An investigation into the employment of pre listening strategies to teach listening to the 11th graders at an thoi high school m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EMPLOYMENT OF PRE-LISTENING STRATEGIES TO TEACH LISTENING TO THE 11TH GRADERS AT AN THOI HIGH SCHOOL A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Master’s degree in TESOL By CHAU THI KHANH LINH Supervised by Assoc Prof Dr NGUYEN THANH TUNG HO CHI MINH CITY, MARCH 2012 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EMPLOYMENT OF PRE-LISTENING STRATEGIES TO TEACH LISTENING TO THE 11th GRADERS AT AN THOI HIGH SCHOOL” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions Ho Chi Minh City, 12th March, 2012 Chau Thi Khanh Linh RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Chau Thi Khanh Linh, being a candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan, and reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, 12th March, 2012 Chau Thi Khanh Linh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge all of the following people who helped me to complete my thesis First of all, I would like to express my deepest attitude to my thesis supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thanh Tung, for his whole-hearted instruction and endless support over the long period of carrying out the research and writing this thesis He spent his valuable time reading all the chapters of my draft versions carefully, giving me insightful comments and critically questioning me in order to help me gradually improve my work Without his tireless guidance and constant encouragement, this thesis could not have been completed My special thanks go to all my teachers in the Department of English Linguistics and Literature at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University in Ho Chi Minh City, for their devotion and helpful instruction during the 2007 - 2010 TESOL course I am greatly indebted to the teachers of English and students at An Thoi High School in Ben Tre Province who all have enthusiastically helped me accomplish this thesis I would also like to express my thanks to my classmates of MA in TESOL at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities They shared with me both joys and sorrows during the course Last but not least, I am greatly grateful to my beloved parents, my brother and sister, and my friends who have constantly given me favor, sympathy and encouragement Without their kind help, I could never have completed the study ] ] ABSTRACT A new series of English textbooks, from Grade to Grade 12, has been used for several years with an emphasis on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to meet the needs of the society The new textbook Tieng Anh 11 has come into official use since the school year of 2007-2008 In this textbook, listening is one of the four skills which are developed separately in order to assist students in acquiring the language better However, there exists reluctance to use the communicative approach in teaching listening amongst high school teachers They did not want to use the pre-listening stage in the textbook in their teaching They also found that their students were not willing to participate in communicative activities because of the students’ lack of prior knowledge of the topic Hence both teachers and students ignore the importance of listening and lose interests in teaching and learning it for the reason that it is not included in the examinations at high school Therefore, this research aims to investigate the employment of prelistening strategies to help improve students’ listening comprehension at An Thoi High School in Ben Tre Province An experiment was employed with the participation of two separate groups of experiment and control Pre- and post-tests were used to explore students’ comprehension before and after the use of pre-listening strategies in teaching listening lessons with the help of a t-test analytical tool A copy of the questionnaire was delivered to the students in the experimental group after the teaching experiment to investigate their attitudes towards these strategies The findings showed that after the teaching program, there was a statistically significant difference in means between the two groups Additionally, most students expressed their positive attitudes towards them TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of authorship i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgement s iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of tables ix List of charts x List of abbreviations xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aim of the study 1.3 Research question 1.4 Significance of the research 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Linguistic theory and listening comprehension 2.1.1 Definitions of listening 2.1.2 Schema theory 2.1.3 Listening as a bottom-up and top-down process 2.1.3.1 