknowledge all the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master course for me with valuable knowledge Last, to my family, words are not enough to express my gratitude I am grateful to my parents, my child, and my dear husband Without their help and encouragement, I could not have completed this study ii ABSTRACT This research intended to explore the potential effects of instructing students to use metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests An action research approach was employed The research project lasted weeks During weeks of the project, participants were given instructions on using metacognitive strategies to improve their listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests The researcher used survey questionnaires, interviews, pre-test and post-test to collect data from the students The pre-questionnaire was chosen to elicit the data about the students’ employment of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests before the intervention The post-questionnaire and the interview was conducted to collect students’ feedbacks on instructing metacognitive strategies in the TOEIC tests after the intervention Two TOEIC listening comprehension tests were given at the beginning and the end of the course in order to assess the students’ listening comprehension improvement Concerning the results of the study, instructing metacognitive strategies has a positive effect on the students’ listening comprehension and there was a slight improvement on the students’ listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims and objectives of the study Research methodology Scope of the study Structure of the study Significance of the study PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW Listening Listening comprehension Overview of the TOEIC listening test Metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 13 4.1 Definition of metacognition 13 4.2 Definition of metacognitive strategies 13 4.3 Differences between cognitive and metacognitive strategies 14 4.4 The role of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 15 4.5 Types of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 16 Related previous studies 22 Summary 24 CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25 Action research 25 1.1 Definition of action research 25 1.2 Rationale for the use of action research 27 Settings 27 iv Participants 28 Data collecting instruments 28 Research procedure 30 Structure of the metacognitive strategy training sessions in listening 31 Data analysis procedure 34 Summary 35 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36 Students’ employment of metacognitive strategies before the intervention 36 The students’ improvement in the TOEC listening test 41 The students’ feedbacks on the instructions of using metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEC tests after the training 43 Summary of the chapter 51 PART THREE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 52 Summary of major findings 52 Recommendations 53 Limitations of the study 54 Suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III Appendix III Appendix V Appendix XIII Appendix XIV Appendix XXVII Appendix XL Appendix XLV Appendix LX v vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure Figure 1: Action research cycle Tables Table The description of the research program Table The students’ overall awareness of metacognitive strategies in listening before the intervention Table The students’ awareness of planning strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention Table The students’ awareness of monitoring strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention Table The students’ awareness of problem solving strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention Table The students’ awareness of evaluation strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention Table TOEIC pre- and post-test score Table Paired Samples Statistics Table Paired Samples Test Table 10 The students’ impression of the listening lessons Table 11 The students’ involvement in the listening lessons Table 12 The students’ levels of motivation in the listening lessons Table 13 The students’ self-assessment of their listening improvement Table 14 The students’ assessment of the use of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension Table 15 The effectiveness and importance of metacognitive strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension Table 16 The students’ difficulties in TOEIC listening comprehension after applying metacognitive strategies Table 17 The students’ assessment of the teaching method Table 18 The students’ evaluation of the way teacher instructed metacognitive strategies Table 19 Metacognitive strategies that the students use to practice listening at home vii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Facts have shown that the TOEIC test, which composes of two sections: listening and reading, is currently enjoying its popularity in both workplaces and universities in Vietnam The teaching and learning of listening in preparation for the TOEIC tests is more demanding because it requires the test takers to process information while listening Successful listening skills require the usage of effective strategies Without effective listening strategies, students’ listening becomes challenging, problematic and ineffective There are various ways of classifying listening strategies However, the classification of the strategies into cognitive, metacognitive, and social-affective strategies, which are based on cognitive theory (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990), seem to be the most popular A listener might use a cognitive listening strategy to comprehend or make progress, but a metacognive-strategy user would monitor the process and include both selfreflection and self-direction Learners who have developed their metacognitive awareness are likely to become more autonomous Therefore, Goh (2008) believed that metacognitive strategies instruction could potentially enhance learners’ knowledge about their listening and learning process Metacognitive strategies instruction can also bring positive effects on listening comprehension and enhance students’ level of confidence, create more motivation and lessen anxiety in learners during the listening process Despite its advantages, many students not have adequate knowledge of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension Moreover, literature review shows that little attention has been paid to giving students instructions in using metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension Consequently, the listening proficiency of Vietnamese students has not reached