English listening strategies used by the firts year non english major students at hung vuong university

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations WTO = World Trade Organization SBI = Strategy – Based Instruction IELTS = International English Language Testing Sys

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYEN VAN THIN

ENGLISH LISTENING STRATEGIES USED BY THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

( Chiến lược nghe của sinh viên năm nhất không chuyên

tiếng Anh tại Trường Đại Học Hùng Vương )

B.A GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY

PHU THO, 2022

HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYEN VAN THIN

ENGLISH LISTENING STRATEGIES USED BY THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

( Chiến lược nghe của sinh viên năm nhất không chuyên

tiếng Anh tại Trường Đại Học Hùng Vương )

B.A GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY

SUPERVISOR: NGO THI THANH HUYEN

PHU THO, 2022

I would like to express my deeply gracefulness to teachers at foreign language Department of Hung Vuong University for giving me comments and feedback for the study can be better

Third, I would also like to express my gratitude to the first-year Chinese linguistic students, the participants of this study, at Hung Vuong University, for their cooperation, honest feedback and the enthusiasm they showed in responding to my questionnaires

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations

WTO = World Trade Organization SBI = Strategy – Based Instruction IELTS = International English Language Testing System MPS = the Metacognitive Pedagogical Sequence CALLA = the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach

EFL = English as a Foreign Language LLS = Language Learning Strategy

L2 = Second Language SILL = Survey of Strategy Inventory for Language Learning

SI = Strategy Instruction SPSS = Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Summary of background questionnaire structure 33 Table 3.2 Summary of strategy use questionnaire structure 36 Table 3.3 Reliability of the listening strategy use questionnaire 38 Table 4.1.1 Participant classification by gender criteria 40 Table 4.1.2 Participant classification by learning duration criteria 41 Table 4.1.3 The use of meta–cognitive strategies in comparison between males and females

groups 53 Table 4.1.13: The use of Socio–affective strategies in comparison between participants with different learning durations

55

Table 4.1.14 The use of different strategies of Socio-affective among three groups

56

ABSTRACT

Listening strategy is one of the most important factors that affect the process of

listening comprehension This paper makes a quantitative study involved the use of

background questionaire and listening strategy use questionnaire for first-year

non-English major students at Hung Vuong University in learning non-English as a foreign

language It aims finding out which listening strategies are generally employed by

students in listening process, and which listening strategies are needed to be developed

to understand the text better, and therefore, teachers can apply appropriate methods in

listening strategy instruction to continue academic studies successfully However, the

study still had some limitations that need to be solved in the future studies

is considered one of the top priority criteria for the Vietnamese educational system The question that in which way foreign language learners improve their proficiency in the target language the most quickly is day by day being sought by not only Vietnamese but also foreign experts

Many domestic and foreign experts have been researching to investigate and survey learners' capacity and find out the effective learning methods to make it easier for the learner to learn a foreign language such as Vandergrift (1997), Nga Thi Hang Ngo (2015), Ngo Thi Thanh Huyen (2021), Murphy (1985), Vandergrift (2003) Studies about foreign language learning strategy use have indicated that applying language learning strategies is the most efficient way for language learners Applying language learning strategies as the tools that help learners independently master the effectiveness

of foreign language learning (Oxford and Nyikos, 1989; O'Malley and Chamot, 1990; Gardner and MacIntyre, 1993)

According to Vandergrift (1997), there were many different factors influence student's choice of learning strategies including proficiency, gender, age, academic majors and learning duration And the relationship between these variables and the strategy used by learners has been being studied by famous researchers all around the world

Of the four language skills, listening is considered the most critical for language learning at the beginning stages as well as a highly integrative skill, many experts and their research have demonstrated its crucial role in language acquisition (for example, Nord 1978; Winitz 1981; Dunkel 1986, 1991; Rost 1990) However, it is reported to be the weakest skill among four language skill in non-English major students at Hung Vuong University

Having understood the importance of listening strategy use and the reality of listening proficience of non-English major students at study context, this research is done to investigate and analyze the current situation of language listening strategy use at the university I am studying at The study is focusing on the listening strategy used by first-year non-English major students at Hung Vuong University Then, find out the effective way to teach listening skill for non-English major students

The study can be a useful reference for English teachers to better understand the language strategies used by students in Hung Vuong University so that they will have an appropriate language learning strategy instruction curriculum Also, it can be a good document for the students who want to have more insights into learning strategies as well as listening strategies

1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY

The research aims to investigate the listening strategies used by first-year English major students at Hung Vuong University in learning English as a foreign language Based on the findings, the study gives implications for teaching and learning listening skills as well as for further research in the field

non-The research was carried on to find out the answer to the following question:

What strategies do the first-year non-English major students of Hung Vuong University use to facilitate their listening comprehension?

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

By researching the applicability of listening strategies in learning English, the study aims to contribute to improving the effectiveness of learning and teaching listening skills

in the classrooms of non-English major students of Hung Vuong University Especially, this study is expected to be a reference for teachers of English at Hung Vuong University which provides useful information about the strategies used by non-English major students at this school, so that teachers can apply appropriate methods in listening strategy instruction Second, the study can be a guideline for students to choose and practice listening strategies that best suit them

1.4 OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION

The paper is divided into 5 chapters:

Chapter 1, Introduction, provides the background of the study as well as the rationale for why I conducted this research In this part, the research question is also raised as a guideline for the aims of this study which were reached through a suitable research method The significance of the study and the research design is also introduced

in this chapter

Chapter 2, Literature review, presents the theoretical background of learning strategies, and listening strategies in learning a foreign language The essential definitions, the categories, and the factors affecting the learners' choice of strategies are reviewed and clarified to demonstrate the importance and emphasize the effectiveness of applying learning strategies as well as listening strategies in learning a foreign language

