Luận văn a study on the problems in teaching english listening skills to the 10th form students at phu ly b high school and some suggested solutions

VEETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ THANH HƯƠNG |A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS IN TEACHING ENGLISH L

VEETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

VŨ THỊ THANH HƯƠNG

|A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS IN TEACHING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS TO}

THE 10™ FORM STUDENTS AT PHU LY B HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM

AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

[im hiễu những khó khin cña giáo viên wong viée day ki nang nghe hidu cho hoc sinh lop

10 Trường THỊPT B Phả Lý, Hà Nam và một số giải phúp khúc phic)

MENOR PROGRAM THESIS:

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 11410

Hanoi - 2012

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS IN TEACHING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS TO

THE 10" FORM STUDENTS AT PHU LY B HIGH SCHOOL, HA NAM

AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

(Tim hiéu nhOng khé khan cita giáo viên trang việc dạy kĩ năng nghe hiểu cho học sinh lớp

10 Trường THPT B Phũ Lý, Hà Niưn vừ một số giải pháp khắc phục)

MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410

SUPERVISOR: KIM VAN TAT, M.A

Hanoi - 2012

List of tables and charts

PART L: INTRODLCTION G2: 20 th th Hee

L Rationale of the stuổy cccec

3 Aims and objectives oŸ the study

3 Scope of the study c.eei co

4 Methods of the study

5 Significance of the sludy

6 Design of the sLudy

1.3.2, While-listening stage

1.3.3, Post-listoning stage eee

1.4, Strateges of listening, eorprehetsioh ceoeioeeooeereoe TỔ 1.5 Problems with lstcning aetivitics ¬

—_ 15.1, Siluational problems 11

— 1.8.2 Problems from the listening ralerizls 12

1.5.2 Unfamiliar topies - - - 12 15.2.2 Different accents - - - 12 1.5.2.3, Speed of speech is

1.5.2.4 Stranae sOuUnds cceeieirerrrieirrerreereroo T3

1.5.3 Problcms from student factors

1.5.3 Students” limited vocabulary and structures cold

2.1 Introduction of language teaching and leaming conditions in PB school 16

2,112, Teaelefs 1 2201 4 1201 111.110urerrrerreerereeeaee, TỔ 2.1.3 Teaching and learning conditions sstistseererreereeeeraees TỔ

2.4.1 Instrument one: Questionnaires - - 18

3.1.1 Quecstionnaires for studenfs à series TỔ

Al 4 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching ELS to grade 10 students 3

vii

4.2.4, Uperading teaching sids 36 4.2.5 Adapting and ro-designing the tasks „37 42.6 Equipping students with listening strategies 38

43 Summary 39 PART I: CONCLUSIONS 40

L Summary of the study 40

2 Limitations of the study, 40

3 Recommendations for further study „40

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for students I

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teachers

Appendix 4: Four teachers” answering interview questions

Appendix 5: Topics of the listening texts in English textbook 10 VIE

Table 1 | Students’ altitudes towards the importance of listening skills 20

Table 2 | Teachers’ techniques of encouraging students 3

Table 3 | Factors affecting students in learning DLS 24

Table 4 | Students’ suggested techniques to belior caching ELS 25

Table 5 | Teachers’ assessment of listening tasks in “Tieng Anh 10” textbook | 25

‘Table 6 | Teachers’ opinion of students’ attitudes Lawards lisLonimg lessons 26

‘Table 8 | The frequency of teachers’ using techniques ina listening lesson 2B

Table 9 | Teachers’ suggested solutions ta improve listening teaching 29

LIST OF CHARTS

Charts Titles Pages

Chart] | Students’ assessment of tasks m the “Tieng Anh 10” textbook 21

Chart 2 | Stuđents' attimdes towarcb the time for learimp ELS 2

Chart 3 | Students’ frequency of listening to English outside the class 22

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale af the study

In Vietnam, in the recstd yoars, the teaching end leaming of English have been gaining significance fixstly because it is an international language; secondly it is also seen as a means

to promote nmtual understanding and cooperation between Viet Nam and other countnes

Thore have been an increasing number of peuple desiring to know English with the hope of keeping up with the latest modern technology in the world, English has now been taught not only al all universilies and colleges, bul also at almosl every senior high school and it is considered as a compulsory subject at secondary schools

