Luận văn a study on the teachers' application of task based method and the 10th form students' use of learning strategies in their listening lessons at tran phu high school in vinh phuc

The sindsnt’s learning strategies used in listeniyg lessons and their experiences to listen effectively ‘The frequency of the teachers’ activities to motivate the students before listen

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

DANG THI THU THUY

A STUDY ON THE TEACHERS’ APPLICATION OF

TASK-BASED METHOD AND THE 10™ FORM STUDENTS’ USE OF LEARNING STRATEGIES IN

THEIR LISTENING LESSONS

AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC

NGHIEN CUU VE VIEC AP DUNG PH- ONG PHAP DAY HOC GIAO NHIEM VU CUA GIAO VIEN VA VIEC SU

DUNG CAC THU THUAT CUA HOC SINH LOP 10 TRONG CAC

BAI HOC NGHE TAI TR- ONG T.H.P.T TRAN PHU

- VINH PHUC

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: English Methodology

Hanoi, December 2008

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

DANG THI THU THUY

fA STUDY ON THE TEACHERS’ APPLICATION OF

TASK-BASED METHOD AND THE 10™ FORM STUDENTS’ USE OF LEARNING STRATEGIES IN

THEIR LISTENING LESSONS

AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PH- ƠNG PHAP DẠY HỌC GIAO NHIỆM VỤ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ VIỆC SỬ

DỤNG CÁC THỦ THUẬT CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRONG CÁC

BÀI HOC NGHE TẠI TR- ỜNG T.H.P.T TRẦN PHÚ

- VINH PHÚC

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: English Methodology

SUPERVISOR: Dr BO TUAN MINH

Hanoi, December 2008

TI, Aims and rescarch questions of the study

IL Scopes of the study

TV Methods of ths study

V Design of the study

CHAPTER Tl: THEORETICAL BACKGROUNID

| Inmovations in Janguage teaching method

LL Language teaching methods focusing on developing grammatical competcnec

1.2 Language teaching methods focusing on developing communicative

competence

13 Task-based Method — the strong version of CLT

IL Innovations in sylabus design

IL1 Synthetic syllabus versus analytic syllabus

11.2 Tasks in task-bascd syllabus

ILL, Theory in listening

IMI Definition of listening

IIL.2 Classification of listening

IIT.3 Common methods in teaching listening

ILL 4 ‘Three stages in a listening lesson

IIL.S Forzign langoage lamers’ listening problems

IIL.6 Foreign language learners’ listening comprehension strategies

CILAP LER Uh FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND SOLLUTIONS

1 Methodology

IL, Data analysis, findings and discussions

ILL The students’ performance in listening lessons

11.2 The students’ preparation for listening lessons

IL3 ‘The students’ motivation before listening

ILA The sindsnt’s learning strategies used in listeniyg lessons and their

experiences to listen effectively

‘The frequency of the teachers’ activities to motivate the students before

listening IL6 The prc-listening activitics

IL7 The frequency of using pair-work and group-work in listening lessons

IL8 The teachers’

ment with listening t:

11.9 The combination of reading, speaking, and writing skills in listening lessons

IL Some possible solutions

TIT.1 More 2ffective warm-up aclivilics

IIL.2 Facilitating the students with the language inputs before listening

IIL3 More meaningful listening tasks

TIA Using nore pair-work and group-work in listening lessons

IILS Using more reading, speaking and writing skills in listening Iessons

IIL.6 ‘The students’ better preparation before listening

IIN.7 The students? better learning siralegies in listerring lessons

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDIX I Survey queslionmair2 (for students)

APPENDIX Il Survey questionnaire (for teachers)

APPENDIX III The tape-scripts of listening texts

APPENDIX IV Different kinds of tasks in listening lessons

APPENDIX V Class observations

First language Presentalior-Practiee-Production

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

TABLES

Table 1: The students’ performance in listeniug lessons

Table 2: The students’ preparation for listening lessons

Table 3: The students’ learning strategies used in listening lessons

Table 4: The pre listening activities

CHARTS

Chart 1: The students’ motivation before listening

Chart 2: The students’ learning experiences to listen effectively

Chart 3: The frequency of teachers’ activities to motivate the students before

listening, Chart 4: The frequeacy of using pair work and group work in listening lessous

Chart 5: ‘The teachers’ treatment with listening tasks

Chart G: The combination of reading, speaking and weiting skills in listening lessons

‘Together with the development of international relationships between Vietnam and other countries in the world, the nocd to Ieam English in our country is sharply inoreasing English has become a compulsory subject in every Vietamese school and university Towever, the fact in Vietnam shows that there is now not only an urgent lack of the umber

of people speaking English flucntly somewhere but also an impressive demand for the quality

of English teaclting and learning in the whole Vietnamese education system, In order to solve these problems, we have no alternation bal to apply imovations ta the process of teaching and learning English in our country,

‘Theoretically, ths innovations in second language (L2) teaching and learning over the time have always based on the findings that come from Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Rescarch, Morcover, they can take place in two parallel dircotions: changing in tcaching method as well as in syllabus design, ‘The theories also state that there must be a mutual relationship between imovations in these two directions They must be relevant, io each other

to contribute to the success of language teaching and leamme

In the late twentieth century we have witnessed the successful application of TBM in

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in mary places all over world Tn Vietnam, TBM

has gradually replaced traditional teaching methods Together with the new textbook series, it has resulted in outstanding outcomes in teaching and learning English, especially in improving speaking and Ustening skills, Tlowever, we must confess Uv these onicomes are quits different when we observe various English classes in Vietnam,