In addition, some previous studies related to listening strategy use to find out what their findings and gaps are

Chapter 3, Methodology, describes the research method chosen for the study, involving participants, data collection instrument, and the procedures for carrying out

the research The data collection instrument, which is used to get the necessary information, is in the background questionnaire and strategies questionnaire

Chapter 4, Findings and discussion, analyzes and discusses the results achieved from data collection instruments After that, the answers to the research question are given in turn

Chapter 5, Conclusions and Recommendations, summarizes the major findings of the research and suggests some recommendations for further research The last section

in this chapter is the conclusion of the whole study

Finally, the references and appendice are included to illustrate the research methodology

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the definitions, classification, and the relationship between listening and language learning are clarified The importance of learning strategies as well as listening strategies in learning a foreign language is also demonstrated Finally, some studies in this field of study are reviewed to identigy the gaps in the previous

studies

STRATEGIES

Many studies had examined language learning strategies in general and listening

strategies, in particular, to discover the most precise definitions since they were important factors in language acquisition As a result, there were a plethora of "strategy" definitions and a lack of agreement on what a "strategy" was For example, strategies were described as "techniques or devices that a student can utilize to acquire knowledge" (Rubin, 1975, p 43) According to another study, strategies were "general trends or overall aspects of the language learner's approach, leaving methods to relate to specific kinds of observable learning activity" (Stern, 1983 cited in Ellis, 1994, p 531)

"Strategies" were "behaviors and ideas that a student participates in during learning that were meant to impact the learner's encoding process," according to Weinstein & Mayer (as cited in Ellis, 1994, p.531) Furthermore, "operations or steps used by the learner to facilitate the acquisition, storage, or retrieval of information" were defined as

"strategies" (Chamot, Küpper, & Impink-Hernandez, 1988, p 2) There were not only these professionals, but also a large number of additional scholars from across the world have examined it to determine the proper meaning for this phrase

Having studied and analyzed many definitions of strategies, Oxford (2017) deduced the characteristics of strategies First, strategies come in a variety of forms Most definitions that Oxford studied mentioned the "form" of strategies The strategy forms

included: thoughts, cognitions (related to what learners think); actions (related to what learners do); techniques, devices, tools, and methods (related to what learners use); behaviors (related to how learners act); and general tendencies (related to how learners approach learning) Second, strategies are purposeful Third, strategies are used for particular purposes These purposes are learning, self-regulation, task accomplishment, performance, proficiency, facilitation, and helping or involving the whole learner Fourth, strategies are consciously used Fifth, strategies are used flexibly, in various clusters or chains, and with orchestration Sixth, strategies are contextualized Seventh, strategies are teachable And last, strategies have a general orientation in the title

Based on these characteristics, Oxford inferred an encompassing definition of second-language learning strategies: Second-language learning strategies are complex, dynamic thoughts and actions, selected and used by learners with some degree of consciousness in specific contexts to regulate multiple aspects of themselves (such as cognitive, emotional, and social) to accomplish language tasks; improve language performance or use; and/or enhancing long-term proficiency Strategies are mentally guided but may also have physical and therefore observable manifestations Learners often use strategies flexibly and creatively; combine them in various ways, such as strategy clusters or strategy chains; and orchestrate them to meet learning needs Strategies are teachable Learners in their contexts decide which strategies to use Appropriateness of strategies depends on multiple personal and contextual factors (p 48)

The term listening strategy refers to the conscious activities that learners take to comprehend, recall, and memorize information (Goh, 1998 cited in Attia El Sayed Attia, 2002) These strategies play a crucial role in completing listening tasks (Field, 2008) According to Attia El Sayed Attia (2002) listening comprehension strategy is "a sequence of steps (mental or behavior) taken deliberately by listeners (always conscious)

in a specific order (depending on the task complexity), to enhance the ability to perceive, and internalize as well as comprehend the listening input" (p.64) Moreover, Vandergrift

(2003) stated that listening is a complex, active process of interpretation in which listeners try to suit what they hear with their prior knowledge, and listening strategies are defined as approaches for enhancing the process of listening comprehension This process is more complex for second language learners who have limited memory capacity for the target language (Richards, 1983) thus requiring them to utilize various listening strategies More recently, Dat Bao and Cheng Guan (2019) stated that second language listening strategies can be defined as how listeners manage real‐time interactions with a spoken text to achieve comprehension It is not difficult to realize that there is also a lack of consensus in defining second language listening strategies

In conclusion, the literature review showed that language learning strategies in general and listening strategies in particular have no coherent and widely accepted definition In other words, learning strategies include listening strategies, and these strategies have been studied by many experts to find out the most appropriate definition but still, there is a lack of consensus between the studies The Vandergrift’s definition was adpoted for this study In the following section, we'll look at the taxonomies of learning strategies and listening strategies

2.2 CLASSIFICATION OF LEARNING STRATEGIES AND LISTENING STRATEGIES

2.2.1 Classification of learning strategies:

Like defining learning strategies, there have been many researchers who studied to classify learning strategies systematically Rubin (1981) who was a pioneer researcher in the area of learning strategies proposed one of the original taxonomies of learning strategies She categorized learning strategies according to the direct or indirect contribution of a strategy to language learning This taxonomy of learning strategies consisted of two groups: strategies that contribute to learning directly, and those which contribute to learning indirectly Rubin's taxonomy of learning strategies was one of the

earliest classification systems and was used widely It helped to clarify and systematize learning strategies But it also raised some concerns as the difference between direct strategies and indirect strategies is not always clear

