000071701 THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON THE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS' LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT HA TAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA HOẠT ĐỘNG TIỀN NGHE ĐẾN KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN NGỮ ANH NĂM THỨ BA TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG CỘNG ĐỒNG HÀ TÂY
Background to the s tu d y
Among the four language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—listening is often the most challenging for many students This difficulty stems from factors such as limited background knowledge, a restricted vocabulary and grammatical repertoire, and inadequate preparation for listening tasks (Boyle, 1984) Consequently, many learners experience listening courses as painful or boring and feel they gain little from them Therefore, English teachers should recognize the importance of making listening classes more engaging and adopt strategies to motivate students, helping them progress in listening comprehension and maintain interest in the skill.
It is a well-known fact that listening is vital and the im portant role o f listening and foreign language learning is summarized in a recent publication by Rost (1994) as follows:
Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learner W ithout understanding input at the right level, any learning simply can not begin (1994, p 11).
Recognizing listening as a crucial skill has driven researchers to seek effective methods for teaching listening that lessen the difficulty of comprehension and make it more engaging, helping anxious listeners gain confidence and increase the amount of speech they can understand with ease (Rost, 1990) Building on these aims, scholars have proposed several practical techniques for planning listening lessons around three stages: pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening (Underwood, 1989; Davies & Pearse, 2000) In particular, many argue that every lesson should start with pre-listening activities, which are fundamental to good language pedagogy Mendelsohn (1994) notes that various pre-listening tasks activate students’ existing topic knowledge, link it to what they are about to comprehend, and support hypothesis formation, prediction, and inference Vandergrift has also contributed to the discussion, highlighting related strategies to support listening development.
In 1999, researchers concluded that pre-listening activities significantly support learners in listening comprehension, and they believed these activities remove obstacles to understanding while boosting students’ motivation, helping them succeed in developing their listening skills.
Motivation is highly useful in teaching and learning the listening skill It can be tempting to think that when students are motivated from the first minutes of a listening lesson, they complete listening tasks more successfully Yet creating a motivated learning environment in a listening class poses real challenges This environment depends on multiple factors, including students' needs, interests, and feelings, as well as the design of teachers' listening activities, the topic of the text, its type, and other contextual elements.
In light of this, the author argues for introducing pre-listening tasks for students before they listen These pre-listening activities are designed to boost listening comprehension and cultivate better listening skills, helping students engage more effectively with audio content.
Founded in 2005, the English Department at Ha Tay Community College serves the northern Vietnam region by training students to master, comprehend, and apply foundational English language skills in both spoken and written forms Upon completion, graduates will be able to use English as a practical tool for a variety of roles, including teaching English in primary and secondary schools, guiding tourists, working as receptionists, handling import‑export tasks, and serving as translators.
At HTCC, listening is a core component of the language learning and teaching curriculum, and teachers regard listening comprehension as a crucial yet challenging area for English majors, especially for third-year students To address student needs, HTCC's English instructors treat listening comprehension as a distinct skill, allocating about 120 periods within the three-year English program for listening study alongside other skills All listening lessons incorporate pre-listening activities, with teachers supplying keywords and sentence structures that will appear in the listening passage before students listen and complete related tasks Typically, teachers lead the listening lessons and deliver mainly frontal instructions, guiding students through the tasks during the listening process.
In fact, students at H TCC do not like learning listening lessons, especially third-year English m ajor students They have ju st finished 90 periods o f listening lessons among
During their three-year English course, students often feel stressed and bored in class They are frequently passive learners—relatively inactive recipients of information—with most tasks limited to whole-class or individual work Consequently, many students struggle to achieve good marks, and the failure rate on listening exams is higher than for other skills This indicates that learners lack the essential knowledge and techniques needed for effective listening comprehension Moreover, the teaching methods used by English teachers tend to leave students in an unmotivated mood even before they start listening to a passage.
For the students o f English at H a Tay C om m unity C ollege, they study the textbook
“C assell’s Foundation Skill Series - Listening 3” by M ichael T hom including 20 units and the textbook is taught in 30 periods and is applied for the third- year student
At Ha Tay Community College, English teachers must consider multiple factors to boost students' listening comprehension In interviews, teachers reported that students seemed uninterested in listening lessons Despite using recommended pre-listening activities in every class, students' listening comprehension remains low at times and the lessons are described as boring The researcher therefore asks: which pre-listening activities do teachers commonly use before listening, and do they add any extra pre-listening activities beyond these standard practices?
Should a "word study" section be included in listening lessons, and if so, are pre-listening activities effective for third-year English major students? Is the stagnation in listening comprehension due to the absence of pre-listening activities or to their inappropriate implementation? These questions motivate the author to undertake action research to investigate the effects of introducing new pre-listening activities aimed at enhancing students' listening comprehension This inquiry serves as the initial impetus for the study, framing an investigation into how targeted pre-listening interventions can improve listening outcomes.
Aim(s) o f the study and research question(s)
Krashen (1987) argues that a low affective filter environment—where learners feel safe, relaxed, and engaged—facilitates natural language use and acquisition When students feel insecure or uncomfortable, a psychological barrier to communication emerges, hindering progress Consequently, teachers should implement pre-listening strategies that reduce anxiety and cultivate a supportive, enjoyable learning climate, making such preparation essential for successful listening comprehension.
This study at Ha Tay Community College (HTCC) aims to enhance English major students' listening comprehension in English listening classes by investigating the current state of listening instruction for third-year English majors at HTCC and by measuring changes in listening comprehension after implementing new pre-listening activities To achieve these aims, the following research questions are addressed: What is the current state of teaching listening skills for HTCC's third-year English majors, and what changes occur in listening comprehension after the adoption of new pre-listening activities?
