DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS a CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT FFL IN INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ---    --- GRADUATIONTHESIS DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH MAJORED F

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-     -

GRADUATIONTHESIS

DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT FFL IN INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

STUDENT: NGUYEN THI DUY ANH

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-     -

GRADUATIONTHESIS

DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING LISTENING SKILLS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT FFL IN INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

STUDENT: NGUYEN THI DUY ANH

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Supervisor Name : Nguyen Thi Thoang, M.A

Student’s declaration: I declare that this graduation report is entirely my own work

and does not involve in plagiarism or collusion It also has not been accepted as part

of a submission to another purpose else where I accept heavy penalty for any cheating or plagiarism

Date submitted : 29/05/2022

Signed : ………

Word count : 7407 words

information about students' listening problems As a result, the study will analyze some

difficulties in the listening of English majored first-year students at the Industrial University of HCM City that are related to linguistics such as vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, accents and intonation, background knowledge and unfamiliar topics, psychological barriers, and the length and speed rate of speech

Keywords: Difficulties in listening, English-majored freshmen, listening to English

It brings me great joy and pleasure to express my gratitude to the college of the Faculty of

Foreign Languages of the Industrial University of Chi Chi Minh City for putting together the most straightforward conditions for me to complete my research successfully

Throughout the course of the investigation, I received several passionate facilitations and support, encouraging and inspiring me to overcome all obstacles and bring this difficult but worthwhile period to a close

First and foremost, I am grateful to the School Board of the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City (IUH) and the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) for facilitating my research

Second, I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguy n Thễ ị Thoang, Ph.s., who provided me with valuable guidance and recommendations that enabled me to complete my study successfully

Finally, I'd want to express my gratitude to one of my research team members, Nguyen Thị Thoang, who consistently shared my emotions and provided me with timely advice during the investigation

Last but not least, I am thankful to the one hundred FFL students who assisted me in completing this project; they played a crucial part in my study

To summarize, I am grateful to everyone who assisted me in completing this research from the bottom of my heart

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: 1

1.1 Rationale 2

1.2 Research objectives 2

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Definition of key/concepts 5

2.1.1 Definition of listening 5

2.1.2 Definition of listening skills 5

2.2 Results of previous studies 6

2.2.1 The importance of listening skills 7

2.2.2 The common barriers in learning listening skills 8

2.2.2.1 Vocabulary 8

2.2.2.2 Grammar 9

2.2.2.3 Pronunciation and accents 9

2.2.2.4 Cultural differences and unfamiliar topics 10

2.2.2.5 Other factors 10

a) Psychological obstacle 10

b) Quality of recorded material 11

c) Length and speed of the listening 11

2.2.3 How to enhance listening skills 12

2.2.3.1 Cognitive Strategies 12

2.2.3.2 Metacognitive Strategies 12

2.2.3.3 Socio-affective Strategies 13

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH DESIGN 15

3.1 Research site 16

3.2 Participants 16

3.3 Research methodology and research methods 16

3.3.1 Research methodology 16

3.3.2 Research methods 17

3.5 Data analysis 18

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 19

4.1 Finding 20

4.2 Discussion 31

4.2.1 Perspectives on Listening Comprehension Issues 31

4.2.2 Recommendations for Resolving Listening Comprehension Issues 32

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS 33

5.1 Conclusions 34

5.2 Recommendations 34

REFERENCES 36

APPENDICES 40

Figure 4.1: The accessed amount of time when the first-year students have been learning English Figure 4.2: The participants' opinions about learning listening skills

Figure 4.3: The barriers students encounter in listening skills

Figure 4.4: The percentage of students that have difficulties

Figure 4.5: The percentage of barriers

Figure 4.5.1: Problems from the listening material

Figure 4.5.2: Problems from the listeners

Figure 4.5.3: Problems result from physical settings

Figure 4.6: The percentage of respondents who confirmed that their teachers taught them skills for practicing English listening