Being an English teacher at high school, | myself have seen not onty the success of the new method and the new textbaok scries but also the difficullics and sometimes failures when applying them One of these failures that attracts my most attention is my students’ bad performance in listening lessons This explains why I choose to carry out a study on the use of the new method in teaching listening for my students in this thesis, which is hopefully designed to help my students to overcome the problems

"

Tl AIMS AND RI

ARCIT QUESTIONS OF TIE STUDY

The study firstly aims to draw out the ntutual relationship between the new methed and

the new textbook which ensures the success of our lessons In addition, the thesis is designed

to invesligale the teachers’ application of TBM and the 10! form students” use af learning strategies in their listening Icssons at TPHS in Vinh Phe Next, a comparison is made Lo test whether the application of the new method here is relevant to the new textbook Last but far from least, the study is concluded with some solutions which help these students improve

their listening skill

In order to implement the study, two research questions are raised: (1) Whether the

teachers’ application of TRM and the 10 form students’ use of learning slrategics arc

effective in their listening lessons at TPHS in Vinh Phuc? and (2) Is there a close relevance between the teaching methods used to teach listening for these students and the textbook?

Il SCOPES OF THE STUDY

Duc to the time limit as well as the lack of knowledge on the part of the writer , it is

impossible to cover all aspects of teaching listening in this thesis ‘Therefore, my study will

only discuss the offect of using TBM in Leaching listening, which is considered onc the most important factors contributing to the suecess of each lesson,

IV METHODS OF THE STUDY

Lis obvious tơi the thesis would not be in this form without qualilative method used during the writing process First of all, the data were collected from two survey questionnaires, informal interviews with the teachers and classroom observations The data, then, required

vant to the topic ‘The next one focuses on analyzing figures

CHAPTER Ib THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Before studying the teachers’ application of ‘BM and the 10" form students’ use of learning stratcgics in thoir Hstersing lessons al TPHS in Vinh Phuc, we should now have an overview of changes in language teaching and learning through oul the history with twe directions: innovations in language teaching methods and innovations in syllabus design

1 INNOVATIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING METIIOD

It is necessary now to distinguish these three confusing concepts: approach, method and technique A scheme was proposed by Edward Anthony (1963, pp.63-67) In his view point, approach is at the top, mothod is in the middle and technique is at the botlam of a vertically hierarchical line, Approach determines method, then method determines technique llere three concepts is distinguished clearly Llowever, the limited point of this distinction is that the hisrarchical tine only goos dowmwvard The determination is only in onc dircetion, there is no interaction between these three concepts

Richards and Rodgers (1986, pp.18-20) make this distinction quite clear In their point

of view, approaches are views of (he nate of languags or language teaching An approach is axiomatic Whereas method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material A method is procedural No part of a method contradicts and all of the method is based upon a sclected approach And lastly, teclmiques are the actnal activities the teachers

do in the classroom In the expression ‘innovations in language teaching methods’, the term

‘method’ is used with a broad meaning so thal it takes over other terms

Looking at the Nowered dovelopniont of SLA Rescarch and the

story of language teaching methods in the past few decades, we can find that there is a close relationship between researches in SLA and the changes in langnage teaching methods, that is, the Iatter

hus reflectad recognition of changes both in Ihe kind of profickeney learners need and int thaory

of the nature of language and language learning, resulted from the former

Based on the proficiency leamers need, we can classify language teaching methods through out the history into two groups, The first group helps to develop grammatical competence and the second one communicative competence

grammar with a sci of distinctive formns and rules, the lexicon and the phonology of a language and the ability to use tharu effectively in producing grammatically or phonotagically accurale sentences in the target language

Focusing on developing grammatical competence, traditional language teaching methods have undergone two different periods: focusing on meaning and on forms The former aims at developing leamers’ proficiency of reading comprehension and sentence

writing, whereas the latley pays muuch more attention lo the tules and struclures

The Grammar-Translation Method is one example of teaching language focus on meaning With this method, the students” native language (L1) is the medium of instruction It

is uscd to explain new items and Lo cable comparisons lo be made between 1⁄2 and 11 Furthermore, grammar is taught deductively and explicitly, that is, by prescntation and study

of grammar rules, which are then practiced through translation exercises Krom these aspects,

we can sec the distinelive feature of the metliad, ic the sentences is the basic unit of tcaching and language practice and much of the lesson is devoted to translating sentences into and out

of the target language

Although this method has boon used widely and considered a very effselive ong, it still has some drawbacks A lot of SLA researchers have shown that numerous errors appearing mn the process of 1.2 acquisition are the result of 1.1 transfer That is hecause the two languages

and language teach

The second period of language teaching methods, focusing on forms, is evident in the Traditional Approach Under the light of this approach, language leaming is a process of

g rcthads founsing on meaning ïn goneral 1a change

accumulating distinct cntitics Loarncrs are required to treat language primarily as an object to

be studied and practiced bit by bit and to fimction as students rather than as users of the

language Grammar is alsa taught explicitly Moreover, each lesson is traditionally carried out

in three fixed steps ; presentation, practice and production (P-P-P)

Although the procedure with three steps P-P-P has been quite famous and applied in many English classes all aver the world, Traditional Approach in partionlar and teaching

methods focusing on forms in goncral have still revealed somc unrcasonable aspects First the approach does not motivate learners’ creation The rules and the forms are quite fixed and itis the teacher but not the learners who decide which ones to teach and how the lesson takes place in the classroom Secondly, the aim of the method is to cnsure the accuracy of the rules and structures but not the meaning and the actual use of Janguage in communication ‘hat is why there is a restriction in the use of Tanguage outsids the classroom

