Luận văn thạc sĩ a study on the improvements of learners studying toeic preparation classes at tienganh123 english center m a thesis linguistics 60 14 01 11

Through the instruments of pre- and post tests and survey questionnaires for learners, the study discovered that after taking a 2-month preparation course, the learners have significantl

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HA NOI, 2014

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyễn Phương Nga

at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Hanoi, 2014

Nguyễn Thị Lựu

study

My sincere thanks also go to my dear colleagues at TiengAnh123 English Center for all their help, support and encouragement when I encountered difficulties

I wish to acknowledge my thankfulness to the three TOEIC preparation classes for their enthusiastic participation in the project

Finally, I am deeply indebted to my beloved parents, my husband, my daughter, my siblings, and my post-graduate friends for their sacrifice, encouragement and care

TOEIC preparation courses in their training program These centers usually state strongly about the effectiveness of their TOEIC preparation classes; however, there has been little investigation on this so far This study is intended to explore the improvements made by TOEIC learners in terms of (1) their test-taking strategies, and (2) their test scores

The participants selected for the study included 43 learners from three TOEIC classes at TiengAnh123 English Center in Hanoi Through the instruments of pre- and post tests and survey questionnaires for learners, the study discovered that after taking a 2-month preparation course, the learners have significantly improved their TOEIC general and specific test-taking strategies In addition, regarding TOEIC scores, on average, learners have made an increase of approximately 200 points with about 80 points for Reading section and 122 points for Listening Comprehension section

TABLES OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Methodology of the study 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

I Language tests and language test preparation 5

1 The need for language tests 5

2 Kinds of language test 5

3 Test preparation 7

3.1 Definition of test preparation 7

3.2 Types of test preparation 7

3.3 Test-taking strategies 9

3.4 Previous studies on improvements of learners at test preparation language courses 11

II The TOEIC test 14

1 What is TOEIC? 14

2 Suggested test-taking strategies for success in the TOEIC test 15

2.3 Procedures of data collection 19

2.4 Procedures of data analysis 20

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 22

1 Learners’ personal information 22

2 Results addressing research question 1: Improvements on TOEIC test-taking strategies 24

2.1 Improvements on TOEIC general test-taking strategies 24

2.2 Improvements on TOEIC specific test-taking strategies 27

3 Results addressing research question 2: Improvements on TOEIC scores 33 PART C: CONCLUSION 37

1 Conclusion 37

2 Implications of the study 37

3 Limitations of the study 38

4 Suggestions for further study 38

REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B XXXIV APPENDIX C LXIX

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1.1: Gender of learners 22

Figure 1.2: Learners’ age 22

Figure 1.3: Learners’ current status 23

Figure 1.4: Learners’ years of learning English 23

Table 2.1: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking strategies before the course 24

Table 2.2: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking strategies after the course 25

Table 2.3: Mastery of TOEIC general test-taking strategies before the course 26

Table 2.4: Mastery of TOEIC general test-taking strategies after the course 27

Table 2.5: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies before the course 28

Table 2.6: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the course 29

Table 2.7: Mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies before the course 31

Table 2.8: Mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the course 32

Table 3.1: TOEIC pre- and post-test raw score data 34

Table 3.2: TOEIC pre- and post-test minimum, maximum, and mean score 35

Table 3.3: Detailed score difference between pre-tests and post-tests 35

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study There is no doubt that English has been playing an important role in the modern world of highly advanced technology, information and business Facts have shown that the English language has become an indispensable element for success

in the rapidly changing, competitive world

Understanding its importance in individual educational and occupational career, users of English worldwide in general and in Vietnam in particular have had

a growing demand for mastering this international language In addition, a widely accepted English certificate such as TOEIC is a desire of many learners of English

In fact, today the TOEIC test is one of the most common international recognized English proficiency exams in the world This is because TOEIC is now one of the most popular assessments used by schools and employers to evaluate the English abilities of students and employees (Tokunaga, 2008) To be specific, there has been

a rising number of companies in Vietnam and all over the world using the TOEIC for the purposes of hiring new employees, and for promotion to higher positions Apart from that, TOEIC is gradually being used within educational situations Specifically, according to Trew (2008) a significant quantity of Vietnamese and international universities and colleges used the test for the purposes of accreditation, course placement, and measuring progress within a curriculum Additionally, TOEIC has been adopted as a way of screening candidates for their graduate programs, especially in the fields of business or international studies by a growing proportion of educational institutions worldwide and in Vietnam In some cases, high TOEIC scores even bring candidates the right to apply for scholarships or special certifications

The desire for a satisfactory score makes TOEIC candidates put a great deal

of effort in preparing for the test In Vietnam, some of them spend hours of learning at home while the majority attends English courses for their test preparation These courses have various length and syllabi depending on the levels

self-and the goals of learners, but in general they provide participants with both linguistic skills and test-taking skills TiengAnh123 English center, Hanoi is one of such places which provide learners with instructions on how to achieve their desired scores Courses have been given for several years, and it is claimed by TiengAnh123 that its learners have made great improvements after their courses However, there has not been any investigation on how much progress its participants have made so far