At PB school, where the author studies, English is a compulsory subject in the curriculum and

it is considered as a major subject for the high school examination, It is taught with the purpose that studenls have some basic knowledge of English in order lo communicate and to use it as a key to science and technology However, there still exist many difficulties facing English language teachers at PB school, especially in Leaching listening skills to students, The teachers of English at PB school tind it difficult to teach listening lessons successfully,

Listening has long been considered a difficult and boring subject by many second language Joamners TL takes much lime and energy to make progross in this skill, For listening teachers, it

is a difficult task to get students involved in listening lessons

At my school, teaching listening is really a problem In addition to the lack of well-equipped

facilities, teaching listening methads are not satisfactory Another problem is students? low level of proficiency in tems of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills and so forth It is the reason why students find it difficult and tough to listen to and they are not confident cnough to do listsning tasks successfully Morcovar, learning habits do not hetp mach to improve their Listening in classroom

All of the above reasons have inspired the author to do the research “A Suedy on the Problems

in Teaching English Listening Skills to the 10” form Students at Phu Ly B High School and some Suggested Solutions” with the hope to make a small contribution to the quality of teaching and learning listening skills at PB school

- Clarifying the practices of teaching and leaming ELS in 10 form in PB school

- Finding out the difficultics teachers and students in 10 form in PB school have had to

undergo

- Suggesling some feasible solutions to the teaching of BLS for 10! form sturtenis,

It may appear contradictory that in the first two concentrations, the study aitempts to

investigate both Isaching and learning of FT.S whereas the main topic raised in the titke of the study is only about the teaching, However, according to Brown (2007), it is not a contradiction

“if we look at the teaching process as the facilitation of learning.”

3 Scope of the study

Learning a second language as a scholar once said “is a long and complex undertaking”

‘Therefore, teachers ofa second language certainly have many problems during their teaching

In the scope of this research, however, the re

difficulties that teachers in PB school have been facing when teaching listening skill for 10" graders, Hopefully, they will have more smooth and successful listening lessons Also, it is not

archer onty has ambition to investigale the

expocted that thhe situty cam bring solutions fo the ELS teaching for students of alt lovels

4, Methods of the study

‘The study is designed to use both qualitative and quantitative methods Besides, many

have been read by the researcher

In order Lo gain the most reliable rasults, the quantitative data will bo collected through two survey questionnaizes, One survey questionnaire is for 180 students tiom four different groups

in grads 10 in PR school and the other survey is for 7 teachers The data, then, will be processed and analyzed to yield conclusions for the study

Along with the quantitative method, the qualitative data has been obtained by informal interviews with some teachers to collect further information about the real situations of icaching and lcurning FSI in grade 10 al, PR schoot

5, Significance of the study

‘This research provides an insight into the problems that are often met by teachers teaching English for 10 form students in PB school In addition, this rescarch also points out some feasible solutions which are beneficial for both teachers and students,

Tlopefidly, the findings and recommendations of this siudy will be of some help to the improvement of the teaching and learning ELS of Vietnamese students in general and of PB school students in particular The study also gives some guidelines for teachers to help their students overcome their listening comprehension problems The results of this study may also

‘be useful for those who are interested in this field

6 Design of the study

‘The study is divided into three parts: the Introduction, the Development and the Conclusion

Part |: INTRODUCTION- deals with the rationales, aims, methods, scope, significance and

design of the sludy

Part Tl: DEVELOPMENT -— consists af three chapters

Chapter 1: Literature review — provides some theoretical background about listening

comprehension, loaching listening skill and problems with listening activities,

Chapter 2: Methodology — presents the current situation of teaching and learning Tisterring at PR school This chaptsr also deals wilh the introduction of the rescareh

methads which cover rescarch questions, the participants and data collvetion instrament,

Chapter 4: Findings and suggested solutions — concludes the findings the researcher has

from the study and proposes some sobations lo the tzaching of FLS to 10" form students in

PB school

Part IM: CONCLUSION- gives @ brief description of the study and states the limitations as

well as recommendations for further research.

