Problem in learning listening comprehension among non english majors at cao thang technical college m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE - - PROBLEMS IN LEARNING LISTENING COMPREHENSION AMONG NON-ENGLISH MAJORS AT CAO THANG TECHNICAL COLLEGE Submitted to the Department of English Linguistics & Literature In partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By LÊ THỊ LY ĐA Supervised by ĐOÀN THỊ HUỆ DUNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, FEBRUARY 2012 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis, entitled: “Problems in learning listening comprehension among non-English majors at Cao Thang Technical College” This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, February 27th, 2012 Le Thi Ly Da i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted into a number of people for their help to make this thesis possible First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Doan Thi Hue Dung, for her whole-hearted instruction and insightful comments during the implementation of this thesis Without her precious guidance, I could not have got this far I would like to thank all my teachers in the course for their dedication Many thanks also go to Ms Vo Thi Thu Thao for her invaluable assistance with the use of SPSS in the data collection and Ms Bui Thi Kim Loan for her willingness to share her resources and experience Last but not least, I am extremely grateful to my family for their support throughout the course Without their encouragement, I could not have finished this thesis ii ABSTRACT This thesis investigated the problems most frequently faced by non-Englishmajored students at Cao Thang Technical College, so it aims to identify those problems and suggests some useful activities to teach in the pre-listening stage and examines their effects on listening comprehension The study was carried out in two elementary General English classes (assigned in the Control Group of 51 and the Experimental Group of 49) Data were collected from pre- and post-questionnaires and pre- and post-tests together with nine weeks of experimental teaching to indentify the problems, to measure the learners’ performance and to find out their attitudes towards the experimental activities Put it more clearly, the formula of Mean was used to compare the mean of two kinds of problems related to two listening processes, bottom-up and topdown, so that the higher mean indicates the problems most frequently encountered Besides, Independent-samples T-test and Paired-samples T-test were employed to find whether the mean scores between the Experimental Group and the Control Group and pre-tests and post-tests of the Experimental Group was significant or not The results indicated that the majority of students most frequently had problems with top-down listening process Therefore, such three top-down activities as quizzes, gap-fill exercises and board writing were applied into the pre-listening stage to deal with the learners’ problems Also, the data analysis shows that the Experimental Group gained the significant improvement in the post test results although just a little In addition, both teachers and students expressed their positive attitudes towards the experimental activities The thesis therefore suggests applying top-down activities to help learners at Cao Thang Technical College overcome their difficulties in listening and become more active listeners iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Statement of authorship…………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………… ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………iii Table of contents………………………………………………………………… iv List of tables……………………………………………………………………… x List of charts………………………………………………………………………xii Abbreviations…………………………………………………………….………xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….1 1.1 Context of the study………………………………………………………… 1.2 Aim of the study……………………………………………………………….3 1.3 Research questions of the study………………………………………………3 1.4 Significance of the study………………………………………………………4 1.5 Organization of the study…………………………………………………… CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………… 2.1 Listening comprehension…………………………………………………… 2.2 Nonreciprocal listening……………………………………………………… 2.3 Bottom-up and top-down processes………………………………………… iv 2.3.1 Bottom-up process………………………………………………………… 2.3.2 Top-down process………………………………………………………… 2.4 Listening problems…………………………………………………………….10 2.4.1 Problems with the bottom-up process……………………………………….11 2.4.2 Problems with the top-down process……………………………………… 12 2.5 Top-down processing activities of Predicting in Pre-listening stage………….13 2.5.1 Quizzes………………………………………………………………………17 2.5.2 Gap-fill exercises………………………………………………………… 17 2.5.3 Board writing……………………………………………………………… 17 2.6 Relevant thematic studies in the M.A program at University of Social Sciences and Humanities of HCMC……………………………………………………… 18 2.7 Summary………………………………………………………………………19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………… 21 3.1 Study setting………………………………………………………………….21 3.1.1 English program……………………………………………………………21 3.1.2 Teachers……………………………………………………………………24 3.1.3 Students…………………………………………………………………….24 3.2 Participants………………………………………………………………… 24 3.2.1 The Control Group…………………………………………………………25 3.2.2 The Experimental Group………………………………………………… 25 v 3.2.3 Resemblance……………………………………………………………… 26 3.3 Data types of methods of data collection…………………………………….26 3.3.1 Questionnaires…………………………………………………………… 27 3.3.1.1 Questionnaire about learners’ listening problems (before the experiment)…………………………………………………………………27 3.3.1.2 Questionnaires about attitudes towards experimental activities (after the experiment)…………………………………………………………………28 3.3.1.2.1 For learners…………………………………………………………… 28 3.3.1.2.2 For teachers…………………………………………………………….29 3.3.2 Experiment……………………………………………………………… 29 3.3.2.1 Pre-test ………………………………………………………………… 30 3.3.2.2 Post-test ………………………………………………………………….31 3.3.2.3 Experimental teaching process………………………………………… 31 3.4 Analytical framework……………………………………………………… 35 3.4.1 Questionnaires…………………………………………………………… 35 3.4.1.1 Questionnaire about learners’ listening problems ………………………35 3.4.1.2 Questionnaires about attitudes towards experimental activities…… ….37 3.4.2 Pre- and post-tests………………………………………………………….37 3.5 Summary…………………………………………………………………… 39 vi CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS……… 41 4.1 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………41 4.1.1 Results from questionnaires……………………………………………… 41 4.1.1.1 Pre-questionnaire about problem identification…………………….……41 4.1.1.1.1 About learning listening ………………………………………………41 4.1.1.1.2 About problems with learning listening……………………………….44 4.1.1.1.2.1 Problems with the bottom-up process……………………………….44 4.1.1.1.2.2 Problems with the top-down process ……………………………… 46 4.1.1.2 Post-questionnaire about attitudes towards experimental activities ……48 4.1.1.2.1 Students’ attitudes towards pre-listening activities……………………48 4.1.1.2.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards pre-listening activities……………………53 4.1.2 Results from the experiment………………………………………………59 4.1.2.1 Pre-test results………………………………………………………… 59 4.1.2.1.1 Control group vs Experimental group………………………………….59 4.1.2.1.2 Pre-test similarities………………………………………………………60 4.1.2.2 Post-test results………………………………………………………… 61 4.1.2.2.1 Control group vs Experimental group…………………………………61 4.1.2.2.2 Post-test differences…………………………………………………….63 4.1.2.3 A comparison of Experimental group’s results between before and after the experiment………………………………………………………………….64 vii 4.2 Discussion of results…………………………………………………………65 4.2.1 Questionnaires…………………………………………………………… 65 4.2.1.1 Pre-questionnaire……………………………………………………… 65 4.2.1.2 Post-questionnaire……………………………………………………… 66 4.2.2 Experimental teaching…………………………………………………… 67 4.3 Summary…………………………………………………………………… 69 4.4 Overall summary…………………………………………………………… 69 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………70 5.1 Answers to the research questions………………………………………… 70 5.2 Recommendations for English teachers and students……………………… 72 5.2.1 For students……………………………………………………………… 72 5.2.2 For teachers……………………………………………………………… 73 5.3 Limitations………………………………………………………………… 75 5.4 Need for further research…………………………………………………… 75 5.5 Summary…………………………………………………………………… 75 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………76 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………… 81 Appendix 1: Lesson Plans Used In Experimental Group…………………………81 Appendix 1.1: Lesson Plan To Instruct Board Writing As Pre-Listening Activities81 viii Appendix 1.2: Lesson Plan To Instruct Quizzes As Pre-Listening Activities…… Appendix 1.3: Lesson Plan To Instruct Gap-Fill Exercises As Pre-Listening Activities……………………………………………………………………86 Appendix 2: Lesson Plans Used In Control Group……………………………… 88 Appendix 2.1: Lesson Plan For Unit 8, Future World Language? 