1 What activities do teachers o f English at HTCC often use in the pre-listening stage and how much do they help the students understand the listening passage?
2 To w hat extent does the innovation in pre-listening stage help students improve their listening com prehension?
Scope o f the study
Research on listening has increasingly highlighted the role of pre-listening activities in the teaching listening process Scholars regard these activities as an integral part of effective listening instruction, though outcomes can vary by context even when the same procedures are applied (Ur, 1984) A wide range of pre-listening tasks has been proposed, and their value is frequently stressed, especially in settings where English is learned as a second language or in non-native contexts Additionally, students’ motivation to listen is shaped by multiple factors, including their needs, interests, attitudes, the effectiveness of the teacher’s listening activities, and characteristics of the text such as topic and type.
Due to limitations in time, knowledge, and energy, this paper cannot exhaustively address all issues; however, it documents an action research application of some pre-listening activities with 32 third-year English major students at HTCC.
Significance o f the study
Through action research on pre-listening activities that may influence students’ interest in learning listening comprehension, this study investigates the pre-listening strategies used by teachers at HTCC to help students overcome linguistic and non-linguistic hindrances, improve listening perception, and participate more actively in English listening classes The aim is to generate recommendations for teachers to enhance their activities and listening materials, thereby motivating students within and beyond the selected context.
Ultimately, this paper benefits the researcher by broadening her understanding of pre-listening activities and enabling her to incorporate these strategies into her teaching practice It also provides a solid foundation for other researchers with similar interests, offering reliable information to support future studies and guiding related inquiries in the field of language education.
Outline o f the thesis
Listening comprehension in language learning and teaching process
2.1.2 Listening comprehension in language learning and teaching process
2.1.2.1 The importance o f listening comprehension in language learning and teaching process
Comprehension skills play a central role in language learning and teaching for both oral and written forms Listening is recognized as a key facilitator of language acquisition (Rubin, 1994) Learners interact with speakers to clarify input, and through this process they learn more about the new language.
Listening in language teaching is a complex process that enables us to understand spoken language It is a widely used skill, usually taught in conjunction with speaking, reading, and writing Listening is not only a component of language performance but also a critical means of acquiring a second language (Rubin, 1995) As a channel through which we process language, listening underpins effective communication and overall language development.
Researchers agree that in listening, there are two simultaneous and com plementary ways o f processing a text: top-down processing and bottom -up processing.
Brown (1994) defines bottom-up processing as learners using linguistic knowledge to recognize vowels, consonants, words, and sentences to construct meaning, while top-down processing relies on prior knowledge to anticipate and predict the text Prior knowledge—covering topic familiarity, listening context, text type, culture, and other information stored in long-term memory as schemata (Lingzhu, 2003)—informs interpretation and expectations during listening Me Donough and Shaw (1993) contend that top-down and bottom-up processing interact to support comprehension, so teachers should help students organize their thoughts, activate relevant background knowledge, and generate predictions to prepare for listening, thereby easing the listener’s comprehension burden.
Recognizing the value of both bottom-up and top-down processing is useful for students, and teachers should design opportunities to work on both approaches in the classroom Bottom-up exercises tend to be more effective for beginners, while top-down processing is especially necessary for intermediate and advanced learners; nevertheless, integrating both types benefits learners at all levels These processing strategies are important because they help students gain knowledge and develop their language skills.
Cognitive processing o f spoken language
Buck (1995) argues that listening comprehension hinges on the cognitive processing of spoken language, and that meaning is not contained solely in the text but is constructed by listeners from multiple knowledge sources He identifies the core sources as linguistic knowledge, knowledge of co-text, knowledge about the situational context, and general world or background knowledge, all of which interact to shape understanding during listening.
The factors that make listening become d iffic u lt
The linguistic fa c to r s 2.2.2 The non-linguistic fa c to r s 2.3 Teaching the listening skill
The problem s w hich language learners always cope with are pronunciation, rhythm and intonation, the unfamiliarity o f topic, the type o f language input, speaker’s accent.
English pronunciation presents a significant challenge for learners, as many words are pronounced with stressed syllables while others remain unstressed Word recognition is further complicated by elision and assimilation, two natural processes in rapid speech Elision is the dropping of sounds in fast speech, and assimilation is when speakers modify pronunciation to ease articulation and speed up communication.
A key hurdle for learners listening to English is acclimating to its rhythm and intonation patterns Brown (1977), Ur (1984), and Rixon (1986) concur that the English rhythm and intonation are governed by the pattern and timing of stress, shaping how speech sounds in real language use Brown (1977) also notes that rhythm reflects the general way in which a language is spoken by its native speakers.
In real-life listening, we rarely know exactly what we will hear, even though we usually hold some general expectations It is generally easier to follow a passage on a familiar topic than one on an unfamiliar topic Conversely, even proficient English speakers can struggle when the content is unfamiliar, making it necessary for listeners to engage in intensive practice of perception and comprehension to understand effectively.
Background knowledge plays a crucial role in listening comprehension Dunkel (1991) found that students often do not have enough vocabulary or a sufficient grasp of English structures to understand the listening materials they encounter Background knowledge is the listener’s existing information about a specific topic, as defined by Chastain (1988).
The term “background know ledge” Nguyen Van Trao (2002) and Duong Thi Bich Thuy
In a broad sense, as noted in 2005, listening comprehension depends on four factors: the listener’s background knowledge of the culture in which the language is used, their knowledge of the subject matter to be heard, their familiarity with the topic, and their understanding of the linguistic features of the listening text.