There was another taxonomy of learning strategies that widely used, Oxford's taxonomy Ellis (1994) stated that "perhaps the most comprehensive classification of learning strategies to date is the one provided by Oxford" Oxford's taxonomy was based

on a survey of prior research efforts on the subject of language learning strategies, to cover almost every approach already discussed in the literature inside her taxonomy The classification she first came up with (Oxford, 1985) was used as a basis for constructing the most comprehensive questionnaire on learning strategies: The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Since then, both the inventory and the taxonomy of strategies have undergone significant revisions

In Oxford's taxonomy, she classified strategies into direct and indirect ones The direct strategies refer to strategies that directly involve the target language as they require mental processing of the language (Oxford, 1990, p 37) The indirect strategies,

on the other hand, provide indirect support for language learning through focusing, planning, evaluating, and seeking opportunities, controlling anxiety, increasing cooperation and empathy, and other means (Oxford,1990, p 151)

Language learning strategies

Figure 2.1: Classification of strategies according to Oxford's scheme (1990)

According to Oxford, memory strategies, cognitive strategies, and compensation strategies are all subcategories of direct strategies Memory strategies including structured review, imagery, and grouping are employed to facilitate the process of storing and recalling new information To directly practice a new language, cognitive processes such as practicing naturally, analyzing phrases, and summarizing are employed Finally, compensatory strategies such as guessing meanings intelligently or using word coinage, are means to overcome knowledge gaps

On the other hand, indirect strategies include metacognitive, affective, and social strategies Metacognitive strategies, such as self-evaluation, self-monitoring, and paying

Memory

strategies

Cognitive strategies

Metacognitive strategies

Social strategies

Compensation

strategies

attention, are devices through which learners manage their learning process Language learners control their emotions and attitudes through affective strategies, such as anxiety lowering and self-encouragement Social strategies, such as asking questions involve learning with and from others

Another most popular categorization was designed and developed by O'Malley, Chamot, and colleagues O'Malley and Chamot (1990) divided strategies into three groups based on their direct or indirect relevance to the task: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and social-affective strategies

Cognitive strategies refer to strategies that manipulate the material to be learned mentally, such as "elaboration" or 'note-taking They are more closely linked to the

completion of a specific learning activity and entail direct manipulation or modification

of the learning material (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990) Metacognitive strategies are those that are concerned with planning, regulation, and learning management They do not directly process input but go beyond cognitive manipulation and transformation of incoming information They entail considering how data is information is processed and stored, as well as taking the necessary steps to manage and regulate the cognitive processes As a result, they are the leader processes as they regulate and manage to learn They incorporate strategies used to anticipate an assignment, monitor a task in progress, and evaluate the success of a task after its completion (Chamot, 1995, p 15) Examples given by O'Malley & Chamot (1990), Chamot & O'Malley (1994a) are

"directed attention" (deciding in advance to pay attention to specific aspects of language input) and "self-management" (displaying an understanding of the conditions which help

to learn and trying to bring these about)

The socio-affective strategies category is the third in this three-part categorization approach, and it focuses on how learners choose to engage with other learners and native speakers This category, according to Chamot & O'Malley (1994a, p 63), is critical to second language learning since language is so important in cooperating and asking for

an explanation "Questioning for clarification" (asking a teacher for repetition), operating" (working with peers on a language learning task to obtain feedback, pool information, or model a language activity), and using affective controls such as "positive self-talk" to reduce anxiety are examples of social affective strategies

In conclusion, it is apparent to see that the categorization of O'Malley, Chamot, and other colleagues is the most detailed taxonomy Moreover, there are not only three taxonomies but also many other classifications of learning strategies in the world, and

many experts are working to figure out the most appropriate classification

2.2.2 Classification of listening strtegies:

There have been some taxonomies of listening strategies in the field; however, the taxonomy proposed by Vandegrift (1997) has been recognized as the most popular and reliable one (Oxford, 2018, Ngo Thi Hang Nga (2015) Thus, in this section, this classification is reviewed because it functioned as the conceptual framework of this study In other words, it guided the researcher in choosing the questionnaire to collect the needed data and interpret the data from that questionnaire

2.2.2.1 Metacognitive strategies

Mental actions that manage the language-learning process are known as metacognitive listening strategies (Vandergrift, 1997) Planning (task preparation), selective attention (deciding which section of the text to focus on), directed attention (maintaining attention while listening), monitoring (checking, verifying, or correcting ongoing understanding or performance), and evaluation are the components (of listening performance, strategy use, and problem identification) The employment of metacognitive strategies appears to be especially linked to effectiveness in listening comprehension, according to scientific findings (Vandergrift & Goh, 2012; Vandergrift

& Tafaghodtari, 2010) Monitoring and evaluation, in particular, are critical for correctly executing other strategies (Vandergrift, 1998)

2.2.2.2 Cognitive strategies

The mental operations that are used to process language to perform a task are referred to as cognitive strategies (Vandergrift, 1997) Cognitive strategies, according to Vandergrift (1997), involve the following activities: identifying the main ideas (focusing

on the gist of the listening tasks), inferencing (filling in missing information with known words, context, background knowledge, paralinguistic knowledge, and body language), prediction (predicting the contents of a text), note-taking (writing down keywords and concepts to support performance in a listening task), elaboration (integrating new information into texts or conversations with known information to fill in missing

information), prediction (predicting the contents of a text), imagery (using mental or actual pictures or visuals to present information), translation (almost verbatim reproduction of concepts from one language to another), summarizing (synthesizing what is heard to ensure that the information is retained), and deduction/induction (consciously applying learned or self-developed rules to understand the target language) Inferencing, prediction, and elaboration are among the strategies used by high-proficiency listeners and are chosen for use in successful LSI treatments (e.g Chamot & Kupper, 1989; Vandergrifth, 2003; Yeldham & Gruba, 2016)

