Problems faced by vietnamese learners in learning ielts listening

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDY BÙI THÚY HÀ “PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS IN LEARNING IELTS LISTENING” “NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA HỌC VIÊN VIỆT NAM KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE CỦA BÀI THI IELTS” MA MINOR THESIS Field: METHODOLOGY Code: 60.14.10 HA NOI – 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDY BÙI THÚY HÀ “PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS IN LEARNING IELTS LISTENING” “NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA HỌC VIÊN VIỆT NAM KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE CỦA BÀI THI IELTS” MA MINOR THESIS Field: METHODOLOGY Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: DR DƯƠNG THỊ NỤ HA NOI – 2009 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of tables and charts iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Listening 2.1.1 What is listening? 2.1.2 What is listening comprehension? 2.1.3.The importance of listening 2.1.3.1 Listening as the final goal of learning a language 2.1.3.2 Listening as a means of acquiring a language 2.1.4 What make listening difficult? 2.1.4.1 The linguistic factors 2.1.4.2 The non-linguistic factors 2.1.5 Potential problems in learning to listen to English 2.1.5.1 Lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak 2.1.5.2 Not being able to get things repeated 2.1.5.3 The listener’s limited vocabulary 2.1.5.4 Failure to recognise the ‘signals’ 10 2.1.5.5 Problems of interpretation 10 2.1.5.6 Inability to concentrate 10 2.1.5.7 Established learning habits 10 vi 2.2 Listening in IELTS tests 10 2.2.1 What is IELTS? 10 2.2.2 Listening in IELTS tests 11 2.2.3 Situation of teaching and learning IELTS listening of Vietnamese learners in some foreign language centres in Hanoi 12 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY 13 3.1 Data collection 13 3.1.1 Participants 13 3.1.2 Instrument 13 3.1.3 Data collection procedures 13 3.2 Data analysis and discussion 14 3.2.1 The questionnaire report - Part 1: General information about learners 14 3.2.2 The questionnaire report - Part 2: The learning and difficulties of IELTS listening 16 3.2.3 Data analysis of the class observation and discussion 26 3.3 Findings and conclusion 27 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE LISTENING SCORES IN IELTS TESTS 30 4.1 To the IELTS learners 30 4.1.1 Learning to become efficient listeners 30 4.1.2 Practicing listening skill regularly and developing learning autonomy 31 4.2 To the IELTS teachers 31 4.2.1 Providing learners with necessary listening strategies 31 4.2.2 Developing listening materials and improving teaching techniques 32 4.2.3 Designing an intensive IELTS listening course for Vietnamese learners 32 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 34 5.1 Conclusion 34 5.2 Limitation and suggestions for further study 35 REFERENCES I APPENDIX II iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS TABLES Table 1: Learners by age, gender and occupation Table 2: Learners’ purposes of taking IELTS preparation course Table 3: Learners’ feelings when listening Table 4: Learners’ self- practice of listening skill Table 5: How learners practiced listening skill themselves Table 6: Factors caused difficulties for learners to learn listening Table 7: Learners’ views on suggested topics Table 8: Learners’ attitude towards IELTS listening activities Table 9: Learners’ activities in listening lessons Table 10: What learners while learning to listen Table 11: Learners’ expectation in learning to listen Table 12: Teacher’s activities to help learners listen better CHARTS Pie chart 1: Learners’ experience of learning English in years Pie chart 2: Learners’ opinion of learning listening skill Pie chart 3: Learners’ opinion of the IELTS listening sub-test CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In recent years with the sound of economic growth and the global integration, there have been a growing number of English learners wishing to study at a tertiary level or to work in English speaking countries However, one of the prerequisites for their entrance is that they have to sit for either the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) IELTS, which has now been adopted by many English-medium universities all over the world, mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia, especially in Australia, is administered by the British Council or IDP Education Australia in Hanoi The test consists of four sections designed to test candidates‟ four skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing As a matter of fact, those who want to get high score to be admitted to the target universities all try to take part in some preparation courses before taking the test and obviously, there are a great number of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Centres in Hanoi who run IELTS preparation courses in order to meet these demands In second and foreign language learning, listening skill is always considered the most essential as well as the most difficult skill for both teachers to teach effectively and for learners to improve themselves Therefore, listening in IELTS test is not an exception because it comprises different task types with various topics and it requires not only learners‟ proficiency in English but also their wide knowledge of the language, culture and country as well Being both an IELTS learner and teacher, the author realises that listening skill is really the most difficult skill to most English learners and the IELTS learners often encounter a lot of difficulties with the IELTS listening subtest This fact has encouraged the author to investigate the real “Problems faced by Vietnamese learners in learning IELTS listening” and to give some recommendations to help learners inprove their listening skill as well as listening scores in IELTS test 1.2 Aims of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate real situation of learning IELTS especially IELTS listening skill and the difficulties encountered by the IELTS learners in IELTS preparation courses Therefore, the study will aim to answer the following research questions: How is listening skill learnt by Vietnamese learners? What problems the IELTS learners face in learning IELTS listening? What are IELTS learners‟ needs and expectation in learning listening skill? 