Luận văn a study on ways to improve ielts listening skill

‘To study a new language, for instance, it is essential to outline what listening reason you have — listening for precise details, listening for universal which means or thinking — 1o as

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Giảng viên hướng dẫn: Ths Nguyễn Quỳnh Hoa

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A STUDY ON WAYS TO IMPROVE IELTS LISTEN

KHỎA LUAN TOT NGIHIẸP ĐẠI HỌC HIỆ CHÍNH QUY

NGANII: NGON NGU ANIL

Sinh vién : Vũ Hoàng Long Giảng viên hướng dẫn _: Ths.Nguyễn Quỳnh Hua

TIẢI PHÒNG - 2019

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Smh vién: Vii Hoang Long Ma SV: 1512751020

Tên đểtài: A study on ways to improve ielts listening skill

NHIEM VU DE T

1 Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ để tài tốt nghiệp (về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ)

2 Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán

3 Địa diểm thực tập tốt nghiệp

CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐÈ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP

Cơ quan công tác:

Nội dung hướng dẫn

Đề tài tắt nghiệp được giao ngày tháng năm

Yêu cầu phải hoàn thành xong trước ngày tháng năm

12ã nhận nhiệm vụ 1YLN Đã giao nhiém vu DI'I'N

Sinh viên Người hướng dẫn

GS.TS.NGUT Trần Iiầnu Nghị

CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM

Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc

PHIẾU NHẬN XÉT CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẪN TÓT NGHIỆP

Họ và tên giảng viên

Đơn vị công tác: -

1 Tỉnh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiện

2 Danb giá chất lượng của dỗ ản/khúa luận (so với nội dung yêu câu đã dễ

ra trong nhiệm vụ Ð.L 1.N trên các mặt lý luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số liệu }

3 Ý kiến của giảng viên hướng dẫn tốt nghiệp

Được bảo vệ Không được bảo vệ Điểm hướng dẫn

Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm

Giảng viên hướng dẫn

(E tà ghỉ rõ bẹ lớn;

CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM

Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc

PHIEU NHAN XET CUA GIANG VIEN CHAM PHAN BIEN

3 Ý kiến của giảng viênchấm phản biện

Duroc bảo về không được bảo về Điểm hướng dẫn

Hải Phòng, ngàp thẳng nếm

Giảng viên chấm phản biện

TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1 The definition of listening

1.2.1 General Listening Types

1.2.2 Specific Listening Types

1.3 The importance of listening

1.4.The difficulty of listening

1.6.2 The develupment of listening skills

UL 1ELT comprehension

2.1 Comprehension

2.1.1 History

CHAPTER THREE: FINDING AND DISCUSSION

1 Findings and discussions from the questionnaire

LIST OF TABLE & FIGURES

Figure 1 : The quantity of failure times

Figure 2 : The things need to do during the task

Kigure 3 : ‘The types of issucs during listening test

Figure 4: The frequency of self-study listening at home

Figure § : The ways to improve the listening skill at hom

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the process of doing my research paper, I have received a lot of experience, guidance and encouragement from my teachers and friends

To bogin with, I would like lo expross my deepest gratitude lo my supervisor

Ms Nguyon Quynh Hoa, the lecturer of foreign language Lacully, Haiphong

Private University, for her whole-hearted guidance and support Without her

valuable recommendations and advice, I could not finish this thesis successfully

My sincere thanks are also sent to all the teachers of English faculty at Haiphong

Private University for their precious and useful lessons during my four-year

study which have ben thon the foundation of this rescarch paper

HaiPhong, October 8, 2019

Vu Hoang Long

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1.1, Rationale

(Moore, 2005) said IELTS s' growth is obvious to be unavoidable because of the increasing number of universities that require students to use IELTS and

because of the large number of students who want to take a course in English-

speaking countries IELTS has become one of the prerequisites for graduation at

a number of universities and colleges in Vieam Therefore, the demand for

leaming IKI.TS is increasing IKL'TS comprises two modules: general and

academic The IZLTS assessment includes four language competencies:

listening, reading, speaking and writing Although some EFL Vietnam students

have taken the LEL''S test, they were unable to get an appropriate band score One of the explanations for the challenges facing students in this examination is

listening Unlike others skill in IELTS, there is no rewind m listening For

example, in reading skills, candidates can turn over an entire reading to find key

words or have time lo consider a topic before pulling pon in writing skills

Moreover, points could be regained in speaking test by examiner's factors Since

it can be the most difficult skill in language leaning, most studies have been

carried oul in many aspects in order to look at il, Therefore, this study is

conducted for the purpose of adding more data in the endless gap of the local context of teaching and learning the IZLTS test in Vietnam