Figure 4.7: The techniques used by freshmen in the listening process

Figure 4.8: The freshmen students often chose for practice listening

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION :

1.1 Rationale

Listening is the most commonly used skill in everyday communication It is very important in daily communication and the educational process As a result, it is apparent that listening is essential for both communicating and learning a foreign language As a researcher, I would like

to present the thesis title “A study on the difficulties in learning listening skills perceived by

English-majored freshmen at Industrial University of HCM City.’’ For the several reasons:

Firstly, English not only allows us to effortlessly communicate with people from other nations, but it also provides us with greater career chances At the moment, many international investors live and work in Vietnam, thus knowing English well is an excellent way to increase your

chances of landing a decent job with a good salary

Secondly, English is essential for those who want to travel or study abroad since it allows them to communicate and understand native people's dialects, culture, or food in depth Listening is obviously highly important, and learners should be concerned in listening first and mainly when learning the English language Furthermore, Pourhosein Gilakjani and Mohammadreza Ahmadi (2011) expressed that “Listening has an important role in the communication process” As for foreign language learning, listening is of paramount important since it provides the language input (Rost, 1994) Without understanding input appropriately, learning simply cannot get any improvement According to Krashen (1985) and Hamouda (2013) Listening ability is crucial for acquiring understandable input There will be no learning if there is no feedback

Last but not least, rural kids in Vietnam have virtually little exposure to English language other than what they receive in the classroom, which is highly significant Moreover, the low quality of cassettes has a discernible effect on the process of practicing and evaluating listening, especially

in rural areas where tape players are either of poor quality or run on batteries The students suffer significant listening issues as a result of the low-quality sound This study is being performed to boost students' perceptions of the importance of listening in learning English as well as their

listening challenges in order to assist them in improving their listening skills

1.2 Research objectives

This study aims at investigating:

(1) English-majored freshmen’s perceptions of the importance of listening skills

(2) The barriers that students face when learning to listen

(3) The techniques or strategies that learners use to improve their listening abilities

1.3 Research questions

1.3.1 What barriers do students encounter in learning listening skill?

1.3.2 What techniques or strategies that students can apply to improve listening skill?

1.4 Scope of the study

This study is going to cover these following:

- This research mainly focus on the freshmen’s perceptions of the importance and

difficulties in learning listening skills for English-majored freshmen at Industrial

CHAPTER II: LI TERATURE REVIEW

There are some definitions given by linguist:

According to Underwood (1989), “a child receives listening as the first skill comes from observation of how a child acquires the mother tongue”.When a kid is born with no

knowledge of the world The child's initial activity is to listen in order to be able to speak by indicating what the parents are teaching it.In addition, According to Rost (2009), "listening helps

us to understand the world around us and is one of the necessary elements in creating successful communication."Besides, Michael and Deborah (1997) stated that "listening established us in our real-life situation and enabled us to maintain meaningful relations with family, friends, and professional associates."Listening is crucial because it allows us to form bonds with others, learn from their experiences, and comprehend their views, personalities, and interests Since then, there have been opportunities for people to achieve in life and form personal bonds

2.1.2 Definition of listening skills

The phrase "listening comprehension" has been defined in a variety of ways In the

communication process, listening refers to the ability to accurately receive and analyze

communications Listening is the act of hearing attentively It is also a reading-like process that requires knowledge of phonology, grammar, semantics, and text comprehension

According to Brown (2001), "listening is not merely the process of unidirectional receiving of audible symbols" He supposed that "one aspect of listening comprehension is the psychomotor process of receiving sound waves through the ear and transmitting nerve impulses to the brain"

Therefore, there are three elements in listening, including the sender, the message, and the listener In addition, Vishwanath Bite explains that listening skills are key to receiving messages effectively It is a combination of hearing what another person says and psychological

involvement with the person who is talking Furthermore, according to Johnson (1951) and Hampleman (1958), "listening skills are part of the communication process, while it is to

distinguish words from recognizing other words."