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CIIAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Definitions of listening

‘There appear many different points of view on the definition of listening

Underwood (1989, p.1) describes listening in a simple and easily understandable way:

“Lastening is the activity of paying attention to and trying io get meaning from

something vou hear” As a matter of fact, to succeed in listening, the duty of listeners is not

only to understand of the words given, but also seek the real meaning hidden in words Buck

(2001, p.3) asscrts listening in communicative approach: “Listening comprehension is the

result of an interaction between a number of information sources, which include the

acoustic input, different types of linguistic knowledge, detail of the context, and general

word knowledge, and» so forh, and listeners use whalever information they have available, or what ever information seems relevant to help them interpret what the speaker is

saying” In this definition, Buck aims to highlight the active role of the leamers who act as

the negotiators and integrators in the process of learning listening In this proccss,

Jearers activate hoth linguistic cues and nonlinguistic knowledge to achieve the meaning

In olher words, listening is the active combination of new input gained by what, the listeners

get and their prior knowledge and experience This view is valuable and worth considering in

setting up listening syllabus in the sense that it aims to build commmmnicative competence 1o The leamers in Histening lessons

To conclude, listening demands many skills It is an active process in which Icarners use their

prior knowledge to infer the message of the listening text

1.2 Common methods of teaching listening skills

In the past, comunon methods of teaching listening are grammar-transtation method and direct method Currently, researchers put focus on audio-lingnal method and task-based method as

diatogues by imitation and repetition Leamers receive the knowledge of grammar naturally through examples provided by the teachers Knowledge of callure is given in the dialogue or

dy the teacher, Teacher acts as “orchestra leaders” and their role is “directing and controlling the language behavior of her students” and “providing her students with a good model for imitation”, In this casc, the leamers perform as “imitators of the teacher’s model” and “follow the teacher's directions and respond as accurately and as rapidly as possible”

Task-based method; By this method, leamers are equipped with a natural context for listening ‘The time they perform the task is the time they have interaction with each other which activate language acquisition The author focuses that: “by interacting with each other, they gct to listen to language which may bz beyond their present ability, but which may be assimilated into their knowledge of the target language for use at a later time” and “the Janguage practiced in the classroom is nol predetermined, bul valher durivs from the natura of a particular project that the students elect to do”

1.3 Stages of a listening lesson

Rixon (1986, p.63-64) stated thal a commonsense way af dividing up a listening fesson is into three stapes:

- Things to do before the sindents hear the passage, to help them get the most out of what they are going to hear

- Activities and exercises to be cartied gut as the students listen to the passage, to guide them as they try to gasp the main information in it

+ Things io do once the class has came lo grips with the moaning and content of the passage, and is ready to look back, to reflect on some of the language points in it or to

do some extension work based on the content of the passage

‘The three stages are summarized as: Pre-listening stage, While-listening stage and Post-

listening stage Each stage has its own aims and activities

1.3.1, Pre-listening stage

It is difficult for students to have idcas of what they are going to hear if the teacher just says

“Listen to this" and then switches on the cassette recorder or begin to read aloud Even if the

sounds and words are Camiliar with shideris, they may still be unable to comprehend because

of the lack of necessary knowledge of the topic, setting or the relationship between speakers

‘Therefore, the aim of pre-listening stage is to provide students with everything necessary for listening and understanding the lext such as the lopie, related vocabulary and additional

information This stage also helps the teacher to arouse students" interest in the listening text

‘Ur (1992, p.4) points out that "It would seem a good idea when presenting a listening passage

in class fo give siudents some information about the content, situation and speakers before

they actually start listening”

Pre-tistening work can be done in various ways and consist of a wide range of activities ‘Iaus, Underwood (1989, p.33) slaled dat leachers should consider the following (actors when

choosing pre-listaning activities:

~ The time available:

- The place in which the work is being carried out,

- The nature and content of the listening text itself

The last itom on the list, "the naturc and content of the listening text", is very important when teachers choose activities Teachers need to select some kinds of suitable activity to some

types of lext

Davies and Pearse (2000, p.78) points out that pre-listening work can consist of a whole range

of activities, including:

- Assooiate vocabulary with the topic

- Predict information about the topic

- Write questions about the topic

1.3.2 While-listening stage

While-listening activities are what students are asked to do during the time that they are listening to the texl The purpose of whilelistoning activilics is to help learners understand Ure text and develop the skill of eliciting message from spoken language Teachers should not

expect students to try to understand every word For example, teachers may ask students to

ston for three picecs of information the first time they hear the recording, and tell teachers about the attitude of the speakers after the second time they have heard it, In general, teachers should help their students understand rather than testing their understanding the whole time Underwood (1989, p.49) pointed oul thal when choosing while-listening avlivitics, teachers should consider the following factors:

a) The possibilities for varying the level of difficulty if required,

b) The inconyenicnee of carrying out activitics which require individuals to give their responses orally in the classroom ‘This kind of wark is best done in a language laboratory Classroom whilelistoning activities generally have to be limited lo those wbich can be done without the nocd for each student to respond by speaking,

Whether the work is to be done by the students with the teacher present or whether itis

to be done as private study, either in the classroom or at home, this will influence the

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teacher's choice of activity as he/shc may want to give students difftrent work according to their level of ability, to provide additional instructions, or to select avlivities which generale fittle or noanarking;

đ)_ Whether or not the while-listening activities generate materiat or ideas which might be

used for postlistening work, and if so, whether the teacher wishes to make use of

these

Furthermore, Davis (2000 p.78) suggests the following while-listening activities

TdenlifY the exaet lopic, or an aspeel of iL

Note two to four pieces of information

Answer questions

Complete sentenees

Complete a table, map or picture

1.3.3 Post-listening stage

This stage is to help the Jeamers connect what they have heard with their own ideas and

expericness, just as we often do in real life It also allows tcachors to move casily from

listening to another language skill For example, the students may practice speaking by role- playing interviews similar to one they have heard ‘The purposes of post-listening activities are also raised by Underwood (1989, p.74-78)

Again, according to Underwood (1989, p.80), when the teachers s

Checking whether the students have understood what they need to or not,

Reflecting on why some studsnts have failed to understand or miss parts of the message;

Giving the students the opportunity to consider the attitude and manner of the speakers

attention should be given to the following factors:

The amount of language work which the teacher wishes Lo do in relation ta the

particular listening text,

‘The time which is allowed to do post-listening work,

- Whether the post-listening work should consist of speaking, reading or writing,

- Whether the post-listening, stage is seen as an opportunity for pais/group-work or it is intended that students should work alone;

- Whether it is necessary to provide post-listening activities which can be done outside

the classroom (at home/ in the listening eentrc);

- The chosen activity should be made motivating

And here are the possible post-listening activities by Davis (2000, p.78)

- Give opinions

- Relate similar experiences

- Role-play a similar interaction

- Write a brief report

- White a similar text

- Debate the topic

In conclusion, by raising students’ awarcness of listening as a skill that requires active engagement, teachers should help their students develop both the ability and the confidence to jndlc communication situations they may gneounlcr beyond the classroom In this way teachers will give their students the foundation tor communicative competence in the new

Janguage

1.4 Strategies of listening comprehension

Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input

Top-down strategies are listener based, the listener taps into background knowledge of the topic, the situation ar context, the type of text, and the language This background knowledge

activates a set of cxpeclalions that help the listoner to inlorpret what is heard and anticipate

what will come next, Top-down strategies include:

- listening for the mam idea

- predicting

- listening for specific details

+ recognizing cognates

- recognizing word-order patterns

Listening comprehension tends to be an interactive, interpretive process in which listeners use prior knowledge and linguistic knowledge in understanding messages Listoners usc mela cognitive, cognitive and socio-aflective strategies to facilitate comprehension and to make

their learning more effective Meta-cogmtive strategies are important because they regulate

and direct the language learning process Research shows that skilled listeners use more moctacognitive strategics than their less-skilled counterparts (O'Mallcy & Chamot, 1989,

Vandergrift, 1997a) ‘The use of cognitive 5 strategies helps students to manipulate learning

inatcrials and apply specific Lechriques to a Tisloning task Socimallcelive stratogies describe the techniques listeners use to collaborate with others, to verity understanding or to lower

anxiety,

1.5 Problems with listening activities

Teaching listening as well as learning listening is nol simple, complex and difficull processes, Teachers and students meet many challenges in this skill