1.2 Aim of the study

‘My graduation paper focuses spevilically on the invesligalion of method uscd by

the teachers at AMES center and give some suggestions for applying the new

motheds to cnhance the students’ self - leaming for improvements in their listening skills The specific aims of the research arc as follows: To investigate

the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the application of listening methods

in self-learning To find out the most common technique contents exploited by

the teachers at AMES center To examine the students’ preferences for the

model practice To give some suggestions for using the up-to-date solution to enhance students’ self-listening learning,

1.3 Research questions

As a basis for my investigation, the following research questions were

formulated:

1 What is the difficullics of TELTS listening ?

2 What are the techniques to improve the listening skill in EL'I'S ?

1.4 Methods of the study

To seek answers to the research questions, the data are analyzed from material

collection and were vollecled from survey questionnaires First of all, for the thcorctical basis, a lot of reference materials on listening skills and portfolios have been collected, analyzed and synthesized carefully with the due

consideration for the teachers’ and students’ teaching and learning: siluations Secondly, the questionnaires are carried out with the teachers and the students to

collect the most reliable data for the study

1.5 Design of the study

The thesis is divided into three parts

Part I : Introduction ; Part I: Development , Part III : Conclusion

Parl T: Intreduction

This chapter provides an overview of the study such as the rationale, the aims,

research questions, design and methods of the study

Part IT: Development

Chapter 1: Theoretical background

This chapler conceplualizes Telis les and the nature of the listening

comprehension, the importance of listening and the importance of students’ self-

access listening

Chapter 2 dovoled lo Research methodology

Chapter 3 : deals with findings and discussion

Part 3: Conclusion

Conclusion summarizes all lhe oblained results and includes suggestions Lor

further study

PART I: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I, Listening comprehension

1.1 The definition of listening

To begin with, listening is the selection and assignment of meaning to sound

When we listen we allempt to give importance to whal we recognize and what

we want to hear In different words, we pick what information is essentual to pay

altention to, in order Lo sirive to be capable to recognize the message any onc 18

giving us in order to respond (Brewster, Ellis & Girard, 2002)

According to Rivers (1981), listening is an innovative skill The innovative part

of it happens when you recognize what action (or non-action) to take to guide what you hear, meaning that listeners must have an onergetic function when

listening in order to mevt a specific purpose

Lindsay and Knight (2006) claim that people have different purposes when they listen ‘To study a new language, for instance, it is essential to outline what listening reason you have — listening for precise details, listening for universal

which means or thinking — 1o assisl beginners prepare their thoughts and use

shrewd guesswork to onsure beginners meot your lisleng cause, Conscquently, for this examine the focus became on developing listening for gist and listening

for specific records skills Listening is the important skill that permits learners to

use their other abilities

Listening is the primary ability that permils beginners to apply their other

abilitics Lisienmg is the primary ability that permits beginners to apply their

other abilities If a learner is capable of recognise what they hear they'll have

much less trouble speaking, as Rost (1994) mentions, because listening is absolutely important since it affords mput for the learner Furthermore, if novices do no longer recognize the enter they acquire, the mastering process

virtually cannot begin

Language mastering relies upon greatly am listening because the fact that it's far the ability that provides the primary impulse that initiates first, 2nd and foreign

language learnmg that sustains the getting to discover manner (Morris &

Leavcy, 2006) In addition, moro than thưco quarters oÍ' whát childrơn lcarn in school happens through listening in the classroom (Hunsaker, 1990)

1.2 Types of listening

A widely wide-spread categorization of listening has been brought by Wolvin

and Coakly ( 1988,1993)

1.2.1 General Listening Types:

The two main types of listening - the foundations of all listening sub-types are:

> Discriminative Listening

> Comprchensive Listening

a Discriminative Listening

Discriminative listening is first developed at a very early age — perhaps even

before birth, in the womb ‘This is the most basic form of listenmg and does not

involve the understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the

different sounds that are produced In early childhood, for example, a distinction

is made between the sounds of the voices of the parents — the voice of the father

sounds dillerent to that ol Uhe mother

Discriminative listening develops through childhood and into adulthood As we

grow older and develop and gain more life experience, our ability to distinguish between difTerent sounds 1s improved Not only can we recognise difTerent

voices, but we also develop the ability to recognise subtle differences in the way

that sounds arc made — this is fundamental to ulumatcly understanding whal

these sounds mean Differences include many subtleties, recognising forcign

languages, distinguishing between regional accents and clues to the emotions

and {cclings of the speaker

Being able to distinguish the subtleties of sound made by somebody who is

happy or sad, angry or stressed, for example, ultimately adds value to what is

actually being said and, of course, does aid comprehension When

discriminative listening skills are combined with visual stimuli, the resulting

ability to ‘listen’ Lo body-language onables us to begin to understand the speaker

more fully — for cxample recognising somvbudy is sad despile what they are saying or how they arc saying it

“ Tmagine yourself surrounded hy people who are speaking a language that you cannot understand Perhaps passing through an airport in another

country You can probably distinguish between different voices, male and

female, young and old and alse gain some understanding about whut is going

on around you based on the tone of voice, mannerisms and body language of

the other people You are not understanding what is being said but using

discriminative listening to gain some level of comprehension of your

surroundings.”

