Developing compensation strategies in listening for 10th form students at nguyen van cu upper secondary school gia lam hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FALCUTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG HẠNH DEVELOPING COMPENSATION STRATEGIES IN LISTENING FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS AT NGUYEN VAN CU UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL, GIALAM, HANOI (Phát triển chiến lược bù kỹ nghe cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Nguyễn Văn Cừ, Gia Lâm, Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Major: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FALCUTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG HẠNH DEVELOPING COMPENSATION STRATEGIES IN LISTENING FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS AT NGUYEN VAN CU UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL, GIALAM, HANOI (Phát triển chiến lược bù kỹ nghe cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Nguyễn Văn Cừ, Gia Lâm, Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Major: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: VŨ MAI TRANG, M.A HANOI, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration …………………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….iv List of abbreviations………………………………………………………………………… vii List of tables………………………………………………………………………………….viii List of figures………………………………………………………………………………… ix PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Listening comprehension 1.1.1 Definitions of listening comprehension 1.1.2 Listening comprehension process 1.1.3 Possible problems in listening comprehension 1.2 Language learning strategies 1.2.1 Definitions of language learning strategies 1.2.2 Classification of language learning strategies 1.2.3 The importance of language learning strategies for students…………………… 10 1.3 Compensation strategies in listening 11 1.3.1 Definition of compensation strategies 11 1.3.2 The importance of compensation strategies in listening 13 1.3.3 Guidelines on applying compensation strategies in listening .13 CHAPTER 2: DATA COLLECTION, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .15 2.1 Data collection 15 2.1.1 Setting of the study 15 2.1.2 Subjects of the study 15 2.1.3 Methods and instruments 16 2.2 Findings and discussions .18 2.2.1 Teachers’ perception and evaluation of compensation strategies in listening 18 2.2.2 Students’ perception and evaluation of compensation strategies in listening 20 2.2.3 The current situation of applying compensation strategies in listening 21 2.2.4 Students’ difficulties and preferences in applying compensation strategies in listening 25 2.2.4.1 Students’ difficulties in applying compensation strategies in listening 25 2.2.4.2 Students’ preferences in applying compensation strategies in listening 27 CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COMPENSATION STRATEGIES .30 3.1 Raising awareness of compensation strategy training 30 3.2 Integrating strategy training into the lessons 31 3.3 Teaching basic grammatical rules and phonological rules 32 3.4 Teaching discourse marker clues 33 3.5 Exploiting background knowledge 35 3.6 Recalling key words and structures .36 3.7 Making full use of visual aids .36 3.8 Providing pairwork and groupwork .37 3.9 Giving encouragement .37 3.10 Providing a variety of listening tasks 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 Conclusion 39 Limitations and suggestions for further research 40 References…………………………………………………………………………… …… 41 Appendixes…………………………………………………………… …………………… I Appendix 1: Interviews for teachers………………………………………… ………… I Appendix 2: Survey questionnaires for students III Appendix 3: A sample of an interview transcript XI Appendix 4: A sample of a class observation XIII Appendix 5: A suggested lesson plan of integrating strategy instruction XVI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language LLS: Language Learning Strategies NVC School: Nguyen Van Cu Upper-secondary School LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Classification of language learning strategies Table 2: Classification of compensation strategies Table 3: Descriptive statistics for frequency of compensation strategy use Table 4: Students’ difficulties in applying compensation strategies in listening Table 5: Students’ preferences in applying compensation strategies in listening LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Frequency of use for strategy “using titles and visual clues” Figure 2: Frequency of use for strategy “using background knowledge clues” Figure 3: Frequency of use for strategy “using contextual clues” Figure 4: Frequency of use for strategy “writing sound transcript” Figure 5: Frequency of use for strategy “using background noise clues” Figure 6: Frequency of use for strategy “using grammatical clues” Figure 7: Frequency of use for strategy “using discourse marker clues” Figure 8: Frequency of use for strategy “using phonological clues” PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English language teaching in the recent years has moved from traditional approaches, involving the explicit teaching of grammar