Finally, according to Herbert J Walberg, listening skills are essential for learning since they :”enable students to acquire insights and information, and to achieve success in communicating with others ”

2.2 Results of previous studies

Firstly, "FACTORS AFFECTING THE LEARNING LISTENING ENGLISH".Kurniawati's

2019 research tries to determine the challenges caused by internal and external sources The descriptive qualitative method was applied in this study, and the data was presented in the form

of reports and descriptions The study enlisted the participation of 40 students The variables creating difficulty in listening to students have been identified as deteriorating health or disease, illusive material, a lack of support, and a lack of training to improve English listening, whether with peers or native speakers (Kurniawati, 2019)

Next, according to Ahkam Hasan Assaf's research paper named "The Difficulties encountered by EFL Learners in Listening Comprehension as Perceived by ELC Students at the Arab American University-Jenin," The study is intended to examine the issues EFL students have with listening comprehension as witnessed by ELC students at the AAUJ using two independent data collection instruments: a survey questionnaire and two interview questions According to the findings, there were no significant differences in the difficulty students had with listening comprehension based

on their academic level, academic year, gender, kind of school, or number of years they had studied English, according to the findings The study's author concentrated on the challenges rather than providing effective solutions for children to learn to listen better

Besides, according to the findings (Nowrouziand et al., 2015): "IRANIAN EFL STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION PROBLEMS", "The goal of this study was to look into a group of EFL students' listening comprehension issues The Listening Comprehension Processing Problems Questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of Iranian tertiary-level EFL

learners (n = 100) The learners had moderated to high difficulty in all three areas of listening comprehension challenges, namely perception, parsing, and utilization

Furthermore, according to Hasbi & Adhimah, 2021, the research entitled "STUDENTS’

DIFFICULTIES TOWARD ENGLISH LISTENING COMPREHENSION AND ITS

ADDRESSING STRATEGIES" was conducted in the intensive English language class at Edi Islamic Boarding School, Salatiga, aiming at seeking students’ difficulties toward listening

comprehension The data was acquired using a descriptive design using quantitative data from a questionnaire and qualitative data from observations and interviews with 30 students and 8 English teachers in the course The research found that the challenges were primarily caused by native speakers' accents, the classroom atmosphere, the speaker's quick pace, the students' low English vocabulary, and the students' lack of attentiveness

The common problems from some of the previous research are: (1)Vocabulary, (2)Grammar, (3)Pronunciation and accents, (4)Cultural differences and unfamiliar topics, (5)Psychological obstacle, (6)Quality of recorded material, (7)Length and speed of the listening

2.2.1 The importance of listening skills

Listening is a key skill in communication To begin with, one of the most fundamental abilities in learning a new language is listening According to Kim (2014), who also emphasized that

"Developing listening skills is the most fundamental and important factor in language learning to improve the other three language skills." Similarly, according to Barket (1971), "Listening can also help students build vocabulary, develop proficiency in a language, and improve language usage." 2.Besides, according to Rost (2009), "listening helps us to understand the world around

us and is one of the necessary elements in creating successful communication."

Moreover, according to As Dominick Barbara: "To listen with a purpose requires inner strength and the courage to open our minds to other people's ideas, while at the same time, we must face the fact that some of our ideas may be wrong." Listening is important because it allows us to form relationships, learn from our experiences, and comprehend the thoughts, personalities, and interests of others Since then, there have been opportunities to succeed in life and form close connections between people

In conclusion, listening is an important life skill for everyone It is not only the most important ability for learning a new language, but it is also the one that allows us to communicate more effectively and build stronger connections Effective listening benefits the individual, his family and friends, his business, and the bearers of bug-eyed frogs As a result, English learners should focus on improving their listening abilities in order to be more successful