The aforementioned reasons have brought the researcher a chance to carry

out a research project entitled A study on the improvements of learners studying TOEIC preparation classes at TiengAnh123 English center

2 Aims and objectives of the study The research project is aimed to investigate the improvements that TOEIC learners have made after a preparation course at TiengAnh123 English center The specific objectives of the study are to identify the extent to which learners have improved their test-taking strategies and their scores after attending a TOEIC preparation course provided by this center

of the methodology applied in the study is discussed in Chapter 2 of Part II

4 Scope of the study Although TiengAnh123 is known as an English-teaching website in Vietnam, the participants in their online courses are excluded from this project as they are all around the country; therefore, it would be impossible for the researcher to get them involved in the project due to the obstacles in time, duration and expense Instead, the sample of the study is composed of learners at face-to-face classes only because their profile and course length and treatment are controlled

Moreover, at the time of the research, TiengAnh123 was offering two kinds of TOEIC preparation, one for getting learners to achieve at least 450 points in the achievement test and the other is for the target of at least 650 points Nevertheless, this study is only aimed at the first kind of preparation because this one is more popular among learners due to the fact that a TOEIC score of 450 points is a requirement for graduation given by many colleges and universities in Vietnam Next, in terms of the improvements made by learners, the study focuses on the following two aspects, i.e their TOEIC test-taking strategies and their overall TOEIC scores at the end of the course

5 Significance of the study The study is hoped to offer the researcher an insightful understanding of the effects of the teaching and learning at TOEIC preparation classes at TiengAnh123 English center The findings of the study are expected to help the researcher identify what aspect of TOEIC preparation is doing well and vice versa in this center Accordingly, suggestions can be made to enhance the strengths and improve the limitations

6 Organization of the study The study consists of three parts which discuss the following matters

Part A: Introduction presents a brief introduction of the rationale, the aims and objectives, scope, significance, methods and organization of the study

Part B: Development is composed of three chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Literature Review provides the theoretical knowledge and results

from the recent studies for the issues relevant to the field under investigated

Chapter 2: Methodology describes the processes of sampling, designing

research instruments, collecting and analyzing data employed in the study

Chapter 3: Results and Discussion presents the discussion of the findings of

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

I Language tests and language test preparation

1 The need for language tests

As for Hughes (1989) although language tests are mistrusted by many teachers and alternative types of assessment are suggested, they are still considered

a powerful tool for evaluating language users’ abilities and achievement To begin with, tests are needed within language teaching systems because they help provide information about the achievement of learners in a second or foreign language Furthermore, without tests, British and American universities would find it almost impossible to select students from non-English-speaking countries The same is true for international organizations hiring employees whose native or first language is not English It is commonly accepted that score reports from such tests as TOEFL, IELTS, or TOEIC are one of the major requirements that applicants have to enclose

in their application

2 Kinds of language tests

In his book entitled Testing for Language Teachers, Hughes (1989, p.9)

mentions four kinds of tests namely proficiency tests, achievement tests, diagnostic tests and placement tests

Initially, proficiency tests are defined as a measurement of people’s ability in

a language regardless of any training they may have experienced in that language Some typical examples of this kind of tests would be the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), The International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) Hughes (1989, p.10) says the function of these tests is to determine whether candidates have reached a certain standard with respect to certain specified abilities Such examining bodies are independent of the teaching institutions and so can be relied on by potential employers, etc to make fair comparisons between candidates from

different institutions and different countries This study focuses on TOEIC test whose details can be found in the later section of this chapter

In contrast to proficiency tests, achievement tests are directly related to

language courses, their purpose is to measure the extent to which individual students, groups of students or the courses themselves have made progress in achieving objectives Examples of this kind of tests can be seen in many teaching situations such as a test given to students after an English reading comprehension course to check the participants’ improvements after studying the course

Another kind of test is diagnostic tests which are used to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in language learning and help teachers decide what should

be taught to the learners For example, at the beginning of a course, the teacher gives the learners a diagnostic test to see what areas of language need to be included

in the syllabus Or, in the classroom, progress tests given during the course can also act as diagnostic tests as they help the teacher and learners identify what areas will

be looked at next on the course

Lastly, placement tests are to provide information which help place learners

in a certain teaching program which is appropriate to their abilities In other words, they are used to form equal level groups which are expected to better teaching and learning qualities For instance, an English teaching center may require registrants

to do a placement tests before putting them into classes suitable to their levels

As can bee seen, the four kinds of tests mentioned above are different in their purposes and characteristics In addition, the amount of preparation varies among them, too Proficiency and achievement tests, especially proficiency tests are those which typically need more revision and preparation because they are tests with higher stakes; therefore, the desire for guided test preparation and practice is greater The next part will be discussing the various aspects of test preparation