and translation, to various versions of communicative methodology Consequently, a greater emphasis has been placed on learners and what strategies they adopt to be successful Well-known researchers such as Cohen (1988), O‟Malley and Chamot (1990), and Oxford (1990) have pointed out that learning strategies are among the main factors that help determine how well students learn a second or foreign language Therefore, it is the role of the teacher to help students discover and apply appropriate learning strategies in their learning The necessary to equip students with listening strategies to help them develop their listening skill at upper-secondary schools in Vietnam can be seen clearly The new series of English textbooks for students have been used in schools in Viet Nam for some years and it seems that listening skill is the most difficult one for our students to master Listening is also the skill that causes a lot of difficulties for teachers to prepare and carry out the lesson because the old textbooks not have a separate part for teaching and learning listening skill The students who are using the new kind of textbooks often find it hard to catch up with the listening text and as a result they fail to comprehend what is spoken Besides, they come to listening activities with little knowledge of how to listen effectively and successfully The situation at Nguyen Van Cu Upper-secondary School is the same, if not to say it is more serious We have many weak students who lack vocabulary, grammatical knowledge and have poor pronunciation Listening lessons are really hard for them There is a variety of strategies that can be employed in listening skill such as memory strategies; cognitive strategies; compensation strategies; metacognitive strategies; affective strategies; and social strategies (Oxford, 1990) However, compensation strategies which involve in the ability of guessing intelligently from linguistic clues and other clues are of great help to weak students These strategies help students to overcome their limitations to guess what is heard The facts above explain the reasons why the researcher conducts the study “Developing compensation strategies in listening for 10th form students at Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school, Gialam, Hanoi” It is hoped that this study can be of some help to teachers and students in listening lessons Aims of the study First of all, the study aims at investigating the perception of compensation strategies in listening by teachers and 10th form students at Nguyen Van Cu Upper-secondary School; the target students‟ frequency of use of these strategies; and their difficulties and preferences in applying these strategies Secondly, the author intends to propose pedagogical implications and suggestions for developing the target students‟ compensations strategies in listening To achieve these aims, four research questions have been presented as follows: How teachers and 10th form students at NVC School perceive compensation strategies in listening and their importance? How often 10th form students at NVC School apply compensation strategies in listening? Which specific strategies they use? What are the difficulties and preferences of 10th form students at NVC School in applying compensation strategies in listening? What recommendations should be made for teachers to help 10 th form students at NVC School develop compensation strategies in listening? Scope of the study Firstly, this study only focuses on compensation strategies used in listening (guessing intelligently) although the new kind of textbook covers all of four skills, namely reading, speaking, listening and writing as well as there are a lot of English language learning strategies that can be employed Secondly, due to the small scale of the study the subjects are restricted only to 10 th form teachers and students at Nguyen Van Cu upper-secondary school, who are using the new kind of textbook Methods of the study The author has applied the following methods in this study: Data collection results from interviews (for teachers), survey questionnaires (for students) and class observations Data analysis is done through coding, classifying, and reporting the information Design of the study The study is divided into three parts Part A Introduction shows the research problem and the rationale for the research Subsequently, it presents the aims, the scope, the methods and the design of the study Part B Development consists of three chapters Chapter provides a summary of theoretical background which covers a review in key concepts relating to the research topic as well as the literature in the field Chapter deals with the setting of the study and the data collection process The results obtained are also analysed and interpreted in this part, so that major findings are revealed and discussed Chapter is concerned with recommendations for developing 10th form students‟ compensation strategies in listening at the target school These recommendations are drawn from the literature review and from the findings in Chapter Part C Conclusion reviews the main findings of the study and provides