2.2.2.3 Social/affective strategies

Three behaviors are involved in social/emotional strategies, which are related to interaction or affective management of language learning: clarifying questions, cooperating, and lowering anxiety By asking oneself or others for an explanation or confirmation, one can clear up any unclear or missing information linked to the listening task or the language Cooperation refers to checking answers or receiving feedback on a listening activity with others, such as classmates or teachers Lowering anxiety implies using various techniques, such as taking a deep breath when feeling anxious, to perform listening tasks more successfully (Vandergrift, 1997) While social strategies (clarification and cooperation) are useful, particularly for communication purposes (Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003), affective factors have a greater impact on learners' perceptions of the task and the success of the task completion (Vandergrift & Goh, 2012)

This strategy classification has been commonly deployed, and they have been acknowledged by several experts (e.g., Blanco & Guisado, 2012; Cross, 2009; Graham, Santos, & Vanderplank, 2008; Rahimirad & Shams, 2014) Vandergrift's taxonomy of strategies (1997) was used for this study because it focuses on listening strategies and represents elements of listening that are connected to cognitive, social, and affective processes (Goh, 2012)

And also, the language listening strategy taxonomy of Vandergrift was used as the theoretical framework for my study The theoretical framework was reflected in the language listening strategy use questionnaire (Appendix B)

2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING AND LISTENING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2.3.1 The importance of listening

According to Gary (1978), the value of listening has four dimensions: cognitive, utility, efficiency, and affective In terms of the cognitive dimension, Second - language listening is critical in the language acquisition process (Vandergrift, 1999) since it supplies learners with the information and data, they need throughout their language learning journey (Rivers, 1981) Brown (2001) claims that learners internalize the linguistic knowledge needed to develop language when receiving second language input

In terms of the value of the input offered by the second language listening, Peterson (1991) claims that second language learners gain from it at all levels of their learning: beginner, intermediate, and advanced

Listening is a receptive skill that foreign language learners require more than speaking (Vandergrift, 1999) Listening is important for a variety of reasons For the first one, listening is now a required ability for university admission examinations, as it

is a fundamental component of language competence testing (Richards, 2008) When students feel that hearing is beneficial, they are more likely to engage in activities such

as listening to the radio, watching television, and reading (Gary, 1978) Finally, individuals spend around 40% to 50% of their communication time listening, 25% to 30% speaking, 11% to 16% reading, and 9% writing (Rivers, 1984)

In terms of listening comprehension, research suggests that language education and learning should begin with listening comprehension As one of the reasons behind this, Peterson (2001) claims that "no other sort of linguistic input is as straightforward to comprehend as spoken language; obtained through listening" (p 106) In other words,

exposure to hearing before beginning to generate language assists learners to acquire more meaningful language used earlier in the course because they can focus all of their short-term memory attention resources on meaning This makes it easier to learn new abilities (Vandergrift, 1999)

Finally, in terms of the psychological or, more particularly, the emotional value of listening, Gary (1978) and Vandergrift (1999) found that hearing before language output reduces pressure on learners Deferring second language production until later in the learning process allows students to feel calmer, stress-free, and less ashamed, allowing them to focus more on the second language input and resulting in far more successful language acquisition Gary (1978) adds that even a seemingly easy production activity like simply imitation needs substantial effort in addition to that necessary for decoding

to emphasize the emotive value of an initial concentration on listening in the learning process As a result, allowing learners to relax helps them to improve their listening skills and internalize the rules, easing the learning of other abilities and increasing their drive to study (Vandergrift, 1999)

Thus, listening is a crucial ability that serves a variety of purposes, including communicative, cognitive, linguistic, educational, academic, and psychological To summarize this section, listening is a complicated and dynamic ability that plays an important role in many dimensions of language acquisition

2.3.2 The importance of learning strategies

There is a link between employing learning strategies and improved performance (Rost & Ross, 1991; Thompson & Rubin, 1996) Oxford (1990) asserts that learning strategies are the tools that learners employ to solve issues, complete tasks, fulfill objectives, and achieve goals in a wide sense Oxford goes on to say that there are three primary advantages to using language learning methodologies

First, language learning strategies enable students to improve their communication skills According to Oxford (1990), language learning practices improve learners'

communicative skills in a variety of ways For example, metacognitive strategies help learners to control their cognitive capacities, and focus, plan and evaluate their communication development Affective strategies, on the other hand, help students gain the self-confidence and perseverance they need to participate effectively in language acquisition Social strategies promote learners' interaction and empathetic understanding Finally, compensating strategies assist learners in filling up knowledge gaps and continuing to communicate authentically

Second, language learning strategies enable students to be more self-directed in their learning According to Oxford (1990), language learning practices promote learners

to be more self-directed, allowing them to rely on themselves rather than on the teacher This encourages learners to learn on their own (Goh, 2008), allowing them to acquire confidence, participation, and skill gradually

Third, language learning strategies allow students to become experts in solving In other words, language learning strategies give students a variety of strategies for dealing with their learning difficulties To promote comprehension, a student may employ reasoning or guessing strategies (Oxford, 1990)

problem-2.3.3 The infuences of listening strategies

2.3.3.1 Toward learner’s autonomy:

Nguyen and Yongqi Gu (2013) conducted a study to investigate the effect of strategy – base instruction on the promotion of learner's autonomy 91 participants were divided into one experimental group and two control groups After eight weeks of training, the results revealed that students who received strategy–based instruction plans showed remarkable improvements in the self–regulation aspect of learner's autonomy More specifically, students who received SBI training appeared to have enhanced their ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate, planning became the most often exercised skill, followed by evaluating and monitoring