1.3 Significance of the study This study analyzes and finds out the real difficulties that Vietnamese learners face while learning IELTS listening skill By doing this study, the researcher would like to help IELTS learners foresee the problems and overcome them in order to improve their listening scores The study is also done to help IELTS teachers adopt appropriate teaching method to teaching this skill 1.4 Scope of the study The focus of the study is on the learning of IELTS listening skill of Vietnamese learners who are taking part in IELTS Preparation Courses in some Foreign Language Centres in Hanoi such as Language Link, Equest and private classes etc The study was conducted under the scope of a case-study research with a small number of participants who were chosen at random and of different ages, occupations and locations Therefore, the investigation into the learning of other IELTS skills or the teaching of IELTS is beyond the scope 1.5 Method of the study Both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including a survey questionnaire and class observation, are employed to collect data for the study and the major method used is the quantitative one First of all, the survey questionnaire, which is conducted with those learners who are taking part in the IELTS Preparation Courses, is to find out the difficulties in learning IELTS listening as well as the current situation of learning this skill Then, the data for the study is also collected through class observation, informal interviews and discussions with other IELTS teachers and learners 1.6 Design of the study Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter is to present the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance, the methodology and the design of the study Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter deals with the theoretical background of the study relating to listening skill and IELTS listening Chapter 3: The study This chapter presents data collection, data analysis, the findings and discussion as well as the conclusion drawn from the study Chapter 4: Recommendations to improve listening scores in IELTS tests This chapter is to give some recommendations to both learners and teachers in order to improve the learning and teaching of IELTS listening Chapter 5: Conclusion This chapter presents summary of the major findings, the conclusions and limitations of the study; implications as well as suggestions for further research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides the theoretical background to the study composed of two sections The first section presents different views on the definition of listening and listening comprehension; the importance of listening skill in foreign language learning; the factors that make listening difficult and potential problems in learning listening skill The second section is to provide general information about IELTS, IELTS listening as well as the current situation of teaching and learning IELTS of Vietnamese learners in Hanoi 2.1 Listening 2.1.1 What is listening? There are different definitions about listening, they come from different views of the linguists It is believed that listening is a significant and essential element of communication and interaction in a native language and in second language as well Bentley and Bacon (1996), defines listening as „an active process during which the listener constructs meaning from oral input’ From this definition, a learner can express himself orally but he will never be able to communicate with an English speaker if he is unable to understand what is said to him Similarly, Grant also states that listening skill includes everything from learning particular sounds to comprehending complicated message Without this skill, communication can break down Steil and Watson (1983:22) also view listening as a major communication activity On the website http://www.ccsf.edu, listening is considered to be “the absorption of the meanings of words and sentences by the brain Listening leads to the understanding of facts and ideas” Following is another view about listening : Listening is an invisible mental process, making it difficult to describe Listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammar structures, interpret stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the large socio-cultural context of the utterance.