3 Test preparation

3.1 Definition of test preparation

The website Wikipedia defines test preparation as an educational course, tutoring service, educational material or a learning tool designed to increase students’ performance on tests 1 In fact, test takers tend to spend time preparing for the tests they are going to take Some of them do practice test items via the Internet, some work through exercises in practice books Many others would pay for commercial forms of preparation that may involve a formal class or even one-to-one tutoring (Briggs, 2009) According to Robb and Ercanbrack (1999), in recent times there have been abundant preparation programs for academic aptitude and language proficiency tests, which constitute a vast industry within the private educational sector Students attend such programs with a strong desire for successful performance in the tests, and the higher the stakes of a test, the greater the desire for guided test preparation and practice

3.2 Types of test preparation

Although the term “test preparation” is commonly-used in the field of testing, different authors have suggested different categories of test preparation

To begin with, Anastasi (1981) specified three kinds of test preparation which may have a considerable effect on test performance The first is called test- taking orientation which is designed to ensure all test candidates’ familiarity with the general procedures involved in taking a particular test The second kind is termed coaching which is usually characterized by intensive, short-term practice on item types similar to those employed in the test The third type is to provide participants with training in broadly applicable cognitive skills

Briggs (2009) mentions the typical elements of any test preparation which include content review, item practice and orientation to the format of the test He divides test preparation into two main types namely informal or student-driven test preparation and formal test preparation or coaching The first type is characterized

1

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_preparation

with students’ activity of purchasing a book of practice exams for a nominal fee and using this as a basis for preparation in the weeks leading up to an official examination The other, coaching, refers to the preparation that is given by an official instructor (i.e., a coach) who drives students’ attention to specific test-taking strategies Most coaching programs require participants to pay a fee – sometimes quite substantial - to attend The three most common forms of coaching include 1) classroom-based courses offered by test preparation centers, 2) online coaching (with or without a “virtual” tutor) and 3) private one-to-one or small group tutoring in-person

Powers (2012) identifies two test preparation kinds which include test familiarization and coaching Test familiarization is quite similar to test orientation given about 30 years ago by Anastasi (1981) because it is to supply test-takers-to-be with general skills for test taking and to get them familiarized with the procedures required to take a particular test Participants of this kind of test preparation are exposed to the kinds of item formats they will encounter, the guidelines of guess making and time management Powers (2012, p.2) suggests that preparation of this sort is generally considered desirable as it is supposed to get individuals to master the mechanics of test taking; as a result, it will allow them to focus on, and accurately demonstrate, the skills and abilities under tested Meanwhile, the other is named coaching which is typically associated with short-term efforts aimed at teaching test-taking strategies or “tricks” to enable test takers to “beat the test”; that

is, to take advantage of flaws in the test or in the testing system (e.g., never choose a particular answer choice if a question has these characteristics…)

To summarize, the aforementioned authors have different ways of classifying test preparation with various names of the subtypes or with discrepant features of a particular subtype However, it can be seen that in any test preparation such as test- taking orientation or test familiarization, test takers are all familiarized with the format of the test, the skills and abilities to be tested and the ways to tackle the test

so-called test-taking strategies, which will be discussed in the next part of this chapter

3.3 Test-taking strategies

This section deals with the definition and the categories of test-taking strategies, which is considered as an indispensable component of test preparation 3.3.1 Definition of test-taking strategies

An early definition is the one given by Millman et al (1965) (as cited in Ritter and Idol-Maestas, 1986, p.50) who suggests that test-taking strategies are

“one’s capacity for using test characteristics and formats and/or test-taking situations to raise test scores”

Later on, Rogers and Harley (1999) mention specific test-taking strategies which include: reading the instructions carefully, scheduling the allocated time appropriately, making use of clue words in the questions, delaying answering difficult questions, reviewing the work in order to check the answers, etc

Then, test-taking strategies are defined by Cohen (2000) as the consciously selected processes that test-takers use for addressing language issues and the item- response demands in the test-taking tasks at hand As can be seen in this definition, two important elements are mentioned, which are consciousness and goal- orientation

As has been presented, although all the definitions show the nature and purpose of test-taking strategies, it is clear that the definition given by Rogers and Harley (1999) is the most detailed one

3.3.2 Types of test-taking strategies Cohen (1998) maintains that test-taking strategies consist of language use strategies and testwiseness strategies The first one, language use strategies are defined as the ways test takers apply their knowledge of a second/foreign language

so as to carry out language tasks Typically, four types of language use strategies (i.e., retrieval, rehearsal, cover, and communication strategies) are used in a testing situation for the purpose of storing, retaining, recalling, and applying the

information for use on the test The later, testwiseness is not necessarily associated with the examinee’s language proficiency, but rather is concerned with his knowledge of how to take tests

Rezaee (2006, p 155) classifies test-taking strategies into two types of

“general and specific” strategies General strategies are those needed for any test such as reviewing test content, reading the directions, using time effectively during

a test, avoiding errors, etc Meanwhile, specific strategies are employed in the exact area of the subject matter that is being tested; they deal with taking various kinds of tests such as multiple-choice, matching, fill-in-the-blanks, essay, short answer, true- false, and problem solving