From the investigation of the two above language teaching methods, we find that concentrating on developing only grammatical competence will not provide the learners with

the ability to produce sentences or utterances which arc appropriale to the context or lo

interpret perfectly such utterances

1.3 Language teaching methods focusing on developing communicative competence

Now, it is time far us lo discuss the sccond group of Ieadhing methods which concentrates on developing communicative competence

‘The term commmnicative competence, which was coined by Dell Lymes (1971, p.96)

is the development of Noa Chomsky’s nolion of linguistic competznce cited in Ellis (1994, p.12) Chomsky defines lnguistic competence as the ability of a speaker-hearer to speak and understand language in a grammatically correct manner In other words, linguistie competence

is the use of grarmnalical rues of a language in communication Hyn

then expands on Chomsky’s view by considering the social factors of a culture’s language So, communicative competence, in Ilyme’s definition, is the use of not only grammatical rules of a language but also social language rules in communication

According to Hymes (1971, p.98) communicative competence consists of four components: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence He states that the first two components, which constitute linguistic competence, reflect the use of the linguistic system itself and the last two, which constitute

and phonology Tis the compelones thal we associate with masicring tha linguistic code of a language Nexl, discourse competence is considered the complement of grammnalical competence in many ways It is the ability we have to come at sentences in stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out of a series of utterance The third component, sociolinguistic competence, is defined as the knowledge of socio-cultural rules of language and of discourse ‘This type of competence reveals an understanding of the social context in which language is axed, of the roles of the participant, of the information they share and of the function of the interaction Only in a full context of this kind can judgments be made on

the appropriateness of a particular utterance inally strategic competence is the verbal and

nonverbal strategics that may be called into action to compensale for breakdowns in communication dục to performance variable or due to insufiicicnt competenec

We can explain the shift ftom language teaching methods focusing on develop grmmalical campelenes to those concentrating on doveloping communicative compelence under the lights of the researches in SLA Firstly, many researchers such as Krashen (1981, p.72) makes a clear distinction between acquisition, that is, the subconscious process of picking up a language through cxposure and learning, thal is, the conscious process of studying a language These researches also indicate that acquisition is much promoted in a communicative classroom where students are exposed to continuons communication Besides,

rejects the teachsr’s opporlamity to teach what they want wilhout paying allention fo learncts

Then, Long’s Interaction Hypothesis cited in Brown (2007, p.132) adds explanation for the shift The hypothesis claims that inputs can be made comprehensible via interactional adjustments or negotiation of meaning in interlanguage talk (the communication among learners) and in teacher talk (the communication between teacher and learners) Finally, we

can consider immovaiions in teaching method according to Skehan's Motivation TIypothesis cited in Ellis (1994, p.258) which concludes that motivation promotes L2 acquisition and learners quickly acquire what they pay attention to

With (hc theories of communicative competence, we have sven the emergence of Communicative Approach in the late 1960s and the wide application of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the last two decades The pretérence of this new teaching method can be attributed to the fact that it provides learners with activities selected according

to how well they engage the camer in incaningful and authentic language usc rather than merely mechanical practice of language patterns, In order to promote learning, these activities must onsure the CLT principles of communication, lask, and moaningfulness Thal is, activities in CLT classes are designed in form of ditierent tasks which exposing learners to real and meaningful communication

Howall (1984, p.279) distinguishes belween a strong and a weak version of CLT The former which has become more or Joss standard practice in the last 10 years, stresses the importance of providing fearners with opportunities to use their English for communicative

prpose snd charactoristioally øltenpis lo inlegrale such activities into a wider program of language teaching, The latter, on the other hand, advances the claim that languags is acquired

through commmnication, so that it is not merely a question of activating an existing but inert

knowledge of the Tanguags, but alsa a question of stimulating the development, of the language system itself, We can see that while the week version of CLT could be described as learning to use Tingtish, the strong one entaits using Finglish to learn it

In order to have # clearer look al characteristis (1983, p.91) contrast the major distinctive features of the Audio-Lingual Method and the Communicative Approach:

of CLT, Finacchiare and Bramfit

Demands memorization of structure based | Dialogues if used center around

noumally memorized Language items src noi neecssmily | Conlextualivalion is a basic premise

contextualized

Native speaker like pronunciation is sought ‘Comprehensible pronnneiation is sought

Grammatical explanation is avoided

Communicative activities only come aller a

long, process or rigid drills and cxercises

The usc of the students’ nalive language is

forbidden

‘Any device that helps the learners is accepted varying according to their age, interest,

Attempts to communicate may be encourage

fiom the very beginning Indicious ust of nulive language is nccepled where feasible

Translation is forbidden at early level Translation may be used where students

need or benefit from it

Reading and writing are deferred Gl speech

is mastered Reading and writing can start Hom the frst day if desired

The target linguistic system will be leamed

through the overt touching af the yaticrns of

the system

Linguistic compotonec is the desired gaat

‘The target linguistic system will be learn bosi through the process af struggling lo communicate

Communicative competonee is the desired goal (the ability to use the linguistic system effectively and appropriately)

Varieties of language are recognized but not

emphasized material and methodology Linguistic variation is a central concept in

"The sequence of units is determined solely

by principles of inguistic complexity

The teacher controls the learners and

prevents them fiom doing anything that

conflicts with the theory

Sequencing is determined by any consideration of context, lunetion, or meaning that maintains interest

Teacher hetps tearncrs in any way thal motivate them to work with the language

Language is habit so errors must be

prevented at any cost through trial and error Language is created by the individual, offen

‘Accuracy in terms of formal correctnass is a

primary goal

Students are expected to inleract with the

language system, cmbodicd in machines or

Fhuency and acceptable language is the pritwry goal Accuracy is judged not in the

abstract but in context

Students are expected to interact with other people cither in the flesh, through pair or

‘The teacher is expected to specify the | Ihe teacher cannot know exactly what language that students are to use language students will use

Intrinsic motivation will spring fom an

inlerest in the slreture of the language Infrinsic motivation will spring an interest

im wimL is being communicated by the

language.

