BARRIERS IN ENGLISH LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT YEN DINH 2 HIGH SCHOOL AND HOW TO BOOST THEIR LISTENING SKILL THROUGH THEIR OPTIONAL PERIODS

TABLE OF CONTENT Sr No I 1.1 1.2 Topic INTRODUCTION Rationale Objectives of the study Page No 1 1.3 1.4 Scope of the study Methodology 2 II DEVELOPMENT 2.1 2.2 Overview of listening The setting of the study 2.3 What are barriers when students listen English 2.4 Suggestions for students 2.5 Suggestions for teachers 2.6 Applying suggestions 2.7 Results 14 III CONCLUSION 15 REFERENCE 16 ABBREVIATE 17 I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Nowadays, listening plays a vital role in daily lives People listen for different purposes such as entertainment, academic purposes or obtaining necessary information Of the four language skills-Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing-that all language learners are supposed to acquire Listening is believed to be the most challenging due to the complex and subtle nature of listening comprehension in a second or foreign language First of all, listening is the most important skill in communication in the real life Listening and speaking are two major parts of communication They are closely interdependent We are able to talk sensibly when we understand what is said to us If we fail to understand spoken language, we may miss important information and respond in a funny way Moreover, in learning a language, listening is a useful means of providing Sts with comprehensible input, which is an essential component of the whole language learning process And teaching listening skill in classroom helps Sts make transition from classroom English to real-life English more easily and effectively Therefore, I would like to this research to help the students and teachers pay more attention to listening skill Secondly, learning listening skill is the most difficult in learning a foreign language Listening, like reading, is a receptive skill but it is often the most daunting for students When reading, a reader usually has more opportunities to refer back to the text to clarify understanding, which a listener can not in most listening contexts such as TV programs, meetings, discussion, lectures or conversations Last but not least, many Sts are not interested in learning listening skill They find listening classes boring On the other hand, practicing listening skill is difficult and it takes long time That’s the reason I would like to present the thesis title “Barriers in English listening comprehension of the the tenth-grade students at YD2HS and how to boost their listening skill though their optional periods” With the thesis I hope that I will contribute my little experience to help my students like and improve their listening skill in the next courses and in the future 1.2 Objectives of the study This major objective of the study is an attempt to identify problems faced by the tenth-grade students at YD2HS This research would concentrate on these matters below: The way students self-study on their own The most common problems they encounter The strategies which help them to get over and succeed in listening Research questions a) What are the real situations of teaching and learning English listening skill for the tenth-grade students at YD2HS? b) What are the difficulties/barriers for the tenth-grade students YD2HS? c) What are some solutions to improve their English listening skill? 1.3 Scope of the study This study carried out among the 10C5 and 10C8 Sts at YD2HS during the school year 2020-2021 1.4 Methodology of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used The study bases on teacher's main activities: teaching time in the class Secondly, class observation has been carried out with ss to find out barriers among sts while they are listening English Based on what I have collected, I would like to give some ways to improve this problem Other sources of data come from listening tasks from the textbooks The analysis of the data hopefully will bring about reliable findings useful for the teaching of listening to students at YD2HS I also find out some related thesis or some related information on the Internet and from my fellows II DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Overview of listening This second chapter provides readers with the overview of the study by introducing some key concepts necessary for the best understanding of this research, as well as the review of previous studies related to the topic There are some most crucial concepts chosen to be clarified in this part such as the definition of English listening skill and its importance in communication 2.1.1 Definition of listening Listening is one of the primary tools in communication It is the act of taking in a message and actually understanding what is being said rather than just reacting to it Think of these definitions to the word listening, what they have in common? • “to pay attention to