suggestions for further studies LIV d The teacher recalls important words and ideas related to the listening e The teacher provides us with some visual clues f The teacher provides us with a variety of listening tasks g The teacher encourages us to guess the answers freely h The teacher lets us work in pairs or groups to discuss our guesses Thank you for your cooperation! LV CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH (Phiên tiếng Việt) Bản câu hỏi khảo sát thiết kế cho nghiên cứu “Phát triển chiến lược bù kỹ nghe cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Nguyễn Văn Cừ, Gia Lâm, Hà Nội” Tác giả cảm kích giúp đỡ em việc trả lời câu hỏi sau Tất thông tin cung cấp sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu; mong em trả lời câu hỏi cách xác trung thực A Thông tin cá nhân: Hãy đánh dấu  vào ô Giới tính: trả lời ngắn gọn thông tin sau Nam Nữ  Lớp:  Thời gian học tiếng Anh: …… năm  Khả nghe tiếng Anh em (tự đánh giá) Xuất sắc Tốt Trung bình Kém B Câu hỏi khảo sát: B1 Hãy đánh dấu  vào ô để trả lời câu hỏi sau: Em nghe đến khái niệm “listening strategy” (chiến lược nghe) chưa? Đã Chưa Em có thấy quen thuộc với chiến lược bù kỹ nghe (đốn thơng minh nghe)? Có Khơng Em có nghĩ kỹ đốn thơng minh có vai trị quan trọng việc làm cho em nghe hiểu dễ dàng ? Có Khơng LVI Em dạy kỹ đoán thông minh nghe chưa? Đã Chưa Em có nghĩ việc dạy kỹ đốn thơng minh nghe cần thiết khơng? Có B2 Hãy đánh dấu  vào ô Không để miêu tả mức độ em sử dụng chiến lược nghe sau Các chiến lược nghe Em sử dụng dấu hiệu ngữ pháp (loại từ, tiền tố, hậu tố, …) để đoán từ/ cụm từ nghe Em sử dụng kiến thức hiểu biết sẵn có thân để đốn nghĩa nghe Em sử dụng từ/ cụm từ xung quanh để đoán nghĩa từ Em sử dụng tiêu đề chính, tiêu đề phụ, tranh ảnh, biểu đồ kèm theo nghe để đoán chủ đề/ nội dung nghe Em sử dụng dấu hiệu ngữ âm (ngữ điệu, trọng âm …) để đoán nghĩa nghe Em sử dụng dấu hiệu diễn ngôn (dấu hiệu bổ sung thông tin, nguyên nhân kết quả, tiếp nối Luôn Thường Thỉnh Hiếm Không bao sử dụng xuyên thoảng sử dụng sử dụng sử dụng sử dụng LVII …) để đoán nghĩa nghe Em sử dụng dấu hiệu từ âm nghe để đoán nghĩa Em viết theo cách đọc từ em khơng nhớ tả em làm điền từ B3 Hãy khoanh tròn chữ a, b, c … để miêu tả khó khăn mong muốn em áp dụng kỹ đốn thơng minh nghe (Em chọn nhiều câu trả lời) Em gặp khó khăn vấn đề đốn câu trả lời kỹ nghe? a Em thiếu hiểu biết sẵn có thân chủ đề nghe b Em găp khó khăn việc hiểu sử dụng quy tắc ngữ pháp(loại từ, tiền tố, hậu tố, trật tự từ ….) c Em gặp khó khăn việc sử dụng quy tắc ngữ âm (trọng âm, ngữ điệu …) d Bài nghe không cung cấp nhiều dấu hiệu hình ảnh ngữ cảnh e Thầy/ giáo khơng dạy em cách đốn câu trả lời f Em không quen với kỹ đốn g Em thấy thiếu tự tin khơng hào hứng Em mong muốn điều để đốn câu trả lời nghe? a Thầy/ giáo dạy em quy tắc ngữ pháp ( cách xác định loại từ, tiền tố, hậu tố, trật tự từ … ) b Thầy/ cô giáo dạy em quy tắc ngữ âm (trọng âm, ngữ điệu …) c Thầy/ cô giáo khơi gợi hiểu biết sẵn có học sinh chủ đề nghe d Thầy/ cô giáo gợi mở cho học sinh từ, ý tưởng quan trọng liên quan đến nghe e Thầy/ cô giáo cung cấp cho học sinh dấu hiệu gợi mở hình ảnh LVIII f Thầy/ cô giáo cung cấp cho học sinh đa dạng loại tập nghe g Thầy/ giáo khuyến khích học sinh tự đốn câu trả lời h Thầy/ cô giáo cho học sinh làm việc theo cặp/ nhóm đề thảo ln phần dự đốn Cảm ơn hợp tác em! 59 APPENDIX A SAMPLE OF AN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (Teacher 1) Date conducted: April 4th, 2010 (Translation into English) H: the initial letter for Hanh, the interviewer T1: the initial letter for teacher 1, the interviewee A Personal information: Gender: Female  Age: 29  Years of teaching English: years B Interview questions: H: What you think about your students’ listening competence? T1: My students‟ listening competence is quite poor, they hardly complete the tasks in the textbook and I have to help them much H: Are you familiar with listening strategies? What are they? T1: I think that listening strategies are familiar with English learners In my opinion, the main listening strategy is listening comprehension for general ideas or specific ideas H: What you know about compensation strategies in listening? T1: I haven‟t heard of this term What is this? H: Compensation strategies in listening are the strategies of guessing intelligently in listening What you know about these strategies? T1: Ah, guessing strategies are important in listening Guessing skill in listening helps students get the answers and comprehend the listening although they not catch all the words H: Which clues can students use to guess the meaning of the listening? T1: Students can use some clues such as the topic of the listening, or the key words H: What you think about the importance of compensation strategies in facilitating your students’ listening comprehension? T1: They are very important They make the listening process easier H: Have you ever taught listening compensation strategies to your students? T1: Yes, I have taught the guessing strategies to my students H: How often you teach them and how you teach? T1: I often teach them by introducing the topic and providing necessary vocabulary H: What are the difficulties you encounter in teaching listening compensation strategies to the students? 