2.2.2 The common barriers in learning listening skills

2.2.2.1 Vocabulary

According to Chastain (1988), "the lack of needed vocabulary is the most common cause of students’ inability to say what they want to say during communication activities." For children, vocabulary inefficiency can be a serious issue; they find it difficult to express themselves and listen carefully enough to hear what others are saying Having the same viewpoint, Wilkins (1972) said that "without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can

be conveyed" This sentence demonstrates the importance of vocabulary when learning the English language

Another issue is that many words have many meanings, and when they are used in their less common meanings, learners become confused

In reality, vocabulary is the most important factor in improving other skills Richard and

Renandya (2002) stated that "vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how to learn to speak, listen, read, and write" When English learners have a large vocabulary, they will be able to use words effectively to speak, listen, read, and write in a variety of situations while fully comprehending the content.In contrast, lacking sufficient vocabulary makes it difficult."If students do not know the meaning of many of the words that they will encounter in a text, their comprehension of that selection is likely to be compromised” (John & Shane, 2004:4)

As a result, vocabulary should be a top priority In conclusion, it is clear that a lack of vocabulary

is the source of the hearing difficulties Furthermore, grammar has a significant influence on listening abilities

2.2.2.2 Grammar

The importance of grammar knowledge for listening has been less explored, although there is a range of research arguing that there may be a strong relationship between grammar and reading (Grabe, 2004) In cognitive psychology, according to Anderson (2009), knowledge of the

structure of English allows us to comprehend the meaning of a sentence in the comprehension process

In contrast, according to Mecartty (2000), grammatical knowledge does not significantly

contribute to either listening or reading comprehension, but vocabulary knowledge plays a key role in L2 listening comprehension ability

Additionally, according to Van Patten (1990), learners, particularly early-stage learners, struggle

to pay attention to both form and content while listening

Moreover, according to Field (2008), function words were not paid attention to when people listened It seems reasonable to argue that because function words were more relevant to

grammar knowledge and content words were more relevant to lexical meaning, it may be

impossible to distinguish between lexical and grammar knowledge because listeners may

combine both syntactic and semantic cues in interpreting the sentence

2.2.2.3 Pronunciation and accents

Pronunciation is crucial in communication, particularly when listening Whether or not kids have adequate listening skills is determined by their ability to pronounce words correctly According to Gilakjani (2012), learners with good English pronunciation are likely to be understood even if they make errors in other areas, whereas learners with bad pronunciation will not be understood, even if their grammar is perfect.1 Students who are proficient in pronunciation will be able to confidently communicate themselves and even listen to others' messages with accuracy Poor pronunciation, on the other hand, can lead to misunderstandings or errors in communication as well as in conversation

According to Goh (1999), 66% of learners mentioned a speaker’s accent as one of the most significant factors that affect listener comprehension Unfamiliar accents, both native and non-

native, can cause major problems in listening comprehension, interrupting the entire process while also making comprehension impossible for the listeners

2.2.2.4 Cultural differences and unfamiliar topics

Background knowledge is essential for students to successfully listen to English According to Proverb (1990), "background knowledge includes knowledge of target culture, knowledge of current affairs, arts, politics, and literature."

Contrastingly, Brody (2001) stated that "background knowledge refers to concepts, experiences, information, and text structures that are relevant to a text understudy." Background knowledge, as can be observed from these phrases, is the knowledge that students have acquired during their education and lives

Besides, according to Gebhard (2000), "background knowledge relates to our world experiences and expectations that we have." When it comes to language processing issues in students, this understanding is critical

As a result, students' listening requires background knowledge

Poor background knowledge, on the other hand, will make listening difficult for students

According to Samuels (1984), "If a person has mastered the skill of analyzing speech accurately and automatically, a lack of basic background knowledge can cause reduced listening

comprehension." In fact, a lack of prior information makes it harder for students to listen