Background knowledge is a major element in understanding a language, because comprehension can be difficult or impossible without topic knowledge of the listening passage, even if language elements are mastered (Mendelson, 1995) Successful listening involves integrating information encoded in the message with broader world knowledge, underscoring the link between language input and prior knowledge Therefore, before students listen to a text, it is essential to provide sufficient background knowledge to support comprehension and effective listening.
Boyle (1984) argues that fear can interfere with students’ listening comprehension One of the most common fears is that not understanding a single word will prevent them from grasping the meaning of a sentence Moreover, listening activities in the classroom can heighten students’ anxiety, as they feel internal or external pressure to produce the right answer immediately.
Besides the issues already discussed, there are other factors that can make listening difficult for students The problems noted above represent the most common and significant barriers to developing effective listening skills Consequently, teachers are responsible for helping students identify and overcome these challenges, enabling them to improve their listening comprehension and achieve greater success in their academic work.
Common methods o f teaching listening
With this method, students hear a description of the rules of the second language in their first language As a result, when the second language is used, the focus of listening shifts to translating lexical items and grammatical structures rather than understanding meaning or communicative intent.
To implement this method, the teacher presents a written text while students listen to a recording, guiding them to focus on how words function within sentences This setup drives several cognitive tasks: identifying words by their position in the sentence, mapping the relationships among words and phrases, and using both forward and backward inferencing cues to derive meaning By relying on textual clues, students make educated guesses about vocabulary, syntax, and context, which strengthens their reading and listening comprehension.
The audio-lingual method prioritizes listening to pronunciation and grammar patterns before imitating them through drills and exercises In practice, dialogues and drills form the core of classroom activities, with students encouraged to listen carefully to either a taped recording or a teacher reading a dialogue or drill After listening, learners reproduce their own version or respond to cues to repeat parts of the dialogue or drill, and the more they rehearse a correct phrase or sentence, the stronger their memory of the structures becomes.
A task-based syllabus emphasizes in-class tasks that learners perform to develop their communicative competence The syllabus should be organized around the increasing difficulty of the tasks required at different stages of the course, ensuring a coherent progression that builds practical language skills through meaningful classroom activities.
Four methods of teaching listening are not mutually exclusive and can be blended within a single course or classroom Today, the rise of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) fosters learners’ communicative competence by introducing pre-listening activities—such as class discussions about upcoming listening topics and brainstorming lists of possible ideas or suggestions—in the pre-listening stage These approaches make listening instruction more meaningful for students, providing them with opportunities to develop their listening skills alongside other language abilities.
Teachers ’ task in teaching listening s k ill
According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), presenting content in a dynamic and engaging way is essential to capture students’ attention, and foreign language teachers should use a variety of activities—especially in the pre-listening phase—to foster teacher–student interaction in the classroom (Dornyei, 2001) Ur (1984) adds that introducing new or challenging vocabulary helps learners anticipate what they will hear, and teachers can begin by having students predict from the title or textbook pictures, followed by questions, a few minutes of thinking time, and brief partner discussions to activate schema and provide a framework for integrating incoming listening input.
Choosing listening materials—the content, topic, and speed of tapes or cassettes—is one of the most important decisions in listening instruction (Boyle, 1984) Engaging content energizes learners, and the topic should be familiar to students to avoid frustration, with the listening speed slow enough to suit their English level Teachers can provide passages that are easy and enjoyable, giving students a real sense of accomplishment If all materials are at roughly the same level of challenge, low-level students may become discouraged, while texts that lack sufficient challenge can cause higher-level students to lose interest.
Listening comprehension is a complex activity that requires a wide range of skills and cognitive processes Therefore, English teachers should draw on a diverse repertoire of activities that provide practice across different listening skills and contexts, not only to build competence but also to stimulate and sustain students’ interest in learning to listen.
Three stages o f teaching listening s k ill
The pre-listening stage aims to prepare students for listening by getting them to think about what they are about to hear Teachers use pre-listening activities to facilitate listening comprehension, including giving students reading material beforehand, offering oral language items for listeners, and guiding class discussions or open predictions.
During the pre-listening stage, the goal is to stimulate learners’ curiosity by prompting them to predict what they will hear, which reveals gaps in their knowledge that they want to fill This anticipation helps them identify the actual words in the speech stream and creates a pleasant shock of recognition when their predictions align with the listening material The stage also invites students to forecast some of the content, offering a broader conceptual framework against which they can interpret what they hear, which can trigger surprise or interest and, in turn, motivate them to listen (Rixon, 1986).
Thus, the pre-listening stage functions as preparation that helps listeners overcome linguistic difficulties in the upcoming listening passage, which could otherwise hinder their comprehension, while also establishing expectations about the content of the listening text.
During the while-listening stage, students listen to the text while engaging in activities designed to help them elicit messages from spoken language These while-listening activities focus on developing the skill of extracting meaning from spoken input Underwood (1989) noted: “If macro-level prediction is one of the purposes of pre-listening activities, the micro-level prediction occurs at the while-listening stage.” In this phase, listening for information is central, with learners encouraged to gather as much information as possible from the listening passage as they hear it, thereby satisfying their expectations and strengthening information-gathering abilities.
The post-listening activities embrace all the work related to a particular listening text which is done after the listening is completed (Underwood, 1989) In this stage, the students are asked to exploit the information (the information here is used with broad meaning) they have gained from the listening text for another purpose For example, the students have listened to a story, they are then asked to re-tell the story in the listening text their own words.
In listening lessons, each stage—pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening—has a distinct function The pre-listening stage is a purposeful preparatory phase that bridges the gap between the artificial classroom setting and real-world listening tasks, often featuring warm-up activities that activate prior knowledge and prepare learners for what comes next By design, pre-listening activities prime students, reduce uncertainty, and set the context for success in the listening task The while-listening stage focuses on completing the main task, while the post-listening stage supports further development and consolidation of understanding.