According to Hirano (2009, p 158), test-taking strategies can be categorized into three following types:

(i) Learner strategies which include the ways that test takers employ the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and the related skills of vocabulary, grammar, and translation in addressing test items

(ii) Test-management strategies which are characterized as consciously selected ones used for giving meaningful and correct answers to test items These strategies include logistic issues, such as keeping tract of time and determining where to look for answers (iii) Test-wiseness strategies which are strategies for using knowledge of test formats and other peripheral information to answer test items without going through the expected linguistic and cognitive processes In other words, test-wiseness is the ability to use special strategies to give correct answers without necessarily knowing the content or skill that is being measured

As shown above, the classification suggested by Rezaee (2006, p 155) is clearly different from the other two, while the later ones are similar in many ways

To be specific, the nature of Cohen’s (1998) categorization is the same as that of Hirano’s (2009) and the difference only exists in the name of subtypes

3.4 Previous studies on improvements of learners at test preparation language courses

Language test preparation courses in which the participants are given necessary strategies for dealing with tests have been of great interest to researchers all over the world This section mainly deals with those studies that focus on the improvements of learners at language test preparation courses

It can be seen that research over time has suggested incompatible findings regarding the effects of preparation programs on a variety of language tests

First, the study by Brown (1998) investigates the performance on an IELTS test taken by students in a ten-week IELTS preparation course and a more broadly focused on English for Academic Purposes course The student groups mainly came from the South-East Asia region, aged between 16 and 25 years old, balanced in gender distribution and were typically enthusiastic, but characterized by diverse mother tongue and cultural backgrounds as well as previous educational experience This evaluation project was conducted with a mixed research design, requiring the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data Quantitative IELTS test score data generated by the writing sub-tests was collected through pre- and post-course testing of both the program groups Qualitative data was gathered through extensive classroom observation procedures including document analysis of staff teaching records, and informal interviews with both staff and students The findings revealed that the IELTS group has an improvement of nearly one band, while the other one showed a small score decrease Nevertheless, the sample sizes

of the two groups in this study were rather small (9 vs 5) and only writing skills were studied Therefore, it would be impossible to generalize the effect of a language test preparation course on test performance

Next is “The effect of background disciplines on IELTS scores” by Celestine and Ming (1999), in which the authors look at the extent to which test preparation affects IELTS test scores of students from different disciplines Three hundred and ninety-eight IELTS candidates whose major was either Science or Arts were

randomly selected from the IDP Education Australia offices in Malaysia to participate in the project Using IELTS scores and questionnaires as research instruments, Celestine and Ming (1999) found no significant difference in test results between those attending preparation and those who did not They suggested two reasons accounting for this which include (i) the duration of the preparation program (i.e a few months) is too short if compared to the duration of the disciplines the student had undergone (i.e two years) and (ii) IELTS is a test of English proficiency; hence, the knowledge of test-taking strategies cannot make any significant change to the scores gained

Of the greatest relevance to this study is the one carried out by Robb & Ercanbrack (1999) which investigated the effect of direct test preparation on TOEIC gaining scores During the study, freshmen students (i.e., English majors and non- majors) at Kyoto Sangyo University were divided into three treatment groups: 1) TOEIC Preparation, 2) Business English and 3) General (four-skills) English These groups were treated separately since there were important differences in contact hours/week, level of English, motivation and homework between them, which make integration of the data unwise The participants took the pre-test at the beginning of the school year and took the post-test and completed a survey questionnaire at the end The results suggest that the TOEIC preparatory materials had a significant impact on improving the non-majors’ reading component score The authors came

to a conclusion that direct test preparation are not beneficial to students majoring in the English language, but might have a great effect on boosting the score of the reading component of students enrolled in a university-level general English course

in Japan

Another study, Elder and O’Loughlin (2003) examines the relationship between intensive English language study and band score gains on the IELTS Specifically, it investigates the process of a sample of 112 students from non English-speaking backgrounds enrolled in intensive English language courses at one

gauged in terms of score gains on the academic module of the IELTS which was administered at the beginning and end of a 10-12 week period of intensive English language instruction Pre- and post-study questionnaires were given to all participating students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a small number of students and some administrators and teacher at each of the participating institutions Data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods The study found a significant improvement in English language proficiency, with students on average increasing their IELTS score by half a band They found that the improvement was greatest on the Listening subtest, and gains were likely to be greater for students with low initial English language proficiency They also discovered that a range of personal, instructional and environmental factors were linked to these improved scores, but that these factors varied from one language skill to another However, Elder and O’Loughlin (2003) suggest the need for caution in interpreting these results, as these studies are measuring average gains, and individual performance is highly variable

