Luận văn an investigation into toeic listening comprehension problems of non english major students

They said that they lacked knowledge, skills and strategies about listening comprehension, Understanding these problems, the sindy investigates TORIC listening comprehension problems en

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

AREERSER HERR AE ER

PHAM HONG NHUNG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TOEIC LISTENING COMPRETIENSION PROBLEMS OF NON-ENGLISII MAJOR

STUDENTS

DIEU TRA VE CAC VAN DE NGHE HIEU TOEIC CỦA SINH

VIEN KHONG CHUYEN TIENG ANH

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

DIEU TRA VE CAC VAN DE NGHE HIEU TOEIC CUA SINH

VIEN KHONG CHUYEN TIENG ANH

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Mcthodology

Supervisor: Dr Té6 Thi Thu Huong

Hanoi - 2014

DECLARATION Thereby

iy that the thesis entilled

“An investigation into TOHIC listening comprehension problems of non English major students at University of Economic and Technical Industries”

is the result of may own research [ar the Degree of Masler of Aris al University of Heonomie and ‘lechnical Industries, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution

Llanoi, 2014 Pham Hang Nhung

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Tn the process of doing my research paper, T have received # lot of help, encouragement and experience from teachers and friends, specially, my graduation subject now is completed successfully thanks to all teachers’ support at University

of Feonomic and Technical Industries (UNETD who did their best (o help me gather data from students” and teachers’ questionnaires

First of all, T would like i express my sincere thank lo my supervisor Dr To

‘Yhi Thu Luong who has generously given me invaluable assistance and guidance Without her help, this paper will not be successfully done

Besides, my sincere thank is also extended to all the students who help me fulfill the survey questions Finally, I am grateful to my family and friends who

have given me much encouragement during the lime T carried out this paper

ABSTRACT

Listening skills arc important (or face-to-face commurticalion, meetings, conferences, telephone conversations, etc, Being able to listen well is an important part of communication for everyone, especially for students A student with good lisioning comprehension skills will be able to participate more effectively in

communicative situations Out of all the different tests offering to certify the level

of English, the TOLIC is the simplest and most practical in terms of its contents, its

format, aud the rapidity of resulls receipt Therefore, la standardize the outpnet

quality of students, in most universities including University of Hoonomic and

Technical Industries (UNETI), TOEIC is considered as a common standard of

ancasuromont for evaluation of students’ Mucucy in Rriglish in the professional

context Ilowever, when taking the TODIC test, especially the TODIC listening

comprehension section, many students usually complain that instead of listening

carclully they usually guess and cucle the answers randomly in the cud They said that they lacked knowledge, skills and strategies about listening comprehension,

Understanding these problems, the sindy investigates TORIC listening

comprehension problems encountered by a group of non English major students of

UNUTI 120 non Lnglish major students at UNLTL who were studying in the

seventh term and ton icachers of English were selected and voluniarily joined ihe study Data was gathered by means of questionnaires Ihe results of the study showed that test-taking strategies, general background knowledge, linguistic ability

and teaching methods were the major TOEIC listening comprehension problems

encountered by non Lnglish major students at UNE'T'L Some suggestions are made

for addressing problems regarding how teachers can help their students overcome

TORIC listening comprehension problems The results of this study may also be

useful for those who are interested in this field

ni

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

UNETI University of Economic and Technical Industries TOHIC: Test of English for Intemational Communication LTS: Educational Testing Service

FSI: Rnglish as a Second Language

EFL: — English as a Foreign Language

L2 leamers: Second Language learners

Siudents" opinion aboul the difficulty of cach parl im TORIC listening test

Students’ opinions of strategies of listening comprehension

Students’ opinions of TOLIC hstening problems related to backpround knowledge and linguistic ability Sudenis* opinions of listening problems related

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1, Rationale of the study ccccssssssssessesssesssssessersinsnsiunsssinsarsesinateeesoeeeneee 1

3 Rescarch questios T2TH21211221122 280 ¬ 2 TT nan ẽ

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1- LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Theoretical background to listening comprehension 4

1.1 Definitions of listening and listening comprehension 4

1.1.2 Definitions of listening comprehension 5

1.3 Potential problems and strategies in listening comprchentsion 6

1.3.1 Potential Problems in listening comprehension

1.3.2 Listening Comprehension Strate gies

2, Overview of the TOEIC test

2.1, The TOEIC test

2.2 TORIC Test Area

2.3 test structure

vì

2.4, Test Scoring

2.5 Who takes the test?

2.6 TORIC Listening Comprehension Section

3, Related studies on TOHIC test taking and listening comprehension 16 CHAPTER 2- METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER THREE — FLNDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Students’ attitude towards TOEIC listening test at UNETI 22