1.5.1 Situational problems

As matter of fact, currently, many classes have over thirty students with inequality in the level

of proficiency which poses a lot of obstacles to the teachers to control their students To this

problem, Hess (2001, p.137) states: “in large class, it is important to create activities that will

keep the more advanced students interested and at the same lime allow the less advanced students to make progress at their own pace”, According to Hess (2001, p.138), to help multilevel students not lose motivation, teachers can individualize the listening task Kor cxampte, with the same listening texl, for the more competent students, iis advisable for the

teacher to give more difficult tasks, but for the less competent ones, the less difficult tasks should bo introduced Also considering this problem, Hoss (2001, p.182) suggests

“establishing routines and procedures” because “well-established routines give students a sense of stability and security” The exploitation of pair-work and group-work is also appreciated by this author in coping with large and multilevel classes

The problem of noisc necds to be focuscd for the reason that many tzachers and students complain noise affects the success of their listening lesson Kor teachers, they find it difficult

to control the class

and to instruct studenls For the students, they feel distracted and sometimes can not capture the essential words and phrases due to the noise, The feasible solution for this matter is to conduet listening lesson in lab room with good quality recorders

1.5.2.2 Different accents

Listeners feel strange to various accents, and they are sure to meet the difficulties when

‘hear the new accent When considering problem with accent, Ruck (2001, 2.35) confirms

“accent is potentially a very important variable in listening comprehension” and “an unfamiliar accent can make comprehension almost impossible for the listener”

1.5.2.3 Speed af speech

Itis the case in which leamers regularly ask the teachers pause the recorder because they can not understand the fast native speech and fail ta “cantrol how quickly the speakers speak” and the conscqucnee cnlailed is: “they arc so busy working oul the meaning of onc part of

13

what they hear that they miss the next part Teachers’ role in this situation is very iiuportant The solutions include asking the leamers to pick up the important words that they need to listen to; having them expose as much as possible the spontaneous informal talk as they can

1.5.2.4, Strange sounds

Many students have problems in hearing and catching the strange sounds in hstening text because “most listeners rely mostly on context for comprehension; they are often themselves unaware of inaccurate sound perception” (Ur, 1991, p.111) This is not the only reason, Another reason comes from the features of native speaker’s pronunciation of English which is shown by Rixon (1986, p.38): Ths weak relationship belwoon English soumds and the way they are spelt in the written language, changes in sounds when they occur in rapid, connected speech, the zhythm pattern of Linglish speech, different ways of pronouncing the “same” sound, In this case, practicing pronunciation is a need, but usnally at home In class, it is csscntial for the teacher to introduce some strange sounds to students During the listening process, if students have difficulty with sounds, they should omit them and try to guess the incaning of words

1.5.3 Problems from student factors

1.5.3.1 Students’ low motivation

Students’ fow motivation is really 4 prablem in listening Tessons, As Ihe matter of fact, if the students get tired and feel not interested in the lesson, 1t will be difficult for them to seek the success in the process of listening This fact is also confirmed by White (1998, p.13) as 4istening well involves motivation and coneonlralion” Many rescarchers provide ih solutions for this kind of problem, Hedge (2000, p.247) gives the suggestion which

highlights that: “creating purpose for listening can motivate students” ‘This viewpoint is

reasonable because if the students make oul the point af what they are performing, they will feel encouraged to join the listening tasks Teachers can gain this by “providing tasks which are as realistic as possible, so that the students can relate what they are doing in the lesson to things that happon in seal life, outside classroom” (Underwood, 1989, p.21), Along with these, the students will get disappointed when they always fail in doing tasks Therefore, to

motivate and encourage students during the lesson, it is advisable for the teachers to

“help students see how successful they have been in doing the task” (Hedge, 2000, p.244)

And ‘Tuyet (2007, p.35) provides one solution which states that: “teachers had better not treat

the activities as tests ta be marked or scored”, Giving students background knowledge before listening is also a good advice, The use of visual aids should be taken into consideration when teachers try to seek the path to have students’ motivation Students themselves can seek the interest in learning listening through English songs, movies and stories at home as well as joining in pair-work and group-work in class