b Comprehensive Listening

Comprehensive listening involves understanding the message or messages that

are being communicated Like discriminalive listening, comprehensive listening

is fundamental to all listening sub-lypes

In order to be able use comprehensive listening and therefore gain understanding

the listener first needs appropriate vocabulary and language skills Using overly

complicated languaye or technical jargon, therefore, can be a barricr to comprehensive listening Comprehensive listening is further complicated by the fact that two different people listening to the same thing may understand the

message in two different ways This problem can be multiplied in a group

selling, like a classroom or business meeting where numerous different meanings van be denved from what has boon said

Comprehensive listening is complimented by sub-messages from non-verbal

communication, such as the tone of voice, gestures and other body language

‘These non-verbal signals can greatly aid communication and comprehension but

can also confuse and potentially lead to misunderstanding In many listening

siluations it is vilal to seek clarification and use skills such as reflection aid comprehension

1.2.2 Specific Listening Types

Discriminative and comprehensive listening are prerequisites for specific

listening types Listening types can be defined by the goal of the listening

The three main types of listening mosL common in interpersonal commumcation

are:

> Informational Listening (istening to Learn)

» Critical Listening (Listening to Evaluate and Analyse)

» Empathetic Listening (Listening to Understand Feeling and Emotion)

a Informational Listening

Whenever you listen to learn somethmg, you are engaged in informational listening This is true in many day-to-day situations, in education and at work,

when you listen to the news, watch a documentary, when a Iriend tells you a

recipe or when you are lalked-through a technical problem with a computer

Although all types of listening are ‘active’ — they require concentration and a

conscious effort to understand Informational listening is less active than many

of the other types of listening When we're listening to leam or be instructed we

are taking in new information and facts, we are nol criticising or analysing Informational listening, especially in formal setlings like in work meetings or

while in education, is often accompanied by note taking — a way of recording

key information so that it can be reviewed later

Developing your informational listening skills is a great way to set yourself up if you're starting a new job, beginning a new academic adventure, or fancy doing

some self-development studies around things that really interest you

b Critical Listening

Critical listening involves just that — being critical about what is being said, taking the important bits and making a judgment as needed Issentially, this

type of listening is great in the business world — it helps listeners get to the point

quickly and keeps things streamlined and ellicient.

By using crilical lisloning as a skill, we can make decisions sooner as well as coming up with sulutions to problems and analysis of situalions much quicker

‘Critical’ can often have a negative connotation, but in this context, it simply means cutting through what is being said to lift out the most important, relevant

‘Critical’ also means to scrutinize what is being said and take some things with a

pinch of sall It requires us to seck the truth amongst the noise of opimion and exaggeration

Critical listening 1s a key part of the critical thinking process

c Empathic Listening

This is really similar to sympathelic listening, but lakes things to a new level

Rather than looking on as an observer and (ccling Lor the person (be il sadness, anger, or joy!), empathetic listeners essentially experience the feelings for

themselves ‘Lhis is a sign of a really close friendship or relationship — to feel

someone’s pain or happiness is to love them and care deeply for them It can be quite inlense ai times and can really weigh deeply on the listener if they are not careful This slyle of listening is also known as Therapeutic Listening, and for

obvious reasons Ky putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes, we're better able

to help them through their situation

Counsellors, therapists and some other professionals use therapeutic or empathic listening to understand and ultimately help their clients This type of listening

does not involve making judgements or offering advice but gently encouragmg

the speaker to explain and elaborate on their feelings and emotions Skills such

as clarification and reflection are often used to help avoid misunderstandings

We are all capable of empathic listening and may practise it with friends, family and colleagues Showing empathy is a desirable trait in many interpersonal

relationships — you may well [eel more comfortable talking aboul your own

feclings and cmolions with a particular person They are likely to be beller at

listening empathetically to you than others, this is often based on similar

9

porspevtives, expericnees, beliefs and values — a good friend, your spouse, ä parent or sibling for cxample

1.3 The importance of listening

Listening is getting increasingly more critical in lots of foreign language

contuxis, that have tilled tremendously currently focused their efforts at the

development of different language skills including writing abilities This

growing significance is reflected within the proliferation of commercially listening guides The importance of listening in second and foreign language gaining knowledge of is admirably summarized in the latest e-book via Rost

(1994) * Listening is crucial in the language classroom as it gives input for the

freshmen Without information enter on the proper slage, any Icarning aclually

camnot start ” Brett (1997: 39) additionally states that "listening is a key Janguage skill {t has a crucial role inside the language acquisition procedure”

In assessment with other language abilities, a few research on listening shows

that on average human beings can expect to concentrate “two Limes as plenty as

we talk, four times greater than what we read and five times extra than we

generally write" (Morley, 2001)