sound” • “to hear something with thoughtful attention—give consideration” • “to be alert to catch an expected sound” All three definitions require active attentiveness, not just the passive act of hearing Listening involves more than your ears It involves your eyes, your ears, and your heart Look at the Chinese character for listening Each component making up the character represents a part of the person involved in listening Listening is not hearing and hearing is not listening Hearing is a physical process Sound comes into the ear, but there isn’t meaning taken from it It is the physical process of the sound waves hitting the eardrum Listening takes hearing to a deeper level and applies understanding Generally, we are great “hearers” but not very good at listening to comprehend meaning or understanding We “hear” sounds, words, music, instructions, and directions How often you find yourself hearing the music but not interpreting the meaning the artist is trying to convey? Or you ask someone directions to a particular location, but you aren’t paying attention to the speaker and you still get lost You may refer to these situations as being zoned out or distracted 2.1.2 Importance of English listening skill for EFL learners Listening is one of the necessary life skills which are defined as “skills which can provide you with a better perspective on life, skills which can allow you to maintain a higher awareness of both yourself and the world around you” It is one of the most vital ways that human beings feel the life and live Everyone, in the real life, often listens more than speaks, reads or writes We listen everywhere and every time We listen to everything and everybody For instance, at home, we listen to the news, watch films or talk with others At school, students listen to the lecturers teaching At a meeting, the staff listens to the new plan from the director, etc Without listening, the man becomes backward in each minute of their lives It is obvious that listening is really important in the real life As it is mentioned in the differences between hearing and listening, hearing is a part of five senses (hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and looking) but listening is a choice to hear and understand it As an integrative skill, listening plays an important role in the process of language learning or acquisition and facilitating the emergence of other language skill ` Furthermore, listening is the way of learning the language It gives the learner information from which to build up the knowledge necessary for using the language When this knowledge is built up, the learner can begin to speak The listening-only period is a time of observation and learning, which provides the basis for the other language skills Most learners will spend more time listening to the foreign language than producing it themselves Failing to understand spoken language, people may miss important information presented to them or respond in a funny way So training in listening is really necessary It helps students make the transition from classroom English to the real-life English more easily and effectively 2.1.3 Types of listening According to some authors, there are two ways of listening in the real life They are casual listening and focused listening depending on the purpose of listening One type of listening, casual listening, means listening without a particular purpose When we listen, we not pay much or even any attention to the information unless there is something that interests us Therefore, we hardly remember the content of what we hear Normally, we this kind of listening when we listen to music, or listen to news on the radio or TV while doing some housework or chatting to a friend Another type of listening is focused listening That is when we listen for a particular purpose to find out information we need to know It happens quite popularly in the real life In here, we listen with much more concentration and try to get as much information as possible However, we not listen to every word We know beforehand what we are going to listen so we only catch the most important information from the speech or the lecture In classroom, learners also use this type of listening 2.2 The setting of the study 2.2.1 The setting of the study The study was conducted at YD2HS Here, English is taught in classrooms with five parts: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Grammar within 37 weeks As we know, it is normal that there are about 38 to 42 students in peer classroom at high school They are different individuals in a class Different individuals may have different learning styles and different kinds of work They want to get different degrees of care and attention from the teacher It means that there are different reactions from students toward listening tasks From those If teacher realizes the differences among individuals in the class when they create an activity, the students will take part in the