3.2 TORIC listening comprehension problems experienced by students al, UNETT

3.2.1 Students’ opinioms of strategies of TORIC listening comprehension 23

3.2.2, Students’ opinions of TOEIC listening problems related to background

3.2.4, Students’ opinions of teacher's teaching methods

3.3 The expectations of the students towards teachers of TOLIC listening skill

3.4, Listening comprehension problems reflected by teachers ¬

3.4 Teachers’ opinions of teaching methods

3.3.2 Recommendations for students

3.5.2.1 Improving English proficiency

APPENDIATS

vin

PART A—INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Listening abilily is one of the important skills in foreign language Iearning and no one can deny its importance However, in Vietnam, the education system still faces many challenges Although students are taught English from kindergarten level to the university level, they are unable lo avquire adequate commumicalive Finglish proficiency One of the most common factors causing this phenomenon is the difficulty they face in English listening comprehension In general, the process of studying English in Vietnamese systema still places Jess emphasis on listening and speaking skills and more emphasis on the use of grammar, writing and reading skills English is taught by having students memorize new wards and sentence structures and ther responding: 1o the teacher only when called upon Therefore, students have very little exposure to spoken English, both inside and outside their classrooms As a result, students seem to have poor listening and speaking skills Being an Frglish teacher al University af Reonomie and technical Industries (UNEID, 1 find that students have a big gap in listening comprehension so when approaching TOFIC syllabus, they tends to be boring and discouraged Therefore,

my study attempts to investigate the TOBIC stenmg problems encountered by a group of non Lnglish major students at UNIIL Data was gathered by means of questiormaires T hope thu the results of the study will help their students overcome their TOKIC listening comprehension problems and also help teachers to work out possible solutions to improve the effectiveness of teaching and leaming TOEIC listening comprehension at UNETI

2 Aims of the study

The purpose of the study is to investigate the TOEIC listening comprehension problems of non Engli

imajor students al TNETT so that teachers can help their

students to cuhance their English listenmg comprehension Therefore, the specific aims are to find out factors causing their difficulties in TOBIC Listening

comprehension and suggest some solutions to help students overcome these problems

The thesis is conducled al, UNETE in order to perc ¢ difficulties in learning YOEIC listening comprehension of non Knglish major students ‘Lhe study focuses on describing the problems causing difficulties related to strategies, knowledge and linguistic ability of TOFIC lisicning comprchension, listener as well as teaching methods hen, some suggestions are made for addressing problems regarding how teachers can help their students overcame the TORIC

listening comprehension problems

3 Research questions

The study aimed to find out the problems causing difficulties related to test-taking strategies, gonoral background knowledge and linguistic ability of TORIC listening comprehension, listener as well as teaching methods

This research was carried out to find proper answers to the questions:

1 What difficulies do non English siudents ai UNETI fave m TORIC

listening comprehension?

2 What could he done to help students overcome these problems?

4, Scope of the study

‘The thesis is conducted at UNE in order to perceive difficulties in learning TORIC listening comprchenston of non Engksh mayor students The study focuses on describing the problems and factors causing the given difficulties related to test-taking strategies, general background knowledge and linguistic

ability of TOEIC listening comprehension, listener as well as teaching methods

5 Method of the study

In order to fulfill the aims of the study as presented, the study has carried out with

the quanlilative method by collecting data from questionmaires on 10 teachers and

120 non English major students at the UNETI After being fulfilled and collected,

all the questionnaires were analyzed carefully Then, those data were presented in

tables which are shown clearly in chapter three

ba

6 Significance of Study

‘This study points out ‘fOQUIC listening comprehension problems encountered by non Fnglish major students at ƯNBTL More imporlanily, il is a further contribution to the investigation of foreign language listening comprehension problems in actual language classroom practice

Hopefully, the findings and recommendations of this study will be of some help

to the improvement of the teaching and learning ‘'OHIC listening comprehension

of Vietnamese students in general and of UNETI students in particular The study

also gives some guidelines Cor teachers lo help their students overcome lheir

OLIC listening comprehension problems ‘Ihe results of this study may also be

useful for those who are interested in this field

7 Design of the study

This study consists of three parts:

Part A: Introduction This part supplies an overview of the study with specific

relorance to the ralionale, the aims, [he methodology and the design

Part B: Development In this part, four chapters are presented

Chapter 1 — Literature Review deals wilh an exploralion of the theoretical

background of the research It is concerned with the issucs relevant to the topic of

the research: listening and listening comprehension, and an overview of ‘TOLMIC

lisieming comprehension tests

Chapter 2 Methodology presents the background information of the subjects of

the study, the instrument used to collect the data, the procedure of data collection

Chapter 3 — Findings and Discussion is aimed at describing data analysis in detail

and a thorough discussion of the findings of the study Some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter

Part C: Conclusion Tn this pari, the limitations and some recommendations for

further research are also oxplored

The Appendices lie on the last part of the study, following the References

PART B - DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE - LITERATURE REVIEW

Based on the rationale and the research questions raised in the previous chapter, the relevant literature in the field will be presented in this part This chapter

foouses on definitions and processes of listening comprehension, then point out

some potential problems and strategies of learning listening comprehension,

which are considered to be the theorclical and conceptual framework for the present

can expect to listen twice ax much ax we speak, four times more than we read, and

five times more than we write."

‘Understanding the importance of listening and the different situations where listening skills arc needed, there are numerous definilions of listening by many

scholars Hach one defines in a different way as seen from his own point of view

Rost (2011, p.) defines listening as a process of receiving what the speaker

actually says (receplive orienfation), constructing and representing meaning (constuctive orientation), negotiating meaning through involvement, imagination

and empathy (transformative orientation)

Buck (2001, p.31), on the other hand, noted that listening is a complex and active process of interpretation in which listeners match what they hear with what

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they already know In order to comprehend spoken messages, listeners have to be able to apply their abilities and learning strategies involved in both linguistic knowledge and non-lnguistic knowledge Lo inlerprel and comprchend messages from the speaker

Sharing the same opinion, Bostrom (1997, p 247) emphases that listening is

the “acquisition, processing, and retention of information in the interpersonal context” It means that listening is receiving language through the ears Listening involves identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and

sentences When lislening, we use our ears lo receive individual sounds and use our brain to convert these into messages that mean something to us

1.1.2 Definitions of listening comprehension

With regard to the term “hstoning comprehension” in language learning, scholars have proposed a number of different definitions Saricoban (1999), for

example, noted that listening comprehension is the ability to identify and understand whal ofhers arc saying This involves understanding a speaker’s avccrd

or pronunciation, his or her grammar and vocabulary, and grasping the meaning

comveyed Listening comprehension can also be defined broadly as human

processing which mediates between sound and the construction of meaning

(Morley, 1991)

As Hasan (2000, p.138) pointed oul, “listening comprehension provides the right conditions for language acquisition and development of other language skills” Listening, therefore, is essential not only as a receptive skill but also to the

development of spoken language proficiency

A similar view is proposed by Buck (2001, p.31), who defined listening

comprehension as the result of an interaction between a number of information

sources, which include the acoustic input, differen types of Tinguislic knowledge,

details of the context, and general world knowledge Listeners use any information

they have available, or any information that tends to be relevant to aid them in

imerpreting whal a speaker is sayinys

1.2 Models of listening process

In this section two important listenmg processes are examined to show their relationship lo listening comprehension and their implications for improving listening comprehension are drawn

Bottom-up and top-down processes are two distinct processes that many

researchers take as fundamental [catures of listening comprehension According Lo

Brown (1994, p.246), bottom-up processing in listening “proceeds from sounds to

words to grammatical relationships to lexical meanings to a final message.”

Furthermore, Richards (1990) provides some detailed examples of bottom-up

processes, such as scanning the input to identify familiar lexical items, segmenting the streams of speech into constituents, and using, phonological cues to identify the

information [oeus ïm an uflerance

On the other hand, top-down processing is evoked from “a bank of prior

knowledge, global expectations and other background information that the listener

brings to the text” (Brown, 1994) TL is “the application of the cognilive [aculties” (Kelly, 1991), tt refers to “the use of background knowledge in understanding the

meaning of a message” (Richards,1990) Tn this process, the listeners activate their

“schoma” of the world and form a sct of cxpectations so that they may predict what will come next in the listening text oth of these two processes are important to lisicning comprehension Richards (1990) claims that

“fluent listening depends on the use of both top-down and bottom-up processing The extent to which one or the other dominates reflects the degree of familiarity the

listener has with the topic of discourse, the kind of hackground knowledge he or she

can apply to the task, and the purposes for which he or she is listening.”