Greater importantly, there is an increasing number of research indicating the sheer importance of listening in the communique and language studying

(Anderson and Lynch, 1988; Dunkel, 1991) Whal's greater, Michael Lewis

(1993: 32) highlights "almost all the international's natural language oulpul is

spoken rather written" Being an critical ability for almost interaction, listening

is therefore the maximum primary medium for input in language gaining knowledge of technique and with the aid of speeding up the scholars' capacity to

understand speech, the amount of enter they get will increase and hence aid

students’ language acquisition It is obvious thal we listen for many different

purposes im and out of the classroom, this has an effect on the way we listen Yule and Brown (1983) make a useful distinction between interactional and

transactional communication

Mccarthy, (1991) in discourse, defines transactional talk (and listening) as

vorbal exchange [or buying commercial enterprise achieved Interactional verbal

exchange, then again, has to do with lubricating the social wheels In listening

(1988) Anderson and Lynch illustrate them as (transactional) listening when the

main purpose is lo reap a successful transfer of information, whilsl interactional listening is described as listening for social reasons, and to sct up or maintain

pleasant relations among interlocutors In short listening is essential not only as receptive skill but also to the development of spoken language prophecy

1.4 The difficulty of listening

It is quintessential to acknowledge that listening can be quile challenging,

mainly for young rookies When supplied with a new language, experienced persons attempt to apprehend it in terms of cues of their first language (Cameron, 2001), which is still in a growing technique itself As human beings

aren't always communicaling [ace-to-face listeners can not oxpect the verbal

exchange because thorc is no visible guide, nor can they ask someone to copy or

try and provide an explanation for it in a different way, for example, while you concentrate to a cd For that reason, listening is regarded as one of the most tough competencies to leam and therefore to educate (subject, 2008) because of

the reality that listening is pretty complicated and calls for an active process of

interpretation wherein listeners must allempl to understand the messages they

pay attention with using the expertise they already possess (rost, 2002)

Further, they can not manipulate the selection of vocabulary, structure or rate of conveyance of the speakers As language instructors we must additionally

ensure thal children are aware thal regardless of their best allempl, al imes, they will nevertheless stumble upon some problems and challenges as improving

listening is a process that requires time and exercise and that they're not

predicted to recognize each phrase on every occasion that they're asked to do

listening activities (Brewster, Ellis & Girard, 2002)

According to Bloomfield et al (2011), there are some other elements concerning

the Uaits of the listeners thal can additionally have a main impact on their

capacity to hear efficiently Namely, listeners’ working memory capability which is mirrored by using their capability of understanding more of what they

hear when they are listenmg to L2 (A person's second language ) languageln addition, more than a few of factors pertaining to listeners’ enjoy with the 12

ampact their listening talents, which include the amount of publicily to the

language, familiarly and abilily to apprchend the phonology of the goal

ll

language, the quantily of vocabulary supplicd and history information approximately the subject

Bloomfield et al (2011) also claim that it is necessary to be aware that listeners” nervousness affects their capability to apprehend what they can hear, specifically young newbies who have a tendency to succumb to distractions

every now and then and are unable to focus their attention for long duration of ume on the same activity, which makes it even extra difficult Lor them to hear

efficaciously

Therefore, we ought to strive to maximize our students’ getting to know capacity in class thru listening (Rivers, 1981) as this ability is the first segment

that conncets language with that means Furthermore, speaking, proceeds

listening cognitively (Bozorgian, 2012) as 4 consequence, listening alfords the

input that resources the premise for language acquisition and lets in beginners to interact in spoken verbal exchange

1.5, The types of problems in listening

Fan Yagang (1996) has conducted a study on “Listening: Problems and Solutions” It has been indicated that in teaching listening comprehension one

must be carclul not Lo go to extremes, cither by being concemed too exclusively

with theories without thinking about their application to teaching, or by obstinately following frozen routines-opening the textbook and explaining new

words, playing the tape recorder, and asking/answering questions Tt has heen

suggested that a teacher should have an overall understanding of what listening

is, why it is difficult for forcign language Joamers and how to bridge the gap between analysis of listening and actual classroom teaching In his study, the

evidence that shows why listening is difficult divided into mainly four sources:

1.5.1 The Message

Content Many learners find it more difficult to listen Lo a laped message than to

read the same message on a piece of paper, since the listening passage comes into the ear in the twinkling of an eye, whereas reading material can be read as

long as the reader likes

The Listening material may deal with almost any area of life It might include

street gossip, proverbs, new products, and siluations unfamiliar 1o the student

Also, in a spontaneous conversation speakers frequently change topics

The content is usually not well organized In many cases listeners cannot predict

what speakers are going to say, whether it is a news report on the radio, an

interviewer's questions, an everyday conversation, etc

Messages on the radia or recorded on Lape cannot be listened to al a slower

speed Even in conversation il is impossible to ask the speaker to repeat

something as many times as the interlocutor might like

1.5.2.Linguistic Features

® Liaison is the linking of sounds or words When we say a sentence in

English, we join or “link” words to each other Because of this linking, the words in a sentence do not always sound the same as when we say them