10

43 Task-based Method — the strong version of CLT

Task — based ‘Teaching can be regarded as a strong and recent version of communicative methodology and sccks to reconeile methodology with cuzent thorics of SLA Many researches indicate that while traditional teaching methods focus on meaning and

on forms in order to develop grammatical competence, ‘V'ask-based ‘leaching focuses on form

to develop communicative competence According to Fils, the erm form is inlendad to inchade not only phonological, lexical and grammatical aspects of language but also pragma- linguistics ones

Being a version of CLT, TBM has all the above lisled eharactoristies, We now repeal the most important ones Firstly, the focus of teaching is on process rather than product Secondly, basic elements are purposefiil activities and tasks that emphasize commumication and ting Last but not least, learners am language by inturacling communicatively and purposefully while engaged in the activities and tasks,

lrom the characteristics of CLT in general and of 13M as particular, we can see that

in a task-based lesson, the teacher docs not predetermine what language will be studied Instead, the lesson is based around the completion off central task and the language studied is determined by whal happens as the students complete iL

Now it is time to consider what exactly takes place within a task Willis (1996, pp.52- 62) recommends different components in a framework of tasks: the pre-task stage, the task cycle and the language focus

Al the pre-task stage, the teacher Gist introduces the lopic in ths way thal most motivates the students, Then, clear instructions on what they will have to do with the task are also given If these steps are well plarmed and successfully complimented they right help the students to recall some language fiom their outcomes that may be asefiil for the task The pre- task stage can also include playing a recard of people doing the task ‘This gives the students a clear demonstration of what they will be expected in the task, Lastly, the students ean take notes and spend time preparing for the task

The task cycle consists of some certain activities: task, planning and report In task activities, the students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources while

the teacher monitors and offers encouragement Then, it is the time for planning: A short oral

or written report is prepared by pairs or groups of students to tell the rest of the class what happened during their task They then practise what they are going to say in their pairs or groups Meanwhile the icacher is available for the students lo ask any Tanguage related question they may have Ai the report stage, the sludenls report back to the class orally or read the written report, The teacher decides when they present their reports and may give them some quick feedback on the content and their performance

At the language focus stage, both analysis and practice activities take place First of all, that is the case of analysis activities ‘The teacher highlights interesting features on the content and the performances af the sladonts? reporls Somme sorions errors thal, the studonls meke in their reports can also be raised The students then discuss these interesting features as well as

errors in their pairs or groups In practice activities, the teacher selects language aspects to

practise based on the

The students then do their practice activities to build up their confidence and make a note of usefial language contents

TL INNOVATIONS IN SYI.LABUS DESIGN

ds of the sludenls and what emerged from the task and report phases

‘As said above, in order to ensure the success of English classes there must be a nmutual relationship between teaching method and syllabus Lherefare, SLA researches cause not only icaching methovls but also syllabuses to change

Before looking at the innovations in syllabus, it is necessary to look at different views

of the importance of inputs in 12 acquisition It is selfevident that 1.2 acquisition can only

On the contrary, the mentalist view underamphasizes the importance of inputs It states that the mind or the ‘black - box’ of leamers is most important for L2 acquisition while inputs only fimction as a trigger setting off some intemal language acquisition devices The mentalist view of inputs hypothasi

2 set of mental provosses which take place insido the taind of the 1eemor and which convert the language in inputs inte a form thal the learner could store and handle in production However, researches in SLA took this view into consideration

by showing that interaction can provide learners with “scaffolding” that enables them to produce structures that would be beyond them,

Next comes the inferactionist view of inputs It emphasizes the importance of both

inputs and interaction Rescarchers who advovate this view suggosts that learners acquire a language through the process of Jearning how to communicate in it and inputs shaped through interaction contribute directly and powerfully to acquisition

Now, itis lime we distinguished three confusing concepts: curriculam, syllabus and textbook, According to Richards (2001, p.16), cuzriculum is on the top of a hicrarchically vertical line and is the most complicated It is a generalization of needs of a group of learners,

different activities such as tasks, exercises, and drills Im this thesis, ‘syllabus’ is used as a

common term which takes over the two others

ILL, Syathetic syllabus versus analytic sylabus

According to Beglar and Llunt (1987, p.96), there are two kinds of syllabus: synthetic

syllabus and analytic syllabus The former divides the target language inlo disercle linguistic items such as points of grammar, lexical items and fiznctions The designers who use this type

of syllabus assume that learners will be capable of resynthesizing these discrete pieces of language into a coherent whole which they can usc in communicative situations The latter is a nominterventionist, experiential approach which aims to expose leamers to real-tife

communication, This type of syllabus supplies leamers with samples of the target language which are selected with the purposes for which people use language In this case, the assumption is that learners will be able to analyze grammatical and lexical usage during the

process of using the targel language to comnumicate

Granmm-Tramdatiơn syllabus is an cxampls of synthetic syllabus The textbook hers consists of statements of abstract grammar rules, lists of vocabulary, and sentences for translation In addition, speaking foreign language is not the goal when the syllabus is designed, and oral practice is limited to students reading aloud the sentences they translats All the sentences found in the textbook are constructed to illustrate the grammatical system of the language and bore no relation to the lmenage of teal communication