1.5.3.2 Students’ low level of proficiency

Teaching fistening lo inlormediale and advanced studanis is difficult, and for the boginmers, the case 1s more complex because they do not gain themselves a lot of experiences with listening, plus their lack of Linguistic and cultural knowledge of the language ‘Therefore, it is not easy to understand the provided input to infer the meaning of the listening text, Buck (2001, p.47) approves the usc of visual aids in teaching listening to low competent Icarncrs

‘This will help the students feel more excited in acquiring the lesson, In addition, with the

training lesson, not a test: giving students sense of autonomy

1.5.3.4 Students’ limited vocabulary and structures

Wood (1989, p.17) pinpoints this problem as; “an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barier causing, them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus

15

making them miss the next part of the speech” There are many solutions for teachers in this case which suggest instructing them how to identify the important words that they need to listen to, giving students chances to guess the meaning from the relevant clues and presenting some important words and structures before allowing the students to do their kistening

1.5.3.5 Students’ lack of background knowledge

Lack of background knowledge will cause the wrong interpretation to the listening text given because “when we listen we uss our background knowledge of the world to set up expectations, and then we use those expectations to help us comprchcnd what we hear” (Buck,

2001, p.8) Get the importance of this, Lingzhu (2003) states that it is advisable for teachers to

introduee the listening topic and after thal, sludents write down as many words and phrases selated to the topic as they can The problem also can be solved by giving students some questions related to the text and having them answer to get prior knowledge In addition, jooking at some pictures is considered a very exciting way for students to gain background

knowledge.

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.4, Introduction of English teaching and learning conditions at PB school

granmalieal tulss or a list ofirregulas verbs

Students at PB school are sixteen years old and have experienced in English, including listening skill for five ycars at lower-uppor schools Nevertheless, they basically ars beginners of English They arc likely to be molivated or de-amolivated casily, This matter of fact should be taken into account in using teaching methods and approaches

in order to foster and devetop their listening skills efficiently

2.4.2 Teachers

The teachers are the 1nost important factors in the process of leaching and learning a targel language To carry out this process properly, the teachers need to have good experience of isaching and understanding of the syllabus AL PB school, there are 7 isachers of Tinglish and

no one has ever been to an English speaking country

Methodologically, the teachers at PB school are familiar with traditional language teaching English They lack caching expericnce, particularly toaching listening skills

2.1.3 Teaching and Jearning contlitions

213.4 Teaching aids

Facilities in PB school are brought into question, The classes ars not well-equipped with tapes, cassette players, speakers, TVs, CDs or overhead projectors except for a beard, chalks, pictures or other visual aids designed by teachers themselves There are two modern classrooms for language teaching and learning equipped with teaching aids such as overhead projectors and the Internet, Students only have a chance lo use these devices when the leachors

‘present model lessons on special occasions such as Women’s Day and Vietnamese Teacher's Day Therefore, students do not have many chances io use both visual and audio aids to practice listcning skilts often

The average number of students in a class in PB school ranges from 40 to 50 Students arz

arranged to sit at desks in four rows, each of which includes 5 - 6 desks of two students

2.2 The new “Tieng Anh 10” Lextbaok

The new “Tieng, Anh 10” textbook composed by Hoang Van Van (2006) has been in use since

2006 as the official textbook to obtain general English at grade 10 ‘The textbook consists of 16

units in terms of 16 logics There are five parls in cach anit roprosonted through 5 lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language Focus respectively The book adopts two new approaches: leamer-centered and communicative aiming at students’ better use of English as a toot of eomumunication al basic level in terms of listening, speaking, reading and waiting

2.2.1 Form 16 listening objectives

The aim of the course is io equip stndenis with English listening skills for basic communication, For 10! form students, the objectives are to develop listening, comprehensive skills such as intensive listening, extensive listening, listening for specific information, listening for gist, ete

2.2.2 Listening lessons

In the “Tieng Anh 10° textbook, reading, speaking and listening lessons are divided into three parts: Before you listen, While you listen and Afier you listen In Before you listen, leamners listen to the subject matters related to the unit topic; new vocabulary is presented in listening sessions While you listen includes 2 - 3 wisks (natohing, multiple choiez questions, truc/lilsc, comprehension questions, gap-filling, taking notes, etc.) aiming at developing students’ comprehensive listening 4frer you listen consolidates comprehensive listening via summary, speaking and writing activities In order to svalize the course ebjectives, the listening section focuses on daily and popular topics

2.3 Research questions

Tn order fo find out the problems that the teachers and studonts of form 10 in teaching and jearning ELS, it is necessary to answer the following questions

1 Whatis the present situation of teaching and leaming ELS at PB school?

2 What difficulties do the teachers and the 10" form students encounter in teaching and learning ELS?

3 What are the supgested ways to effectively improve the current situation of teaching

and learning BLS af this school?