individually

E.g : Make-up /meik: ap/ > /“meikap/

More ice /mo:1 ais/ > Amu: rais/

* Hlision is the omission of a sound (a phoneme) in rapid speech More

specifically, elision may refer to the omission of an unstressed vowel,

consonant, or syllable

K.g : potato /ps'teitow/ > /p’teitow/

polite /pa'lait/ > /p lai

Two things on above are common phenomena that make it difficult for students

to distinguish or recognize individual words in the stream of speech They are

used lo seeing words wrillen as discrete entities m their lexthooks

If listening materials are made up of everyday conversation, they may contain a lot of colloquial words and expressions, such as stuff for material, guy for man,

ete as well as slang Students who have heen exposed mainly to formal or

bookish English may not be familiar with these expressions In spontaneous

conversalions people somelimes use ungrammatical sentences because of

nervousness or hesitation They may omit elements of sentences or add

something redundant This may make it difficult for the listener to understand

the meaning

1.5.3 The Speaker

Ur (1984:7) points out that “ In ordinary conversation or even in much

extempore speech-making or lecturing we actually say a good deal more than

would appear to be necessary in order lo convey our message Redundant

utterances may take the form of repetitions, false starts, re-phrasings, self- corrections, elaborations, tautologies, and apparently meaningless additions such

as Tmean or you know.” This redundancy is a natural feature of speoch and may

be either a help or a hindrance, depending on the students’ level It may make it more difficult for beginners io understand what the speaker is saying; on the

other hand, it may give advanced students more time to “tune in” to the

speaker’s voice and speech style Learners tend to be used to their teacher's

accent or to the standard variety of British or American English They find it

hard to understand speakers with other accents Spoken prose, as in news

broadcasting and reading aloud written texts, is characterized by an even pace, volume, pitch, and mtonation Natural dialogues, on the other hand, are Tull of

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

listening material may sometimes find the latter difficult to understand

1.5.4 The Listener

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

in English to predict a missing word or phrase They cannot, for cxample, be

expected to know that rosy often collocates with cheeks nor to predict the last word will be something like rage when they hear the phrase he was in a

towering This is a major problem for students Lack of sociocultural, factual,

and contextual knowledge of the target language can present an obstacle to

comprehension because language is used to express ils cullure (Anderson and

Lynch 1988)

Foreign-language learners usually devote more time to reading than to listening,

and go lack exposure lo different kinds of listening materials Even our college

students majoring in English have no more than four hours’ regular training per

week Both psychological and physical factors may have a negative effect on perception and interpretation of lisicnmg material It is tiring for students to

concentrate on interpreting unfamiliar sounds, words, and sentences for long

periods

1.5.5.Physical Setting

Noise, including both background noises on the recording and environmental

noises, can take the listener’s mind off the content of the listening passage Listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues

Not seeing the speaker’s body language and facial expressions makes it more

difficult for the listener to understand the speaker’s meaning Unclear sounds

resulling from poor-quality equipment can mterfere with the listener’s

comprehension

1.6.Teachìng listening

ven when listeners have good listening abilities, there is still a possibility that they might net be able to understand what is said in every situation if they do not actively use their listening ability effectively in each listening situation (Rost,

1991),

Therelore, as language Leachers, it is important to conceive ways lo incorporale listenmg into our teaching and provide opportunities inside and outside the classroom for our students to be exposed to significant listening input Linse (2005) claims that “Leamers can and should be actively engaged in listening

tasks and aclivilics.” (p.25), meaning thal 4 purpose for listening in a particular

task must be defied such as listening for spceilic details or the main idea

Knowing the purpose for listening helps to reduce the burden of comprehension since listeners are listening for something very specific, which, in tum, will help them determine the type of listening required and the necessary approach to a

given lask (Richards, 1990)

Teaching lisicning can therelore be one of the hardest tasks lor teachers mainly because listening skills are acquired aver time and through practice However,

listeners who are taught and encouraged to use effective strategies, such as

avoiding mental translation, for instance, are more likely to have a better L2

listening comprehension (Bloomfield et al., 2011)

1 6.1, Teaching listening strategies ts develop learners’ listening skills

Effective language teachers help learners adjust and adapt thew listening behavior to deal with a variety of situations, namely, different types of input and listening purposes, helping them develop a set of listening strategies and match

appropriate stralegies to each listening situalion Listening is regarded as a

thinking process (Rost, 1991)