From the description of Grammar-Translation syllabus as well as the characteristics of Grammar-Translation Method, we can see a clear relevance between how to teach (teaching method) and whal to teach (syllvbus) Theoretically, all the grammar tules, lists of voeabulary

as well as difftrent kinds of sentences inthe syllabus perfectly match the method of translation from L1 to L2 This helps to explain for the success of Gramrear~Lranslation classrooms over the history of language teaching and learning

For analytic syllabus, White cited in Murphy (2003, p.352) lists its most salient characteristics as follows: (a) it is primarily concemed with how materiais are learned (processes—anicnted }; (b) some degree of negotiation between learners and icachers nccurs: (©) the content is fandamentally defined as what the subject means to the learner and what the learner brings to the subject in terms of knowledge and interest, (d) assessment is partially

largely derived Som what is known about SLA, For instance, SLA Research supports a tocus

on form which nses pedagogical tasks to draw learners’ attention to particular aspects of the language code which arc naturally cmmbedded in the tasks Tasks also provide inputs to Ieamers and opportunities for meaningfil language use, both of which are generally considered

14

valuable in promoting language acquisition That explains why tasks hold a care position in the syllabus Moreover, the conclusion of some types of instructions on the formal aspects of the target language can be found in most recent formulations of task-based language instructions ATI these aspoets of lask-based syllabus snable real conmunication to take place naturally and frequently in the classroom

Here, we find another example of the relevance between teaching method and syllabus

‘We all see that tasks are not only the main activities in TBM to expose students to real-world communication but also the core clement in task-bascd syllabus which are designed to

promote students to communicate in real contexts

We now taka an oxample of the inrclovimes between how 1o toach and what to Leach:

‘That is the case of the weak version of CLT While the syllabus is communicative, ie a list

of notions and functions, the teaching method is traditional and non communicative, ie, P-P-P Advovalors of the weak version of CLT bass on the assumptions that the components of communicative competence can be identificd and systematically taught in order to explain for the irrelevance to which its failure is attributed when the weak version of CLY has been put

inlo practiced

From these above examples, we find that in order to theoretically ensure the success of language teaching and leaming there must be a relevance between teaching method and syllabus

Now, let us have a brief look at the textbook designed to teach English for 10" form students in Vietnam in general and at TPIIS in Vinh Phuc in particular who are the subjects of

is the relevance between the use of the task-based textbooks and the application of TBM in

every English classroom in Vietnam.

for the whole tanguage owricuhum in Task- based Language Teaching However the question

“What is exactly a task?” is quite controversial

Long cited in Ellis (2003, p.2) gives a broad definition which includes two types of tasks: tasks that requires language, for example, making an airline reservation and tasks that can be performed without language, for cxample, painting a fonec Whereas Nunan’s

definition of task cited in Kllis (2003, p.2) is much narrower He defines task as an activity

thal necessarily involves language In my sludy, T advocule the definition by Bygals, Skchan and Swain (2001, p.37) “A task is an activity which requires leamners to use language, with the emphasis on meaning to attain an objective, and which is chosen so that it is most likely to provide information for Iearners and teachers which will help therm in their own learning”

From the definition by Bypate, Skchan, and Swain, six criterial features of a task arc listed (Ellis, 2003, p.9): (a) @ task is a workplan; (b) a task involves a primarily focus on mncaning; (6) a task involves real-world process of language usc; (d) a lask eu invalves any of the four language skills; (e) a task engages cognitive process; and (a task has clearly defined

communicative outcome

There is a need Lo distinguish belween task, ic the core anil of task-based syllabus and exercise, ie the main activities in traditional one Tasks and exercises have the same overall purpose ie learning a language The difference ties in the means by which this

16

Both unfocused and focused tasks are used to stimulate communicative language use but the former is not designed with the use of a specific linguistic feature in mind On the contrary, when being designed the latter targets the use of a particular, predetermined feature

on the participant who holds the information, although other participants can contribute by demonstrating when they comprehend or when they do not Conversely, in two-way tasks all the participants arc obligated fo participate in the lasks in order to completa il

Open tasks are those in which there is no predetermined solution, In this case, many options can gap the task and learners are free to decide on the solution In contrast, close tasks are those tbat require the sturlents to reach ä singte, earrcel solution or one ofa small finite sct

of solutions

Let us now look at listening activities designed in the textbook “liéng Anh 10” which

is ulso onc of the subject of this study and shown in appendix TV, Thare is a fact thal sore of these activities are only pseudo-tasks That is because they do not meet all the criteria of tasks given above For example, the exercises of true/false, nmmbering, and ticking in appropriate infortration do not invalve real-world process of Hanguage w

‘you listen, Unit 6 ) to focuscd tasks (c.g Work in pairs ox groups, ask and answer about Mr Lam then report your result — After you listen, Unit 1)

ITireen (I987,p.184) đistingnishsd hetween two †emms task-as-workpian, i.e the designed task with the intension of the designer and task-as-process, ie the learners’ actual

performance of the task ‘Then, these two terms have widely used by other researchers

In Murphy's article (2003, pp 352-360), he states thal learning outcomes are a producl

of three rain factors: the lask-as-workplan, the task-as-process, and the situation in which the

task is carried out So, the task itself is not enough to ensure the intended pedagogical

objectives of the task designers In many cases, the task-as-workplan does not match the task-

as-process That is because any pre-designed tasks can be changed by the way the learners interact it