lesson actively 2.2.2 The students’ background and their English levels It can be easily seen that YD2HS is situated in Yen Truong commune, Yen Dinh district Most of the people here have medium living condition, so most Sts learn English with very simple ways They only learn English from their teacher at school These students have medium level, few also have low level Others, but not large amount of Sts with good living condition from their parents, find out some extra ways for learning English such as learning outside the school, using cassette, computer and cell phone to learn online or in an English center This group of the Sts has good knowledge It means that students' language level is different Therefore, teacher may have some difficulties in choosing a suitable teaching method, language and activity which are used in a class Besides, most of their families live on agriculture so that they not have the best conditions to learn English Moreover, they don’t have the habit of practicing listening skill to improve their vocabulary and communication It is grammar that is focused so that Ss can pass the exams 2.3 What are barriers when students listen English? 2.3.1 Environment The most obvious barrier to listening is the environment in which the listening is taking place If the environment is noisy or if there is a lot of background noise, it is going to be more challenging for the listener to hear what is being said If they cannot hear, it will be impossible for them to interpret it into identifiable words 2.3.2 Emotions If the Sts are distracted or not paying attention, this has the same effect as a noisy environment Similarly, if they are tired, upset, anxious or unmotivated Also, if they are not interested in the task or feel it is too easy or too difficult they won’t listen effectively 2.3.3 Habits If the Sts develop bad habit when it comes to listening, it will be challenging to break them For example, Sts may listen intently to try to hear and understand every word Usually it is more beneficial to listen for the general idea and try to comprehend big chunks of language rather than individual words 2.3.4 Spoken word recognition When a person speaks English, whole sentences can sound like one long word This make it almost impossible to process and understand This can be because of a mismatch between a spoken word and its written form or the speaker speaking very quickly As a result, listeners will mishear what is being said 2.3.5 Translation Sts may rely on translation to try to understand a listening text In other words, as they listen they are translating what they hear This is a very timeconsuming and ineffective strategy for comprehension 2.3.6 Language level Listeners may not understand what they are hearing simply because of their level of English They may not be familiar with the words being spoken and so be unable to identify them as words 2.3.7 Accent If a listener is not familiar with a speaker’s accent it will be very difficult for them to understand what they are hearing, even if the utilize effective listening strategies 2.3.8 Text length The longer a listening text is, the more information and language there is to process and the more difficult is to understand This is especially true if there are no breaks within the text 2.3.9 Topic If a topic of a listening text is complex or unfamiliar to the listener, it will difficult to9 understand That’s a lot of obstacles to prove that listening is a complex task and our Sts may not be successful because of these reasons 2.4 Suggestion for Sts The Sts want to learn the listening better, they themselves ought to try their best to change their bad habits of listening and to improve their background knowledge Today there are many ways to learn English, to improve your listening skills 2.4.1 Listening every day You should spend to 10 minutes or more to listen to a short English news 2.4.2 Focus on the message - Don't check every word in the dictionary According to the survey, most students had habits of listening to every word in the recording so they soon got tired and frustrated of listening As a consequence, they answered the listening tasks mainly by guessing but not by understanding the text It is not necessary for learners to understand every word in order to understand the information they need from the recording Therefore, learners should learn to focus on the message When listening, the learners should summarize the ideas they listen to and take notes They had better not translate the listening text into the mother tongue, but try to understand it in the target language 2.4.3 Learn to use all contextual clues possible to help you with what's being said For example, if watching a movie, think: Where are they? Who's there? What mood are they in? What does their body language tell you? What's around them? This stuff is important – language doesn't exist in a vacuum and your surroundings heavily influence what you say Likewise a