‘Thus, effective listeners think about the meaning of what they hear In order to

successfully make use of the listening ability, listeners have to make effective decisions regarding what they are about to listen to, and these decisions can be

called listening stralegies

An example ofa listening stralegy used in a classroom context can be listening

activities that give students an idea of what to expect and then listen for

confirmation, According to Ellis and Browsler (2014), the objective is to focus children’s atlention not only on what they learn bul also how they learn as a

means to encourage them to become aware of how to develop their own strategies when it comes to leaming, leading them to become more effective and independent learners This can be achieved if teachers support children's

understanding more oflectively, in other words, if lacy manage Lo steer learners’ altention to specilic points of activities thai actively support their underslanding

and guide their attention to specific parts of what they listen to (Brewster, Ellis

& Girard, 2002)

It is also believed that children’s learning depends highly on connections made

between what they know and what they are able lo understand in the spooch they

hear (Wells, 1987) However, they do not learn only by lislening If loamers do

not actively search for meaning, learning will not necessarily occur ‘Vherefore, teaching learners listening strategies can be an opportunity to help leamers

become better listeners (Harmer, 1998), in the sense that they will be actively

engaged in the listening process, improving their chances of acquiring new and

solid knowledge of the target language

However, not all the problems described above can be overcome For instance,

certain features of the message and the speaker are inevitable But this does not

mean thal lhe Wwacher can de nothing about them S/he can al least provide the students with suitable listening materials, background and linguistic knowledge,

enabling skills, pleasant classroom conditions, and useful exercises to help them discover effective listening strategivs (Fan Yang, 1996),

The Message

1 Grade listening materials according to the students’ level, and provide

authentic materials rather than idealized, filtered samples It is true that natural

speech is hard to grade and il is difficult for students to identify the different

voices and cope with

frequent overlaps Nevertheless, the materials should progress step by step from somiauthenticity that displays most of the linguistic {calures of natural speech to

17

tolal aulhonticity, because the final aim is to understand natural spocch in real

lite

2 Design task-oriented exercises to engage the students’ interest and help them

learn listening skills subconsciously As Ur (1984:25) has said, “listening

exercises are most effective if they are constructed round a task That is to say, the students are required to do something in response to what they hear that will

demonstrate their understanding.” She has suggested some such tasks

expressing agreement or disagreement, taking notes, marking a picture or

diagram according to instructions, and answering questions Compared with

traditional multiple-choice questions taskbased exercises have an obvious

advantage: they not only test the students’ listening comprehension but also

encourage them to use different kinds of listening skills and stralegies Lo reach

their destination in an active way

3 Provide students with different kinds of input, such as lectures, radio news,

films, TV plays, announcements, cveryday conversation, interviews,

storytelling, English songs, and so on

Brown and Yule (1983) calugorize spoken texts into three broad Lypes: static,

dynamic, and absiract ‘lexts that describe objects or give instructions are static

texts, those that tell a story or recount an incident are dynamic texts; those that focus on somcone’s ideas and belicls rather than on concrete objccls are abstract

texts Brown and Yule suggest that the three types of input should be provided according to the difficulties they present and the students’ level They draw a

figure, in which difficulty increases from lett to right, and, within any one type

of input, complexity increases from top to bottom

4, Try to find visual aids or draw pictures and diagrams associated with the listening topics to help students guess or imagine actively

The Speaker

1 Give practice in Liaisons and clisions in order to help students get used ly the

acoustic forms of rapid natural speech ft is useful to find rapidly uttered

colloquial collocations and ask students lo imilale native speakers"

pronunciation

2 Make students aware of different native-speaker accents Of course, strong

regional accenls arc not suilable [or training in hsienmg, bul in spontancous

conversation native speakers do have certain accents Moreover, the American accent is quite different from the British and Australian Therefore, it is

necessary to let students deal with different accents, especially in extensive

listening

3 Select short, simple listening texts with litle redundancy for lower-level

students and complicated authentic materials with more redundancy for

advanced leamers It has been reported that elementary-level students are not

capable of interpreting extra

information in the redundant messages, whereas advanced listeners may benefit

from messages being expanded, paraphrased, elc (Chaudron 1983)

The Listener

1 Provide background knowledge and linguistic knowledge, such as complex

sentence structures and colloquial words and expressions, as needed

2 Give, and try to get, as much feedback as possible Throughout the course the

teacher should bridge the gap between input and students’ response and between

the teacher’s feedback and students’ reaction in order to keep activities purposeful It is important for the listening-class teacher to give students

immediate feedback on their performance This not only promotes error

correction but also provides encouragement It can help students develop

confidence in their ability lo deal with listening problems Student feedback can

help the teacher judge where the class is going and how it should be guided

3 Ilelp students develop the skills of listening with anticipation, listening for

specilic information, listening Lor gisl, interpretation and inference, listening lor

intended meaning, listening for attitude, etc by providing varied tasks and

exercises al different levels with different focuses

19

1.6.2 The develnpment of listening skills

1.Listening for the gist

Even though it is possible to understand the overall senso or presentation of a situation when listening, learners are awaro that informalion comes in a

sequence (Ahmed, 2015) In that sequence of information, there are content words that can help them form the ‘bigger picture’ of what they are listening to This is often called listening for gist, meaning that, when learners listen for gist

they become aware that just by gathering broad information of what they can

hear they arc alroady able to obtain a gencral understanding of a topic or

situation and use it to discuss it further

2 Listening for the specific information

When listening for details, leamers are interested in listening for a specific kind

of information — a number, name or object — therefore, ignoring anything that

sounds irrelevant for thal particular siluation (Ahmed, 2015) This way they are able to narrow down their search and obtain the details they need