In this study, the purpose of the treatments is to provide both bottom-up chies (vocabulary in visual or aural form) and top-down clues (cortex!) for the listeners

so that listeners may reduee the load of cognitive processes and pay more attention

to the content of the utterance as well as make predictions about the next utterance

1.3 Potential Problems and strategies in listening comprehension

1.3.1 Potential Problems in listening comprehension

Underwood (1989) outlines seven potential problems that could hinder listening comprehensiơn

Kirst, the speed of delivery is beyond the control of listeners Underwood says, “Many language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension, as opposed to reading comprehension, is thal listener cannot

control how quickly a speaker speaks” (Underwood, 1989, p.16)

Second, it1s not always possible for leamers to have words repeated This is

a major problem in learning situations Tn the classroom, il is the teacher who

decides whether or not a recording or a section of recording needs to be replayed it

is “hard for the teacher to judge whether or not the students have understood any particular section of what they have heard” (Underwood, 1989 p.17)

Third, the small size of the leamer vocabulary frequently impedes listening

comprehension The speaker does not always use words the listener knows

Sometimes when listeners encourler a new word, they stop to figure oul the meaning of that word, and they therefore, miss the next part of the speech

Fourth, listeners may nol recognive the signals that the speaker is using Lo

move from one point to another, give an cxample, or repeat a point Discourse

markers which are utilized in formal situations (.e., firstly, and after that) are

relatively clear to listeners However, in informal siluations, signals such as

gestures, increased loudness, or a clear change of pitch are very ambiguous, especially to L2 leamers

Fifth, it can be very challenging for listeners to concentrate in a foreign

language It is generally known that in listening, even a slight break or a wander in attention can impede comprehension When the topic of the listening passage is

infleresting, il can be easier for hsteners to concentrale ari follow the pass

Sixth, Jearing habits emphasized in the classroom such as a desire to understand the meaning of every word ‘leachers oftentimes want students to understand every word they encounter while listening by pronouncing and repeating words clearly and carefully, and by speaking slowly and so forth, As a result, students tend to feel worried when they fail to recognize what a particular word aneans and may further be discouraged by the failure Studerits should therefore, be instructed to tolerate incompleteness and vagueness of understanding,

Seventh and last, comprehension problems arise when students lack

contextual knowledge Even if students can understand Ute mai idea of the text,

they may still find it difficult to comprehend the whole meaning of the text

Listeners from different cultural backgrounds can also misinterpret nonverbal cues

such as lacial oxprossions, gestures, or tone of voiee

In order to overcome these listening comprehension problems, leamers need to

develop techniques known as “listening strategies These strategies are mental

processes thai enable learners comprehend the aural text despile their Tack of imowledge Listening strategies include inferring, elaboration, and regulating and

monitoring comprehension, and they are discussed in detail im the next section

1.3.2 Listening Comprehension Strategies

Wor learners, one of the methods learners can become actively involved in

euntrolling their own learning is by using strategics Vandergrift (1999) showed

“Strategy development is important for listening training because strategies are

conscious means by which learners can guide and evaluate their own comprehension and responses.” In O'Malley, Chamot Stewner-Manzanares,

Kupper, and Russo’s (1985) study, high school HSL students were randomly

assigned to receive learning strategy training on vocabulary, listening, and speaking

tasks and the resull indicaled strategy Watming can be effective for integrative

language tasks Nakata (1999) studied the influence of listening strategy training on

Japanese EFL leamers’ listening competence, and it showed that the effect of

listening strategy training was more discomible on perception than on comprehension

Among all the strategies [or listening, O'Malley and Chamol (1990) claimed ưee

sain types of strategies: metacognitive, cognitive and social strategies The

metacognitive strategy was a kind of self-repulated learning It included the attempt

to plan, check, monitor, select, rovise, and evaluate, cle For oxample, for

metacognitve planning strategies, learners would clarify the objectives of an anticipated listening task, and attend to specific aspects of language input or

situational details that, assisted in understanding the task (Vandergrifi, 1999)

Generally, it can be disoussed through pre-listening planing strategies, while- listening monitoring strategies, and post-listening evaluation strategies

Tho cognitive strategies arc relaled to comprehending and sloring inpul in working memory or long-term memory for later retrieval They are investigated from the

aspects of bottom-up strategies, top-down strategies For bottom-up processing, it

velors to using ihe inceming inpul as the basis for understanding the message Comprehension begins with the received data that is analyzed as successive levels

of organization-sounds, words, as 4 process of decoding For botlom up strategies,