88 Appendix 2.2: Lesson Plan For Unit 11, Reach For The Sky………………….…89 Appendix 2.3: Lesson Plan For Unit 12, Winning And Keeping Customers…….90 Appendix 3: Listening Comprehension Tests…………………………………….91 Appendix 3.1: Pre-Test………………………………………………………… 91 Appendix 3.2: Post-Test………………………………………………………….93 Appendix 4: Questionnaires…………………………………………… ……….95 Appendix 4.1: Pre-Questionnaire…………………………………………………95 Appendix 4.1.1: Pre-Questionnaire In Vietnamese…………………………… 95 Appendix 4.1.2: Pre-Questionnaire In English………………………………… 98 Appendix 4.2: Post-Questionnaire……………………………………………… 100 Appendix 4.2.1: Post-Questionnaire For Students In Vietnamese……………… 100 Appendix 4.2.2: Post-Questionnaire For Students In English……………………104 Appendix 4.2.3: Post-Questionnaire For Teachers In Vietnamese…………… 107 Appendix 4.2.4: Post-Questionnaire For Teachers In English………………….110 ix Do you agree that learning English listening comprehension is difficult? (Circle the number that corresponds to your degree of agreement) Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree II LEARNER PROBLEMS WITH LISTENING COMPREHENSION Never Sometimes Often Always Directions: Circle one number In the English listening classroom, how often you find it difficult to catch individual sounds? understand connected speech? understand stress, rhythm and intonation? understand reduced forms (for example, “Djeetyet?” for “Did you eat yet?”, contractions like “I’ll”, elliptical forms like “When will you be back?” “Tomorrow, maybe”, ect.? understand different accents and dialects? understand colloquial language? have enough background information on the topic? 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 1 2 3 4 understand different meanings according to different cultures? understand the specific listening situation (who the participants are, what the setting is, what the topic and purpose are)? 10 attend to what has already been said and predict what is likely to be said next? 11 cope with redundancy (for example, rephrasing, repetitions, elaborations, and little insertions of “I mean” and “you know” and so on)? 12 process speech containing such performance variables as hesitations, errors, pauses and corrections? 4 4 - THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! 99 APPENDIX 4.2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX 4.2.1: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN VIETNAMESE PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT VỀ THÁI ĐỘ ĐỐI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE Mục đích phiếu khảo sát nhằm thu thập thông tin cần thiết cho luận văn thạc sĩ chuyên ngành lý luận phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng Anh với đề tài “Những khó khăn việc học mơn nghe hiểu sinh viên không chuyên Anh trường Cao Đẳng Kỹ Thuật Cao Thắng” Phần lớn câu hỏi để trả lời cần bạn đánh dấu  vào ô khoanh trịn vào số mà bạn chọn Vì vậy, mong bạn dành chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi Sự giúp đỡ bạn qua việc trả lời tất câu hỏi góp phần lớn vào thành công luận văn Tôi xin cam kết thông tin thu dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Rất mong nhận giúp đỡ bạn I THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Lớp: Ca chẵn  Ca lẻ  *Giới tính: Nam  Nữ  Trước làm tập nghe, giáo viên trước bạn thường sử dụng hoat động nào? (Bạn chọn đáp án)  Khơng làm  Dạy ngữ âm  Dạy ngữ pháp  Thảo luận chủ đề  Dạy từ vựng  Khác (xin ghi rõ) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 100 II THÁI ĐỘ ĐỐI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE SỬ DỤNG TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH DẠY THỰC NGHIỆM Ý kiến bạn hoạt động trước nghe thi đố (quizzes), điền vào chỗ trống (gap-fill exercise) viết lên bảng (board writing) dạy trình thực nghiệm? Khơng thích tý Khơng thích Thích Rất thích Những hoạt động có giúp cho bạn khơng cịn cảm thấy khó khăn học nghe khơng?  Có  Khơng Những hoạt động giúp bạn nhiều nào? Không nhiều Một chút Nhiều Rất nhiều 4 Theo bạn, hoạt động có nên thường xuyên dạy lớp để cải thiện khả nghe hiểu hay không? Không nên Chỉ nên Nên thường xuyên Nên luôn 101 Ý kiến bạn vấn đề sau? Rất Không không đồng ý Đồng ý Rất đồng ý đồng ý 5.1 Sự thú vị 5.1.1 Hoạt động thi đố thật thú vị 5.1.