(Field, 1998:38) The above definition presents a quite full overview of the nature of listening and the difficulties that might face in communication or interaction 2.1.2 What is listening comprehension? Different definitions of listening comprehension focused on different aspects of this skill Rost (2002) defined listening comprehension as “a process of receiving what the speaker actually says, constructing and representing meaning, negotiating meaning with the speaker and responding, and creating meaning through involvement, imagination and empathy” To put it in another way, Wolvin and Coakley (1985) view listening as “the process of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli” The definitions suggest that listening is really a complex skill, the task of listening is more than the perception of sound, it also requires comprehension of meaning Buck (2001:31) also points out that listening comprehension is “an active process of constructing meaning and this is done by applying knowledge to the incoming sound” in which “number of different types of knowledge are involved: both linguistic and nonlinguistic knowledge” Therefore, when doing listening, listeners are expected to hear attentively in order to process, comprehend, interpret, evaluate and respond to the incoming data 2.1.3 The importance of listening Obviously, listening plays important and active role in communication and interaction as it involves various kinds of the listeners‟ knowledge The importance of listening in second and foreign language learning is summarised in a recent publication by Rost (1994:141) as follows: - Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learners Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin - Spoken language including listening provides a means of interaction for the learners Because learners must interact to achieve understanding, access to speakers of the language is essential Moreover, learner’s failure to understand the language they hear is an impetus, not an obstacle, to interaction and learning - Authentic spoken language presents a challenge for the learner to attempt to understand language as it is actually used by native speakers - Listening exercises provide teachers with a means for drawing learners’ attention to new forms (vocabulary, grammar, interaction patterns)in the language 29 for these difficulties were that learners felt more interested, motivated and participated actively in the activities they liked and vice versa 3.3.3 For the research question 3: What are IELTS learners‟ needs and expectation in learning listening skill? From the results of the questionnaire, all of the learners needed great support from the teachers to overcome the difficulties and become effective listeners First, they wished to be provided with necessary listening techniques and strategies Second, they also wanted to a variety of listening tasks with different topics and designed more suitable to their interest and level Next, they needed to supplementary listening materials and teacher‟s further explanation after each task and finally, they wished their teachers to be more flexible, helpful and enthusiastic In terms of listening materials, the learners also wished to have more useful materials in class as well as reference materials to out side the class They hoped to have well-prepared lectures and different sources of materials Moreover, they also wanted regular practice tests during the course to check their progress 30 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE LISTENING SCORE IN IELTS TEST The previous chapter has shown that the learners selected in this study had great difficulties in learning IELTS listening Hence, this chapter suggests ways to minimize the difficulties in learning listening and improve their score when sitting for the IELTS test Moreover, being both an IELTS learner and teacher in private class, the researcher would like to give recommendations to the IELTS teachers in order to help them improve their teaching methods to make the lessons more interesting and motivate learners 4.1 To the IELTS learners 4.1.1 Learning to become efficient listeners It is believed that the listening test is the most difficult of the IELTS sub-tests because it consists of many listening task types Moreover, in the listening test, learners have to use all four skills at once: read the instructions and questions, listen for general information, listen for specific information and write the answer while still listening for the answers to the next questions Hence, in order to become effective listeners, the following tips are recommended: (i) Be ready to listen, take time to read the instructions and questions carefully (ii) Try to write the answers as quickly and clearly as possible while listening (using short-hand writing or note-taking) (iii) Scan over the questions to know when to move on to the next question (iv) Look at other questions for the answer (v) Guess unknown words and predict the information you might hear (vi) Concentrate on main ideas and key words (vii) Be able to recognise the “signal” and speakers‟ voice changes (viii) Try to interpret the hidden meaning behind a statement (e.g hesitation, intonation, stress …etc) (ix) Be attentive because the tape is played only once (x) The answers usually appear in the conversation in the same order as the questions (xi) Write the answers on the question sheet because there are 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer them into the answer sheet 31 4.1.2 Practicing listening skill regularly and developing learning autonomy As time for practicing listening in class is very limited, it is of great importance to practice this skill regularly out side the classroom and become autonomous learners Followings are several recommendations to listen effectively: (i) Spend certain time every day to listen to English in different situations, for example, announcements, lectures, weather forecast, news, films, advertisements, songs, etc on the radio, T.V, the Internet, direct talk, etc Moreover, try to take notes while listening This helps to be familiarized with the language, speakers‟ accents and intonation as well as speedy writing (ii) Read as much as possible in order to widen vocabulary and background knowledge of certain subjects The materials can be found from the books, journals, magazines or some forums on the Internet (iii) Try to produce accurate pronunciation as it helps learners listen to native speakers more effectively (iv) Talk to foreigners or other people in English is one of the most effective way to improve listening skill (v) Visit some websites for listening and IELTS practice such as: http://www.Englishtime.us http://www.ielts.com http://bbc.co.uk http://ielts-worldwide.com http://britishcouncil.org http://esl-lab.com http://www.voanews.com 4.2 To the IELTS teachers 4.2.1 Providing learners with necessary listening strategies Findings from the study show that all of the selected learners wished to get great support from their teachers to overcome difficulties in learning to listen especially listening strategies Therefore, it is necessary and useful to provide listening strategies to help learners cope with different types of listening Different types of listening need 32 different strategies Listening in IELTS test includes both listening for general and specific information with a lot of task types dividing into four sections so it is helpful to point out one or two strategies for each section For example, in section 1, learners have to listen for specific information that requires high accuracy rather than comprehension (e.g names, dates, numbers, time, places etc) The following suggestions are provided to deal with this section: (i) Remind learners to read the questions carefully, work out what kind of words they will listen for (e.g day, date, time, numbers) (ii) Encourage learners to work out possible context of the language from the task and the questions (course/club enrollment, car/house rentals, ticket/room booking) so that to become more active and interested in listening acquisition (iii) Instruct learners to write the answer as accurately, quickly, clearly and understandably as possible (iv) Have learners be alert and attentive enough to keep up with the speech flow 4.2.2 Developing listening materials and improving teaching techniques Also from the findings in the study, learners all need to have more useful and different types of listening materials as well as teacher‟s flexible teaching techniques On one hand, teachers should adapt listening materials and suggest supplementary materials which match learners‟ learning styles, background knowledge and listening level in order to stimulate and motivate them in the lessons Moreover, listening materials should be plentiful and various in topics and task types Therefore, teachers have to exploit the materials from different sources such as the Internet, reference books, libraries, journals …etc On the other hand, teachers need to be flexible in organising the lesson, listening activities and alternative teaching techniques to help learners minimize the difficulties and improve their skill 4.2.3 Designing an intensive IELTS listening course for Vietnamese learners First of all, there are some reasons for designing the course The first one is that currently, there are comprehensive IELTS preparation courses for all four skills, not for 33 any certain skills Therefore, the time distributed to practicing listening is limited Moreover, most of the IELTS books are designed for international learners, not for only Vietnamese ones and now are reedited with little translation for all skills as well Thus, to some extent, they may not be suitable to Vietnamese learners The second reason comes from the findings of the study that learners had problems when listening to unfamiliar listening topics, new vocabulary and grammar structures, speakers‟ fast speech, different accents and limited background knowledge, etc Finally, the third reason is from learners‟ needs and expectation in learning Most of the learners wished to have more useful materials with different listening types and suitable to their interest, listening level as well as background knowledge Then, the course should be designed with the purpose of getting learners familiar with different listening types; providing them with necessary listening strategies and background knowledge as well as a certain amount of vocabulary for each type and more importantly, developing learners‟ autonomy for effective learning by teaching them selflearning skills It is hoped that after the course, learners will have confidence in taking the IELTS test and master their listening skill to become efficient listeners Finally, the designed course should last from to 12 weeks (4 hours a week) and each week will deal with a listening topic covering different task types for the four sections of the IELTS test After each section or task, learners should be equipped with listening techniques which will help them tackle problems in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, speakers‟ various accents, speech rate and other problematic areas 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Conclusion It can be concluded that Vietnamese learners in this study have encountered a lot of difficulties in learning IELTS listening More importantly and notably, the study aims at answering three research questions raised from the real situation of learning IELTS listening at Language Link and EQUEST Centres How is listening skill learnt by Vietnamese learners? What problems the IELTS learners face in learning IELTS listening? What are IELTS learners‟ needs and expectation in learning listening skill? In order to answer these questions, a review of relevant literature on listening, listening comprehension, the importance of listening skill, potential problems in learning listening as well as IELTS listening were presented In the case of this study, the learners are supposed to have certain difficulties in learning listening skill To find out the real problems, a survey questionnaire