CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Data analysis on the questionnaires for students
3.1.2. Students’ attitudes towards learning listening skill
15% 11.7%
6.7%
29.1%
37.5% Reading
Speaking Listening Writing
Language focus
Figure 2: Students’ favorite English lessons
Not surprisingly, language focus lessons ranks the first in term of students’
learning interest (37.5%). Second position is reading lessons. The overwhelming percentage of preference for language focus and reading lessons may be influenced by the curriculum and the test format, in which all the tasks prioritize checking reading comprehension and grammar points taught in language focus periods.
Listening lessons ranks the fourth only with 11.7% percentage of preference, lower than writing lessons (15% of the students) and higher in comparison with speaking lessons (6.7%).
In brief, almost all of the students were not interested in learning listening skill, but they preferred learning grammar, reading comprehension and vocabulary in order to complete their written tests and overcome their exams with fruitful outcomes. The results found may be influenced by the curriculum and the objectives of English teaching at the locality generally, and the school particularly as mentioned in the figure 1 above.
3.1.2.2. Students’ perception on the importance of learning listening
41.7%
24.2%
21.7%
12.4%
Very important Important
Not very important Not important at all
Figure 3: Students’ perception on the importance of learning listening skill As can be seen from the chart, most of the respondents thought that English listening skill was important to them. Of 120 students, 79 (accounting for 67.9%) acknowledged the crucial role of listening skills in learning English. However, only 11.7% of the respondents (shown in figure 2) like listening lessons. The rest of respondents (21.7%) found English listening comprehension was not quite important and only 12.4 % of students do not realized the significance of learning to listen English by responding to the option “not important at all”.
The results show that the majority of the students realized the significance of listening skill in their learning English, which is inconsistent with the findings in figure 2. Students neglected listening skill even though they recognized its importance, which can be expounded to some extent in the next part when investigating factors affecting students’ listening learning attitudes.
3.1.2.3. Students’ amount of time practicing listening
36.7%
23,3%
20% 20%
Every day Sometimes Only in class Never
Figure 4: Students’ amount of time practicing listening English
The chart indicates that a relatively large proportion of the respondents just practiced listening in class. Ranking the second was the alternative “sometimes”, 28 of 120 students, accounting for 23.3%.
Accidentally, the number of respondents drilled listening skill every day and the number of those never did this was the same (24 students, accounting for 20%).
In a word, a larger proportion of the students just practiced listening skill to follow the curriculum; the reason might lie in the fact that they covered this skill because it was a compulsory. Only 20% of the respondents spent time on training listening skill every day, perhaps it was because they were really interested in learning this skill.
3.1.2.4. Students’ behaviors in listening lessons
Items Strongly
Agree (%)
Agree
(%)
Disagree
(%)
Strongly Disagree
(%) 1. I do private things during
listening lessons 11.6 20.0 29.2 39.2
2. I enthusiastically raise my
answers to my teacher’s questions 15 20 40 25
3. I try to pass listening tasks when the teacher does not pay attention to me
5 15 24.2 55.8
4. I always pay attention to my
teacher’s lecture 52.5 29.2 12.4 5.9
5. I actively participate in
listening activities 14.2 31.7 44.1 10
Figure 5: Students’ behaviors in listening lessons
As shown in the table, it seems to be that almost all students had a positive attitude in listening lessons. Specifically, 82 of 120 (making up 68.5%) participants did not do private things in listening lessons, and only 31.5% of them did not pay
attention to their teacher’s lecture, but did other things.
Surprisingly, 80% of the respondents disagreed with the statement “I try to pass listening tasks when the teacher does not pay attention to me”. It means that they made efforts to complete all listening tasks given in the textbook and by their teachers.
Next, 98 of 120 respondents, making up to 81.7%, gave heed to their teachers conveying listening lessons. There were merely 22 students among 120 ones did not concern with their teachers’ listening lectures.
Nevertheless, responding to item 2, only 35% of the participants excitedly raised their answers to their teacher’s questions while 65% of them were not active in giving answers. Moreover, the results from item 5 reveal that more than a half of the students (54.1) were passive in listening lessons and it was unexpected that only 14.2% of students participated enthusiastically in the listening activities. Here appeared a contradiction in the results found from this figure and the figure 2, 3, 4.
In short, based on the results collected from question 5, it was likely that most respondents had positive behaviors in listening classes. Specifically, they paid much attention to their teacher’s lecturing and did not do private things during listening lessons. In opposition to their positive behaviors, most of the students expressed to be passive in giving answers to teacher’s questions and joining listening activities.
3.1.2.5. Students’ feelings in listening lessons
Items Strongly
Agree (%)
Agree
(%)
Disagree
(%)
Strongly Disagree
(%) 1. I am excited because I always give
correct answers to listening tasks 14.2 11.7 64.1 10 2. I am confident in giving answers
to listening tasks 20 40 17.5 22.5
3. I have good feelings in listening 17.5 22.5 20 40
lessons
4. I hate learning listening skill 30.8 54.1 4.1 11 5. I am nervous when being called to
response to my teacher’s questions 40 25 15 20
6. I find learning listening skill a
waste of time 41.7 24.2 15 19.1
Figure 6: Students’ feelings in listening lessons
Concerning the feelings of students in listening lessons, the table shows that students had unresponsive attitudes in listening classes. 65 respondents (74.1%) disagreed that they were excited because they always gave correct answers for listening tasks. Making up a smaller proportion, 25.9% of participants felt enthusiastic giving answers during listening lessons, among whom there were only 17 students possessing really enthusiastic mood.
Astonishingly enough, 60% of the students were confident to give answers for listening tasks and 40% of them were not. There should be a need to study these results when most of the subjects were confident enough to give the answers for listening tasks, they did not feel good during the listening lessons (60%) and they hated learning listening skill (84.9%). Moreover, they felt nervous (65%) when being called to present their opinions though they dared to give the answers for listening tasks and the same percentage of the respondents found learning listening skill a waste of time.
3.1.3. Students’ perception on factors affecting their attitudes towards