2.3.3.2 Toward listening habits:

Nguyen (2018) did a study to examine the change in listening habits by applying the listening strategy of students at the University of Language and International Studies The findings showed that students had changes in the ways they dealt with problems in listening tasks, lexical problems, and pronunciation problems and also created changes in students' listening habits outside the classroom

First, according to Hoang, instead of giving up on the listening problems, students tended to apply strategies to overcome the difficulties In the pre-listening stage, students knew how to apply strategies to have better preparation for the listening task In the while–listening stage, applying listening strategies make their weaknesses be improved

Second, Hoang also stated that the listening strategy made changes in the Way Students Approached Lexical Problems When Listening More specifically after receiving the intervention, students approached new words more strategically, they tended to utilize inferencing strategies to guess the meaning of new words in the recording Without applying listening strategies, students often ignored or even became

so obsessed with new lexical items before And last, after attending the intervention, students who were interviewed said that they could make more sense of what the actors were talking about, they tended to be more confident when talking with native speakers and it was because of the application of inferencing strategies

2.3.3.3 Toward listening comprehension performance

Discussing this field, there was a quasi-experimental study by Siew Ean, Lye, Lay

Huah, and Goh (2016) named "metacognitive strategy instruction and IELTS listening performance: a comparison between using MPS (the Metacognitive Pedagogical Sequence) and CALLA (the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach) instruction models" which related to this topic The research aimed at examining whether these two models would help listeners improve their listening comprehension performance across three levels of listening capability (high, intermediate, and low) By

deploying the pre and post-test to compare the improvement in listening comprehension performance of 50 participants before and after the training course, the results indicated that both two models helped improve significantly the listening comprehension capability of participants And there was no difference found in the influence of MPS and CALLA

STRATEGIES

2.4.1 Gender:

Gender has generally been shown to be a significant component that influences how students use language listening strategies However, due to a lack of consistent study findings, it is unclear to what degree and in what ways gender affects the usage of language learning strategies Studies that investigated the relationship between gender and learners ' use of language learning strategies came up with conflicting results While some studies found substantial variations in strategy usage between gender groups (Ehrman & Oxford, 1988; Lan & Oxford, 2003; Ok, 2003; Taguchi, 2002), others found little or no relationship between gender and language learning strategy choice (Dadour

& Robbins, 1996; Griffiths, 2003a; Politzer, 1983; Psaltou - Joycey, 2008; Yang, 2010) Even when they agree on the differences in strategy usage between gender groups, there

is limited consensus on how females and males differ in strategy choice

Researching the influence of gender on learning strategies choice, Erhman and Oxford (1988) did a study on language learning strategies used by 78 mixed-level students who studied English as a foreign language The findings showed that sex differences have a "profound influence" (p 296) on the use of strategies that females used strategies more frequently than males And 7 years later, in 1995, these two researchers confirmed the finding in their study conducted on 520 adult language learners in a foreign language program in the United States One more time found that the females' frequency of strategy usage is higher than that of males More recently, Ok

(2003) investigated the impact of gender on the use of English learning strategies among Korean secondary school students and discovered that females employed memory, meta-cognitive, cognitive, and social strategies much more frequently than boys Similarly, Hong - Nam, and Leavell (2006) found that females used affective and social strategies more frequently than males in their study

Females seem to use learning strategies more frequently than males In other words, gender has a great impact on the choice of using language learning strategies for language learners However, in some other studies, the finding is completely different For instance, Wharton (2000) did a study on 678 university students and the results showed that males used more strategies than females did There was one more study indicating that males used strategies more frequently than females, it is Tercanlioglu's (2004)

On the other hand, some experts found no differences in strategies used between males and females Vandergrift (1997) in his investigation of strategies use among French learners in Canada found no differences in strategies used between males and females The findings were the same as in Dadour and Robbin's study (1996)

In conclusion, there is still unclear in the differences in strategies use between males and females The next part is going to clarify how learning proficiency impact a learner's strategies use

2.4.2 Learning proficiency

Different from disagreement results in studies on the effect of genders on the use of learning strategies, many findings have the same results on the influence of learning proficiency on strategy use Accordingly, Language learning strategies are used more frequently by learners with a greater proficiency level in the target language than by those with a lower competence level Strong shreds of evidence can be found in the studies of experts such as Chamot and El-dinary (1999); Green and Oxford (1995); O'malley and Chamot (1990)

More specifically, Erhman and Oxford (1995), in a study among 520 adult language learners, found a significant relationship between cognitive strategies and proficiency in learning a language Similarly, Bremner (1999) found a remarkable connection between cognitive strategies and learners' proficiency levels Less proficient learners tend to use more affective strategies Green and Oxford (1995) found that students with a high level of proficiency tended to employ active, realistic English strategies like watching English movies or writing English Less proficient students utilized more affective and compensation strategies, as well as the metacognitive strategy of reflecting on their learning progress

In summation, many study results have shown that the relationship between learning proficiency and learning strategies is very significant Most studies found that learners with higher learning proficiency deploy strategies more frequently than those who have lower learning proficiency