Honner-Stanchina (1987) engaged in a similar study and pointed out that effective listeners were good at using their previous knowledge and experience to raise

hypotheses about a lexi, integrating new information inlo [heir ongoing interpretations, making influences to bridge gaps, assessing their interpretations,

and modifying their hypotheses, if necessary On the other hand, top-down

processing went from meaning to language (Richards, 2008) Leamers can try to

predict what will utter by the signal However, Chiu (2006) claimed that listening comprehension was neither only top-down nor bottom-up processing

Simultaneously, Tu: (2008) summed up that the scholars believed the listeners not

only utilized bottom-up but also top-down processing models In sum, Thompson

& Rubin (1996) indicated the effects of metacognitive and cognitive strategy

instruction on the listening comprehension performance of American universily

students learning Russian They found that the subjects who received strategy instruction in listening to video-recorded texts improved significantly over those

who had received no mstruction

For social’ affective strategies, Vandergrift (2003) defined the strategies as the techniques listeners used to collaborate with others, to verify understanding or to

lower anxicty Hable-Gabr (2006) stated that sacia-alTective strategies were those

which were non academic in nature and involve stimulating learning through establishing a level of empathy between the instructor and student They included

considering faclors such as emotions and altitudes (Oxford, 1990) TL was essential

for listeners to know how to reduce the anxiety, feel confident in doing listening tasks, and promote personal motivation in improving listening competence

(Vandergrifi, 1997) According: to O'Malley & Chamol (2001), among the four

strategies of management strategies, social strategies, cognitive strategies, affective strategies in listening comprehension, both social and affective strategies influenced

the learning situation inmediately

2 Overview of the TOXIC test

2.1 The TOEIC test

Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) measures the ability of non-native Linglish-speaking people to use Linglish in everyday work activities The

TORIC was developed by ETS (Educational Testing Service) in the Uniled States

following a request from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign ‘Irade and Industry There are an estimated 3 million test takers per year

Since its administration in 1979, the TOEIC test quickly gained prominence within

the field of EFL/HSL (Hinglish as a Second Language) education It has been lauded

as an efficient and reliable test of EFL/ESL communicative abilities It is currently

used jn over 60 countries and there are an estimated 3 million tes! takers per year

2.2 TOEIC Test Area

As TOBIC measures the candidate’s proficiency in the workplace and everyday

communicalion, the test questions are based on reat life work sciling in an

10

international cnvironment (mecting, travel, telephone conversation, ctc.) To ensure

that the test measures what it is supposed to in a fair, valid and reliable way, these

characteristics are commuon of the test lems:

- Vocabulary, grammar and idioms are not specifically American Knglish

- Culture specific and job/profession specific situations are avoided

= Names frum different countries are included,

- Different English accents are used throughout the test mainly American, British, Canadian and Australian accents

2.3 Test structure

The New ‘TOLIC test is a two-hour, paper-and-penoil, multiple-choice assessment There are two separately timed sections of 100 questions each

Section 1: Listening

Tixaminees listen to a variety of questions and short conversations recorded

in English, then answer questions based on what they heard

Section 2: Reading

Hxaminees read a variety of materials and respond at their own pace to

questions based on the content

Reading

48 Comprehension

2A, Test Scoring

‘the total score adds up to a scale from 10 and 990 points ‘Ihe following chart (Granl Trew, 2007, p.3) indicales the approximate correlation between TORIC scores and levels of ability in order to measure a test-taker’s English proficiency at

the time that a test is administered

non-native with appropriate expressions even about

Although speech is not equivalent to that

of a native speaker, the individual has a strong grasp of vocabulary, grammar, and structure and the ability to use the language relatively Muently

Ís capable off Understands ordinary conversalion well communicating | and can respond naturally ‘the individual

Me 8B appropriately in also has the ability to respond in some

most silualions | fashion, ever when the lope relates te

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certain limits

Is capable of the minimal

COIIIHUTICALCTL

in ordinary

conversation

specialized fields There are typically no

great barriers to communicating in usual

business situations

eal and structural

While — gram

sustakes sometimes occur and some

isolated disparities exist in terms of currectness and Mucney, they are nol so frequent that speech is misunderstood

Can understand the gist of ordinary

conversation and has no trouble forming

responses However, the individual shows some disparities in the ability to respond correctly and making himself/ herself understood in more complicated

situations

The individual has acquired a

fundamental knowledge of grammar and structure and has the vocabulary to

communicale essential information, even

when lacking expressive power Can understand simple conversations when the other party speaks slowly and repeats or rephrases whal is said Ts capable of responding to familiar topics

Knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and

structure is generally inadequale However, if the other party is used to dealing with non-native speakers, the

individual can manage to get a point

13

across

Ts not able lo | Even simple conversalion al a slow pace

communicate | is only partially understood

adequately Is able to communicate with isolated

correct sentences and does not effectively

serve to make himself’ herself

2.5 Who takes the test?

According to Grant Trew (2007), since the firs TORIC lest was administrated in

1979, the numbers of test takers have increased dramatically Nowadays, TOEIC

test is considered as one of the most effective tools to assess the Uinglish proficiency

transfers to different companies, or for promotion to management positions ‘his is

especially true of large multinational corporations, or companies that export their

ywoducls internationally

Academic test takers Although originally aimed at English use within a business context, TOBIC Listening and Reading Test is increasingly being used within avademie contexts In Japan, a signilicant proportion of the urriversilics and colleges surveyed used the test for purposes of accreditation, course placement, and

measuring progress within a cumiculum A growing number of universities around

the world have adopted TOFIC as a way of sercening candidates for their graduate programs, especially in the fields of business or international studies In some institutions candidates who achieve high TOEIC scores also earn the right to be

recommended for scholarships or for special certification

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2.6 TORIC Listening Comprehension Section

In the TOUIC Listening section, there are 100 questions in total

Tn Part 1, students soc ton pictures For cach, they will hear (our staisments

and they must select the statement that best matches the picture Students should use the picture to try to predict vocabulary and statements they might hear By first picking out the key focus of the picture and quickly brainstorming related vocabulary and possible statements, they will be much better prepared when they actually listen

Tu part 2, students hear a question or slalement followed by three possible

responses ‘hey must choose the response that best matches the question ‘’his part

of the test is a pure listening challenge as there are no clues students can use to predict what they are going lo hear Students should not expeel the kind of sot- pattem responses they may have studied in school Responses here are authentic and

students must often listen for the implied meaning of a response to realize it is the

correct one Exposing students to questions and answers of this sort and focusing attention on the interrelation between the two is essential to helping them tackle this

part of the tes

In part 3, students hear a short, three or four part conversation, and then answer three questions about it ‘'he increase in the number of questions (from one

to three) makes ihe listening lask more manageable, in spite of the additional memory load and increase in text length Therefore, students should answer questions as quickly as you can, if possible while the listening text is still being

read Moreover, students also need to use the time between conversations to skim

the next three questions, predict what you are likely to hear, and isolate exactly what you should be listening for

As in Part 3, iu Parl 4 students hear a listening passage, followed by three

questions The difforence is that instead of a conversation, the listening features a single speaker giving a talk: a news report, an advertisement, an acceptance speech,

cle Some of the passage lengths arc also considerably longer than they have been int

15

the past The similarities to Part 3 mean that studonts can adopt the same approaches used there In fact, the significantly longer texts make it even more important that studonts have an exact idea of what thoy are listening for in advance — listening first and considering the question later won’t work because there is simply too much text

to remember

Tn short, before listening, listeners should make a prediction based on the given

information in the text to choose the best answer ‘lo answer the questions, test-

takers must understand the major ideas and the relative importance of information

ina text

3 Related studies on TOEIC test-taking and listening comprehension

TORIC test is an English language proficiency test for people whose native language is nol English 1 measures the everyday English skills of poople working

in an intemational environment Nowadays, companies around the world have come

to recognize that English language proficiency is a key to global competitiveness

TORIC test is a valuable management tool that crables organizations to evaluate English language competence almost anywhere in the world Like many other

countries tn the world, Vietnam has also considered TORIC as the standard to assess

the level of professional English of people To achicve TOEIC test, it is necessary to provide leamers with techniques or skills that help them to do well on the TOHIC tesL Thorcfore, there have beon relalively studies on problems im taking TOFIC test encountered by many learners

With the aims of enhancing students’ Inglish proficiency and Test-taking skills through TOEIC preparatory materials, Yi-Ching Pan (2010) in the study named

“Enhancing Student's Communicative Competency and ‘lest Taking Skills Through

TOEIC Preparatory Materials” offered teachers a variety of activities dealing, with

how both to teach the TORIC listening and reading test inleraclively and 1o prepare

their students for success at the same time

Yi- Chun Pan (2012) also conducted an investigation “the effects of multi-faceted

lexical instruction on the TORIC listening performance of Taiwanese FFT college

16

students” The findings of the study clearly indicate that the TOEIC listening performance of students generally improved as result of such instruction ‘This study

sed uniexplored issues lo oller suggestions Cor future Te:

In the context of Vietnam, TOHIC is an English examination that tests your English

knowledge in four key areas: reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary One of the major factors thal make learners rarely gel high score in laking TORIC tost is listening comprehension Hence, there have been also some recem unpublished M.A theses on TOIIC listening comprehension Trang (2010) in her study entitled “ZZow

to amprove listening skills in TORIC im the case of: questions and responses — Shart

conversations” investigated the current situation in TOLIC test of non-linglish

major students’ at Hai Phong Private University to give method to improve

listenmg skills in TORIC test Besides, the sludy showed a clear slatus of students’

Bnglish listening while TOBIC test is one of obligated tests to the students at Hai Phong Private University from 2009 In addition, a survey questionnaire was implemented lo find out the nor-English majors dilfivullies when they learn and

join in TOHIC test as well as expectation about having, methods to improve listening

skills im this test, parlicularly, the case of questions-responses ard short

conversations Through the findings of the research, there arc many ways to

enhanee listening skills in TOUIC test

Another example is “Common errors made by pre-intermediate students in the

TOEIC listening test and some suggested sohitions” by Nhu Ha Phuong (2012) In

this study, she used both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including survey

questionnaires, students’ TOEIC listening test paper and semi-structured interview

to collect data for the study ‘he participants of the study were 50 leamers chosen

from three TOEIC preparation classes at [aiphong Foreign Language Center After

collecting data, the study primarily showed insightful knowledge of errors

conducted by pre-intermediate students as well as their difficulties or strategics in listening TOEIC Pedagogically, the findings of the study are believed to be useful

for bath TORIC teachers and listeners.

In short, those above studies were very helpful in providing the researcher

with general views of TOMIC test taking in general and TOUIC listening in

particular They also offered the researcher wilh a guids La follow whon writing a

thesis on the concemed issue ‘Those studies were conducted in definitely different contexts with different models and different data collection instruments Although

the authors of those stuches referred 10 some problers im the TORIC listening test,

there were still many limitations or example, in ‘lrang’s study (2010), she only focused on social communicative situations with giving questions and responses ta

serve effectively for answer the listening comprehension, the case of part 2 and part

3 im TOKIC test level 2 while other parts in ‘TOHIC listening test are also very

important and students usually meet difficulties when taking these parts In Phuong’s study (2012), subjects of the study were learners from Haiphong Forcign Language Center, who are totally different from students at university, especially

non-English major students in terms of classroom setting, linguistic competence, as

well as the malerial and methodology exploited by teachers Therefore, iL is

opportunity for the researcher to carry out an investigation into TOHIC listening

comprehension problems of nor English major students al UNETT

CHAPTER TWO - METHODOLOGY 2.1 The setting of the study

The study was carned out at the Unversity of Reonomic and Techical Tndustrios

(UNETD, 456 Minh Khai street, Ha Noi city which was established in 1956 It was

conducted from early March to May 2013, when they were learning their seventh term with three 45 minule periods per week Relore the time of the study, they learnt English for four 45 minutes periods per week from the second to the fifth term In the first phase, students work on General English with the four language

skills and grammar through the course hook New Headway Pre-Intermediale and

Antermediate (Liz and John, 2003), of which Pre-Intermediate is taught for the second and third term and Intermediate for the fourth and fifth term In the next

phase, TORIC tests (Test of English for International Commmuumncation) are chosen to

assess the level of English proficiency of students so students at the UNITI are

required to pass a 60 minute TOEIC test It is clear that the class time in the second

phase might not be enough for the sludents to comprchend and practice multiple strategies of all parts in ‘LOHIC tests in general and of the listening comprehension

part in parlicular Moreover, iv facl the students seemed to be unable to listen

effectively Observing my students E realized that three forth of them lack of

listening comprehension skills such as knowledge, strategies and techniques to onhanee their TORIC tost-laking Consequently, English students at UNETT face a variety of problems in learning ‘OEIC listening comprehension

1.2 Participants

2.2.1, Teachers

‘Yen English teachers of English Department at UNKT aged from 30 to over 40

were chosen and volunteer to take part in completing the questionnaires They take

charge of leaching TORIC for mainly third and fourth year students and they also

have many years of expericnce in teaching TOHIC All of thom are qualified

teachers who graduated from well- known universities for teacher training in

Victmam such as Vietnam National University, Colloge of Forcign Languages,

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Hanoi University, which have adopted the latest approaches in teaching English for years ‘hey all are very enthusiastic about their teaching career,