TI IELTS comprehension

2.1 Comprehension

The International English Language Testing System,or IELTS, is an international

standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers Il is jomlly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS

Australia and Cambridge Assessment English, and was established in 1989 IELTS is one of the major English-language tests in the world, others being the

TOEFL, TOEIC, PTE Academic, and OPI/OFIc

IELTS is acecpted by most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish and New Zealand

academic inslitulions, by over 3,000 academic insliluuions in the United States,

and by various professional] organisations across the world

IELTS is the only Secure English Language ‘est approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UE-VI) for visa customers applying both outside and inside the

UK It also meets requirements for immigration to Australia, where TOEFL and

Pearson Test of English Academic are also aecepled, and New Zealand In

Canada, IKLT'S, ‘TEE, or CEILPIP are accepted by the immigration authority

No minimum score is required to pass the test An LEL'I'S result or ‘lest Report

Fomn is issued to all test takers with a score from "band 1" ("non-user") to “band

9" (expert user") and each instilulion sets a different threshold There is also a

"band 0” score for those who did not altempt the Lost Institutions are advised not

to consider a report older than two years to be valid, unless the user proves that,

they have worked to maintain their level

In 2017, over 3 million tests were taken in more than 140 countries, up from 2 million tests in 2012, 1.7 million tests in 2011 and 1.4 million tests in 2009 In

2007, IGLTS administered more than one million tests in a single 12-month

period for the first time ever, making it the world's most popular Knglish

language test for higher education and immigration

21

2.1.1 Histary

The English Language Testing Service (IELTS), as IELTS was then known, was Jaunched in 1980 by Cambridge English Language Assessment (then known as

UCLES) and the British Council It had an innovative format, which reflected

changes im language learning and tcaching, mcluding the growth in

‘communicative’ language learning and ‘English for specific purposes’ Test tasks were intended to reflect the use of language in the ‘real world’

During the 1980s, test taker numbers were low (4,000 in 1981 rising to 10,000

im 1985) and there wore practical difficulics administering the Lost As a result,

the ELTS Revision Project was set up lo oversee the redesign of the test In

order to have international participation in the redesign, the Intemational

Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges (IDP), now

known as IDP: JELTS Australia, joined Cambridge English Language

Assessment and the British Council to form the intemational IELTS partnership

which delivers the Lest to this day This international partnership was reflected in the new name for the test: ‘Ihe International English Language ‘esting System

QELTS)

IELTS went live in 1989 Test takers took two non-specialised modules,

Listening and Speaking, and two specialised modules, Reading and Wniling Test taker numbers rose by approximately 15% per year and by 1995 there were

43,000 test takers in 210 test centres around the world

IELTS was revised again in 1995, with three main changes:

‘There was ONE Academic Reading Module and ONE Academic Writing Module (previously there had been a choice of three field-specific Reading and

Further revisions went live m 2001 (revised Speaking Test) and 2005 (new

assessment criteria for the Writing test)

The difference between the Academic and General Training versions is the

content, context and purpose of the tasks All other features, such as uming

allocation, length of written responses and reporting of scores, are the same

IELTS Academic and General ‘Iraining both incorporate the following features IELTS tests the ability to listen, read, write and speak m English

The speaking module is a key component of IELTS It is conducted in the form

of a one-Lo-one interview with an examiner The examiner assesses the tesl taker

as he or she is speaking The speaking scssion is also recorded for moniloring and for re-marking in case of an appeal against the score given

A variety of accents and writing styles have been presented in test materials in order to minimise linguistic bias The accents in the listening section are

generally 80% British, Australian, New Zealander and 20% others (mostly American)

IELTS is developed by experts at Cambridge English Language Assessment

with input from item writers from around the world eams are located in the

USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other English-

speaking nations

Band scores are used for each language sub-skill (Listening, Reading, Writing,

and Speaking) ‘The Band Scale ranges from 0 ("Did not attempt the test") to 9 ("Expert User").