2.4.3 Academic majors

In studying the connection between learning strategies and gender as well as learning proficiency, many research and studies have been done by famous experts and researchers But there are not many investigations have been made to examine the impact of academic majors on the choice of learning strategies although, from the first studies, researchers have identified an association between the choice of future career and the language learning strategy use of language learners Oxford and Nyikos (1989) did a study on 1200 students studying various languages at Midwestern American University, the findings indicated that career choice had a major effect on language learning strategies Similarly, Torut's study (1994) researching 611 University students

in Thailand revealed that the were differences in the use of strategies between students

of different learning majors

More specifically, the study of Politzer and Mcgroarty (1985) was carried out on Asian and Hispanic students They found that learners whose major is engineering or

other physical sciences used language learning strategies less frequently than those who are from social sciences and humanities majors Lee's study (1994) showed that students who major in humanities apply more and a wider range of strategies than those who major in science and engineering And some other researchers who have the same findings such as Peacock and Ho (2003); Tsan (2008)

With all the reviewed studies, the hypothesis that academic majors have an association with the choice of language learning strategy is supported and proved

2.4.4 Nationality/ Culture/ Ethnicity

Ethnicity of culture is another factor that affects the choice of language learning strategies (Hoang, 2013) Many studies have been done to investigate the influence of this factor on learners' choice of language learning strategy such as Tallent – Runels et

al (1994); Purdie and Hattie (1996); more currently is the research of Psaltou – Joycey (2008)

More specifically, Politzer and Mcgroarty (1985) did a study on 37 Asian and Hispanic students to compare the differences between the students from these two regions Two experts were involved in an 8 – week teaching course in English as a foreign language for these students to prepare for graduate study in the USA The findings showed that Hispanic students tended to deploy strategies more frequently than Asian students Another study which was done by Griffiths and Parr in 2000 indicated that nationality or culture had an affection on the strategy use Two experts investigated European students and students from other nationalities The findings pointed out that students from Europe applied language learning strategies much more frequently than those who came from other countries

In conclusion, there is a connection between the use of language learning strategy and nationality as well as ethnicity But with every single study, the findings are quite different because the difference in nationality, ethnicity, or culture is permanent, and it

leads to the fact that learners from each nation use language-learning strategies differently from learners from other countries It is apparent

2.4.5 Beliefs/ Attitudes

First of all, we need to understand what is "belief" The word "belief" refers to

"psychologically held understandings, premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true" (Richarson, 1996, p.103) Many researchers have an interest in this factor and they believe that its impact of it on how learners choose and to what extent they deploy learning strategies is considerable According to Riley (1996), when learning a second language, the attitudes, motivation, or behavior of language learners tend to be affected or shaped by their beliefs about a language and how it is learned To prove this and to understand more about this hypothesis, lots of studies have been done and the results are very positive such as Park (1995) investigated Korean EFL learners; Abedinia, Rahimib, and Zare – eec (2011) studied Iranian EFL learners; Kern (1995) studied on learners of French; …

More specifically, Oxford (1990a) stated that Language learners who considered their instructor as the most authoritative source of information were more likely to avoid using self–directed strategies to improve their language skills Yang (1999) studied the relationship between EFL learners' beliefs and learning strategies, he found that students'

"beliefs about the value and nature of spoken language" are considerably correlated with

"more frequent use of formal oral practice strategies" (p 50) The findings also showed that the usage of formal oral practice strategies was linked to learners' perceptions of the importance and character of spoken English More recently, Hong – Nam and Leavell (2006) studied 55 students monolingual Korean and bilingual Korean – Chinese to examine the correlation between beliefs and language learning strategies Using the questionnaire data collection method The questionnaire had been developed by Oxford (1990) and named "Strategy Inventory For Language Learning Skill", and by Horwitz (1987, 1988) named "Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory" The findings of their study revealed that learners with stronger beliefs about learning tended to use

learning strategies more frequently To sum up, all the studies reviewed proved that beliefs influence the use of learning strategies

2.4.6 Learning duration

According to LLS research, there is a favorable correlation between the length of English study and the application of strategies Oxford and Nyikos (1989) discovered that the number of years spent studying has a substantial impact on the adoption of learning techniques In a study of teenage French L2 learners, Ramirez (1986) found comparable outcomes When Khalil (2005) compared university students to high school students, he discovered that university students utilized more methods This might be due to the higher expectations placed on skilled learners while conversing in the target language Magno (2010) conducted a survey that asked 302 Korean students to complete

a strategic inventory for language learning The results showed that the "social" and

"compensation" categories were the most used, and the "memory" and "cognitive" categories were the least used In addition, the time spent learning English had a significant impact on the use of LLS, with some people using these methods for extended periods to learn English the most Al-Buainain (2010) conducted another study

to determine the nature and frequency of LLS use in the English Department of Qatar University The Department of Foreign Languages enrolled 120 Arabic students representing different levels of learning (1-4 years) The results showed that students frequently used research techniques moderately They favored metacognitive strategies and used Socio-afective strategies the least In general, the findings imply that language learning approach utilization and learning level have a favorable association (years of studying English) The usage of strategy increases with the number of years spent learning English There were no notable differences

A study of 502 students from three secondary schools in Hong Kong used an adapted version of the SILL survey instrument (Leung & Hui, 2011) The average strategy utilization was found to be in the medium range, according to the data Compensatory, metacognitive, and emotional techniques were the three most commonly employed

category methods Although there was a link between language exposure and LLS usage, the differences were not statistically significant These findings are in line with Tse's findings (2011) It is feasible to distinguish one element from another under Oxford's framework, however, time spent studying the English language is not included However, the time it takes to learn a new language may vary depending on the length of formal schooling As a result, the period of formal English language study is a variable

in the current study's analysis of LLS usage

In summarization, some studies proved that learning duration has a considerable impact

on the choice of learning strategies, especially listening strategies However, the results might not be right in a different context This study was conducted to examine to what

extent the learning duration influences the use of listening strategies

2.5 PREVIOUS STUDIES ON LISTENING STRATEGIES USED BY ENGLISH

AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS OR ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