Due to limited time and knowledge, along with the study framework and the recognition of the benefits the pre-listening stage brings to teaching and learning, the researcher concentrates on the pre-listening stage and its activities The aim is to examine how pre-listening can help solve students’ difficulties in listening lessons at HTCC Although pre-listening is not the main stage of the listening lesson, the researcher intends to explore how specific pre-listening activities can support learners before they engage with listening tasks.
The role, types and the description o f pre-listening a c tiv itie s
The role o f pre-listening activities
The 'before listening' phase is carried out before students begin listening and should be brief—typically five to ten minutes, though the length depends on the lesson When planning these activities, the teacher considers the lesson objectives, the teaching and learning context, and the students’ needs Although short, the 'before listening' activity plays an important part in the listening lesson by activating prior knowledge, setting expectations, and preparing learners to engage with the listening task.
Westrup (2000, p 233) and Lewis and Hill (1992, p 195) identify the pre-listening phase as having several core aims: to introduce and arouse interest in the topic; to promote an active and flexible learning environment; to increase learners’ motivation for learning; to motivate learners by giving a reason for listening; and to provide some language preparation for the text.
2.4.1.2 The role o f pre-listening activities
Pre-listening activities are a key part of teaching and learning listening, designed to activate background knowledge, introduce the language items needed to understand the text, and engage students before the main listening task Boyle (1984, p 24) argues that starting lessons with pre-listening activities yields numerous benefits for language learning Jumping straight into listening without any preparatory work can be difficult for students, as comprehension often suffers without prior tasks Broughton (1978) emphasizes that pre-listening activities maintain students’ interest and thereby improve their language competence The pre-listening phase is most effective when learners are provided with the necessary language items to understand the listening text and when they are interested in the topic and eager to explore it.
The works o f Boyle (1984), Baker and Westrup (2000), Broughter (1978) , Underwood
Ur (1989), Lingzhu (2003), Doff (1988), and Rost (1990) have provided teachers and students with the theoretical framework for pre-listening activities, and these works have served as foundational guides for numerous studies that treat pre-listening tasks as a core element of listening instruction The following section offers several practical pre-listening activities for teachers to use at the initial stage of a listening lesson, designed to activate prior knowledge, establish learning objectives, and prepare learners to listen strategically.
2.4.2 Types and description of pre-listening activities
Lingzhu (2003) argues that listening comprehension should require student participation, and that immediate feedback helps sustain interest and motivation Asking questions before listening prompts students to think about the topic, allowing them to connect new input with prior knowledge while also using vocabulary and structures tied to particular functions Questioning activities in listening classes can foster a relaxed teacher–student atmosphere, build students’ confidence, and introduce the thrill of spontaneity Most of all, they engage students, spark interest, and prepare them for upcoming listening tasks.
Understanding the context helps students predict possible content, so teachers should give them choices of what they may or may not expect to hear based on the title or images Prediction activates background knowledge and enhances listening comprehension, helping learners connect new information to what they already know Using pictures as clues is especially effective: they are engaging, meaningful, and guide listening while providing general background and context, which in turn boosts students’ interest and motivation.
2.4.2.3 Pre-teaching new words or difficult key words
Unknown vocabulary can hinder listening and lower students' confidence, so it's necessary to present new words—especially those that are difficult for comprehension—before asking them to listen There are many ways to present new vocabulary: using visual aids (real objects, pictures, miming, gestures, and facial expressions), using games (matching, puzzles, crossroads, etc.), using definitions or explanations, and translation Among them, visual aids are the most useful technique because showing visuals focuses attention on meaning and helps make the language used in class more real and alive: a picture is worth a thousand words Moreover, using visual aids quickly lowers the affective filter in language acquisition; reducing anxiety and stimulating self-confidence can create higher motivation and improve language competence (Andrew, 1989).
Pre-listening discussion in pairs and small groups benefits students by encouraging them to share ideas and knowledge, increasing exposure to English, boosting active involvement, and helping them concentrate on the task (Lingzhu, 2003) To support this approach, some students work with guiding questions or discussion prompts, as suggested by Doff.
Research from 1988 suggests that mixed-ability groups, with both fluent and less fluent students, can help less fluent learners express their ideas more confidently as their classmates offer support Pair work or small-group discussions can engage students with the topic and increase their willingness to listen to one another.
By giving the students plenty o f time to read and understand the main listening com prehension tasks, the teacher allows them to get some ideas o f the content o f the listening.
Students are presented with statements on the board or on slips of paper that reflect the main ideas of the listening text, with only half of the statements true They write the numbers of the statements in their notebooks and, working in pairs, predict which statements are true, underlining the numbers or marking them as true (T) or false (F) They then call out their answers, while the teacher does not indicate whether their predictions are correct, as described by Kennett (2003).
To scaffold listening tasks, the teacher presents several pre-questions (one for each main point in the listening text) on the board or on slips of paper Students read and reflect on these pre-questions, an activity designed to focus their attention and prompt them to predict possible answers, though they should not share their responses initially After the first listening, students then answer the questions (Kennett, 2002).
2.4.2.8 Reading through questions (to be answered while listening)
Most listening activities require students to answer questions based on the information they hear, so reading the questions before listening is essential By reviewing questions in advance, learners know what information to seek, stay focused during the passage, and gain insight into the vocabulary and structures used in the questions This pre-reading of questions is especially important when the question list is scrambled, as a random order increases difficulty by disrupting students' expectations about the sequence of information (Underwood, 1989).
