Improving Listening skill for grade 9 at The Asian High School, Cao Thang Campus

I wrote the research of “Improving Listening skill for grade 9 at The Asian High School, Cao Thang Campus”. To support my graduation from The Saigon International School and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan – my instructor. My study did not only my support my graduation but also help other people have a look English language. Everyone can read my research, especially new teachers and students who have difficulties in teaching English for students grade 9 at The Asian High School and studying English.

DECLARATION

I am Nguyen Hoang Lam declare that the work presented in this Graduation Thesis is uniquely prepared by me

This is my research about “Improving Listening skill for grade 9 at the Asian High School (AHS) I declare that my research do not copy from other All the information used in my research are cited from books and website with specific sourses

Name: Nguyen Hoang Lam

Student ID: 97011501027

Course: 8 – Class: 15DTA

Major: English Language

The Saigon International University

Date submitted: ………

Signed: ………

ABTRACT

I wrote the research of “Improving Listening skill for grade 9 at The Asian High School, Cao Thang Campus” To support my graduation from The Saigon International School and Mr Nguyen Thanh Tuan – my instructor My study did not only my support my graduation but also help other people have a look English language Everyone can read

my research, especially new teachers and students who have difficulties in teaching English for students grade 9 at The Asian High School and studying English

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have received many helps before I completed my thesis proposal

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Nguyen Thanh Tuan who helped and encouraged, guided and willing motivated me from the beginning to the end of this work

Secondly, I would like to appreciation The Saigon International University for providing

me a professional environment and facilities of studying, and all teachers in the English Language major for giving enthusiasm and sympathies that help me finish this research

In addition, because of my limited nuts and bolts, and mistakes which hardly avoided, so

I believe to receive advices from teachers to make my study more perfect

I really thank to all people helping me to finish this graduating thesis

Best regard,

Nguyen Hoang Lam

INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENT

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Contents

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Statement of the problem 1

2 Purpose of the study 1

3 Significance of the research 1

4 Research questions 1

5 Limitation 2

6 Scope 2

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

1 Definitions of key terms 3

1.1 What is the Listening skill: 3

1.2 Difficulties: 3

1.3 Problems: 3

1.4 Solutions: 4

Keep an open mind 5

2 Reviews previous works 9

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 12

3.1 Research Design 12

3.2 Procedures 12

3.3 Participants 13

3.4 Sample Selection 13

3.5 Material Techniques 13

3.6 Data Collection: 13

3.7 Reliability and Validity 14

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 15

Translating Creates a Barrier Between Yourself and the Person Who Is Speaking 19

Most People Repeat Themselves 19

Use Key Words 20

Listen for Context 20

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 22

REFERENCES 23

APPENDIX 25

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem

1.1 Nowadays, English becomes the main language in around the world when you communicate Listening is one of the most important skills that people can use for communiate each other and listen something they want However, some Vietnamese students in secondary school still get some difficulties in listening when they participate

in the exam,test in class and listening homeworks

1.2 Since this problem happens to most Vietnamese students I decided to choose this topic:”Improving the Listening skill for the grade 9 at Asian High School (AHS)”

2 Purpose of the study

This research is aimed to find out the mistakes students at Asian High School (AHS) usually have while they have a Listening test Since their faults happen quite a lot when they build an academic essay, this research also gives students best methods to improve their listening skills Because of serious misunderstanding between vocabularies,

grammars and styles of person speaking and the accent, this research points out types of person speaking, accent, and style which are demonstrated in this study as well

3 Significance of the research

This research bases on my recent survey It illustrates how an academic essay is Listen Common mistake of Listening in English will be shown in this research It is very important for first year students who are non – English majored to work on their writing

mistakes

4 Research questions

What problems do Asian High School grade 9 students get with Listening skill? Why do they get into problems with Listening?

How do they improve their Listening skills?