In the field of listening strategy use, Nga Thi Hang Ngo (2015) conducted a study related to the use of listening strategies of Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language named "Some insights into listening strategies of learners of English as a foreign language in Vietnam" With an aim was to explore what listening strategies EFL Vietnamese learners at the university level used and why and how they used those listening strategies, the questionnaire and interviewing were deployed as two data collection instruments of the study The participants of the study were 30 second-year students of a public university in Vietnam, including 28 females and 2 males, the age of participants was from 20 to 21 years old And their proficiency was at a pre-intermediate level of English or B1 as measured by the Cambridge Preliminary English Test 3 (Cambridge, 2003)

The results showed that with metacognitive strategies, of the five metacognitive strategies that were distinguished, the students in the study mainly used planning,

selective attention, and directed attention Strategies for monitoring were not used or hardly used With cognitive strategies, students in the study only used strategies for translation, note-taking, and imaging With social/affective strategies, all categories were frequently used by students and this is the most frequently used group of strategies The study further found that the students struggled to flexibly use strategies in orchestration

Concluding, the author stated that although the students employed a variety of listening strategies, they did not apply a diverse set of strategies flexibly the reported usage of learning strategies is believed to be influenced by the learning environment, which includes teaching methods and traditional cultural elements The study brought up the topic of learners' ability to listen and comprehend, which is required for communicative competency In these circumstances, new teaching and learning techniques that emphasize the development of learners' listening comprehension skills are required One of the modifications is that learners will be taught how to listen in a way that emphasizes the process rather than the result of listening

The study indicated some observations about the use of listening strategies of Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language However, the number of participants in the study was still not large enough to completely reflect the reality

Another study conducted by Ngo Thi Thanh Huyen (2021) named "Student's use of strategies in EFL listening classes: language proficiency does make differences" The study was about investigating the differences in the choice of listening strategies among English sophomores at Hung Vuong University By dividing participants into successful and unsuccessful listeners, the authors hoped that good listeners' listening strategies can

be clarified and obtained to train less – effective listeners 34 participants including 28 females and 6 males were divided into two groups with two different levels of proficiency-based on the listening exam in the previous semester

After deploying diaries as the main data collection instrument for the study, the result showed that metacognitive and cognitive strategies were employed more frequently by the students than social/affective strategies Successful listeners utilized fewer listening strategies than unsuccessful group of students, but they were more adaptable and effective

The study revealed a very informative result about the choice of listening strategies by English major students at Hung Vuong University Second, the number of participants in the study was not large enough to make the result general, the participants were just students with English majors Therefore, there was still a mysticism about the choice of listening strategies by non – English major students of Hung Vuong University, which will be brought out in this study

Murphy (1985) worked with a group of twelve intermediate English as a second language tertiary students to discover the different sorts of listening strategies they employed and how they differed at different skill levels The data was gathered using a think-aloud methodology, which revealed and categorized seventeen unique strategies The findings revealed that the frequency of tactics adopted by successful and unsuccessful listeners may be discriminated against Successful listeners were more likely than unsuccessful listeners to utilize elaboration, inference, prediction, and conclusion drawing

The study clearly distinguished the differences in strategies used by more and less proficiency levels of listening ability of English as a second language However, the context of this research was too long ago, so the findings and discussions of the study may not be suitable and correct for these day situations

There was another study conducted by Vandergrift in 1997 to examine the use of listening strategies reported and named "The comprehension strategies of second language (French) listeners: a descriptive study" This study aimed to research the association between the types of listening comprehension methods reported, their

frequency of use, and reported variations in usage across four variables: language competence, gender, listening capacity, and learning style

The complex of this study was on high school core French students, the ages of 16

to 17 years old 36 students of four different courses level were chosen randomly as the participants The think-aloud procedure was chosen as the main data collection instrument for this study And the result of the study showed that cognitive strategies were used the most frequently, followed by metacognitive strategies However, in comparison between learners of different learning duration, the findings revealed that novice listeners tended to use metacognitive strategies with a higher percentage than intermediate listeners Although the metacognitive strategy use increased by proficiency level, the cognitive strategy use decreased sharply In the reporting of socio-affective strategies, this group of strategies accounted for fewer than 1% of overall strategy usage The study applied the taxonomy of listening strategies developed by the author and refined by O'Malley and Chamot (1990), clearly reported the listening strategies used by the participants But the think-aloud procedure, as spoken in the study, is not conducive

to eliciting the report of socio-affective strategies (p 396) It led to the unclear in the use

of this strategy categorize Otherwise, the number of participants was not large to elicit completely, correctly and close to the reality The study was conducted to investigate the use of listening strategies of participants who learned France, not English Therefore, the differences in beliefs between participants of the study and those who study English are considerable

In Vandergrift's (2003) study named “Orchestrating strategy use: Toward a model

of the skilled second language listener”, 36 junior high school French students in

Canada were selected for listening strategy elicitations with the goal of examining the link between listening proficiency and listening strategy use Think‐aloud data were coded and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively

The study discovered that more skilled listeners used metacognitive strategies more frequently than less skilled listeners, and that differences in this kind of strategy use were statistically significant across listening ability levels The usage of the category of metacognitive techniques, as well as particular methods for comprehension monitoring, querying for elaboration, and translation, revealed significant disparities More specifically, the study implies that teaching less skilled listeners how to employ metacognitive strategies might help them improve their listening skills To put it another way, the metacognitive process involves a listener in a series of conscious acts, including an examination of the listening task requirements, activation of appropriate listening processes, task predictions, and monitoring and assessing understanding