2.4.2.9 Making lists o f possibilities/ideas/suggestions/etc
Pre-listening list-making is a robust pre-listening activity that lets students create personal word lists to support a later while-listening task The lists contain only words and expressions the students know or are learning with help, so the activity stays relevant and builds confidence as they participate in it Conducted as a relaxed pair or small-group exercise, there are no right answers, which makes it accessible for all learners and particularly motivating for less able students (Underwood, 1989).
2.4.2.10 Looking at pictures before listening
Students are asked to look at a picture (or pictures) before they listen, using the image to anticipate content and vocabulary for the task Teachers may help by checking that the student can name the items that will appear in the listening text, ensuring the learner has the necessary vocabulary and a clear understanding of what they will hear This pre-listening activity activates prior knowledge and primes attention to key items, setting up a smoother and more effective listening practice.
The types and description o f pre-listening activities
Pre-listening activities serve two main goals: first, they raise learners’ awareness of listening strategies and the tools that proficient listeners use; second, they provide the necessary context for the upcoming listening tasks The ten kinds of pre-listening activities activate students’ prior knowledge, build their expectations for the coming information, and often give them a framework for the passage, thereby helping students to understand more effectively.
When planning pre-listening activities, teachers should consider key factors such as the time available, the materials to be used, the class's abilities, the students' interests, and the nature and content of the listening text By aligning these elements, educators can tailor activities to the class and enhance engagement and comprehension (Ur, 1984, p 207).
Pre-listening activities play a crucial role in motivating students to listen, making them a foundational element of effective listening lessons At the same time, motivating students is a central responsibility of teachers, who design tasks and environments that foster engagement Accordingly, the forthcoming section will explore motivation in depth, offering practical strategies to boost students' readiness and enthusiasm for listening.
Definitions o f motivation and the role o f m otivation in listening c la s s e s
The role o f motivation in listening classes
Listening to English is widely regarded as a challenge for both non-English major students and English majors To address this, English teachers should recognize the importance of making listening lessons more engaging, especially at the early stage of instruction, and learn how to motivate students so they can develop their listening comprehension (Broughter, 1978).
Motivation is a central principle of all teaching, and language learning is best driven by practice in which students experience language that is truly communicative, contextually appropriate, and usable When learners sense that the language they are using is authentic and fit for real situations, and when a teacher’s skills and techniques advance them toward fuller competence in the foreign language, motivation grows and learners move toward greater proficiency (Broughter, 1978, p.47)
So, how to keep students interest in learning must be focused Without interest, m otivation and variation in teaching and learning, students certainly feel bored with listening.
Motivation in language learning is difficult to measure, but teachers can detect it through students’ facial expressions, attitudes, and active participation in class This motivation is a key driver of success in foreign language teaching and learning, particularly for developing listening skills.
Previous studies on the effects o f pre-listening activities on learners’
Vietnamese stu d ie s
Nguyen Van Trao (2002) carried out a study on the effects of pre-listening activities on students' listening comprehension, aiming to determine whether pre-listening activities conducted by teachers can enhance listening comprehension and to investigate the real impact of these activities on third-year English-major students at Phuong Dong University (PDU) The study centers on two research questions: (1) What pre-listening activities do teachers at PDU commonly use? and (2) Can pre-listening activities truly enhance students' listening comprehension?
An experiment was conducted to collect data and compare listening achievement in the teaching practice of two student groups: a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG) The experimental group received eight pre-listening activities as part of the teaching method, while the control group did not receive any pre-listening activities A pre-test and a post-test were used to measure students’ listening comprehension before and after the intervention, enabling a comparison of listening gains between the groups.
From the learner questionnaire data, he concluded that English teachers at PDU frequently use pre-listening activities at the start of a listening lesson to improve students’ listening comprehension These pre-listening activities include predicting True/False statements, pre-questions, class discussion, ordering tasks, reading a text before listening, and reading through questions.
Across the teaching experiment, the majority of students reported feeling well-prepared and secure when their listening lessons began with pre-listening activities, and their attitudes toward listening shifted from negative to positive These pre-listening activities act as a psychological tool to alleviate listening anxiety and to increase enjoyment and engagement in the lesson As a result, the experimental group (EG) showed greater gains in listening comprehension than the control group (CG), and post-test results revealed a widening gap in the rate of successful listeners between the two groups.
From my perspective, it was unfair that the control group received no treatment or instruction in listening methods The experiment could yield deeper insights if the researchers used observation and questionnaires to measure the effects of different listening activities on various groups of students.
In 2005, Duong Thi Bich Thuy of Lang Son Teacher Training College conducted an experimental study applying pre-listening activities to boost motivation and listening comprehension among second-year English majors The study examined whether pre-listening activities could enhance students’ listening comprehension and whether these activities could motivate students during listening lessons.
Four classes participated in the study: the researcher taught two classes while two other teachers observed the sessions Group assignment was based on the pre-test results from Week 1, which assessed students’ listening comprehension Based on these pre-test scores, participants were allocated to the control group (CG) and the experimental group (EG), ensuring equivalent baseline listening comprehension between the two groups A post-test was administered to the CG in Week 10 to evaluate listening proficiency at the end of the experiment.
In her study, she employed eight pre-listening activities to prepare learners for listening: True/False statements prediction, Pre-questions, Class discussion, Ordering, Reading a text before listening, Reading through questions, Open prediction, and Formal teacher talk and discussion.
Previewing the language which will be heard in the listening text The observation ‘on- task’, ‘off-task’ and post-test were also applied.
The study reported that using eight pre-listening activities improved listening comprehension for both the experimental and control groups after the intervention However, the experimental group showed greater gains, with its students achieving higher improvements in listening comprehension than those in the control group.