was carried out to fifty learners and based on the result, the study has found that the learners had to face with a great number of difficulties in learning listening especially IELTS listening in terms of vocabulary, topics of the listening text, listening activities, background knowledge and various accents and other problematic areas Also, the study aims to investigate learners‟ needs and expectation in learning IELTS listening in terms of learning materials, teachers, practice test and learning equipment Besides, the study also used data collected from observation, teaching experience and discussion with other teachers as well as learners In summary, the study has reached a conclusion that there are many factors that hinder the learning of IELTS listening Among them, three main factors should be taken into consideration for Vietnamese learners including linguistic knowledge (vocabulary, grammar structures, pronunciation, stress, intonation or accents), learning strategies to deal with different listening activities and background knowledge of a variety of subjects Finally, the study comes up with several recommendations to both IELTS learners and teachers, of which some tips are given to the learners to become effective listeners and suggestions for them to improve their self-practice as well as their autonomous 35 learning Apart from the learners, three suggestions, including providing learners with listening strategies, improving teacher‟s teaching techniques and listening materials and towards designing an intensive listening course for Vietnamese learners, are also made to the IELTS teachers in order to help them solve the problems The writer hoped that the recommendations will make a significant contribution to improve the current situation of teaching and learning IELTS listening 5.2 Limitation and suggestions for further study Like any other research papers, certain limitations in this study are unavoidable Firstly, the study merely focused on the results of the survey questionnaire for the fifty learners chosen at random from the two Foreign Language Centres and from the author‟s private class, therefore, the results may not be true to all other Vietnamese learners Secondly, since the researcher‟s practical experience as well as professional knowledge in teaching IELTS is limited, the recommendations for teaching and learning IELTS listening are likely to be subjective and incomplete; they may work well only for certain groups of IELTS learners Finally, the study just investigated problems of learning IELTS listening, not the teaching or learning of other skills Therefore, further research on other skills may have great significance to this study The author hopes that in the future, similar study could overcome these shortcomings I REFERENCES Adams, G & Peck, T (2001), 101 Helpful Hints for IELTS, Adams & Austen Press Pty Ltd Anderson, A & Lynch, T (1988), Listening, Oxford: Oxford University Press Brown, G (1983), Teaching the Spoken Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Buck, G (2001), Assessing Listening, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Le Van Canh (2004), Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology, Hanoi: VNU Press Field, J (1998), Skills and strategies: Towards a New Methodology for Listening, Oxford: Oxford University Press Jakeman, V & McDowell, C (1999), Insight into IELTS, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ly A Tan (2006), IELTS Listening Strategies for the IELTS Test, Beijing Language and Culture University Press Nunan, D (1991), Language Teaching Methodology, Sydney: Prentice-Hall 10 Richards, J.C (2001), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, New York 11 Rixon, S Developing Listening Skill, Macmillan Publishers Ltd 12 Rost, M (1994), Introducing Listening, London: Penguin 13 Rost, M (2002), Teaching and Researching Listening, London: Longman 14 Steil, L.K, Baker, L.L & Watson, K.W (1983), Effective Listening, Mc Graw-Hill, Inc 15 Underwood, M (1989), Teaching Listening, London & New York: Longman 16 Ur, P (1984), Teaching Listening Comprehension, New York: Cambridge University Press 17 White, G (1998), Listening, Oxford: Oxford University Press 18 Wolvin, A & Coakley, C (1985), Listening, Dubuque: William C Brown II APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR IELTS LEARNERS This questionnaire is designed to find out your difficulties learning listening and to help improve this skill The data collected will be used for my research only, not for any other purposes Therefore, please complete all the questions as frankly and accurately as you can Part 1: General information (please answer by writing in the given space or circling the letter A, B, C… Age: Gender: Male/ Female Occupation: Years of learning English: Numbers of IELTS preparation course taken: Your purposes of attending this course? (more than one answer) A to study abroad B to work in a foreign company C to prepare for future job D to get promotion in your job E to communicate effectively in English F to have good command of English G to get a certificate H Others (please specify): Part 2: Information about the learning of listening skill and IELTS listening For all the questions, please answer by circling the letter A, B, C or writing in the given space There are some questions that may have more than one answer Please use either English or Vietnamese What you think of listening skill? A very important D not important at all B important E boring C a little important How you find learning listening skill? A very difficult D easy B difficult E very easy C a little difficult Do you want to develop listening skill? Yes/ No I How you often feel when listening? (more than one answer) A tense E