2.4 Data collection instruments

In order to obtain in-depth, rich data and information for investigating the situation and the problems thal Icachers and students cncounilered in teaching and learning FILS, the study used

two methods of data collection: questionnaires and informal interviews.

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2.4.1, Instrument one: Questionnaires

The questionnaire for the students was written in Vietnamese so that they would not tisunderstand the qnestions, The questionnaire was designed to investigate the students’ aililudos toward the lsarning of listening, the diffieultics hey cncounter in learning ELS, and

‘the students’ expectations for bettar teaching, and learning ELS

The questionnaire delivered to the teachers was strictly conducted in English It aimed to find out the teachers” attitudes toward the teaching of listening, the difficulties they encounter in teaching ELS, thc teachers’ knowledge of teaching listening and the tcachcrs’ cxpectations for Detter teaching and learning ELS

Questionnaires tor students and teachers both had closed questions, After collecting all the questionnaire responses from both teachers and students, the researcher calculated the

numbers of responses and the percentages respectively of the questions in cach questionnaire

2.4.2 Instrument two: Interviews

In order to understand better about the reality of listening teaching and leaning and difficulties that teachers had to face with listening lessons, the researcher had unconventional iatks with 4 leachers, The questions in the interview were basically based on those in the questionnaire in order to find out the real reasons for their answers as well as to understand more about the reality of teaching and leaming ELS Iiopeftlly, the results from the interviews would eontribale mach to finding oul the solutions fo the improvement

2.5, Summary

‘To conclude, this chapter presents the methodology of the study In other words, it describes the aims, conlexl, participants and instruments of the study Given the collected dala, Chapter 3 will depict the data analysis and the study results

researcher These results were converted to percentages for the conveniences of analysis Besides the questionnaires, information gaincd through interviews was added to assist

interpretation

3.1 Questionnaires

3.1.1 Questionnaires for students

Question 1: Low are English listening skills important to you?

Table 1: Students’ attitudes towards the importance of ELS

As shown in table 1, neurly half of the students (48%) thought [hal Histening was important and even 30% revealed that it was a very important skill, 12% of participants stated that it was of tittle importance and the smallest percentage (10%) umderestimated the significance of this skill, In general, most of the students highly appreciated the importance of English listening skills, especially communication ability, However, it seems to be contradictory to the ow Jevel of their participation in classroom activities in fact ‘This was also a challenge for both

students and teachers to improve the cffectivencss of teaching and learning ELS at PB school

Question 2: What do you think about listening tasks in “Tieng Anh 10” texthook?

Difficult 21%

Chart 1: Students’ assessment of tasks in the “Tieng Anh 10” textbook

‘The data from chart 1 shows that 63% (114 out of 180) found that listening tasks in “Tieng Anh 10” textbook were appropriate and suitable for their level 21% (38 out of 180) thought that the tasks were difficult and 13% stated that the tasks were very difficult for them, Only 3% of the participants found them easy This finding showed that listening tasks were somewhat challenging to one thirds of the students This might cause students” boredom and it could not motivate them in learning because levels of the listening tasks were much higher than their proficiency Besides, most of the activities in the lessons came from the textbook without any change, which could not inspire students’ motivation to study Therefore, the researcher thinks that having a good listening lesson requires teachers to have good teaching techniques, knowledge and enthusiasm to design creative and interesting activities with more

in-depth information than the textbook

Question 3: Do you think that 45 minutes/ period is suitable for learning ELS to 10" form

students?