Listening as a bottom-up process 10 2.1.3.2 Listening as a top-down process 10 2.2 Principles for listening teaching 11 2.2.1 Encouraging top-down processing 12 2.2.1.1 Content 12 2.2.1.2 Predictive skills 12 2.2.1.3 Purpose and expectations 13 2.2.2 The employment of pre-listening activities 14 2.2.2.1 Definition of pre-listening 14 2.2.2.2 The importance of pre-listening 15 2.2.2.3 Pre-listening activities 16 2.2.3 Empirical studies in the employment of pre-listening strategies to teach listening 21 2.3 Implications for listening teaching 23 2.3.1 Learning strategies 23 2.3.2 Top-down strategies 24 2.3.3 Pre-listening strategies 25 2.4 Summary 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research site 29 3.2 Participants 29 3.3 Data types 30 3.3.1 Experiment 31 3.3.1.1 Pre-test 31 3.3.1.2 Experimental teaching process 32 3.3.1.2.1 Preparation 32 3.3.1.2.1.1 Selecting the listening lessons 33 3.3.1.2.1.2 Lesson plans 34 3.3.1.2.2 Teaching practice 35 3.3.1.3 Post-test 37 3.3.2 Questionnaire 37 3.4 Analytical framework 38 3.4.1 Quantitative analysis of pre- and post-tests 39 3.4.2 Quantitative analysis of questionnaire 40 3.5 Summary 41 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 42 4.1 Results from the experiment 42 4.1.1 Pre-test results 42 4.1.1.1 The control group 42 4.1.1.2 The experimental group 43 4.1.1.3 A comparison of the pre-test results 44 4.1.1.3.1 Score distribution 44 4.1.1.3.2 Mean 45 4.1.1.3.3 T-test 46 4.1.2 Post-test results 47 4.1.2.1 The control group 47 4.1.2.2 The experimental group 48 4.1.2.3 A comparison of the post-test results 49 4.1.2.3.1 Score distribution 49 4.1.2.3.2 Mean 50 10 similarities housewives  Wearing kimonos or special dress  Going to the pagoda longevity constancy kimono pine trees represent shrine Visiting friends  Listen and repeat kimono pine trees longevity shrine similarities LESSON PLAN Activities Objectives Pre-listening (7mins)  Brainstorming Generate students’ interest and activate their background knowledge Activities people on the Tet in VN Divide the class into two teams Ask stdents to write on the board Comment and decide the winner  Predicting what will be said Help students predict what will be Students work in pairs and guess which of the following activities the Japanese often on their New Year’s Days  Exchanging gifts and cards  Giving / receiving lucky money 101 said  Decorating the house with peach flowers  Wearing kimonos or special dress  Going to the pagoda  Visiting friends Read and explain the instruction and check sudents for understanding Stick the poster on the board Read the activities and call students  Pre-teach vocabulary Teacher elicits the meaning of the new words Give students confidence as well as - kimono (n) [using picture] potentially useful information about - shrine (n) the topic [giving example] - longevity (n) [giving explanation] - similarity (n) # difference - pine tree (n) [using picture]  Following the instructions for the while-listening activity Students read through task before listening While-listening Task (15 mins) Teachers gives instructions and plays the CD Students listen to the CD three times and tick the things they hear Task (15 mins) Students listen again and answer the questions 102 Help students get ready to listen Students compare the answers in pairs Teacher gives feedback Post-listening (8 mins) Students work in groups and name some famous runners in Vietnam and say what is special about them 103 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (IN ENGLISH VERSION) Dear students, This questionnaire aims to collect data for my research entitled “An investigation into the employment of pre-listening strategies to teach Listening to the 11th graders at An Thoi High School” Please answer the questions by reading all the options carefully and putting a tick (√ ) in the box indicating your answer to each question (Only one possible answer for each question) To open questions, please write your answers in the space provided Your full answers will allow me to reach sound interpretations and reliable findings, which contribute greatly to the success of the study I assure that your responses are used for research purposes only and that they will not affect the scores of your study Thank you for your cooperation Part 1: BACKGROUND INFORMATION Gender: Male  Female  Age:………… How long have you been learning English? …… years How long have you been learning listening comprehension?