lot goes unsaid in real life if it is evident from the context 2.4.4 Practice to get acquainted with the native accent Outside the listening class, students have to practice regularly such as listening to English songs, listening in VOA, watching foreign channels (such as: HBO, CINEMAX, you can watch the American films to improve your English listening comprehension) so as to get acquainted with the native accent in normal speech In addition, they must enrich themselves with general knowledge of the English speaking countries, English language, and social and cultural knowledge 2.5 Suggestions for teachers Given the importance of listening well to maximize success in and out of school, you might wonder if there are any guidelines for teaching it In reviewing research on listening comprehension, we have developed seven guidelines for instruction before, during, and after listening They are as follows: 2.5.1 Before Listening 2.5.1.1 Set a goal According to Funk and Funk (1989), it’s important to have a goal or purpose for every listening activity Stating a purpose will give students guidance to know where to focus, enabling them to achieve success 5.1.2 Build Background Help Sts connect what they already know with what they will hear in the audio story by asking questions about their personal experiences with the topic Explain what students need to understand before listening, preview vocabulary words, invite them to think about relevant prior knowledge, anticipate the subject of the story, or otherwise engage actively in preparing for the story 2.5.1.3 Prepare the Environment If playing the story out loud to the whole class, minimize distraction by making the environment at home or in school as quiet as possible Use headphones for listening when possible 2.5.1.4 Introduce Listening Strategies: Introduce tools and strategies for successful listening 2.5.2 While Listening 2.5.2.1 Scaffold Note-Taking Sts can use a listening organizer to help them focus on important ideas and details while listening to the story, which can help to deepen their understanding Listening organizers might include T-charts, Venn diagrams, or a blank page to keep track of a character’s actions in the story Such organizers can guide students in taking notes to help them focus their listening and teach them strategies to support comprehension in other contexts 2.5.2.2 Explain Problem-Solving Strategies If Sts not understand a word or concept, they can use clues from the story to make a guess If they are listening independently, they can stop the audio and think or listen again as needed to ensure understanding They can be “problem-solving listeners.” These strategies should be taught before Sts begin listening with reminders provided as needed 2.5.3 After Listening 2.5.3 Elicit the answer for the pre-assigned task 2.5.3 2.Give some more exercises or activities to check Sts’ understanding of the information included in the listening text 2.5.3.3 Ask some students to summarize what they have listened to (the main ideas) either orally or in writing Developing Sts’ listening comprehension is a challenge It depends both on the teacher’s and student’s attention Knowledge of the listening process and the steps to follow in teaching a listening lesson enable teachers to select, create and teach listening texts and activities in the way that meets the needs of their students Teachers should adapt the listening activities set in the textbooks to achieve the balance that mirrors the real-world integration of listening with speaking, reading and writing 2.6 Applying suggestions I began teaching class 10C5 and 10C8 since September, 2020 In some first lessons I taught listening skill based on the topics which are familiar to Sts I also taught this kill with three main stages pre, while and post stage sometimes I taught four stages consisting warm-up In particular, my curriculum includes the following subjects (I only teach 10 optional periods for the 1st term We only have English optional periods per week during the second term) - Topic 1: Daily routines - Topic 2: Activities at school - Topic 3: Famous scientists in the world (Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Newton…) - Topic 4: Smart phone in daily life - Topic 5: A visit to Ben En National Park (T designs and records on tape) - Topic 6: Animals at the zoo - Topic 7: Famous national parks in Vietnam - Topic 8: Music in my life - Topic 9: Cartoon films - Topic 10: The 2018 world cup - Topic 11: Facebook and its advantages and disadvantages - Topic 12: SARS- COVID- (watch for symptoms, when to check emergency medical attention, how to protect yourselves and others) - Topic 13: SARS- COVID- (What is the difference between Influenza (Flu) and SARS-COVID-2? MUSIC IN MY LIFE I/ Aims:    To develop speaking, listening, reading skills on the topic "music" To encourage children to express their own point of view and their ideas To enrich Sts’ outlooks II/ Equipment: ppt “Music