There was another study conducted by Vandergrift in 1997 to examine the use of listening strategies reported and named "The comprehension strategies of second language (French) listeners: a descriptive study" This study aimed to research the association between the types of listening comprehension methods reported, their frequency of use, and reported variations in usage across four variables: language competence, gender, listening capacity, and learning style

The complex of this study was on high school core French students, the ages of 16

to 17 years old 36 students of four different courses level were chosen randomly as the participants The think-aloud procedure was chosen as the main data collection instrument for this study And the result of the study showed that cognitive strategies were used the most frequently, followed by metacognitive strategies However, in comparison between learners of different learning duration, the findings revealed that novice listeners tended to use metacognitive strategies with a higher percentage than intermediate listeners Although the metacognitive strategy use increased by proficiency level, the cognitive strategy use decreased sharply In the reporting of socio-affective strategies, this group of strategies accounted for fewer than 1% of overall strategy usage

The study applied the taxonomy of listening strategies developed by the author and refined by O'Malley and Chamot (1990), clearly reported the listening strategies used by the participants But the think-aloud procedure, as spoken in the study, is not conducive

to eliciting the report of socio-affective strategies (p 396) It led to the unclear in the use

of this strategy categorize Otherwise, the number of participants was not large to elicit completely, correctly and close to the reality The study was conducted to investigate the use of listening strategies of participants who learned France, not English Therefore, the differences in beliefs between participants of the study and those who study English are considerable

2.6 GAPS IN THE PREVIOUS STUDIES

In the studies reviewed above, researchers indicated and demonstrated the differences in the use of learning strategies among learners from different disciplines by the findings obtained Besides, there are also differences in the use of learning strategies among learners from different countries and ethnicities Therefore, it is certain that the language learning strategies used by Vietnamese learners, especially non-English major students when learning English as a foreign language, might have many differences in comparison with learners from other countries as well as other regions To my knowledge, to date, there have been only some published studies conducted in this field such as Ngo Thi Hang Nga (2015), Ngo Thi Thanh Huyen (2021)

Second, most of the research in the world was conducted in countries where English is considered a second language In Vietnam, English is known as a foreign language, not a second language To better understand this, we need to clarify the characteristics of learners who learn English as a second language and those who learn English as a foreign language For those who learn English as a second language, English is spoken nearly as popular as their mother tongue in their country Due to this, people have more chances to better understand the culture of English – speaking countries, and accidentally it creates some of their different beliefs about the language

they learn compared to those who learn English as a foreign language As reviewed above, the differences in belief lead to differences in language learning strategy use Third, language learning strategies refer to all strategies that a learner uses when learning a language, including strategies for listening, writing, speaking, and reading Moreover, most previous studies were conducted on strategies of speaking, writing, and reading while little attention was paid to listening strategies This study was conducted

to research the use of listening strategies only, which makes the result more specific to listening strategies

To fill in these gaps, the present study was conducted on EFL students to investigate their use of listening strategies The findings of this study would give deeper insights into the field of listening strategies

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provided information relating to how the study had been conducted Including research design, research question, study context and data collection instrument

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The present study applied quantitative research approach to collect and analyze data Aiming to gain insights in strategies used by a group of non-English major students, the quantitative approach involved the use of background questionaire and listening strategy use questionnaire The data obtained from the background questionnaire was functioned as the foundation to classify the participants into specific groups Then, the use of listening strategies of such groups was compared and contrasted

3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research question that guided the current study is:

What strategies do the first-year non-English majored students of Hung Vuong University use to facilitate their listening comprehension?

3.3 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

The study was conducted on 147 first-year non–English major students at Hung Vuong University Established in 1961, with a long tradition of more than 61 years, Hung Vuong University is now becoming the place for acquiring knowledge of more than 9,000 students (including 46 graduate and undergraduate majors) Located in Viet Tri City, Phu Tho Province the place with the tradition of studiousness and hard–working, the school also has modern and advanced equipment, ensuring quality for teaching and learning The students of this school are famous in the whole province for the enthusiasm and ambitious This school is proud to be the number one public university in Phu Tho province, providing a highly qualified workforce for the human resource needs of companies and corporations in the northern region of Vietnam

The participants of this study are from first–year Chinese linguistic discipline of foreign language department in Hung Vuong University

In order to have the result that is as objective and authentic as possible, the participants of this study are chosen by the convenient sampling method 147 first-year non-English major at Hung Vuong University are selected to participate in this study Although this is not a huge number that can express exactly the general situation, it is enough to give results that are closest to reality, reflecting relatively the strategies used

by non–English major students

3.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

Quantitative is the main research approach in this study, with the goal of investigating how frequent do first year non–English major students of Hung Vuong University use listening strategies The study was conducted by surveying with two kinds of questionnaire: the background information questionnaire and the listening strategy use questionnaire Therefore, two questionnaires were used as two main data collection methods for the study Initially, the questionnaire about student’s background information were used to understand and classify participants into groups of gender and listening proficiency; then, listening strategy use questionnaire is used to collect data about the usage of listening strategies that first year non–English major students of Hung Vuong University apply The participants of this study are selected for convenience After conducting the survey, the collected data will be analyzed on SPSS software to find out how frequent each listening strategy is used by the first year non– English students From the data gathered, we will compare with the literature reviewed above to make conclusions as well as recommendations for future studies

3.4.1 Background information questionnaire

During the data collection process, the participants would initially answer the questions contained in the background information questionnaire under the guidance of

my supervisor, Ms Ngo Thi Thanh Huyen The purpose of the background information