5 Limitation

Limitation of the study

This study is applied to the secondary students who are not good at Listening in The Asian High School (AHS)

6 Scope

Scope of the study

The object of this research is the secondary students about Listening skills

Summary

I have to teach and enjoy time at The Asian High School This is my research about

“How to improving the listening skill for grade 9 students at The Asian High School”

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Definitions of key terms

1.1 What is the Listening skill:

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process

Listening is key to all effective communication Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood As a result, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated

If there is one communication skill you should aim to master, then listening is it

(Remen,2018)

1.2 Difficulties:

Secondary students have some problems when they join in the exam with some reasons they cannot hear the speaking-file clearly and they misunderstanding

1.3 Problems:

The evidence that shows why listening is difficult comes mainly from four sources: the message to be listened to, the speaker, the listener, and the physical setting (Yagang,n.d) Listening is the weakest skill for many leaners To improve your listening, you first need

to know what your learning problem are (Ruth,2018)

1.3.1 - There are too many new words : This is what I was referring to above The real problem is not necessarily your listening ability Either you need to increase your vocabulary or choose easier listening materials

1.3.2 - People speak too fast: Here I'm getting at the changes that happen in fast, natural speech In English, we use a lot of connected speech and miss out a lot of sounds

1.3.3 - They cannot hear what people say: This is one of two things - the extreme version is where it's just a stream of sounds and you can barely pick anything out

Another problem might be that you're unable to hear familiar words This could again be because of changes we make words when we say them in fast, natural speech

1.3.4 - They can hear but they do not understand: This is where you can hear a lot words but you're not getting the overall message, or you're missing key words and so not understanding It might also be because you're focusing too much on trying to hear and understand every words, instead or using listening strategies to compensate when you do not hear anything (just like we do in our native language)

(Ruth,2018)

1.4 Solutions:

In today's high-tech, high-speed, high-stress world, communication is more important then ever, yet we seem to devote less and less time to really listening to one another Genuine listening has become a rare gift—the gift of time It helps build relationships, solve problems, ensure understanding, resolve conflicts, and improve accuracy At work, effective listening means fewer errors and less wasted time At home, it helps develop resourceful, self-reliant kids who can solve their own problems Listening builds

friendships and careers It saves money and marriages (Schilling,2012)

They have ten steps solutions for this problem (Schilling,2012)

Face the speaker and maintain eye contact

Talking to someone you need to look at them when you talk, it is call “eyes contact” How much of the person’s divided attention you are actually getting? If the person who were your child or your friends you might demand “Look at me when I’m talking to you”, But that is not the sort of thing we say to a lover or colleague (Schilling,2012)

Be attentive, but relaxed

Now that you have made eye contact, you need to relax when you were talking with them You do not have to look at their face during your story or your conversation You can look at around and keep talk like a normal person But the most important thing is to

be attentive during talking

 Be present

 Give attention

 Apply or direct yourself

 Remain ready to serve

Enough the background and sounds around you In addition, try not to focus on the

speaker’s accent or speech because this was the reason why you lost attention Finally, do not be distracted by your thought, feelings or biases (Schilling,2012)

Keep an open mind

“Listen without judging the other person or mentally criticizing the things she tells you” When everything, which she talked to you, made you feel uncomfortable or made you

confused, do not say to yourself “Well, that was a stupid move” If you indulge in

judgmental bemusements, that was you not a listener

Listen without jumping to the conclusions Remember that the speaker when they talked

to you, they said what they thought and they feelings inside their brain You do not know what they thought and their feelings are and the best way for you to be a good listener (Schilling,2012)

Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying

Allow your mind to create a new thing from the information being communicated

Whether a black picture, or an arrangement of abstract concepts, your brain will do the necessary work when you stay focus with the fully senses

When you listen from the speaker talk to you, you do not spend time for planning what to say next You cannot prepare and listen at the same time Think only about what the speaker is talking

At the end, stay focus on what is being said, even it bores you If your thoughts start not focus, immediately force yourself to refocus (Schilling,2012)

Don't interrupt and don't impose your "solutions."