From my point of view, the researcher need not set up the generic question “Can pre-listening activities improve students’ listening comprehension?” since this idea has been widely noted by researchers and is obvious Instead, the study should address: a) Which pre-listening activities are appropriate and actually improve students’ listening comprehension, and b) At which levels of listening comprehension are these activities most effective Framing the research questions this way sharpens the focus and yields actionable insights for educators and curriculum design.
Foreign stu d ie s
Yi-Jiun Jou (2010) from the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at Cheng Shiu University studied English listening strategies used by Technological University students The study identifies three main categories of listening strategies: metacognitive, cognitive, and social strategies Metacognitive strategies represent self-regulated learning, including metacognitive planning strategies where learners clarify the objectives of an anticipated listening task and attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details that aid understanding (Vandergrift, 1999) These metacognitive strategies are commonly discussed through pre-listening planning, while-listening monitoring, and post-listening evaluation.
This study involved 239 students (110 males and 129 females) from a technical university in southern Taiwan The participants comprised 204 undergraduates across freshman to senior years, aged 19 to 21, randomly selected from CSU’s four colleges—Humanities and Social Science, Business, Engineering, and Commerce and Management They completed a 30-item questionnaire designed to capture the metacognitive strategies they applied in English listening tasks English listening comprehension was measured with a test modeled on the basic level of the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT).
An investigation into the strategies commonly used by technology university students identified three categories, with Statements 1–3 examining metacognitive pre-listening planning The findings indicate that well-prepared pre-listening strategies boost concentration, build confidence, and facilitate listening comprehension Chang (2008) states that previewing the questions before the text aids learners' understanding Taken together, these results suggest that most students can prepare their minds to focus and motivate themselves to make progress in listening tasks.
These findings indicate that there is substantial room for improvement in students' application of pre-listening planning within metacognitive strategies Consequently, future research should examine the relationship between learning strategies and learning performance to better understand how strategy use drives outcomes By clarifying how learners deploy listening comprehension strategies, the study can offer guidance for instructors to design and implement effective EFL listening instruction.
Ji Lingzhu (2003) from Taiyuan Normal University investigated listening activities that enhance effective top-down processing In top-down listening, learners draw on their prior knowledge to anticipate content and rely on linguistic cues—such as vowels, consonants, words, and sentences—to construct meaning To activate prior knowledge, recommended activities include word association tasks, questioning, listing suggestions, and looking at pictures before listening Pre-listening tasks have two main aims: first, to make explicit the tools and strategies used by proficient listeners; second, to provide the necessary context for the specific listening task The findings show that learners understand more of the text when they are familiar with the topic from experience, have prior knowledge about the subject, or know in advance what the passage concerns In short, the four kinds of pre-listening activities help activate prior knowledge, build expectations for the incoming information, and sometimes even offer a framework for the upcoming passage.
This chapter surveys the relevant literature, helping to establish the theoretical framework for the study The concepts and findings discussed here play significant roles in shaping the thesis as it develops through the forthcoming chapters The next chapter will present the research methodology.
This chapter outlines the research method, the rationale for the method, and the data collection instruments, and provides a detailed description of the subjects and the research procedures As stated in the instructions, the study aims to answer the following research questions.
1 W hat activities do teachers o f English at HTCC often use in the pre-listening stage and how much do they help the students understand the listening passage?
2 To what extent does the innovation in pre-listening stage help students improve their listening com prehension?
Research m ethodology
Applied linguistics offers a variety of research methods, such as experimental designs and case studies However, this study adopts the Action Research (AR) approach because AR enables the researcher to identify the problem, implement practical solutions, and evaluate their effectiveness in real-world settings.
Action research (AR) has gained traction in English Language Teaching (ELT), emerging as a prominent strand of educational research Its defining feature is the focus on the pragmatic requirements of educational practitioners, guiding them to conduct organized, reflective inquiry into classroom instruction to improve teaching and learning in real-world settings.
Kemmis and Taggart (1988) describe action research as a deliberate, solution‑oriented investigation that is owned and conducted by groups or individuals It proceeds through spiraling cycles of problem identification, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, and data‑driven action, with each cycle culminating in a redefinition of the problem and new directions for practice.
Action research emphasizes trying ideas in practice to expand knowledge about and improve curriculum, teaching, and learning By focusing on practical experimentation and evidence gathering, it helps educators make informed decisions to enhance educational outcomes Kemmis and McTaggart outline a four-step cycle—planning, action, observation, and reflection—that drives this iterative process Through planning, implementing actions, observing results, and reflecting on what happened, teachers continuously refine their approaches and improve curriculum and classroom learning.
Action research (AR) in education, as defined by Nunan (1992), is problem-focused and centers on a single case within a specific teaching context, aiming to identify and implement practical solutions It not only encourages teachers to critically compare instructional methods and ideas and to adapt them into their own classrooms, but also engages them more deeply in their teaching practice Nunan outlines a six-step AR cycle: initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis formulation, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination.
It is also suggested by Richards et all (1993) that AR can increase the teachers’ understanding o f classroom teaching and learning, and therefore, bring about improvement in classroom practice.
A ccording to W allace (1998), AR is defined as the work done by systematically collecting data on teachers’ everyday practice and analyzing them in order to come to some decisions about what teachers’ future practice should be or the process o f system atic collection and analysis o f data to make changes and improvement or solve problem AR can be helpful for two reasons: (1) it can have a specific and immediate outcome which can be directly related to practice in the teacher’s own their context; (2) the ‘findings’ o f such research might be primarily specific, that means it is not claimed that they are necessarily o f general application.