Apart from the international studies, research papers on test preparation in the Vietnamese context were also reviewed by the researcher of this study One of

those related articles is Effects of Test Preparation on Test Performance the case of the IELTS and TOEFL iBT Listening Tests by Nguyen (2007) In this study, the

relationship of two test preparation programs (the IELTS preparation course and the iBT TOEFL preparation course) and the test performance of 95 Vietnamese test takers destined for overseas study in English-speaking countries was investigated The research focuses on the listening sub-test of these two test batteries The IELTS preparation group was provided with instructions on IELTS 6 hours a week in which about 1.5 to 2 hours were devoted to listening skills and doing IELTS listening practice tests The program lasted for 10 weeks The English language proficiency of this group of students ranged from IELTS band 5 to IELTS 6.5 with the listening sub-band from 4.5 to 6.5 The TOEFL iBT group was introduced to the TOEFL preparation program for about 2 hours on the first day After that,

instructions were focused on teaching listening skills in general and on the TOEFL iBT listening test in particular For the participants in the TOEFL group, the training for the TOEFL iBT listening test ran for approximately 3 hours every other day and lasted for 2 weeks The English language proficiency of the TOEFL preparation group ranged from 35 to 50 on the TOEFL iBT with the reading sub-band from 10

to 31 The time allocated for the preparation of the two groups and the level-off of their average scores were closely scrutinized so that the two groups would be as much the same as possible The students from the two test preparation groups took both the IELTS and the iBT TOEFL listening tests at the beginning and end of the courses The research findings reveal that the effect of test preparation can be seen more evident on the performance of the IELTS listening test than on that of the TOEFL iBT listening test Specifically, the IELTS preparation group significantly outperformed the TOEFL preparation group on the IELTS listening test In contrast, the TOEFL preparation group performed better than the IELTS preparation group

on the TOEFL iBT listening test, but the difference was not significant.

As reviewed above, the majority of those aforementioned studies focus on test preparation courses which last a couple of months; however, they indicate different effect levels of language test preparation on test scores Therefore, it is likely that time of preparation programs has little impact on test performance Rather, the reasons accounting for this discrepancy include the kinds of tests and/or test formats, the sample sizes, the background cultures, and the language proficiency levels of the studies’ participants

II The TOEIC test

1 What is TOEIC?

Trew (2008) points out that the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC is used as a way of measuring the communicative ability of business people It covers the vocabulary and situations business people encounter when using English all over the world The typical test is composed of

Due to its popularity in Vietnam, this study is focused on the Listening and Reading Test only

The TOEIC test’s history and components can be seen in the table below: The TOEIC Listening and Reading Test 1978 1979 2006 Present

fewer photo questions in Part 1 √ √ set of questions in part 3 and Part 4 √ √ both recorded and written questions in

Part 3 and Part 4

Section Score Listening Comprehension 5 to 495 Reading 5 to 495 TOTAL 10 to 990

(Lougheed, 2009: viii)

2 Suggested test-taking strategies for success in the TOEIC test Trew (2008) suggests that test takers should have both good test-taking skills and linguistic skills in order to gain a satisfactory TOEIC score

First, the test-taking skills that test-takers are advised to master include: (i) familiarity with the test format, instructions and question types; (ii) good time management; (iii) efficiency of information processing; and (iv) awareness of features that can make incorrect answer choices attractive

Apart from the test-taking skills, test takers need to have adequate linguistic skills for good performance in the TOEIC test, which consist of (i) vocabulary and grammatical understanding; (ii) familiarity with different native speaking accents; (iii) awareness of English connected speech and (iv) understanding language in use

(conversational English)

In addition to the overall linguistic and test-taking strategies mentioned above, according to Kanistra & Kollias (2008) TOEIC test takers should keep in mind the following part-specific techniques:

 In part 1- Photographs, the tactics include looking at and answering questions about the photos before listening, marking the answers on the answer sheet upon listening and eliminating distracters

 In order to answer as many questions in part 2 – Question – Response as possible, students should first try to identify question types and predict the possible answers before they listen to the responses Furthermore, they should

be aware of distracters and avoid them when doing this part

 Part 3 – Conversations and Part 4 – Talks require students to skim the questions and answer choices paying attention to the key words before they listen When listening to the audio, students should keep their eyes on the key words in the question stem and answer choices Finally, students should mark the correct answer choice as quickly as they hear it

 For tackling the questions in Part 5 – Incomplete Sentences and in Part 6 – Text Completion, test takers should be well aware of the common question types as each type requires different techniques They are also advised to use the 2- pass method and strictly follow the advice on time management

 Some key techniques to deal with part 7 – Reading Comprehension

they are advised to read the questions first and then use the appropriate skills and sub-skills to answer the questions Some other reading skills include using key words to locate the relevant parts of the text and trying to guess unknown words from context

Those skills and techniques stated above are considered essential for good TOEIC test performance; therefore, they should be included in any TOEIC preparation course

SUMMARY

In this chapter, the researcher has described elaborately the various aspects

of test preparation More importantly, the researcher has reviewed what related studies say about the discussed aspects, which is hoped to provide a milestone background for the discussion of the collected data