According to Horwitz ET cited in Nascente (2001), "Anxiety is a feeling of tension,

apprehension, and nervousness associated with the situation of learning a foreign language" When it comes to listening, anxiety is one of the most common feelings among learners

Furthermore, according to Yagang (1994), the listening comprehension process is also a highly complex psychological process When someone feels uncomfortable, their ability to listen is considerably diminished " In conclusion, psychological barriers have an impact on learners' listening ability

b) Quality of recorded material

Despite the fact that we live in the technology world of the twenty-first century, some classrooms still lack computers, smart boards, multimedia systems, and other technology The sound system's quality has an impact on listening comprehension

According to Azmi Bingol, Celik, Yidliz, & Tugrul Mart (2014), in certain classrooms, teachers use poor recorded materials in their classes The sound system's quality can influence how effectively learners comprehend what they hear

c) Length and speed of the listening

Students struggle to retain information offered and are unable to concentrate on listening because the listening portion of a conversation is too long

According to Underwood (1989), "The students absolutely encounter certain difficulties in listening comprehension since they lack control over the speed at which the speakers speak" and

"Speed can make listening passages difficult." Students may have difficulty understanding second-language terms if speakers speak too quickly

In summary, according to Flowerder and Miller (1996), one of the most significant barriers to comprehending was the speed with which information was delivered The length of time and the tempo at which people speak are clearly the hurdles that make listening difficult

2.2.3 How to enhance listening skills

2.2.3.1 Cognitive Strategies

The cognitive methods are linked to comprehending and storing information in short-term or long-term memory for later retrieval As a process of decoding, comprehension begins with the received material, which is analyzed as various levels of organization—sounds, words, and so on

A cognitive strategy is a problem-solving technique that students adopt to deal with the learning task and facilitate knowledge acquisition

Repeating to memorize, summarizing, and putting together details are examples of cognitive techniques A cognitive strategy is a problem-solving method that learners apply to deal with the learning activity and facilitate the learning of knowledge (Azmi Bingol, Celik, Yidliz, & Tugrul Mart, 2014) According to Derry and Murphy (1986), "cognitive strategies are problem-solving techniques that learners use for the acquisition of knowledge or skills."

In hearing, there are two types of cognitive strategies: bottom-up and top-down Word-for-word translation, adjusting the rate of speech, repeating the oral text, and focusing on the prosodic features of the text are all examples of bottom-up techniques Forecasting, guessing, explaining, and visualization are all part of top-down methods According to the findings of a qualitative study, success in listening is linked to aspects such as the use of many techniques, the ability and flexibility to adapt strategies, stimulation, self-control, and adequate use of prior information (Abdalhamid, 2012)

This is a technique for deciphering linguistic input and obtaining data Learners sometimes don't understand the meaning of words and try to deduce it from context This is a case of cognitive strategy in action

2.2.3.2 Metacognitive Strategies

When using this method, students are aware of their surroundings while carefully listening to the text This strategy, like pre-listening tasks, focuses on learning how to plan, monitor, and assess the information obtained during the listening portion (Holden, 2004)

For example, a student may recognize that he is having trouble connecting crucial elements within a novel If he or she is instructed to utilize a graphic organizer, such as a concept map, to identify the important concepts and connect them with lines in a spider web-like pattern, that student has used metacognition to finish the assignment (Nelson & Conner, 2008)

According to Rubin (1988), metacognitive strategies are management tactics used by learners to govern their learning by planning, checking, assessing, and altering Listeners, for example, for metacognitive planning methods, define the goals of a listening task and use certain elements of aural language input that facilitate aural input comprehension Besides, according to Wenden (1998), learners who employ metacognitive methods, may learn faster and integrate knowledge more effectively, be continual receivers and deal with all situations, have the confidence to seek help from partners, teachers, or family, and can monitor and assess themselves According to Baker and Brown (1984) and Abdalhamid (2012), there are two kinds of metacognitive skills: knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition Learners' awareness of what is going on is dealt with by their knowledge of cognition, and what they should do to listen well is dealt with by their regulation of cognition