satisfactory level From the dissatisfaction with the current situation, and the desire to make intervention to improve the situation of teaching and learning listening, I decided to conduct: II Listening Practice Monitoring - asks Ss to listen to the recording and choose the answer - maintain attention during task execution - play the recording - check and correct the answer - coordinate, organize, and make associations among the various strategies - making sure that the strategies are implemented correctly Problem solving - use known words to deduce the meaning of unknown words - connect actual pictures to guess the meaning of unknown words III Post-listening Ss discuss in groups Evaluating: - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - compare and check consistency with their predictions - evaluate the success of their performance - self-evaluate their use of the learning strategy and how well the strategy is working for them - extend the usefulness of the learning strategy by applying it to next lesson XLVI - write checklist on their performance at home - Problem Identification: which problems they are still encountering with the text or task XLVII Lesson plan Objectives: - Identify the structures of sentences describing scenes/ objects - Brainstorm the vocabulary related to the pictures of scenes/ objects - Learn and remember common vocabulary in part Time: 90 minutes Content: Listening Part 1: Photos of Objects/Scenes - Statement Structures - Practice - Common Vocabulary in Part - Practice with TOEIC Actual Questions Stage Description Metacognitive process I Pre-listening Photos describing things/ scenes Planning T explains: this kind of photos may describe the location and state of the objects T explains strategy used in this part - Recall their approaches in similar tasks in part - Set goals, identify purposes:T may assist by defining the particular learning goals for this lesson - Select and choose to use particular strategies in part 1: + Link with prior knowledge: brainstorm as much as possible (words, nouns, verbs, adj, adv,…) in the pictures, + arrange them into meaningful sentences/ phrases/ actions II Listening - discontinue strategies which are not helpful, select what are best and most appropriate for them Monitoring: Practice - maintaining attention XLVIII Ask Ss to listen to the recording and choose the answer - play the recording - Check and correct the answer - attend to key words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) - be careful with distractors such as similar or same sounding words Problem solving - using known words to deduce the meaning of unknown words - monitoring the accuracy of their prediction III Post-listening Ss discuss in groups Evaluating - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - evaluating the success of their performance, how satisfied they are, their use of the learning strategy - continue the checklist on their performance at home XLIX Lesson plan Objectives: - Understand the requirements of part - Identify question who, where, when and their typical responses - Learn and remember common vocabulary in part 2 Time: 90 minutes Content: Listening Part 2: - Question Structures: + Questions with Who, Where, When - Common Vocabulary in Part - Practice - Practice with TOEIC Actual Questions Stage Description Metacognitive process I Pre-listening Overview of part Planning Explain the requirements and examples of part 2: S will hear a question or statement and three responses spoken in English Select the best response to the question or statement - analyze the requirements of part 2 identify question types - Link prior knowledge to new materials - Questions with Who a correct answer can mention: a person’ name, title, position, his/her company name, a proper noun ( a person’s name, a - Set goals, identify purposes (T may assist by defining the particular learning goals for this lesson) - Select and choose to use particular strategies in part 2: T helps by proposing some strategies for part 2: + listen for key words (nouns, verbs, question words), - Questions with Where asks about the location, place or direction of - Questions with When L + activate your knowledge: After students’ve heard the question, pause the recording and brainstorm a few answers to the question is used to ask about the time such as: part of the day, times of the day, dates, years, decades… II Listening Instruct Ss to the exercise play the recording, correct the exercise Monitoring - maintain attentions, keep the question clearly in mind as you scan the possible answers Choose the one that makes the greatest sense - Check their predictions and compare predictions with what is the correct answer Problem solving - using known words to deduce the meaning of unknown words - pause when you can not hear a new words III Post-listening Discussion and reflection on their progress Evaluating - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - evaluating the success of their performance, and their use of the learning strategy LI - discontinue using strategies which are not helpful and select another strategy that is more appropriate - continue the checklist on their performance at home LII Lesson plan Objectives: - Identify question why, what, Yes/No and their typical responses - Learn and remember common vocabulary in part 2 Time: 90 minutes Content: Listening Part 2: - Question Structures: + Questions with Why, What, + Yes/ No questions - Common Vocabulary in Part - Practice - Practice with TOEIC Actual Questions Stage Description Metacognitive process I Pre-listening T identifies and explains questions types and their typical responses Planning Questions with Why: is used to ask about the purpose/ reason for a(n) event, condition, problem, change of a plan Questions with What: Is used to ask the listener exactly name of the object, an event, an incident, an opinion Yes No questions correct responses usually start with Yes/ No and are followed by a comment or an explanation LIII - Recall their approaches in similar tasks in part - Set goals, identify purposes: T may assist by defining the particular learning goals for this lesson - Select and choose to use particular strategies in part 2: T helps by proposing some strategies for part 2: + listen for key words (nouns, verbs, question words), + activate your prior knowledge: After students’ve heard the question, pause the recording and brainstorm a few answers to the question II Listening Instruct Ss to the exercise play the recording, correct the exercise Monitoring - maintaining attention during task execution, keep the question clearly in mind as you scan the possible answers - attend and ignore irrelevant distractors - check their predictions Problem