Although many researchers introduced different models for action research (Ebbutt, 1985; W allace, 1988; N unan, 1992; Burn, 2000; Henry & Kemmis, 2001), in this study, the researcher decided to use the action research model described by Henry & Kemmis
(2001) because this procedure includes manageable steps o f an action plan and all the other’s opinions about the action plan This model consists o f five steps:
1 Planning: problem identification (the first stage)
2 Plan o f action: the plan is put into action (the second stage)
5 Plan for future action: reflection
Each o f these steps was discussed to show how they were applied in this study.
Data collection instrum ents
Questionnaires
Questionnaires are used in research for several reasons Wallace (2001) argues that the questionnaire is a popular data-collection method because it allows researchers to gather data efficiently in field settings, enabling standardized responses and broad access to study participants.
The questionnaires designed for the teachers aimed at finding out the teachers’ pre listening activities and problem s they confronted with these activities
Teacher questionnaires used in this study consisted of five close-ended questions and two open-ended questions Wallace notes that close-ended questions offer advantages such as easier and faster completion and faster, more reliable scoring of responses The questionnaires were completed by individual teachers in week one of the first stage.
Question 1 collected information about the teachers’ attitudes toward the fact that if they think the lead-in activities before asking students to listen to the passage are necessary or not Q uestion 2 sought information about activities used to enhance students’ listening com prehension by teachers Question 3 gathered pre-listening activities, which teachers often use to better students’ understanding o f the passage Question 4 focused on teachers’ ideas about pre-listening activities used Question 5 investigated information about difficulties which the teachers have to confront with when using pre-listening activities Question 6 explored information about teachers’ com m ents for activities used in the textbook “C assell’s Foundation Skills Series” by Michael Thorn, (1987) Question
7 showed teachers’ suggestions o f what they want to do to enhance students’ listening com prehension.
To explore students’ engagement with listening activities, their preferences for pre-listening tasks, and their feedback on textbook pre-listening activities, the questionnaires were designed to identify ways to boost motivation for listening In stage 1, the Students Questionnaires comprised five close-ended questions and one open-ended question, were printed in English, and were administered to 32 third-year English majors at the college during a 30-minute break in the first class of week 4, with all responses collected afterward Two additional close-ended questions were delivered to the students after finishing Unit 17.
12 in stage 2 and then collected later The researcher attended the class and explained the purpose o f the questionnaires and clarified any difficult research term s for students.
Question 1 collected information about whether some lead-in activities before listening to the passage are necessary or not Question 2 discovered information about difficulties which students usually encounter while doing listening com prehension tasks Question 3 revealed inform ation about pre-listening activities used by teachers to help learners understand the listening passage Question 4 pointed out pre-listening activities, for which students think the most effective to help them understand the passage better Question 5 showed students’ preference for discussion activity because o f its advantages Question 6 explored information about students’ benefits from pre-listening activities used by the teachers.
Question 1 examined the pre-listening activities that students like best, revealing their top choices for engaging before listening tasks Question 2 identified which pre-listening activities students feel are most suitable for them and highlighted the improvements they want to make to enhance their listening comprehension.
Five copies of the questionnaires were distributed to the teachers, and sixty-four copies were distributed to the students All of the questionnaires were returned and deemed valid for analysis.
This section outlines fifteen questions used in both the preliminary and second stages, with the results presented in section 4.2.2.3 of Chapter 4; the next section describes the aims of describing and analyzing the class observations.
Class observations
Class observation is a valuable data collection method for recording what happens during foreign language teaching and learning, especially the listening component In this study, observation sheets (Appendices B and C) sourced from http://www.tes.co.uk/article were completed by the researcher to document how the teacher actually implemented pre-listening activities during the lesson, providing concrete evidence of classroom practices in listening instruction.
In English class 4, the researcher conducted classroom observations across three sessions in stage 1 and three sessions in stage 2, noting activities in each session The aim was to assess the reliability of the data collected from teachers' questionnaires in stage 1 and to evaluate how effectively the teacher implemented the innovation in stage 2 By triangulating observed classroom practices with questionnaire responses, the study examined the practical impact and consistency of findings across stages.
Six observation sessions were conducted with the same teacher, focusing on different units of Cassell’s Foundation Skill Series—Listening 3 by Michael Thorn (1987) Each session lasted 45 minutes, and the researcher used a listening class observation checklist that emphasized the teacher’s pre-listening activities and the students’ participation in those activities The goal was to capture a variety of activities and observe how they function across diverse session settings, yielding insights into classroom practices in listening instruction.
Progress te s ts
Two progress tests were administered to students at both stages Additionally, several textbook exercises were redesigned to align with testing objectives and to measure the influence of pre-listening activities on students' listening comprehension.
3.2.3.1 Progress test in stage 1 (Appendix D and E)
A progress test was delivered to 32 students in week 2 in the first stage to evaluate students’ listening com prehension before making an action plan It was administered in
The 20-minute assessment was conducted in HTCC’s language laboratory to evaluate students’ English listening comprehension, focusing on the effect of pre-listening activities The test drew from Unit 2 of Cassell's Foundation Skill Series—Listening 3 (Taking a Message about a Holiday and Guessing People’s Jobs) to measure listening proficiency during the teaching period It consisted of two tasks: Task 1 required filling in gaps, and Task 2 involved deciding whether statements were true or false The test papers were collected and marked in class by the teacher and the researcher Based on the results, survey questionnaires, and three observation sessions, the researcher and teacher developed an action plan for the next stage The progress test results are reported in Part 4.1.3, Chapter 4, and Appendix E.