2.2.2, Students

‘the study was carried out with the participation of 120 non-English major students

at UNETL They were studying in the seventh term and vohmtarily joined for the questionnaires Their ages are more than 18 years old, of whom the number of females and males are nearly equal ‘they have similar background and finished five terms of learning Inglish at the UNTIL Last semester, after acquiring the most

Basic English language skills al pre-intermediate and intermediate level, students

moved the second phase, in which they accessed ‘!'OLIC test through the textbook

Longman Preparation Series for the TOEIC® Test: Introductory Course by Lin

Lougheed Tn this semester, they continue studying TORIC in the Triermediate

Course

There are two reasons for choosing students who are studying in the seventh term as

the participants of the study Firstly, the output quality of English studerls is of great concern to both the college authority and teachers at Knglish Department

Secondly, although they have had one term baiting in listening TORIC, their

listening skill still scems to be the weakest among all the four skills leat at

university

2.3 Data Collection Instruments

“Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are ta react either by writing out

ther answers or selecting from among existing answers” (Brown, 2001, p.6)

Questionnaires are probably the most common data collection technique used ‘the questionnaires are frequently a very concise, preplanned set of questions designed

to yield specific information lo meel a paracular need for research information

about a pertinent topic Additionally, it can be given to large groups of subjects at

exactly the same time, hence the data are more uniform, standard and accurate

In order to fulfill the aims of the study as presented, the study has carried out with the quantitative method by collecting data from questionnaires on 10 teachers and

120 nen major Enghsh students at the UNETI The

urvey queslionmaire was

designed in such a way that beth closed and open-ended questions to ensure deep

data

2.4, Data collection procedures

‘The questionnaires were delivered to 10 teachers and 120 students from 4

different classes (two from Technical Sector and two from Eoonomie Sector} with

the help of their leachers The participants were clearly explained the purpose of the

research before they fulfilled the questions ‘hey were also encouraged to ask the researcher for any explanation The students were instructed to take as much time as they needed to complete iL Afier thal, data from responacs of the students and teachers in the questionnaires were sorted and analyzed to get the answers to the

research questions

2.5 Data analysis

After being fulfilled and collected, the questionnaires for both teachers and

students were analyzed care[ully The questions of the questionmaires was separated

and computed by Microsoft Office Excel to find out the percentage of teachers’ opinions and students’ opinions about questioned items ‘hose data were presented

in tables and charts which are shown clearly in chapler three

CHAPTER THREE - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

‘The previous chapter presented the methodology ‘his chapter analyzes and

discusses the results oblamed from collected dala lo draw some maim (indings for

the study and then gives recommendations for both teachers and students

3.1, Students’ attitude towards TORIC listening test at UNETI

Student’s opinion Number of responses Percentage (%)

Lable 1: Students’ opuuion gbouf the role oƒ TOEIC listeHing test

Student’s opinion Number of responses Percentage (%)

Student’s opinion Number of responses | Percentage (%)

Table 3: Students’ opinion about the difficulty of each part in TOBIC listening test

Table 1, 2 and 3 aims at asking students about their opinions of TOEIC listening

test, Most of students (82.5%) were aware of the importance of TOLIC listening test

at UNETI whereas only 17.5% found it nat important In table 2, the data showed

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that the TOEIC listening test is usually difficult for their English level while the rest (5%) say that the test 1s suitable None of them finds it easy 32.5 % report that Part

4 (Short talks) is the most difficult while 30% think thal iL is Part 3 (Short conversations),

Based on the results, the author of the study can come to a conclusion that the students perecived that the TORIC Lest plays an important rote in varcer searching process for students after graduation from university Currently, an increasing number of companies worldwide have used the TOLIC to set targets for English proficiency for the purposes of hiring new workers, transfers to different companies,

or for promotion to management positions lence, teaching and leaning skills to take TOEIC tests at UNETI is more highly appreciated, especially listening comprehension because of ils diflieully With well-prepared skills, students will nol only self-assess their level of English proficiency but also familiarize with the format of a standard TOEIC in international workplace

3.2 TOFIC listening comprehension problems experienced by students at UNET] based on the theory

3.2.1, Students’ opinions of strategies of TOEIC listening comprehension

TOEIC Listening has been one of the most difficult sections for English as a second language leamers taking up TOLIC exams ‘Therefore, it is important to know what stralegies proficient lisloners use, and which strategies affect the qualily

of TOEIC listening comprehension adversely and lead to students” problems