solving use known words to deduce the meaning of unknown words Pause when you can not hear a new word III Post-listening Group discusstion about refection on their progress Evaluating - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - evaluating the success of their performance, and their use of the learning strategy - discontinue using strategies which are not helpful - Write a checklist on their performance at home LIV Lesson plan Objectives: - Know the requirements of part in the Toeic listening test - Know how to identify the main ideas of a conversation - Learn and remember common vocabulary in part Time: 90 minutes Content: Listening Part 3: - Questions with Where and What - Common Vocabulary in Part - Practice - Practice with TOEIC Actual Questions Stage Description Metacognitive process I Pre-listening Introduce Ss with the requirements and examples of part in the TOEIC test Planning Explain the gist questions: Questions often ask where the conversation takes place, where the speakers work, what the topic/ purpose of the conversation is - Set goals, identify purposes: - understand the requirement of part T may assist by defining the particular learning goals for this lesson - decide in advance to stay focus on the main ideas of the language input during task execution - Select and choose from various strategies particularly for part 3: (T helps by proposing some) + Ss quickly preview the questions and answers to predict the main ideas II Listening Instruct Ss to the exercise play the recording, LV Monitoring - Maintain concentration correct the exercise - Focus on key vocabulary that is tied to a certain location/ topic - Ignore irrelevant distractors such as same sounding words, word of the same form but different part of speech - verify and adjust predictions if realizing that it is not correct - coordinate, organize, and relate, make associations among the various strategies Problem solving Deduce the meaning of unknown words from the meaning of know words Pause when you can not hear a new word III Post-listening Group discussion about refection on their progress Evaluating - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - evaluate the success of their performance, their use of the learning strategy - discontinue using strategies which are not helpful - continue the checklist on their performance at home LVI Lesson plan Objectives: - Know the requirements of part in the TOEIC listening test - Know how to listen to key words for detail questions in some situations - Learn and remember common vocabulary in part Time: 90 minutes Content: Listening Part 4: - Questions with Who, When, and How (Quantities, Periods of Time, Frequency) - Common Vocabulary in Part - Practice - Practice with TOEIC Actual Questions Stage Description Metacognitive process I Pre-listening Explain the requirements and give examples of part Explain detail questions who: are used to talk about the speaker, listener, or the third person mentioned in the talk When: talk about time, parts of day, times of days, days, date, month How much, how many, how often, how far, how long: ask about prices, quantities, frequency, distance, periods of time Planning - understand the requirement of part - Recall the strategies used in similar tasks - Set goals, identify purposes: T may assist by defining the particular learning goals for this lesson - decide in advance to stay focus on specific details of the language input - choose and select from various strategies (T helps by proposing particular for part 4): + pick out the key words from the questions and also the answer choices to help predicting what students are going to hear LVII II Listening Instruct Ss to the exercise Monitoring play the recording, - Maintain concentration - Focus on key words that help to answer detailed questions correct the exercise - identify information in the talk that restates the answer choices - Ignore irrelevant distractors such as same sounding words, word of the same form but different part of speech - verify and adjust predictions if realizing that it is not correct Problem solving - Deduce the meaning of unknown words from the meaning of known words - Deduce the meaning of unknown words from the general idea of a talk - Pause when students have difficulty understanding a word III Post-listening Group discussion about refection on their progress Evaluating - determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals - evaluating the success of their performance, how satisfied they are, their use of the learning strategy LVIII - discontinue using strategies which are not helpful - Write the checklist on their performance at home LIX Appendix Performance Checklist for Listening Student name: _ Date: (Place a check mark in the 'yes' column when verifying each statement) Before listening Yes I understand the task (what I have to after I have finished listening) I know what I must pay attention to while I listen I have asked the teacher for clarifications, if necessary I have attempted to recall all that I know about the topic I have attempted to recall what I know about the type of text I will listen to and the type of information I will probably hear I have made predictions on what I am about to hear I am ready to pay attention and concentrate on what I am about to hear I have encouraged myself After listening Yes I concentrated on the task to be accomplished I attempted to verify my predictions I revised my predictions accordingly I focused my attention on the information needed to accomplish the task I used background noises, tone of voice, and other clues to help me guess at the meaning of words I did not understand I used key words, and word families to understand the text I used my knowledge of the context and of text structure to understand the text I evaluated the level of my comprehension (in the rank 1-10) I evaluated my satisfaction after completing the task (in the rank 1-10) I evaluated the effectiveness of the strategies used (in the rank 1-10) In order to improve my performance, next time I will ……………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………… LX ... another one at the end These test papers were marked by another teacher, and then the scores were informed to the students and the researcher As such, the raw score data for each learner in the. .. intervention The analysis of the second issue was based on the results of the pre- test and post-test Finally, the analysis of the third issue was based on the students? ?? responses to the post-intervention... 69.2% of the students disagreed and 7.7% of them strongly disagree Additionally, more than half of them (53.8%) stated that they disagreed on using the words they understand to guess the meaning of