According lo Breet (1987, p.226), there are two main ways in which Icarners interacl

with the task If learners find that a task relates closely to their own learning needs, they will

adopt an achievement orientation On the other hand, if they are unable to see the relevance of the task lo their perceivert needs, learners are likely Lo adopt a survival orientation and perform

the tasks with minimal cffort He also claims that cven if the purpose of the task is found

relevant and learners adopt an achievement orientation, they may still select procedures to carry out fhe task which differ from the direclion given in the task-as-workplan That is why iL

is vital for the pedagogical objectives of the tasks to be made clear to the learners

1H THEORY LN LISTENING

UII Definition of listening

Among four language skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing, listening is often

considered the most difficuit one which challenges both teacher and learners in language

skill

classroom Now, it is time we had a look al the definition of this

According to Field (1998, p.38), “Listening is an invisible metal process, making it difficult to desorihe Listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and

grammatical struelwes, interpret siress and intention, relain and inlerprst this within the

immedhate as well as the larger socio-cultural context of the utterance”

In my study, I adopt a simpler definition of listening by Anderson and Lynch (1988,

oner has a

p.21): “Listening comprchension means to understand what a spoaker says: the Lis

crucial part to play in the process by activating various types of knowledge, by applying what

18

he knows to what he hears and trying to understand what the speaker means.”

From the second definition we can find that listening is a complex, active process of interpretation in which listeners not only recall their comprehensive knowledge but also match whal they hear wilh whal [hey hava alrandy known,

THỊ 2 Classification of listening

Anderson and Lynch (1998, p.315) distinguish between reciprocal listening and nonreciprocal listening The former refers to listening tasks where there is the opportunities for the listener to interact with the speaker and to negotiate the content of the interaction The latter reférs to tasks such as listening to the radio or a formal lecture where the transfer of information is ina dircetion only — from the spcaker lo lisloner

Let us take listening in classrooms as examples of these types of listening For reciprocal listening, it is the case of listening tacks that expose leamers to communicate with cach other or with their teacher Nonreciprogal Histoning lakes place when students listen to the tape in the listening session

Richards and Schmidt (1983, p.129) classifies listening according to whether they

roquirs the tearners 1a cngage in hollomeup or log-down processing, In bollom-ap processing, learners rely on their linguistic knowledge to recognize linguistic elements vowels, consonants, words, sentences to do the construction of meaning, They build meaning ftom lower fever somds 10 words, la grammatical rolationstup, and lo lexical moaning in order lo arrive at the final message In top-down processing, learners use their prior knowledge to make prediction about the text Prior knowledge can be that of the topic, the listening context,

the texl-type, the culture or other information stored in fong-erm as well as short-term memory

Listening comprehension is not either bottom-up or top-down processing but is an both

interactive and interpretive proces where listeners use both prior knowledge and linguisti

knowledge in understanding message The degree to which learners use this process or the other will depend on their knowledge being familiar with the topic as well as the purpose for listening

H3 Camuman methods in teaching listening

Underwood (1990, p.90) states that there are at least four common methods of

teaching L2 listening: Grammar-Translation Method, Grammar Method, Audio-Lingual

Method and TRM

When Grammar-Translation Method is applied in a classroom, the sludenls certainty listen to a description of the rules of L2 in the L1 As a result, when L2 is used, the focus of any listening is on translation of lexical items or grammar structures,

To follow Grammar Method, the teacher requires students to look at a written toxt while they listen to a recording This focuses the students to do several things: identify words

by heir position in the sentences, work oul the relationship botwoon words and phrases, use forward and backward related eues, and make intelligent guesses based on textual cues,

‘Audio-lingnal Method of teaching listening emphasizes listening to pronunciation and grammatical forms arut thew imitating those forms by way of drills and oxercises Dialogues and drills arc the basis of classroom practice with this method Students are encouraged to listen carefully either to a taped recording of or a teacher reading out a dialogue or a drill

Basically, the more the students repeat a correc! phrase or sentence, the stronger of their

memory of structures will be

In TBM, a stress is placed on activities or tasks that leamers do in class in order to

develop their commmumicalive commpeterice, A task-based syllabus should be constructed according to the difficulty of the tasks required of the learners at different stages in.a course

To sum up, the four methods of teaching [.2 listening are not matuaily exctusive and in reality they may be thixed in any particular course or classroom, Howe

or, nowadays, wilh the appearance of CLT, teaching listening seems to be more meaningfud to stadents due to the fact that they have chance to develop their listening skills and other language skills as well

TILA, Three stages of the Histening lesson

In order to help learners get most from a listening lesson, a lesson plan of listening is usally divided into three stages: (2) things learners do before listening, ie pre-listening: (5) tasks, exereises or activitics arc done by learners when the discourse is played, ic whilc- listening; (3) things leamers do afer listening, ie post-listening

20

There has been a definition of the pre-listening stage as follows: “Before listening, students should be “tum in’ so that they know what to expect, both in general and particular tasks his kind of preparatory work is generally described as pre-listening work or just pre-

listening” (Underwood, 1990, p.30)