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống thật 4 4 thú vị 5.1.3 Hoạt động viết bảng thật thú vị 5.2 Sự cần thiết 5.2.1 Hoạt động thi đố cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.2.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.2.3 Hoạt động viết bảng cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.3 Hiệu 102 5.3.1 Hoạt động thi đố giúp đoán nội 4 dung cách dễ dàng 5.3.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống giúp đoán nội dung cách dễ dàng 5.3.3 Hoạt động viết bảng giúp đoán nội dung cách dễ dàng - XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ GIÚP ĐỠ CỦA CÁC BẠN! 103 APPENDIX 4.2.2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS IN ENGLISH QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES This questionnaire’s aim is to collect necessary information for the TESOL M.A thesis entitled “Problems in learning listening comprehension among nonEnglish majors at Cao Thang Technical College” Please spend your time on giving responses to the following questions Your responses will greatly contribute to the success of this thesis The information collected will be for the research purposes only I PERSONAL INFORMATION Class:  Even  Odd * Gender:  Male  Female Before you listening comprehension exercises, what activities your previous teachers often use? (You may have more than one choice)  Do nothing  Teach pronunciation  Teach grammar  Discuss topics  Teach vocabulary  Others (please specify …………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… 104 II ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES APPLIED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL TEACHING What is your opinion about pre-listening activities involving quizzes, gapfill exercises, and board writing used in the experimental teaching? Don’t like very much Don’t like Like Like very much Do these activities help you no longer find learning listening comprehension difficult?  Yes  No How much can they help you? Not much A little Much Very much 4 Do you think how often these pre-listening activities should be taught in the English listening classes? Never Sometimes Often Always Do you agree or disagree with the statements in the table below 105 Statements Strongly Disagree Agree disagree Strongly agree 5.1 About the interest 5.1.1 Quizzes are interesting 5.1.2 Gap-fill exercises are interesting 5.1.3 Board writing is interesting 4 4 4 5.2 About the necessity 5.2.1 Quizzes are necessary in the process of listening comprehension 5.2.2 Gap-fill exercises are necessary in the process of listening comprehension 5.2.3 Board writing is necessary in the process of listening comprehension 5.3 About the effectiveness 5.3.1 Quizzes help to predict content more easily 5.3.2 Gap-fill exercises help to predict content more easily 5.3.3 Board writing helps to predict content more easily - THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! 106 APPENDIX 4.2.3: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS IN VIETNAMESE PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO GIÁO VIÊN PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT VỀ THÁI ĐỘ ĐỐI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE Mục đích phiếu khảo sát nhằm thu thập thông tin cần thiết cho luận văn thạc sĩ chuyên ngành lý luận phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng Anh với đề tài “Những khó khăn việc học môn nghe hiểu sinh viên không chuyên Anh trường Cao Đẳng Kỹ Thuật Cao Thắng” Phần lớn câu hỏi để trả lời cần anh/chị đánh dấu  vào khoanh trịn vào số mà anh/chị chọn Vì vậy, mong anh/chị dành chút thời gian trả lời câu hỏi Sự giúp đỡ anh/chị qua việc trả lời tất câu hỏi góp phần lớn vào thành cơng luận văn Tôi xin cam kết thông tin thu dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Rất mong nhận giúp đỡ anh/chị I THƠNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính: - Nam  - Nữ  Anh/Chị giảng dạy tiếng Anh bao lâu?  – năm  – 10 năm  Hơn 10 năm Anh/Chị có đồng ý dạy nghe hiểu khó hay khơng? (Hãy khoanh trịn vào số bạn chọn) Rất khơng đồng ý Không đồng ý Đồng ý Rất đồng ý 107 Trước dạy nghe, anh/chị thường sử dụng hoat động nào? (Bạn chọn đáp án)  Khơng làm  Dạy ngữ âm  Dạy ngữ pháp  Thảo luận chủ đề  Dạy từ vựng Khác (xin ghi rõ)…………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Anh/chị có ý kiến cần thiết việc dạy hoạt động trước nghe nói chung? (Hãy khoanh trịn vào số theo mức mà anh/chị chọn) Không cần thiết Cần thiết II THÁI ĐỘ ĐỐI VỚI CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE SỬ DỤNG TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH DẠY THỰC NGHIỆM Các hoạt động trước nghe dạy trình thực nghiệm gồm: + thi đố (quizzes) + điền vào chỗ trống (gap-fill exercises) + viết lên bảng (board writing) (Xin xem chi tiết giáo án) Theo anh/chị, hoạt động trước nghe giới thiệu có nên thường xuyên dạy lớp để cải thiện khả nghe hiểu cho sinh viên hay không? Không nên Chỉ nên Nên thường xuyên 108 Nên luôn Xin anh/chị cho biết ý kiến vấn đề sau? Đồng ý Rất không Không Rất đồng ý đồng ý 5.1.1 Hoạt động thi đố thật thú vị 5.1.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống 4 4 4 4 đồng ý 5.1 Sự thú vị thật thú vị 5.1.3 Hoạt động viết bảng thật thú vị 5.2 Sự cần thiết 5.2.1 Hoạt động thi đố cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.2.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.2.3 Hoạt động viết bảng cần thiết cho trình nghe hiểu 5.3 Hiệu 5.3.1 Hoạt động thi đố giúp sinh viên đoán nội dung cách dễ dàng 5.3.2 Hoạt động điền vào chỗ trống giúp sinh viên đoán nội dung cách dễ dàng 5.3.1 Hoạt động viết bảng giúp sinh viên đoán nội dung cách dễ dàng Anh/chị đánh hoạt động này? 109 (Hãy khoanh tròn vào số theo mức mà anh/chị chọn) Khơng có hiệu Có hiệu - XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ GIÚP ĐỠ CỦA CÁC ANH/CHỊ! APPENDIX 4.2.4: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS IN ENGLISH QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES This questionnaire’s aim is to collect necessary information for the TESOL M.A thesis entitled “Problems in learning listening comprehension among nonEnglish majors at Cao Thang Technical College” Please spend your time on giving responses to the following questions Your responses will greatly contribute to the success of this thesis The information collected will be for the research purposes only I PERSONAL INFORMATION Gender:  Male  Female How long have you been teaching English?  – years  – 10 years  More than 10 years Do you agree that teaching English listening comprehension is difficult? (Circle the number that corresponds to your degree of agreement) Strongly disagree Disagree Agree 110 Strongly agree 4 Before listening comprehension, what activities you often use? (You may have more than one choice)  Do nothing  Teach pronunciation  Teach grammar  Discuss topics  Teach vocabulary  Others (please specify) …………………………… What is your opinion about the necessity of teaching pre-listening activities? Unnecessary Necessary II ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES USED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL TEACHING (Please see Lesson plan for detail) The top-down activities for predicting used in pre-listening stage of the experimental teaching: + quizzes + gap-fill exercises + board writing (Circle one number) 111 Do you think how often these pre-listening activities recommended for English listening comprehension should be taught? Never Sometimes Often Always Do you agree or disagree with the statements in the table below? Statements Strongly Disagree Agree disagree Strongly agree 2.1 About the interest 2.1.1 Quizzes are interesting 2.1.2 Gap-fill exercises are interesting 2.1.3 Board writing is interesting 4 4 4 2.2 About the necessity 2.2.1 Quizzes are necessary in the process of listening comprehension 2.2.2 Gap-fill exercises are necessary in the process of listening comprehension 2.2.3 Board writing is necessary in the process of listening comprehension 2.3 About the effectiveness 2.3.1 Quizzes help to predict content more easily 2.3.2 Gap-fill exercises help to predict content more easily 2.3.3 Board writing helps to predict content more easily 112 How you evaluate these pre-listening activities? Ineffective effective - THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! 113 ... suggests a broad research on surveying problems in learning listening comprehension and also applying some useful activities at the pre -listening stage and investigating their impact on improving learners’... learners, teachers as well as administrators Unlike these above studies, this study is investigating the most common problems in English listening faced by beginners at Cao Thang Technical College, ...STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis, entitled: “Problems in learning listening comprehension among non- English majors at Cao Thang Technical College? ?? This thesis has not been