60 T1: I think the main difficulties are students‟ lack of background knowledge and their limited vocabulary H: What you think teachers can to overcome the difficulties? T1: I think the teacher can ask students to prepare the lesson at home such as vocabulary and information related to the topic H: Thank you very much 61 APPENDIX A SAMPLE OF A CLASS OBSERVATION (English 10 - Unit 15: Cities – Listening) Date conducted: April 21st, 2010 Teacher‟s activities I Warm up (5 minutes) - Greet ss - Ask ss what they know about the Statue of Liberty - Introduce some new words using the picture + robe + crown + burning torch + tablet - Lead to the listening passage II Before you listen (10 minutes) - Ask ss to work in pairs to look at the picture and answer the questions - Call some ss for the answers It is The Statue of Liberty It is beautiful, it looks like a woman It has got a crown on its head It has got a tablet in its left hand It is holding a burning touch in its right hand It is wearing a robe - Have ss repeat some words + stone (n) + pedestal (n) + copper (n) + iron frame (n) + weigh (v) + except (prep.) + base (n) + concrete (adj) III While you listen (20 minutes) - Introduce the listening lesson then ask ss to listen to the tasks Task 1: 62 - Give instruction: Listen to the passage and choose the correct answers - Ask ss to read the questions and answers and give new words if they get - Remind ss that they can listen twice then give the correct answers - Play the tape once - Ask ss if they have any answer - Play the tape again - Let ss work in pairs to compare their answers while call or ss to the board - Have ss listen again, pause where necessary so that ss can check their answers B A B A C - Ask ss to remember what they have learnt from task Task 2: - Give instruction Listen again, and fill in the missing information in the table - Require ss to read the items in the table and guess the missing information - Suggest the information + height: …m + weight: … tons + material: stone, concrete, copper, iron … + the base: concrete, stone, iron … + opening time: … a.m; … p.m - Tell ss that they can listen twice more to give the information - Play the tape once - Ask if ss have any answers - Play the tape again - Let ss work in pairs to compare their answers - Call some ss to give the answers - Have ss listen again to check Pause where necessary Formal name Liberty Enlightening the World Height 46 metres Weight 205 tons Material copper (outside) and iron (frame) The base stone and concrete Opening time 9:30a.m – 5:00p.m daily except Christmas Day IV After you listen (8 minutes) 63 - Ask ss to work in groups of to tell what they have learnt about the Statue of Liberty from the listening passage using the information in task and - Go around to listen and correct - Call ss to talk - Give feedback and marks V Home assignment (2 minutes) - Give ss homework and guide them to homework + Learn vocabulary + Write what you learnt about the Statue of Liberty + Prepare for the writing lesson 64 APPENDIX A SUGGESTED LESSON PLAN OF INTEGRATING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION (English 10 - Unit 7: The Mass Media – Listening) Tape script: The time is o‟clock and here is the news summary Heavy rain during the night has caused floods all over the country today Many people have left their homes because rivers have risen Some roads in the north-west are under two metres of water The rain has stopped at the moment, but it‟s still cloudy and there‟s a strong wind Because of the bad weather, people can‟t go out to work A ninety-year-old woman has climbed Mount Whitney in California for the twenty-third time At 4,418 metres, Mount Whiney is the highest mountain in California The woman says the view from the top is wonderful, so she tries to climb it often She also says that the mountain has kept her young and healthy In spite of her old age, the woman tries to climb the mountain very often Tasks: (modified by the teacher) Task 1: Listen to the two radio news stories and tick the words you hear in the right column under News story and News story News story News story  healthy strong young cloudy highest wonderful Task 2a: Listen to news story and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F) Statements Heavy rain during the day has caused floods all over the country today Many people have left their homes because rivers have risen T F 65 The level of water on some roads in the north-west is three metres It‟s still cloudy and there‟s a strong wind but the rain has stopped Everyone goes to work as usual Task 2b: Listen to news story and fill in the missing words A ninety-year-old woman has climbed Mount Whitney in California for the (1) _ time At (2) _ metres, Mount Whiney is the highest mountain in (3) _ The woman says the view from the top is (4) , so she tries to climb it often She also says that the mountain has kept her (5) In spite of her old age, the woman tries to climb the mountain very often Task 3: Listen to the two news stories again and answer the following questions What