Underwood also slates thai pre-listening work can cor

activities, incuding: the teacher giving background information, the students reading something relevant, looking at pictures, at discussion of the topic, at a question and answer

spoken language Hixon (1986, p.253) points out the purposes of while listening stage is to

challenge and guide studznls to handle the information and ths message from the listening text, Activities of this stage must be interesting and carcfully choson, They must vary at different levels and in different cases

is considered 4 chara ies of while:

of this stage should be suitable with studants’ ability, This means that while-listening, activities can be done by most students ftom the slow students to the best ones Because failure can quickly discourage students to Hslen, Tn the carly stage, activilies which are much above the students’ level should not be used, but sometimes it is necessary to give students some challenges

of aclivitizs thal are done afler the Ii

Some of these activities are extension of the work done at the pre-listening and while-listening stages but same relate loosely to the listening text itself

Underwood (1996, p.77) indicalcs thal the allertion should he given to the following factors in selecting post-listening activities: how much language work you wish to do in relation with particular listening text, whether there will be time to do much post-listening work at the end of the listening lesson; whether the postlistening work should consist of speaking, reading or writing; whether the post listening stage is seen as an opportunity for pair

group work: whether it is necessary to provide post-listening activities that can he done

outside the classroom; and how motivating the chosen activities will be

IL 5 Foreign language learners’ listening problems

Before describing the problems thal foreign language learncrs face in learning listening, lel us Took back al the basic difference between reciprocal listening and

nonreciprocal listening In reciprocal listening, ie real listening, there is the negotiation of

meaning resulted from the interaction between learners and learners or learners and teacher

Conversely, the information is transferred in only one direction in nonreciprocal listening and

no meaning negotiation takes place

Meaning negolialion plays an important part in listening comprchension as well as in

communication It is the adjustments which are foud in the language of the speakers

addressed to the leamers We can see these adjustments in foreigner talk, ie the language used by native speakers when conumunicating wilh non-native speakers, interkanguage Lak,

ic the language that learners usc to communicate with cach other, as well as teacher talk, ic

the language that the teacher used to address to the students

Apar! from the problern of no meaning negotiation, lislening comprehension in

classrooms also causes various problems for the students All these problems can be divided

into two groups: listening problems and language problems Underwood also indicates the seven listening problems as follows: (a) lack of contrat aver the speed al which speakers speak; (b) not being able to get things repeated; (c) the listeners’ limited vocabulary, (d)

failure to recognize the “signals”, (e} problems of interpretation, (f) inability to concentrate,

and (g) establishing learning habits In addition to this, Yagang cited in Rixon (1986, p 310)

attributes the difficulties of listening eomprehension to four sources: (a) the messages, (b) the speaker; (c) the listener and the physical setting In order to make this clearer, the research on learners’ lisksning problems cited in Underwond (1990, pp.172-178) shows ten problems

which occured during the cognitive processing phrases of perception Then, fives problems that are linked to word recognition and attention faiture during perceptual processing are also given in the research: (a) do not recognize words they know, (b) negicet the next part when thinking about meaning: (c) cannot chunk streams of speech; (d) miss the beginning of texts;

(€) concentration to hard or unable to concentrate

HT 6 Foreign language learners’ listening comprehension strategies

As can be seen in the definition of listening, listeners make use of two kinds of infortmation to idomiify tho meaning of lislening text: their prior knowledge and linguistic Knowledge Those who take effective use of the former can be said to use lop-dawn processing, On the contrary, those who make use of the latter are using the bottom-up processing and are firced to determined the meaning of individual words and then aggregate upwards to larger unit of meaning

According to F@reh and Kasper cited in O’Malley, et al (1989, p.421), listeners engage ina varicty of mental processes in an cffort to realize linguistic features of the oral text as well

as to match what they know with what they hear, All these processes are referred to as learning strategies

By definition, a language learning, strategy is “an attempt to develop linguistic and

sociolinguistic competence in the target language.” (Ellis, 1994, p.530) So, learners’

strategies are conscious of potentially conscious, they represent the learners’ deliberate attempts to learn The Oxford Dictionary (1989, p.1776) definzs them as “bchaviots ot actions which learners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable.”

There are three major types of learning siralegies: cognitive stralegiss (eg relating new concepts to other information in memory), metacognitive strategies (e.g organizing a personal timetable to facilitate effective study of the L2) and social/affective strategies (e.g secking oul opportunities to com

with itive speakers) The first two types of learning strategies, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, are recorded to be used regulatly by L2 feamers, (Wenden and Rubin cited in O’Malley, et al

1989, p.437)

Cognitive strategies involve active manipulation of the learning task and include the following: (a) rehearsal, repeating the names of objects or ifems that have been heard, or procticing a long language scquonee; (b) organization , er grouping information to be rolainod

in ways that will enhance comprehension and retention; (c) elaboration, or relating new information to information that has previously been stored in memory, or interconnecting

portions of the new text In these three strategies, claborarlon is a particularly significant strategy because of the benefits for comprehension and retention that have been demonstrated with its use

Molacognilive strategies involve knowing about learning amd controlling, loaring

Krom the above description, we find that metacognitive strategies are generally considered to be applicable across a varictics of tasks, whersas cognitive siatcgios may be more tailored to specitic learning activities

Wenden and Rubin cited in O’Mallsy, et al (1989, p.437), state thai sooialaffective

stralogy is reported to be tess oflen used by 1.2 leamers bul has an important role in instructional systems designed for these students, That is bocausc these stratcgics cntail cooperative leaming, questioning for clarification and affective control over learning experience:

According to the research cattied out by O’Malley, et al (1989, p.422), significant

differences are found between effective and ineffective listeners on self-monitoring, or

their aticntion Lo the oral text Effective listeners, neverthel

s, usc Lop-down processing and seem to be able to monitor their attention lapses and redirect their attention to the text, especially if they are imerested in the material

For the question of inferencing, the rescarch shows that students who are good at listening infer the meanings of important words for comprehension of the oral text by using