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the context of the study and the research methodology

of the study

1 Context of the study The study was conducted at TiengAnh 123 English center which offers training in a variety of English courses The researcher surveyed learners who are studying in TOEIC A classes which require participants to gain scores equivalent to between 250 and 300 points in the 990-point scale of TOEIC in the placement test The learners are mainly university students along with some employees in several companies in Hanoi They voluntarily pay tuition fee to take the course The outstanding advantage of the target training is the keen interest of these learners in English Most of them are very studious and purposeful in studying the TOEIC course because they want to meet the graduation requirement set by their educational institutions or the application requirement set by their potential future employers

Each TOEIC A course lasts two months, with three 90-minute lessons every week Like any other preparation programs, these learners receive tuition in the format of the TOEIC test, and frequent practice of the relevant skills to be tested The course employs a number of commercial TOEIC test preparation books by well-known publishers such as Oxford, Longman, and Cambridge Apart from the preparation activities in class, the learners are required to complete a huge amount

of practice exercises at home The course guarantees a post test score of at least 400 points to each learner, if not, they will be offered another similar course free of charge if they wish to

2 Methodology 2.1 Research questions The study is to find answers to the following research questions:

1 To what extent do learners improve their TOEIC test-taking strategies

2 To what extent do learners improve their TOEIC scores after attending TOEIC preparation classes at TiengAnh123 English center?

To fulfill the research aims and objectives, sample TOEIC pre and post tests and learners’ survey questionnaires are respectively carried out during the study procedure Following is the detailed procedures of collecting data through these research instruments

2.2 Participants

A TOEIC A preparation course at TiengAnh123 usually consists of three classes (one in the morning and two in the evening.) The subject of this study involved 43 learners from all three classes of a course They come from different parts of the country and are at the age of between 18 and 26 Most of them are studying at college/university while the rest is working or looking for a job

2.3 Instruments

In this study, qualitative data was collected with the use of learners’ survey questionnaire for it provides space for respondents’ thoughts, and approaches In addition, the scores of the pre-tests and post-tests were used as they provided a quick and easy way of looking at the improvements made by TOEIC learners

The TOEIC pre-test and post test

The aim of the pre-test is to identify learners’ level of English before they were enrolled in the course The post test is to decide how much the learners have improved their TOEIC scores after a direct preparation program Because using practice tests in commercialized test preparation books would make it difficult to correctly measure learners’ English level or improvements, the researcher decided

to use the two TOEIC practice tests which were designed by TiengAnh123 English teachers The format and level of difficulty of these two practice tests are closely similar to those of an official TOEIC test These two tests are enclosed in Appendix

A and Appendix B respectively

The survey questionnaire for learners

The aim of this survey is to explore the learners’ improvements in their TOEIC test-taking strategies (The questionnaire is attached in Appendix C.)

The questionnaire was designed with two main parts including 7 questions Part one consists of six questions regarding the learners’ general information which includes their gender, age, working/study status, years of studying English, and pre- and post-test scores To answer these questions, learners ticked the most approximate boxes or wrote in the given blanks Part two comprises question number 7 which investigates the improvements that learners have made after the course in terms of general and specific test-taking strategies This question was written using a 5-point Likert scale (1= Always or almost always not true of me, 2= Usually not true of me, 3= Somewhat true of me, 4= Usually true of me, and 5= Always or almost always true of me) Learners answered this question by ticking the column which most reflected their thoughts The questionnaire was conducted in English as these learners’ level of English is good enough to understand all the questions properly It was administered after the learners got their post test scores at the end of the course

2.4 Procedures of data collection The survey was conducted by the researcher herself During the procedure of data collection, 43 copies of the questionnaire are administered to learners of three TOEIC A classes at TiengAnh 123 The researcher went to all of the classes and instructed the learners how to answer questions in the questionnaires Although the survey questionnaire is written in English, explanation was utilized when necessary

so that the learners could understand the questions properly The survey questionnaire papers were collected right after the learners had finished them 2.5 Procedures of data analysis

There were actually 43 survey questionnaires administered to the participants, among them 38 were returned but 7 contained many missing items and

therefore were excluded from the data analysis Consequently, only 31 survey questionnaires were analyzed in the following procedure

Stage 1: The researcher collected and analyzed the learners’ general information

Stage 2: The researcher gathered and analyzed the learners’ responses to the question regarding TOEIC test-taking strategies

Stage 3: The researcher collected and analyzed the learners’ pre- and scores

post-These kinds of data are outlined and discussed in the next chapter

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS This chapter presents the results from and the interpretation of the data collected from the questionnaires Specifically, the presentation will deal with learners’ personal information, an analysis of learners’ pre- and post test scores, and learners’ improvements on TOEIC test-taking strategies

1 Learners’ personal information Aspects of learners’ personal information provided are indicated in Figures 1.1 – 1.3 (relating to Questions 1 to 4 of the questionnaire)

