An investigation into difficulties in learning english listeing skill at tan ky high school masters thesis in education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ THUẦN AN INVESTIGATION INTO DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL AT TANKY HIGH SCHOOL MASTER‟S THESIS IN EDUCATION i Nghệ An, 2014STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL AT TAN KY HIGH SCHOOL is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Education at Vinh University I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Author Nguyễn Thị Thuần ii ABSTRACT Listening skill is one of the most necessary skills to communicate in the real life In learning a foreign language, it is more and more important to learn this skill Everybody knows that in order to listen to a message is not as simple as hearing it, so the listener has to understand the message and responde in the right manner Realizing the problems from teaching experiences, the author would like to a research titled An investigation into difficulties in learning English listening skill at Tan Ky high school The thesis study the subjective and objective difficulties of the students in learning the listening skill Then, it would like to find out the reasons for those problems and the sollutions for both teachers and learners in teaching and learning the listening skill Therefore, the author applied the qualitative method and descriptive method to the research So the collecting data instruments like questionnaires was used to the study The results of the research point out the difficulties that students meet when they learn the listening skill in the Tan Ky high school More importantly, it helps the author find out the causes of those difficulties so that she can work out the right solutions to the problems With the hope of improving students‟ listening competence, the author has tried her best to this thesis on her own experiences and knowledge in English teaching methodology iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My MA graduation thesis has been completed with a lot of encouragement and support from my teachers, students, colleagues and family I would like to express my deep great thank to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong, for his indispensable and useful advice, suggestions and support for this thesis And I wish to thank many teachers for having taught me the subjects in the MA TESOL course carefully and given me lots of useful advice so that I could get more background knowledge to complete this thesis I also wish to send my sincere thanks to the students of the classes I visited in order to gather information for my survey questionnaire Without their help, this study could not have been successful I am indebted to my friends, my classmates, as well as my colleagues for their invaluable comments and criticism and also for their continued interest and encouragement Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to family members whose support and encouragement greatly contributed to the completion of my study iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as Foreign Language FL: foreign language GE: General English L1: first language L2: second language v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1 Students‟ attitudes towards English listening 34 Table 4.2 The difficulties in terms of English vocabulary 37 Table 4.3 The difficulties in terms of grammar 38 Table 4.4 The difficulties related to lack of background knowledge 39 Table 4.5 The difficulties due to lack of listening skills 40 Table 4.6 Rank order of difficulties in English listening 42 Table 4.7 Students‟ views of sources of difficulties 43 Table 4.8 The students‟ needs for English listening materials and equipment .48 Table 4.9 The students‟ needs for teachers‟ methodology .49 Figure 4.1 Students‟ attitudes towards English listening 35 Figure 4.2 Causes of difficulties from materials 44 Figure 4.3 Causes of difficulties from teachers .45 Figure 4.4 Causes of difficulties from students .46 Figure 4.5 Causes of difficulties from the physical setting .47 vi vii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale 1.2.The aim of the study 1.3.Research questions 1.4.The scope of the study 1.5 The organization of the study .3 CHAPTER 2:THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous students related to the topic 2.2 Theoretical background 2.2.1 Listening and listening comprehension 2.2.1.1 Definition of listening 2.2.1.2 The Importance of Listening Skills 2.2.1.3.Types of listening 10 2.2.1.4 Factors involved in listening comprehension .12 2.2.2 Listening difficulties for students at high schools 14 2.2.2.1 Linguistics problem 14 2.2.2.2 Listening skill problems .14 2.2.2.3 