uncomfortable B nervous F demotivated C anxious G unable to concentrate D confused H misunderstand spoken message How often you listen to English at home? A everyday C Once a week B 2-3 times/ week D Three times a month E Others: How long you listen? A fifteen minutes each time C an hour each time B half an hour each time’ D an hour and a half E Others: …………………………………………………………………………… What you often to practice listening skill at home? (more than one answer) A Listen to the radio in English (VOA, BBC ) B Watch news on T.V (BBC, CNN ) C Watch films in English D Talk to native speakers or foreigners E Talk to friends or colleagues F Others: What you think about IELTS listening sub-test? A difficult C appropriate B academic D boring E Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………………… Which section of IELTS listening test is the most difficult for you? A Section C Section B Section D Section 10 Which factors cause difficulties to you in learning IELTS listening? (more than one answer) A poor listening equipment B low quality tapes/ CDs C only listening once H speaker’s fast speech D unfamiliar topics I simultaneous speaking E different accents J background noise F different stress and intonation K limited background knowledge G new vocabularies and structures L cultural differences Others: ………………………………………………………………………………… 11 Which of the following topics is the most unfamiliar to you? Number them from to 10 ……… education science and technology ……… politics social problems ……… environment global issues ……… religion sports crime and punishment lifestyle 12 Which type of activities you think the most difficult? Number from to …… description and following instructions …… gap-filling (no more than 1/2/3 words) …… True/ False …… answering questions and multiple choices …… summary …… graph/form/note completion …… matching …… multiple answers 13 What you often in listening lessons? A participate actively in all activities D feel too tired to concentrate on listening B get motivated in listening E get too bored to concentrate C only pay attention to the activities F not participate in any activities you like G other things instead H Others: 14 What you often while listening? A try to understand every word B guess the meaning of unfamiliar E concentrate on general ideas words or phrases C listen and read the questions at the same time D try to overcome anxiety F Others: …………………………………………………………………………… 15 What you often if you not clearly understand the text you are listening? A listen once more D see the tape script B listen sentence by sentence C listen again until you understand it E Others: 16 What you expect your teacher to to help you overcome the difficulty in listening? (more than one answer) A Provide you with certain amount of words needed for listening activities B Equip you with necessary strategies in listening comprehension C Design more suitable listening tasks to your listening level and interest D Recommend other supplementary listening materials besides classroom activities E Explain more clearly about the nature of spoken English F Be flexible in organizing listening activities G Provide more explanation after each activity H Others: 17 What you think of the teacher’s methodology in teaching listening? A interesting E inappropriate B appropriate F motivating learners C boring G demotivating learners D inflexible 18 What does your teacher often to help you listen better? (more than one answer) A Create comfortable environment for students to exchange information before listening B Encourage students to activate their previous knowledge into listening texts C Offer students as many chances for them to listen as they expect D Provide students with certain key words E Explain clearly about the listening contexts F Suggest students essential listening strategies needed for each kind of listening tasks G Exploit different kinds of listening materials suitable to students’ listening ability and interest H Others: ……………………………………………………………………………… 19 What you often to improve your listening skill? (more than one answer) A Exchange experience with your friends B Listen to English regularly on the radio, T.V C Search for information on the Internet D Read more books and journals at home E Find out useful references F Watch films in English G Try to all the IELTS practice books H Others: ……………………………………………………………………………… 20 After this course, are you satisfied with the listening part? A Satisfied Why? Because you: always understand the content of listening text can hear every words of the listening text can communicate more effectively in English can widen your knowledge and vocabulary Others: B Unsatisfied Why not? often forget all that have been heard after listening once have little time for listening practice cannot learn anything from the lesson cannot listen and write at the same time remember one part but forget the next one …… the listening tasks were too difficult Others: 21 If you attend another IELTS preparation course again, what you expect from the course for listening part? (materials, teacher, practice tests) THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION ... situation of learning IELTS listening at Language Link and EQUEST Centres How is listening skill learnt by Vietnamese learners? What problems the IELTS learners face in learning IELTS listening? What... answer the following research questions: How is listening skill learnt by Vietnamese learners? What problems the IELTS learners face in learning IELTS listening? What are IELTS learners? ?? needs... listening skill, potential problems in learning listening as well as IELTS listening were presented In the case of this study, the learners are supposed to have certain difficulties in learning