Figure 1.1: Gender of learners

As can be seen in figure 1.1, the number of TOEIC learners is divided rather equally between male and female categories, 54.84 and 45.16 respectively

Figure 1.2: Learners’ age

Figure 1.2 shows that nearly half of the learners are at the age of 18-21 years old while around a third of them are between 22 and 24 The smallest portion includes those who are 25 years old or older with just nearly 20.0

Figure 1.3: Learners’ current status

According to figure 1.3, the majority of learners are those who are studying

at college/university with 70.97 The second largest group (19.35) consists of those who are currently working People who are looking for a job comprise the smallest portion of 9.68

Figure 1.4: Learners’ years of learning English

Figure 1.4 reveals that all of the learners have more than three years of learning English Specifically, about half of them has been studying English for 8-

10 years, while approximately a third of them has been spending 4-7 years learning English Nearly a sixth has been an English language learner for more than a decade

In summary, the above information has analyzed the learners’ general information including their genders, age, current status, and their years of learning English

2 Results addressing research question 1: Improvements on TOEIC test-taking strategies

Question number 7 in the questionnaire explores the learners’ knowledge and usage of TOEIC general and specific test-taking strategies, both before and after taking the course so as to answer research question 1 This question was written using a 5-point Likert scale with 1= Always or almost always not true of me, 2= Usually not true of me, 3= Somewhat true of me, 4= Usually true of me, and 5= Always or almost always true of me To answer this question, the learners chose the answer which most reflected their thoughts

The responses to this question will be presented and analyzed in the sections 2.1 and 2.2 as follows

sub-2.1 Improvements on TOEIC general test-taking strategies Table 2.1 presents the responses received from the questionnaire regarding the learners’ knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking strategies prior to the course

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

4 (%)

5 (%)

12 sticking to only one answer for all the questions I don’t know the exact answers

32.26 25.81 12.90 16.13 12.90

Table 2.1: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking

strategies before the course

Table 2.2 below displays the learners’ responses towards the question of knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking strategies after taking the course

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

4 (%)

5 (%)

12 sticking to only one answer for all the questions I don’t know the exact answers

Table 2.2: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC general test-taking

strategies after the course

As reported in table 2.1 and table 2.2, there is a tendency for the learners to choose 1-3 when self-evaluating their knowledge of general test-taking strategies before the course and to choose 3-5 when self-evaluating their knowledge of general test-taking strategies after the course Therefore, the researcher decided to rescale the original scale Accordingly, 1 (Always or almost always not true of me) and 2 (Usually not true of me) are rescaled as 1 which represents “Usually not true

of me” 3 (Somewhat true of me) is now rescaled as 2 which represents “Somewhat true of me” 4 (Usually true of me) and 5 (Always or almost always true of me) are now rescaled as 3 which represents “Usually true of me” The learners’ mastery of TOEIC general test-taking strategies after rescaling the original scale is presented in table 2.3 and 2.4 below

Knowledge of 1

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

12 sticking to only one answer for all the questions I don’t know the exact answers

58.07 12.9 29.03

Table 2.3: Mastery of TOEIC general test-taking strategies before the course

Based on table 2.3 and the new scale, it can be said that, in general, the learners were not aware of TOEIC general test-taking strategies before taking the course In detail, 100% of the learners were not aware of the amount of time they should spend on each part of the test, the way of identifying similar-sounding distracters, meaning distracters and avoiding distracters in the test Around 90% of the learners were not aware of the way to identify main idea questions and the remaining was little aware, the test instructions and how to identify detail and vocabulary questions Those who were not aware that they should guess when they did not know the answer accounted for 70.97% About 50-60% of the learners did not know that they should work quickly but carefully, mark one answer per question, and stick to only one option for all the questions they do not know their correct answers

Knowledge of 1

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

12 sticking to only one answer for all the questions I don’t know the exact answers

Table 2.4: Mastery of TOEIC general test-taking strategies after the course

Table 2.4 and the new scale indicate that all TOEIC general test-taking strategies were mastered by the learners after the course because 0% of the learners did not know any strategy The most mastered strategies were the strategies of working quickly but carefully, and marking only one answer per question with nearly 80% of the learners being usually aware of About 60-70% of the learners responded that they usually know the strategies of understanding test instructions, time management on each part, identifying main idea questions, identifying detail questions, identifying vocabulary questions, identifying similar-sounding distracters, identifying meaning distracters, avoiding distracters in the test, guessing when the correct answer is not obvious, and sticking to one option when the correct answer is not obvious

2.2 Improvements on TOEIC specific test-taking strategies This section will analyze the data to find out the improvements (if any) of the TOEIC learners in the usage of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies

The learners’ raw responses to the question regarding mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies before the course is presented in table 2.5 below

Strategies 1

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

4 (%)

5 (%)

Part 1 - Before listening, identify all words about photos 38.71 38.71 12.90 9.68 0