As can be seen from the chart, nearly half of the students (44%) thought that the time for teaching and leaming ELS one period a week was suitable Even 11% stated that 45 minutes! period was unnecessary However, 45% revealed that they needed more time for this skill In my interview, most of the teachers said that due to the students’ low level of English proficiency, they could not complete the tasks in the while-listening Also, the teachers spent a lot of time re-playing the tape so that their students could know the answers to each task Sometimes, students could not

check all the answers for each task again and teachers did not have time to carry out activities in

the post-listening Thus, they often asked students to do the last part, post-listening tasks at

home to save time

Chart 2: Students’ attitudes towards the time for learning ELS

Question 4; How often do you listen to English outside the class?

Chart 3: Students' frequency of listening to English outside the class

The chart reveals that 66% of the students did not often listen to English outside the class, Especially, some students (17%) said that they never listened to English outside the class This means that they did not even listen to English songs in which many students were interested Only seven out of one hundred eighty (4%) students practiced listening skill very often at home and 13% stated that they often listened to English at home The students who never listened to English at home might not like English because even the laziest students sometimes listen to English songs Hence, the students” little practice outside classroom also accounted

for their difficulties in listening acquisition and comprehension Leaming a language need continually practicing Therefore, only learning ELS at school is not enough to have a good achievement No matter how good the teachers are, students” self-study plays a very important part in their learning process

Question 5: How docs your teacher encourage you te listen?

Table 2: Teachers’ techniques of encouraging students

Table 2 shows students’ evaluation on teacher’s ways of encouraging students to eam

listening skills According to 40% of participants’ responses, their teachers often encouraged

them to listen in the elass by offering lnigh marks, Some students stated thal their teachers uscd good comments (36%) or prizes (7%) to motivate students’ involvement In contrast, 17% thought their teachers did nothing to encourage them It was understandabls that most teachers gave their students high marks to stinnulate them, In addition, teachers should give students good conunents to build up the confidence in their own listening ability It is advisable that all teachers should use some ways of encouraging students more often

Question 6: What makes it difficuit for you to tearn ELS?

‘A, Teacher's inappropilate teaching, methodology 2 12%

B, Boring topics and aclivities 10 6%

© Lack of motivation T2 40%

Table 3: Factors affecting students in learning ELS

According lo the statistics from table 3, students” tow levet of English proficiency was the

ost impertant feetor of reluctance in listening accounting lo 72% 61% af the studenis stated

that they were lack of background knowledge in listening topics while 40% blamed for their Jack of mofivation And 30% revealed that bad quality of cassette tapes and CLs caused them difficult, Besides, some other factors such as speakers’ fast specd, bad quality of cassctic tapes, limited time, teachers’ inappropriate teaching methodology, large class sizes, boring topics and activities also accounted for factors affecting students” learning TLS These fous Diggest factors should be noticed by all the teachers of English It was high time teachers found solutions to help students overcome their problems and to improve the quality of the teaching aids Only by doing these problems, teachers could involve more students in their Jistoning lessons

Question 7: In your opinion, what should teachers da ta better teaching ELS?

Suggestei techniques No Percentage

A re-design the listening tasks 45 25%

B help students improve their inowledge of the language and of | se

the world

C guide sitdents to listen outside the classroom 4 25%

D teach shuđents Tistsning strategies 110 61%

E exchange exporieness and methodology among the English st an

statis

F encourage students to listen by giving evaluation (comments,

fscdback and marks)

G offer students more English sengs and games 85 4%

Table 4; Students’ suggested techniques to better teaching ELS

Table 4 shows the suggestions thal sindonts oxpacted their iachors to do to increase the involvement, 61%4 of participants highly appreciated teachers’ instructions Next, 56% of students expected that teachers should help them improve their knowledge of the language and

of the world 47% desired that (ci

crs would offer them more English songs and games in istoning lessons Then teachers are always expected to encourage students to listen by giving evatuation (comments, feedback and marks) according to 77 students (43%) And 30% thought tht toachors should exchange expericnces and methodalogy among the slaff Besides, the same number of students (25%) hoped that their teachers re-designed the listening tasks and guided them how to listen effectively outside the classroom Although students really wanted to loam lislcning skills and they knew ils importance, there were only 15-mninals listening tests at the school,

3.1.2 Questionnaires for teachers

The questionnaire was conducted among 7 teachers in PB school All of the participants hav been teaching English for more than four years and share the same views towards listening caching, Their ideas are shown clearly in the answers 10 questions below

Question 1; What do you think about listening tasks in the textbook?