has happened during the night? Why have people left their homes? How many times has the old woman climbed Mount Whitney? Why does she climb it so often? Procedure: Teacher‟s activities I Warm up (4‟) - Greet Ss - Ask ss to listen to four pieces of music and match them with the names of the radio programmes - Check the answers with the whole class: - Ask: Do you like listening to the radio? - Lead in Before you listen II Before you listen: (8‟) Questions and answers: - Ask ss to work in pairs to ask and answers some questions: How often you listen to the radio? How many hours peer week you listen to the radio? Which programme you like listening to and why? - Ask st to tell what they know about his/her partner - Introduce the lesson: Today we are going to listen to some radio news Introduction and Prediction: - Introduce some guessing strategies: guessing from visual aids, background knowledge, and linguistic rules - Ask ss to look at the pictures and answer the questions: 66 What can you see in the pictures in News story 1? What can you see in the pictures in News story 2? - Introduce the two new stories through pictures: News story is about floods, News story is about a woman climbing mountain - Ask ss to guess which words they can hear in News story and News story Give examples: rain (NS1), climb (NS2) NS1 NS2 III While you listen: Task 1: Ticking the words you hear (6’) - Set the task: You are going to listen to two new stories While listening, tick the words you heard in the right column - Read the words and ask ss to repeat in chorus - Ask ss to guess the answers - Play the tape once - Ask ss to compare the answers in pairs - Ask ss to write the answers on extra-board - Play the tape again to check the answers healthy: NS1 strong: NS1 young: NS2 cloudy: NS1 highest: NS2 wonderful: NS2 - Show the pictures to check the meanings of the words Give feedback Task 2a: Marking T/ F (handouts) (7‟) - Set the task: Close your books, listen to news story and decide whether the statements are true or false - Ask ss to read the statements carefully and find the key words - Check the key words with the whole class heavy rain/ floods/ day/ all/ country/ today many/ left home/ rivers/ risen water/ roads/ north-west/ three metres cloudy/ strong wind/ rain/ stopped everyone/ goes to work 67 - Ask ss to guess the answers - Play the tape twice - Ask students to work in pairs to compare their answers, explain why the statements are true or false and correct the false statement(s) - Call ss to write the answers on the extra-board - Ask ss to give feedback - Play the tape again, stop where necessary - Give the correct answers F (day night) T F (two three) T F (goes  can‟t go) - Give feedback and mark - Ask ss: What tense they often use to tell news? - Reaffirm: People often use Present perfect to tell news Task 2b: Filling in the missing words (7‟) - Set the task: Open your books, listen to news story and fill in the missing words - Ask ss to read the listening text and guess kinds of the words needed basing on linguistic rules - Check with the whole class: (1): a number (2): a number (3): a place (4): an adj (5): an adj - Play the tape twice - Ask ss to write the answers on the extra-board/ others to work in groups of to compare the answers - Ask ss to give feedback - Play the tape again to check twenty-third 4,418 California wonderful 68 young and healthy - Give feedback and marks Task 3: Answering questions (5‟) - Set the task: Close the books, listen to the two news stories again and answer the questions - Check ss‟ understanding the task - Ask ss to read the questions carefully - Ask ss to predict the answers - Play the tape once - Ask ss to work in pairs to ask and answer the questions - Call some pairs to ask and answer - Give correct answers: Heavy rain has caused floods all over the country Because rivers have risen She has climbed it twenty-three times Because it has kept her young and healthy - Give feedback and mark IV After you listen: (7‟) - Set the task: retell one of the two stories: floods in Hanoi and three Vietnamese people climbing Mount Everest - Guide ss ways to tell news stories through questions: When? Where? What? How? - Introduce the two stories through pictures - Ask ss to work in groups - Go round to give help - Call ss to present - Give feedback and marks V Consolidation and Homework (1‟) - Ask ss to summarize the main points - Help ss to evaluate the guessing strategies - Instruct ss how to homework: + write one of the two stories in After you listen + prepare for Writing lesson ... the research ? ?Developing compensation strategies in listening for 10th form students at Nguyen Van Cu upper- secondary school, Gialam, Hanoi? ?? Your assistance in fulfilling the following items is... and 10th form students at NVC School perceive compensation strategies in listening and their importance? How often 10th form students at NVC School apply compensation strategies in listening? ... above explain the reasons why the researcher conducts the study ? ?Developing compensation strategies in listening for 10th form students at Nguyen Van Cu upper- secondary school, Gialam, Hanoi? ?? It