……… years 104 Part 2: STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILL BEFORE THE TREATMENT Which of the following skills you find the most difficult to obtain? (Please tick ONE among four options) Listening Speaking Reading Writing How much did you enjoy listening lessons in class? Not at all A little Much Very much How difficult were listening lessons in class? Very difficult Difficult Neutral 105 Easy Very easy Part 3: STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRE-LISTENING STRATEGIES Did you enjoy using some pre-listening strategies before playing a tape / CD? (Please tick ONE among four options) Not at all A little Much Very much In your opinion, how useful are these pre-listening strategies in listening learning? Very Little little Much Very much 9.1 Being self-confident and comfortable 9.2 Setting purposes 9.3 Activating No idea existing knowledge 9.4 Prediction 9.5 Getting ready to listen 106 10 How much did you enjoy taking part in these pre-listening activities to practice pre-listening strategies? Not at all 10.1 Brainstorming 10.2 Informal teacher talk and class discussion 10.3 Visual (looking at the pictures, diagrams before listening) 10.4 Discussion 10.5 Giving some background information 10.6 Pre-teaching vocabulary 10.7 Speculating on what students will hear 10.8 Following the instructions for the while listening activity 107 A little Much Very much 11 How difficult is listening when you use pre-listening strategies in the prelistening stage? Very difficult Difficult Neutral Easy Very easy 12 Do you like learning listening with pre-listening strategies? Not at all A little Much Thank you for your cooperation 108 Very much APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (IN VIETNAMESE VERSION) PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Chào em học sinh! Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập liệu cho đề tài nghiên cứu “Khảo sát việc sử dụng chiến lược trước nghe để dạy môn Nghe cho học sinh lớp 11 trường Trung học phổ thông An Thới” Các em vui lòng đọc câu hỏi lựa chọn bảng khảo sát cẩn thận trả lời cách đánh dấu √ vào ô vuông (lưu ý chọn MỘT phương án cho câu hỏi) điền vào chỗ trống Các câu trả lời đầy đủ em giúp đưa kết luận cụ thể cách khách quan góp phần lớn cho thành cơng đề tài Chúng cam đoan sử dụng thông tin mà em cung cấp vào mục đích nghiên cứu mà câu trả lời em không làm ảnh hưởng đến điểm số học tập em Cám ơn hợp tác em Phần I: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính: Nam Nữ Tuổi :………… Em học môn tiếng Anh bao lâu? …… năm Em học kỹ Nghe bao lâu? ……… năm 109 Phần II: NHỮNG NHẬN ĐỊNH VỀ KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU TRƯỚC KHI BẮT ĐẦU HỌC MƠN NGHE VÀO HỌC KÌ I CỦA NĂM HỌC NÀY Kỹ em thấy khó nhất? Đọc Viết Nói Nghe Em thích mơn Nghe nào? Khơng thích chút Thích Thích nhiều Thích nhiều Em thấy học Nghe lớp nào? Rất khó Khó Trung bình Dễ Rất dễ Phần III: THÁI ĐỘ VỀ CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC TRƯỚC KHI NGHE Em có thích vận dụng chiến lược trước nghe hay khơng? Khơng thích chút Thích 110 Nhiều Rất nhiều Theo em, chiến lược trước nghe giúp ích việc học môn Nghe? Rất Không Không Hữu Rất không hữu ích ý kiến ích hữu hữu ích ích 9.1 Tạo tự tin, thoải mái 9.2 Tìm hiểu rỏ mục đích, yêu cầu 9.3 Vận dụng kiến thức chủ đề nghe 9.4 Dự đoán 9.5 Chuẩn bị sẵn sang 10 Em thích tham gia vào hoạt động trước nghe nào? 111 Khơng thích chút 10.1 Giáo viên giúp học sinh động não để tìm ý tưởng, cấu trúc, từ vựng liên quan đến chủ đề nghe 10.2 Trò chuyện thân mật giáo viên học sinh Nhìn vào tranh ảnh trước nghe 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Thảo luận chủ đề nghe theo nhóm theo cặp Giáo viên cung cấp kiến thức liên quan đến chủ đề Trước nghe, giáo viên dạy từ 10.7 Giáo viên yêu cầu đoán chủ đề nghe 10.8 Đọc thật kĩ câu hỏi, yêu cầu 112 Thích Thích nhiều Rất thích 11 Khi vận dụng chiến lược trước nghe, em thấy việc nghe nào? Rất khó Khó Trung bình Dễ Rất dễ 12 Em có thích học mơn Nghe với việc vận dụng chiến lược trước nghe? Khơng thích Thích Nhiều Cám ơn hợp tác em! 113 Rất nhiều APPENDIX PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST SCORES 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 CG F M M F M F F M F F M F F F M M M M F M F F M M M F F F F M F M M M M F Pre-test 6 6 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 Post-test 7 7 5 7 7 7 6 5 6 6 EG M M M F M F M F M M M F F F F F F F M F M F M F M M M F M M F F F F F M 114 Pre-test 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 Post-test 6 9 7 7 9 5 8 7 8 7 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 F F F F F F M F M F F 6 6 5 6 6 7 5 F F F F F M M M F F 115 6 6 9 8 7 7 ...STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled ? ?AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EMPLOYMENT OF PRE- LISTENING STRATEGIES TO TEACH LISTENING TO THE 11th GRADERS AT AN THOI HIGH SCHOOL? ?? is my... treatment 64 14 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative language teaching Dr Doctor MA Master of Arts TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages MOET Ministry of Education and Training... schemata to assist understanding Rost (2000) also states that pre- listening activities can not only motivate students and change them from passive to active participants but also increase language