24

the context of the sentence or paragraph in which unfamiliar words appear Conversely students who are bad af listening infer these meanings mainly through translation from L2 to

L1

In the caso of nsing claboralion as a learning straiegy, all the students who participate

in the rescarch by O°Malley, cl al (1989, p 422) reporl to ake use of prior knowledge al two points, to assist comprehension and to assist recall, However, effective listeners are able to relate new information to prior knowledge in all three ways through world knowledge, personal knowledge and sclf questioning

‘The research ñmally offers sơme pieces of advice on how to listen effectively First and foremosl, the genoral approach used by more effective icsrners is lo uss lop-down provsssing and to rely upon bottom-up processing only as needed Then, students should make full use of vsefitl leaming strategies such as self-monitoring, elaboration and inferencing during their listening lessons

In short, all the information presented in this chapter will directly or indircetly help to explain for the objectives, the methods of as well as the findings and the solutions in the study

id Rate af the researcher

The rescarcher is a teacher of English al TPHS in Vinh Phuc who has used the new textbook “Tidag Auk 10” compiled by Van et al (2006) for two years

1.2 Participants

The subjects for this study includes 437 participants belonging into two groups The

first group consist of 432 10" form students at T'PHS in Vinh Phuc The second ane is

composed of five teachers who ars in charge of teaching Fnglish for these sludents

1.3 The texthook

Vollowing are some basic characteristics of the textbook “V'iéag Anh 10” involving

the time distribution, the order of language skills, the content of the listening texts, as well as the listoning tasks

Kor the time distribution, the contents of the textbook are taught in two terms, each tanm has sight uniis and throc Lest yourscHf tossons, In cach uit of Iho textbook, there are five sections; reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus All of five sections in one umit serve the same topic, is the topic of the unit

In the textbook, fistering lessons are taught in the third period of cach url aller reading and speaking lessons, This is a reasonable arrangement although it is different ftom that in most of ather textbooks and course books, The order of language skilts seen in many textbooks and courss books is often roading, listening, speaking and writing Thal is because reading and listening are receptive skills, so they are often taught in advance with the aim to provide the students with the language inputs that they will practise later in productive skills,

language inputs in their listening lessons, let alone to receive them, The facts that reading skill helps to provide most of the students’ language inputs and the difficulties the students face

is nol casy for rnost Vicinarncx

during their listening Icssons may discourage them cxplain why listening is taught after

speaking in the textbook “Liếng Anh 10”

26

Aecording to Jane and Barry's criteria of a listening text (1998, p.82) the listening texts of the textbook which are available in this thesis in appendix III have the following characteristics: (1) learning-centered, the materials promote learning and help students to develop their own stratogics for learning; (2) humumistic, in the gơ

so thal the matzrials spoak

to and interrelate with the learners øs real poople and engage them in interaction grounded in their own experience; (3) problem-solving, the listening texts have focused contents so as to engage students in cognitive efforts and thus, provoke meaningfill interaction, (4) task-based, thc materials cnabie studcnts to cngage in various kinds of tasks, and (5) interesting, the contents of the listening texts are familiar with the students and succeed in drawing theix

Tmlerest

‘As said in the previous chapter, some of the listening activities in the textbook are only pseudo-tasks, ‘I'he rest are various kinds of tasks ranging fom focused to unfocused tasks, one-way lo two-way tasks, and open lo class tasks Resides, the listening lasks in the textbook arc put in the order fom casy tasks that require lstzning sữatcgies for general ideas to difficult tasks that require listening strategies for specific information

1.4, Materials ani equipment for listening lessons

At TPHS in Vinh Phue, there are two labs that are used only tor teaching English, Each lab is well-equipped with forty-five computers connected with headphones for students, thres main computers for teacher, a projector, a Targe sercen anda volume syslem Resides, each English teacher is provided with a cassette-player, tapes and disks that they require for their teaching, as well as an amplifier in order to deal with large classroom

From the above lisl, we can sce that all the ne

available for teaching listening at TPHS in Vinh Phuc

1.5 Method of data collection

ary malcrials and oqnipmenis ara

The sindy atternpts to invesligale the effect of using TBM in teaching listening for 10%

form students at TPHS in Vinh Phuc In order to collect the data for the study, two survey

questionnaires are conducted, then classroom observations and informal interviews with the teachers are also of great help.

lesson

Totally, 432 copiss of the questionnaire are delivered to Ihe students and five to the teachers, However some of the copies are not retuned fiom the students and some others are incompletely filled As a consequence, only 400 copies of the questionnaire collected #ơm the students and five fiom Ihe leachors are pul into analysis

Classroom observations

‘The researcher carries ont classroom observations by coming to three different classes

of three differant, taachsrs to obsorve how these participants of the study doat with their listening lessons

All the procedures of these lessons as well as the activities of the teachers and the students are carsfully noted dawn for the purpose of rescarchinyg in appendix V

I DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

IL} The students’ performance in listening lessons

‘As can be seen ftom the data in table 1, 72.5 per cent of the students can finish ftom 50% 1o 100% of their listening tasks This is not a bad result However, when we put it in comparison with 32.25% of students who say that they look at reference books for the answers

of the tasks before their listening lessons (shown in table 2), we need to raise a question to this

A finish 90% - 100% of the tasks 6.25

B finish 70% - 80% of the tasks 26.5

C finish 50% - 60% of the tasks 39.75

D finish under 50% of the tasks + 3

ent sections in each unit of the textbook all serve the same topic Among other

In addition, there is not any research which shows that sludents can develop their