Other difficulties 16 2.2.3 Causes of difficulties in L2 listening 17 2.2.3.1 Low motivation 17 2.2.3.2 Insufficient listening skill .18 viii 2.2.3.3 Lack of background knowledge 21 2.2.3.4 Listening material .22 2.2.3.5 Teaching methods 23 2.2.3.6 Heterogeneous classes 23 2.2.4 Overview of the “Tieng Anh 11” Textbook 25 2.2.4.1 General Description .25 2.2.4.2 Objectives and Approaches to the Textbook Development 25 2.2.4.3 Teaching Approaches of the “Tieng Anh 11” Textbook .26 2.2.5 Summary 27 CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research questions .29 3.2 The setting of the study 29 3.2.1 The institution 29 3.2.2 The students 30 3.2.3 The teachers 30 3.3 The participants 31 3.4 Data collection instrument 31 3.5 Data collection procedure 33 3.6 Data analysis 33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 4.1 Overview 34 4.2 Findings and discussions 34 4.2.1 Students' attitudes towards learning English listening 34 4.2.2 Students' perception of English listening difficulties 36 4.2.2.1 Difficulties with vocabulary .36 4.2.2.2 Difficulties with Grammar 37 4.2.2.3 Difficulties related to Lack of Background Knowledge 39 4.2.2.4 Difficulties due to Lack of Listening Skills 40 4.2.2.5 Rank order of English listening difficulties 41 ix 4.2.3 Causes of difficulties .42 4.2.3.1 The listening materials 43 4.2.3.2 The teachers 44 4.2.3.3 The students 45 4.2.3.4 The physical setting 46 4.2.4 The students‟ expectation in terms of materials 47 4.2.5 The students‟ expectation in terms of methodology .48 4.3 Sub- conclusion 50 4.4 Suggested solutions to learn English listening skills at Tan Ky high school 50 4.4.1 Increasing students‟ listening interest and motivation 51 4.4.1.1 Making English listening interesting 51 4.4.1.2 Using visual aids in teaching listening 52 4.4.2 Raising students‟ awareness of the usefulness of English 54 4.4.3 Training students to become efficient listeners .54 4.4.3.1 Making students aware of the nature of the listeninging process 54 4.4.3.2 Making students aware of the purposes of listening 54 4.4.3.3 Teaching students different listening strategies 55 4.4.3.4 Encouraging students to develop extensive listening habit 56 4.4.4 Improving teachers‟ classroom techniques and subject background knowledge .56 4.4.4.1 Suggested Activities for English listening 56 4.4.4.2 Improving teachers‟ professional knowledge .62 4.5 Summary 62 CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION 63 5.1 Summary of the findings 63 5.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 63 5.3 Suggested further research 64 REFERENCES 65 APPENDIX A 69 APPENDIX B 76 x 35 Olaofe, I A (1994), "Teaching Listening Comprehension in Large Classes", JALT Journal, Vol 32, 4, pp 10-12 36 O'Malley, J.M, Chamot, A.U & Kupper, L (1989), "Listening Comprehension Strategies in Second Language Acquisition", Applied Linguistics, Vol 10, No 4, pp 418-437 37 Oxford, R (1990), Language learning strategies What every teacher should know, New York: Newbury House Publishers 38 Stern, H.H (1983), Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press 39 Richards, J.C (1985),Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Longman Group UK Limited Second Edition 40 Richards, J.C (1990), The Language Teaching Matrix Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 41 Rixon, S (1986), Developing Listening Skills, London and Basingstoke: Macmillan 42 Rost, M (1994), Listening, London: Longman 43 Rubin, J (1994), "A Review of Second Language Listening Comprehension Research", Modern Language Journal 78, pp 199-221 44 Underwood, M (1989), Teaching Listening, London and New York: Longman 45 Ur, P (1992), Teaching Listening Comprehension, Cambridge University Press 46 Ur, P (1996), A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge University Press 47 Yagang, F (1993), "Listening: problems and solutions", English Teaching Forum In Kral, Th (Ed), Teacher Development, Making the Right Movies (pp 189-196), English Language Programs Division, United States Information Agency, Washington, D.C C Additional Reference: 48 Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoolSpeech 68 APPENDIX A Questionnaire for students This questionnaire is designed for my research into difficulties in learning English listening skills for the 11th form students in Tan Ky high school Your assistance in completing the survey is appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data * How long have you been learning English? * What is your average mark of English in 10th graders? ……………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! Section A: Do you agree with these? Question 1: I find it important to learn listening skills □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree Question 2: I find it difficult to understand the listening texts □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree Question 3: I enjoy listening lessons □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree Section B: Here are some of difficulties you may encounter when listening a listening lesson Please tick the appropriate box according to the level of difficulties you have Very difficult (VD) Difficult (D) 69 Easy (E) Very easy (VE) Question 4: Difficulties with vocabulary VD D E VE □ □ □ □ 4b I find it difficult to memorize the key words □ □ □ □ 4c I find it difficult to listen to the speakers' □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ 4a I find it difficult to understand the words in the contexts pronunciation 4d I have troubles in using the synonyms( such as: "kid" for "child" ) 4e I have troubles in using the homophones( such as: right and write, meet and meat ) 4f Others (Please indicate here) ………………………………….……………… Question 5: Difficulties with Grammar 5a I don’t remember all grammatical structures that I have learnt and this makes it difficult to understand the content of the text 70 5b If the sentence is a new grammatical structure in □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ VD D E VE □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ the text I not understand its meaning 5c Long sentences are difficult for me to understand their meanings 5d Others (Please indicate here) ………………………………….……………… Question 6: Difficulties related to Lack of Background Knowledge 6a I find it difficult to understand the content of unfamiliar professional topics 6b I find I don’t have enough professional knowledge related to the topics 6c I find it difficult to understand authentic materials 6d Others (Please indicate here) ………………………………….……………… 71 Question 7: Difficulties due to Lack of Reading Skills VD D E VE 7a.I find it difficult to find out the key words of the text □ □ □ □ 7b.I find it difficult to find out the main ideas of the □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ 7e I find it difficult to concentrate on the listening text □ □ □ □ 7f I have difficulties in catching up with the speed and □ □ □ □ text 7c I find it difficult to summarize the mains ideas of a listening text 7d I don’t know how to answer comprehension questions of a listening text the accent of the native speakers 7g Others (Please indicate here) ………………………………… 72 Section C Question 8: Please indicate what possible sources of your problems in English listening YES NO 8a.The texts are very too long and many unfamiliar words □ □ 8b The texts are full of new and complex grammar □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ 8f The teacher is too strict and demanding □ □ 8g I lack confidence and motivation □ □ 8h I lack vocabulary □ □ 8i I lack knowledge about the topics I am listening □ □ structures 8c Some texts are unfamiliar topics, which makes us difficult to understand 8d The teacher doesn’t teach us sufficient listening strategies 8e The teacher doesn’t give us sufficient practice of grammar and vocabulary 73 8k The equipment such as CD players is in bad condition □ □ 8l It is difficult for me to concentrate with noises around □ □ 8m Others ( Please indicate here) …………………………… Question 9: To make your listening easier, what you think must be adjusted in the listening materials and the equipment ( choose as many as possible) 9a Listening texts should be more related to my life □ 9b Listening texts should be shorter and more motivating □ 9c Listening texts should have a limited number of new words □ 9d Using more modern technology or facilities: computers, CDs, □ cassettes, ect 9e Using more supplementary references to improve listening skill 9f Others ( Please indicate here) ………………………………………………………… 74 □ Question 10: To help you listen better, what in your opinion you expect from the teachers? (Choose as many as possible) 10a I expect the teacher to design more interesting and suitable □ listening tasks to students’ levels 10b I expect the teacher to give and carefully explain vocabulary □ 10c I expect the teacher to explain carefully grammatical structures □ in the texts 10d I expect the teacher to provide us more background knowledge □ related to the topics we are working on 10e I want the teacher to guide and instructing students how to listen and the task, emphasize the purposes or key words( equip you with necessary strategies in listening) 10g Others ( Please indicate here) ………………………………………………………… Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire 75 □ APPENDIX B PHIÕU §IÒU TRA NGHI£N CøU Bảng câu hỏi nhằm phục vụ nghiên cứu tìm hiểu khó khăn việc học nghe tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thơng Tân Kì ngun nhân gây khó khăn Các câu trả lời mà bạn cung cấp quan trọng cơng trình nghiên cứu Dữ liệu điều tra sử dụng cho việc nghiên cứu, không mục đích khác (Chỉ có người nghiên cứu biết câu trả lời bạn mong bạn trả lời theo suy nghĩ mình.) Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Xin bạn vui lòng cho biết: * Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi? * Điểm trung bình mơn tiếng Anh lớp 10 bạn bao nhiêu? Phần A: Bạn có đồng ý với ý kiến sau không ? Câu hỏi 1: Tôi thấy học tiếng Anh quan trọng □ Hoàn toàn đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Không đồng ý □ Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Câu hỏi 2: Tơi thấy khó để hiểu nghe □ Hồn tồn đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Khơng đồng ý □ Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Câu hỏi 3: Tơi thích học nghe □ Hồn tồn đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Khơng đồng ý □ Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Phần B: Dưới làm số khó khăn bạn thường gặp q trình học nghe mơn tiếng Anh Bạn cho biết khó khăn mà bạn gặp theo mức độ: Rất khó (RK) Khó (K) Dễ (D) 76 Rất dễ (RD) Câu hỏi 4: Khó khăn từ vựng RK K D RD 4a Tơi thấy khó để hiểu từ ngữ cảnh □ □ □ □ 4b Tơi thấy khó khăn nghi nhớ từ khóa □ □ □ □ 4c Tơi thấy khó nghe phát âm người □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ nói 4d Tơi gặp khó khăn sử dụng từ đồng âm( như: kid child ) 4e Tơi thấy khó nghe từ đồng âm( right write, meet meat ) 4f Các ý kiến khác: ……………………………… Câu hỏi 5: Khó khăn ngữ pháp 5a Tơi khơng nhớ hết tất cấu trúc ngữ pháp học điều gây khó khăn cho tơi việc hiểu nội dung nghe 77 RK K D RD □ □ □ □ 5b Tôi không hiểu nghĩa câu □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ cấu trúc ngữ pháp nghe 5c Tơi thấy khó hiểu nghĩa câu văn dài 5d Các ý kiến khác: ……………………………… Câu hỏi 6: Khó khăn liên quan đến kiến thức chung 6a Tơi thấy khó khăn để hiểu nội dung RK K D RD □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ chủ đề khơng quen 6b Tơi thấy thân khơng đủ kiến thức liên quan đến vấn đề mà tơi học 6c Tơi thấy khó để hiểu tài liệu nguyên 6d Các ý kiến khác ………………………………….……………… 78 Câu hỏi 7: Khó khăn thiếu kỹ nghe hiểu 7a.Tơi thấy khó để tìm từ khóa RK K D RD □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ nghe hiểu 7b Tơi thấy khó để tìm ý nghe hiểu 7c Tơi thấy khó để tóm tắt ý nghe hiểu 7d Tôi cách trả lời câu hỏi nghe hiểu 7e.Tôi thất khó tập trung vào nghe 7f Tơi thấy khó để bắt kịp với tốc độ nghe giọng người ngữ 7g Các ý kiến khác: ……………………………… 79 Phần C Câu hỏi 8: Bạn cho biết nguyên nhân gây khó khăn việc nghe hiểu tiếng Anh ĐÚNG SAI 8a Các đọc dài có nhiều từ khơng quen thuộc □ □ 8b Các nghe nhiều cấu trúc ngữ pháp phức tạp □ □ 8c Một số nghe có chủ đề khơng thân thuộc điều làm □ □ □ □ □ □ 8f Giáo viên khắt khe yêu cầu cao □ □ 8g Tôi đủ tự tin động để học tiếng Anh □ □ 8h Tôi thiếu vốn từ vựng □ □ 8i Tôi thiếu kiến thức chủ đề học □ □ 8k Các thiết bị đài, đĩa khơng tốt □ □ cho tơi thấy khó nghe 8d Giáo viên không dạy đầy đủ kỹ nghe hiểu 8e Giáo viên không tổ chức hoạt động cho luyện tập ngữ pháp từ vựng 80 8l Những tiếng ồn xung quanh làm tập trung □ □ 8m Các ý kiến khác: ……………………………… Câu hỏi Để giúp bạn nghe hiểu tiếng Anh dễ dàng hơn, theo bạn sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh, trang thiết bị dạy học nên điều chỉnh bổ sung nào? (Bạn đánh dấu vào sau tuỳ ý) 9a Các nghe hiểu nên gắn liền với sống □ 9b Các nghe hiểu nên ngắn tạo hứng thú □ 9c Nên sử dụng công nghệ trang thiết bị đại: máy tính, đài, □ đĩa v v 9d Sử dụng tài liệu tham khảo để cải thiện kĩ nghe □ 9f Các ý kiến khác: □ ………………………………………………………… 81 Câu hỏi 10 Để giúp bạn học nghe tiếng Anh tốt bạn mong điều giáo viên việc dạy nghe hiểu (Bạn đánh dấu vào ô sau tuỳ ý) 10a Tôi hi vọng giáo viên thiết kế nhiều tập thú vị phù hợp □ với trình độ học sinh 10b Tôi muốn giáo viên cung cấp giải thích kĩ từ vựng □ 10c Tơi muốn giáo viên giải thích cách cẩn thận cấu trúc ngữ □ pháp 10d Tôi muốn giáo viên cung cấp cho biết thêm kiến thức □ liên quan đến chủ đề mà học 10e Tôi muốn giáo viên hướng dẫn cho cách nghe để làm tập, mong giáo viên nhấn mạnh đến từ khóa( trang bị cho cách nghe hiểu) 10h Các ý kiến khác ……………………………………………………… Cám ơn hợp tác bạn! 82 □ ... skill in English She would like to present the thesis ? ?An investigation into difficulties in learning English listening skills at TanKy high school" She chooses this matter due to the following...Nghệ An, 2014STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL AT TAN KY HIGH SCHOOL is the result... the participants (97% including 69%SA and 28%A) considered listening an important skill considered reading an important skill in learning English Only 3% did not find listening important None of