2.1.3 TELTS test structure

Modules

* There are two modules of the IELTS

¥ Academic Module and

¥ General Training Module

* There's also a separate test offered by the IELTS test partners, called IELTS

Life Skills:

* IKL'S Academic is intended for those who want to enroll in universities

and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical doctors and nurses who want to study or practise in an English-

Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels Al or B1 and can be used to

apply or a ‘family ofa settled porson’ visa, indolinite leave to romain or

citizenship in the UK

‘The four parts of the LELTS test

1 Listening: 30 minutes (plus 10 minutes' transfer time)

» Reading 60 minutes

1 Writing: 60 minutes

«Speaking: 11-14 minutes

The test total time is: 2 hours and 45 minutes

Listening, Reading and Writing are completed in one sitting The Speaking test

may be taken on the same day or up lu seven days before or after the other tests

All test takers take the same Listening and Speaking tests, while the Reading and Writing tests differ depending on whether the test taker is taking the

Academic or General Training versions of the test

the average across the four skills ends in 0.25, it is rounded up to the nest half

band, and i il ends im 0.75, it is rounded up ta the next whole band

‘The nine bands are described as follows:

Hus (ull opersdional command of the language: appropriate, wecurale and Quent

9) Pspert User | th complete understanding

Very Good | filly aperational command’ ofthe language with only ocarional unaysteratic

tu inaccuracies and inappropriacies, Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar

situations, Handles complex detailed argumentation well Has operational conanand of the Tanguage, though wilh occasional inaccuracies,

Good User

1 inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some situations Generalty handles

complex language well and understands detailed reasoning

Competent | Hesgenetally effective command ofthe language despite some inaccuracies,

6) User inappropriacies and misunderstandings Can use and understand fairly complex

language, particularly in familiar situations

Limited | Basic competence is limitcd to familiar situations, Lias Trequcnt problems in

aly ser understanding and expression Is nol able to use complex language

Extranely | conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations

‘Na real communication is possible except for the mast basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and te meet immediate needs [las great difficulty understanding spoken and written linglish

Did nat

0| attempt the

test

IELTS and the CEFR

85

75 7.0

6.0 5.5

from the questions paper to an answer sheet, The instructions are included on the

recording Fach section is heard only onec

Section 1: This is usually a conversation bctwscn two people Typically, the conversation will involve a basic exchange of information For example,

someone might be placing an order over the phone, or confirming details for a

reservation The topic will be a daily-life situation

Section 2: ‘This is usually a monologue (one person speaking) Passage two will also come from a common daily situation Kor example, you might hear

someone providing directions, or presenting basic information about a place or

an event

Section 3: ‘The topics become noticeably more challenging in Section 3 This will be a conversation, often among several people, about an academic topic You might hoar a fow students discussing something from class, or a professor providing feedback about an assignment, Jor cxample Passage 3 is loughor

because the vocabulary is more difficult, the topics are more complicated, and there are more speakers involved in the discussion

Section 4: ‘his will be a lecture from a professor li could cover any topic from

ialized knowledge

cull and the lecture

a typical college course You are nol required to have sp

aboul the subject matter However, the language will be dill

will be complex This is the toughest passage on the Listening exam for most

students

2.2.2 Type of question

This chapter will farmiliarise you with the most common task types of the

IELTS Listening test

FORM COMPLETION

Tasks test your ability to predict what is missing in the gaps You need to listen

for important details likes names, dates, places, and times Sometimes, these are

spelt out If they are not, you still have to spelt out If they are not, you still have

to spell the answers correctly

Y Strategies

- Listening carefully to the instructions as they can help you to know about the topic

- During the time of 30 seconds given:

© Read the instructions, imagine the situation, and underline the

number of words you are allowed to write for each answer(e.g NO

MORE THAN THREE WORDS)

© Read the heading of the form

- Underline or highlight ihe keywords around cach gap, and use these to

help you to listen for the answer

27

- While you are listening, write dawn your answers because you will hear the recording once only

When to take leave: 6

Number of days missed: 7

FREE-TIME HOLIDAYS BOOKING FORM

Floliday reference number Departure date Number if nights

5 room with breakfast

C half board

D full board

FREE-TIME HOLIDAYS BOOKING FORM

Cost{ per person) 7

Supplements ‘Accommodation’ | Total price

(per person) calad 11

Departure 10

28

TABLE COMPLETION

Tn this task type, candidates are required to {ill the gaps in an outline of part or

of all of the listening text A table is used as a way of summarizing the information which relates to clear categories — e.g place/time’price Noticeably,

note form can be used when completing the gap: this means that articles,

auxiliary verbs, etc may be omitted when they are not necessary for meaning

- Predic the kind of word or phrase you would need(

place, number, name, etc )

- Keep in mind that there will be times when you have lo

write a measurement word or an abbreviation( cm, in, hours, ete )

change them just to make them fiL

- There is no need to write articles.( a, an, the)

29

TV channels Time | Name of the programme | Content of the programme

BBC 1 8:00 | Mace to Face ‘Talk with an American writer

7 10:15 | Sounds around Life and music of Jan Sibelius

Channel 4 & Holidays Holidays in Germam

The Sydney See concerls, opera and

Opera louse theatre

The Great Barrier Reef Go 4 Resort hotel or guest

See the coral reef house

in Uhuu National Park

Go hiking and trekking