Children used to be taught that it is rude to interrupt Certainly, the majority of tv shows, where loud, aggressive, in your face behavior is condoned, if not encouraged

Interrupting messages were send a variety:

 You less important than me

 Anything I have to say is more interesting, accurate or relevant

 What you think, I do not care

 I do not have time for you

If you are absolutely have a bright solution, at least you need to ask the speaker first

“would you like to hear my ideas?” This is the way to make the speaker pay attention to your idea and feel polite (Schilling,2012)

Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions

In the conversation, when you do not understand what they talk to you, of course you should ask the speaker to explain, but you cannot jump in wait until the speaker pauses Then say something like “I do not understand what you just say about… / Can you

explain? I do not understand…” (Schilling,2012)

Try to feel what the speaker is feeling

When you listen the story from the speaker, if you feel sad and the person with whom you are talking expresses sadness, happiness when she expresses happy, fearful when she describes her fears – those feelings through your facial expressions and words Empathy with the speaker by heart and soul, you are a good listener (Schilling,2012)

On the other hand, Harvey Deutschendorf said we tend to pay a great deal of attention to

our ability to speak From Toastmasters to an unlimited amount of course, workshops, and training available we see that speaking, especially public speaking, is a highly

desirable, sought-after skill.(Deutschendorf,2014)

Put yourself in their shoes

You agree with the speaker or interest in what they are saying is important to them Imagine you are in their situation, want only to have someone listen to them When they

are speaking try to listen where they come from and why Imagine what their life is like and what their life is like People will appreciate that you made the effort to understand and hear them (Deutschendorf,2014)

Pick up key points and let the speaker know you did

Many people cannot stay focus on the speech for longer than a minute or so It is easy for our attention to move on something else that we might find more interesting If you lost your attention, try to find something or some main idea of the speech After they finish talking, let them know that you heard about them, let’s show them few key points you heard them say and ask them to explain what problems you do not

understand clearly You will be forgiven for not following the whole conversation, because the speaker believes that you made an honest effort (Deutschendorf,2014)

Practice active listening

Most people are thinking of how they are going to reply when someone is talking Instead of doing that, try to focus completely on what the person is saying Pretend that you will be tested on how much of what they were saying you heard and understood A good exercise to practice is to sit down with a family member or a good friend and practice simply giving feedback to them of what you heard them say You will notice that it gets much easier to focus on their words when you aren’t worrying about how you will respond (Deutschendorf,2014)

Show the speaker you are listening

It is possible to listen without showing the emotions on your face Visibly and audibly demonstrating that we are listening, interested in what is being said, as important as the listening itself But during the conversation the key is to provide appropriate feedback,

this is the signal you show them you are in their conversation Here are some of the things

we can do to confirm to others that we are listening:

 Head nods

 Leaning forward

 Maintaining eye contact

 Taking notes when appropriate

 Verbal affirmation (asking questions of clarification, answering questions posed by the speaker when appropriate, and brief affirmations like “mrm-hrm”)

By contrast, here are many of the things we do, deliberately or not, which imply to others that we are not listening:

 Crossing our arms

 Fidgeting

 Multitasking

 Leaning away from the speaker

 Failing to make steady eye contact

 Failing to answer questions posed by the speaker (Valdes,2018)

 Pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal messages

Pay attention to the speaker body language is just as important as paying attention to the

words (Valdes,2018)

2 Reviews previous works

Fan Yagang worked:

The Speaker

Ur (1984:7) points out that “in ordinary conversation or even in much extempore speech-making or lecturing we actually say a good deal more than would appear to be necessary

in order to convey our message Redundant utterances may take the form of repetitions, false starts, re-phrasings, self-corrections, elaborations, tautologies, and apparently

meaningless additions such as I mean or you know.” This redundancy is a natural feature

of speech and may be either a help or a hindrance, depending on the students’ level It may make it more difficult for beginners to understand what the speaker is saying; on the other hand, it may give advanced students more time to “tune in” to the speaker’s voice and speech style

Learners tend to be used to their teacher’s accent or to the standard variety of British or American English They find it hard to understand speakers with other accents

Spoken prose, as in news broadcasting and reading aloud written texts, is characterized by

an even pace, volume, pitch, and intonation Natural dialogues, on the other hand, are full

of hesitations, pauses, and uneven intonation Students used to the former kinds of

listening material may sometimes find the latter difficult to understand

The Listener

Foreign-language students are not familiar enough with clichés and collocations in

English to predict a missing word or phrase They cannot, for example, be expected to know that rosy often collocates with cheeks nor to predict the last word will be something like rage when they hear the phrase he was in a towering… This is a major problem for students