- Before listening, self-ask and self-answer questions about photos quickly

41.94 35.48 16.13 6.45 0

- While listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 45.16 41.94 12.90 0 0

Part 2 - Before listening, check part 1 answers quickly again 35.48 38.71 25.81 0 0

- While-listening, focus on audio & answer sheet only 45.16 22.58 32.26 0 0

- While-listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 41.94 38.71 19.35 0 0

Part 3 and Part 4

- Before listening, look at questions and answer choices quickly

64.52 19.35 16.13 0 0

- While-listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 41.94 38.71 19.35 0 0

Part 5 and Part 6

- Spend no more than 30 seconds per question on part 5 80.65 19.35 0 0 0

- In part 6, read more than one sentence to find the answer when necessary

74.19 22.58 3.23 0 0

- Read questions carefully and identify key words before

- Use context clues for vocabulary questions

Table 2.6 below presents the learners’ raw responses to the question regarding mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the course

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

4 (%)

5 (%)

- Before listening, self-ask and self-answer questions about photos quickly 0 0 22.58 38.71 38.71

Part 3 and Part 4

- Before listening, look at questions and answer choices quickly 0 0 22.58 35.48 41.94

Part 5 and Part 6

- In part 6, read more than one sentence to find the answer when necessary 0 0 25.81 35.48 38.71

- Read questions carefully and identify key words before reading texts 0 0 22.58 48.39 29.03

Table 2.6: Learners’ responses to question of knowledge of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the course

Table 2.5 and table 2.6 show that there are more learners choosing 1-3 when answering the question regarding their usage of TOEIC specific test-taking

strategies before the course, and 3-5 after the course As a result, the original scale will be rescaled Accordingly, 1 (Always or almost always not true of me) and 2 (Usually not true of me) are rescaled as 1 which represents “Usually not true of me” 3 (Somewhat true of me) is now rescaled as 2 which represents “Somewhat true of me” 4 (Usually true of me) and 5 (Always or almost always true of me) are now rescaled as 3 which represents “Usually true of me” The learners’ mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the original scale is rescaled is presented

in table 2.7 and 2.8 below

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

Part 1 - Before listening, identify all words about photos 77.42 12.90 9.68

- Before listening, self-ask and self-answer questions about photos quickly

77.42 16.13 6.45

- While listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 87.1 12.90 0

- Only mark answers after listening to 4 choices 83.87 16.13 0

Part 2 - Before listening, check part 1 answers quickly again 74.19 25.81 0

- While-listening, focus on audio & answer sheet only 67.74 32.26 0

- While-listening, take notes of question words 77.42 22.58 0

- While-listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 80.65 19.35 0

- Only mark answers after listening to 3 choices 83.87 16.13 0

Part 3 and Part 4

- Before listening, look at questions and answer choices quickly

83.87 16.13 0

- While-listening, avoid similar-sounding distracters 80.65 19.35 0

Part 5 and Part 6

- Spend no more than 30 seconds per question on part 5 100 0 0

- In part 6, read more than one sentence to find the answer when necessary

96.77 3.23 0

- Use grammar clues for word choice questions 77.42 16.13 6.45

Part 7 - Spend at least 45 minutes on this part 80.65 16.13 3.23

- Read questions carefully and identify key words before reading texts

70.97 19.35 9.68

- Identify easier questions and do them first 70.97 19.35 9.68

Table 2.7: Mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies before the course

According to table 2.7 and the new scale, it can be seen that before the course, the TOEIC learners did not usually use the given TOEIC specific test-taking strategies In detail, 100% of the learners did not usually use the time management suggestion on part 5 and part 6 and skimming skill for main idea questions and scanning skill for detail questions in part 7 More than 90% of the respondents did not usually read more than one sentence to find an answer when necessary in part 6 and use context clues for vocabulary questions in part 7 The strategies of avoiding similar-sounding and meaning distracters in listening; only marking answers after listening to all answer choices in part 1 and part 2; previewing quickly questions and answer choices before listening, predicting context before listening, marking answers quickly while listening in part 3 and part 4; and time management in part 7 were not usually used by more than 80% of the learners The remaining strategies including identifying all words about photos and self-ask and self-answer questions about photos quickly before listening in part 1; checking part 1 answers quickly again and previewing quickly part 3 before listening, focusing on audio and answer sheet only, identifying question types, and taking notes of question words while listening were not usually used by more than 60%-more than 70% of the learners

Strategies 1

(%)

2 (%)

3 (%)

- Before listening, self-ask and self-answer questions about photos quickly 0 22.58 77.42

Part 3 and Part 4

- Before listening, look at questions and answer choices quickly 0 22.58 77.42

Part 5 and Part 6

- In part 6, read more than one sentence to find the answer when necessary 0 25.81 73.19

- Read questions carefully and identify key words before reading texts 0 22.58 77.42

Table 2.8: Mastery of TOEIC specific test-taking strategies after the course

The new scale and table 2.8 suggest that in general the learners usually used the suggested TOEIC specific test-taking strategies The most usually used