Similarly, according to Vandergrift (2003) and Abdalhamid (2012) isteners utilize socio-, laffective tactics to cooperate with others, evaluate their comprehension, and alleviate their apprehension

Affective methods are important, according to Gardner and MacIntyre (1993), because the

There is a connection between low anxiety and strong listening performance; using emotive techniques makes listening easier and more effective, according to Aneiro (1989)

Moreover, according to Wilson (2003), students' interactions with other speakers and reactions to learning are tied to socio-affective methods According to Habte-Gabr (2006), children should be able to reduce anxiety, feel confident during listening exercises, and increase motivation in order

to improve their listening skills This technique ensures and encourages good emotional

responses and language learning perspectives Listeners use socio-affective tactics to interact with others, check knowledge, and reduce anxiety, according to Vandergrift (2003)

CHAPTER III : RESEARCH DESIGN

3.1 Research site

The study was conducted at the IUH Faculty of Foreign Languages especially in the DHAV17 , course This research was carried out on The first-year students English-majored at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City The university has a staff of highly trained professors, slicing facilities, and training quality that meets Southeast Asia

accreditation criteria (AUN-QA) The Faculty of Foreign Languages is one of the most critical faculties in the Industrial University of HCM City, it is one of four faculties with teaching

programs that fulfill AUN-QA criteria The faculty was founded in 2005 and is now housed on the first level of Building B

3.2 Participants

The study involved 100 first-year students at FFL from K17 (selected at random) who were studying in the second semester of the academic year 2022 2023 at IUH Because they are from –different parts of Vietnam, their English levels will vary between provinces and rural areas Importantly, students will receive a questionnaire relating to typical listening issues

Furthermore, the findings of this study assist students in recognizing common errors and

The questionnaire is one of the most important research tools The questionnaire is designed to collect background information from learners and to survey the challenges that are obstructing

their ability to listen Furthermore, the questionnaire is intended to obtain specific information about students' problems and then confirm the hypothesis with accuracy

3.3.2 Research methods

To ensure the validity of exam results, only freshmen majoring in English have been emailed the link to this online survey With a total of 100 participants, the survey used the most common quantitative research technique, questionnaires, to collect data on common listening errors A questionnaire is a technique for gathering information Questionnaires have the advantage over other types of surveys because they are less expensive and involve less effort than others, and they usually feature close-format questions that make data analysis easy and convenient The questionnaire was divided into three sections, the first of which focused on the participants' personal information and attitudes toward their listening abilities

A question regarding the participants' names, how long they have studied English, and how they feel about their listening skills The second section would focus on identifying freshmen's

common listening mistakes Finally, the third section discusses the techniques for improving listening abilities that students frequently apply when learning to listen

3.4 Procedures

➢

➢ Step 1: Approaching the research field

Finding a meaningful topic is the first and most significant step Following that, a compr ehensive reading process is required to choose the relevant facts for practical research at FFL My group debated and decided on a topic, which must be authorized by my supervisor

➢

➢ Step 2: Designing the questionnaire

The questionnaire was created using the Google Forms application.The first part of the

questionnaire focused on the participants' personal information as well as their thoughts toward their listening ability

The second section would concentrate on recognizing the listening errors made by freshmen The third section outlines the ways students use to improve their listening ability when learning to listen

➢ Step 3: Distributing the link to questionnaire

Google Forms also provides us with a simple way to access the questionnaire via a short link in Google Forms We are trustworthiness likewise assured when only the FFL student gets access to this investigation link in the group

➢

➢ Step 4: Collecting and analyzing the data

Because an online survey takes only a few minutes to complete, We may swiftly collect and analyze comments from survey participants Students' replies were automatically saved in a Google Forms online system, allowing for long-term storage of the data source