in my life”, handouts, records, a poster III/ Procedure 1min GREETING Good morning, my dears I'm glad to see you Are you in a good mood today? If you are ready, let's begin our lesson So, the theme of our lesson is … MUSIC IN MY LIFE mins PUTTING THE AIMS OF THE LESSON WARMING-UP ACTIVITY Teacher: So let’s the music begin (Diana plays the violin)  What sort of music is it? (Classical)  Can you describe the music you have just listened to? (melodious, unforgettable, fascinating, relaxing…) each pupil give one word to characterize it  Do you know who the author of this music is  Are you interested in classical music? What kind of music are you really into? What role does it play in your life? mins mins mins LISTENING ACTIVITIES 4.1 Pre-listening activities  Vocabulary - Association (with): (explanation) - Instrument (n) (picture) - Teen (n) (picture and explanation) - Diverse (adj) (translation) - lounging music (explanation)  Checking vocab: Rub out and remember a) Let’s check how well you know music styles PPT “MUSIC STYLES” What are your associations with this music? (Adjectives) What musical instruments are used to play it? b) Do you play any musical instruments? Would you like to play any? If you were a musical instrument which one would you like to be? 4.2 While- listening activities b) Have a look at these teens and tell me where they are from c) Listen and fill in the chart and say what kind of music they enjoy Jeff Shibika Fred Lupe Rebecca Swinky mins all Indian English Jazz All Live Club music R&B, reggae, Bollywood music, nature music Children comment the information in the table d) Listen to the texts once again and say who says that a My tastes are so diverse (Swinky) b I like … nature music, like listening to whales listening to 10 10 mins c each other(Swinky) d If I just want to relax, I'll listen maybe to a little bit of jazz, blues, or just lounging music (Lupe) e and I like listening to English music as well (Shibika) f It really brings out so many great emotions in me (Fred) g It's also a way for me to relax and just enjoy my time(Fred) h every genre of music I have and the type of music I listen to depends on the type of mood I'm in(Jeff) i If I'm going out I love fast music so that I can dance (Lupe) j The music the I like best is the bands that play live in the pubs (Rebecca) Post- listening activities Do the test Underline the right variant (Children the test individually; give it to the teacher for checking The T shows the answers to the pupils.) 1) What does Jeff mention about music? a) Situations when he listens b) His favorite band c) Music he does not like 2) What does Shibika love to listen to? a) Rap and Hip-hop b) English podcasts c) Indian music 3) What is Fred's favorite music? a) Blues b) Jazz c) Folk 4) What does Lupe have? a) Favorite genres b) Favorite singers c) Favorite songs 5) What does Rebecca prefer? a) Live music b) Local radio c) Classic rock 6) What does Swinki like to listen to? a) The sounds of weather b) The sounds of whales c) Only R&B and hip-hop 7) What people talk about their moods? a) Shibika and Rebecca b) Swinki and Fred 11 c) Jeff and Lupe 8) Who talks about going out? a) Fred and Swinky b) Rebecca and Lupe c) Jeff and Shibika 9) Who has the most passion for one kind of music? a) Swinki b) Jeff c) Fred 10) What musical genre is never mentioned? a) Classical b) Reggae c) Heavy metal mins      Relaxing pause Do you remember who sings this song? (Lenka) Young singers become famous because their songs become hits Do you think this song is a hit? Why? Please, make the cluster with your associations for this song! (it’s rhythmic, catchy, repetitive, fun, exciting…) How does this song influence you? (it provokes my feelings and emotions; it helps me to relax…) mins SPEAKING ACTIVITIES a) Do you know anything about Lenka? B)CAN YOU ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS? What is her Lenka Kripac real name? When and 19 March 1978 (age 34) where was Sydney, Australia she born? What Alternative pop genres does she play? What is her Singer, songwriter, actress occupation ? What piano, trumpet instrument does she play? 12 When did she start her career? What are her singles (albums)? 2008 year single 2008 "The Show" 2009 "Trouble Is a Friend" album Lenka (2008) "Heart Skips a Beat" 2011 "Two" 2012 Two (2011) "Everything at Once" Ask me the questions are you interested in and want to get any information about Lenka (The teacher answer the questions) Now you know a lot about Lenka Who can tell us about her once again? (the pupils tell about Lenka in a chain and as the result one pupil sum up all the information) mins HOMEWORK Do you have your favourite singer or band? So, your home task is to create a page in your book about your favourite singer /band, according to the questions in the table about Lenka (appendix 5) mins ROUND UP ACTIVITIES Cinquain POP (CATCHY, EXCITING ATTRACTS, CHEERS UP, MAKES HAPPY HELPS US TO RELAX MOOD) Teacher: Dear students! I`m very grateful to you for the lesson 13 You`ve worked hard and I hope that when I check your tests I will put you only good and excellent marks! Good – buy! See you soon mins EMOTIONAL REFLECTION 2.7 Results This year, I taught 10C5 and 10C8 in the 10th grade All of these classes couldn’t well in listening skill After I applied some methods to boost them to listen in optional English periods The result is quiet satisfactory Class Time Exellent sts Quite good Average sts sts st The beginning of the1 term 1% 15 % 69 % st The end of the1 term 2% 20% 70 % st The beginning of the term 0% 5% 60 % The end of the1st term 1% 10 % 64 % Bad sts 10C5 10C5 10C8 10C8 15 % 8% 35 % 25 % Excellent : 9-10 points Quite good: 7-8 points Average: 5-6, points Bad: < points III CONCLUSION Limitations of the study Being one of teachers of English at YD2HS, I can see clearly the current situation of learning English listening skill here Therefore, I have carried out this with a view to finding out barriers encountered by the 10th form students However, to boost the situation is not easy and it needs a lot of time and T’s patience, enthusiasm as well as knowledge As I mentioned this study above, only some basic and simple ways are found out to motivate Sts to listen Suggestions for further research On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made 14 I hope that it will be decorated a lot of modern devices such as computer room and listening room for teaching and learning foreign language Teachers at high schools have more chance to meet and exchange their knowledge and their experiences in teaching `Last but not least, I hope that teachers never stop learning and finding out new methods in teaching English XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG Thanh Hóa, ngày 14 tháng năm ĐƠN VỊ 2021 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác Nguyễn Thị Luyến 15 REFERENCE Berman, M (2003) Listening strategy guide Dyed international Inc Brown, G (1992) Listening to Spoken English London: Longman Press Cohen, L & Manim, L (1998) Research methods in Education Croom Helm Cross, D (1998) Teach English Oxford: Oxford University Press Flowerdew, J and Miller, L (1996) Student perceptions, problems and strategies in second language lecture comprehension RELC Journal 23 (2), 60–80 Goh,C (1997) Metacognitive awareness and second language listeners ELT Journal 51 (4),361–9 Hasan, A (2000) Learners’ perceptions of listening comprehension problems Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13, 137-153 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the language classroom Oxford University Press Herron, C and Seay, I (1991) The effect of authentic aural texts on student listening comprehension in the foreign language classroom Foreign Language Annals 24, 487–95 10.Higgins, J.M.D (1995) Facilitating listening in second language classrooms through the manipulation of temporal variables Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Kent at Canterbury 11.https://www.slideshare.net/phamphi95/a-study-on-difficulties-andsolutions-in-english-listening-skill-of-the-secondyear-students-in-facultyof-foreign-language-at-utehy 12.https://www.theteflacademy.com/blog/2019/02/barriers-to-successfullistening/ Common barriers to successful listening 13.Rost, M (1994) Listening London: Longman 14.Weir, C & Robert, J (1994) Evaluation in ELT Oxford: Blackwell 15.Wenden, A (1986) What second language learners know about their language learning? A second look at retrospective account Applied Linguistics (2), 186–205 16.Willis, J (1981) Teaching English through English London: Longman 17.Yagang, F (1994) Listening: Problems and solutions In T Kral (ed.) Teacher Development: Making the Right Moves Washington, DC: English Language Programs Divisions, USIA 16 ABBREVIATE YD2HS: Yen Dinh High School Sts: students T: Teacher 17 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP PHÒNG GD&ĐT, CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Nguyễn Thị Luyến Chức vụ đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên – Trường THPT Yên Định Cấp Kết đánh giá đánh giá Năm học xếp loại TT Tên đề tài SKKN xếp loại đánh giá xếp (Phòng, (A, B, loại Sở, C) Tỉnh ) Improving speaking skill for Sở students in grade 11 in at Cam GD&ĐT C 2015 - 2016 Thuy High school through Thanh using pictures Hóa 18 ... of the the tenth -grade students at YD2HS and how to boost their listening skill though their optional periods? ?? With the thesis I hope that I will contribute my little experience to help my students. .. act of taking in a message and actually understanding what is being said rather than just reacting to it Think of these definitions to the word listening, what they have in common? • ? ?to pay attention... in this part such as the definition of English listening skill and its importance in communication 2. 1.1 Definition of listening Listening is one of the primary tools in communication It is the