3.2.3.2 Progress test in stage 2 (Appendix F and G)
In week 12, a progress test was used to measure changes in students’ listening comprehension after innovating the pre-listening activities The test was drawn from the teaching period itself—Unit 17: An Office Inventory and a Busy Day for the Au Pair The results of the progress test are shown in Appendix G, Chapter 4, section 4.2.2.1.
Data collection p ro ced u re
P lanning
According to H enry & Kemm is (2001), in pre-listening stage, the problem must be identified and then it is time to develop a plan to improve the present situation.
From my observation, students encounter several challenges in developing listening skills due to teaching methods that demotivate learners before listening and teachers who rely mainly on textbook activities with little or no lesson planning, often limiting activity to a single “Word study” that centers on vocabulary; this approach makes listening practice boring and less effective for comprehension In addition, students lack essential listening knowledge and strategies, and their limited background knowledge together with poor motivation heightens stress and boredom during lessons The situation is exacerbated by the textbook Cassell’s Foundation Skill Series - Listening 3, designed for third-year English majors, which covers about 40 topics through 20 units in only 30 periods of the second term (two 45-minute periods per unit with two parts per unit): Part A presents messages about a holiday and Part B discusses people’s jobs, yet the activities remain dull because each part primarily offers vocabulary work.
Word study is presented in isolation, without other activities such as class discussions or brainstorming to attract and engage students The final component is the curriculum: at HTCC, English teachers teach listening comprehension as a separate, standalone skill across six terms, focusing on developing students' ability to understand spoken English.
Within a three-year English course, there are 90 periods devoted to listening lessons among other language skills The limited number of listening periods means students have few opportunities to practice listening skills.
Based on the difficulties mentioned above, and data from student and teacher questionnaires and class observations, the activities in the Word Study section of the textbook were found to be boring and lacking engagement, prompting me to add new pre-listening activities to help students listen more effectively I planned to introduce one or two additional pre-listening activities per unit, such as looking at pictures before listening, making lists of possibilities or ideas, and using class discussion, to determine how these activities affect motivation and listening comprehension To validate this approach, I distributed questionnaires to teachers to gauge their views on the listening lesson activities, and listening lessons were observed to see how actual teaching practices could enhance students' listening comprehension A progress test was then introduced to evaluate students' listening levels Finally, I gave students questionnaires to explore their participation in listening activities, their preferences for pre-listening tasks, and their remarks on the pre-listening activities in the textbook they used.
This action research was conducted with second-semester students across 30 periods The teaching schedule consisted of two periods per week, resulting in a total duration of 15 weeks The study included two stages and was completed within 14 weeks.
The first stage took place for four weeks, from week 1 to week 4.
Step 1: From w eek 1 to w eek 3
In the first week, English-language questionnaires prepared for data analysis were printed and distributed to teachers to assess their views on the teaching activities used in listening lessons (Appendix A).
Three class observation sessions were conducted across different units, following the usual procedures The first, second, and third observations occurred in Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 respectively, with the teacher following textbook activities as prescribed Each observation session lasted 45 minutes Data were collected and recorded on the Observation Sheet in Stage 1 (Appendix B), providing a structured summary of classroom practice and outcomes.
During the second observation, students’ listening comprehension was confirmed by a progress test for Unit 2 administered while the researcher observed the class The Unit 2 progress test aimed to evaluate students’ listening comprehension level after the teacher had instructed the pre-listening activities, as detailed in Appendix D.
In the fourth w eek, the questionnaires for data analysis were printed in English and were given to students (A ppendix H).
Step 3: From w eek 5 to w eek 6
The data were analyzed in week 5 and the researcher - teacher made a detail plan for action in w eek 6 to innovate teaching and learning listening skill as following.
Following a thorough discussion with the class teacher, the researcher and the teacher agreed that the teacher would continue to explain and translate new words into Vietnamese in the Word Study section as usual, but from Week 7 to Week 12 he would also teach listening lessons by integrating additional pre-listening activities aligned with Unit 9 to Unit 20 content These pre-listening activities include class discussions, making lists of suggestions, looking at pictures, pre-questioning, and studying the listening tasks For example, in Unit 9 (In Prison and Two People and a Dating Agency), the teacher used a picture-viewing activity before listening, a list-of-possibilities activity, and a class discussion activity; in Unit 13 (A Youth Football Team), he employed similar pre-listening activities such as looking at a picture, making a list of possibilities, and studying the listening task.
Secondly, three other class observation sessions would be observed to see how the students’ listening com prehension level would change when the teacher applied these pre-listening activities.
Thirdly, a subsequent progress test was administered to measure changes in students’ listening comprehension after the teacher introduced new pre-listening activities, such as pre-questioning, class discussion, and looking at a picture in Unit 17 of Michael Thorn's Cassell's Foundation Skills Series textbook.
In Week 12, questionnaires were administered to students to identify their preferences for pre-listening activities and to gauge their feelings about the pre-listening activities teachers implemented after innovating the pre-listening stage.
Plan o f a c tio n
In this step, the plan will be implemented According to Henry & Kemm is (2001), the implementation o f action plan will be towards improvement.
Step 4: From w eek 7 to w eek 12
In the second stage, the action plan was implemented over six weeks during the second term, covering Units 9 through 20, with the expectation that introducing new pre-listening activities into listening classes would enhance students’ listening comprehension.
Three class observation sessions, each with a different unit, were conducted across weeks 8, 10 and 12 to examine how applying new pre-listening activities affects students’ listening comprehension and arouses their interest in listening lessons Each session involved a 45-minute observation period Data were collected and presented in the Observation Sheet in Stage 2 (Appendix C).
A progress test was given to students in week 12 to measure changes o f students’ listening com prehension after applying new pre-listening activities (Appendix F).
Additionally, the data-analysis questionnaires were printed in English and distributed to students in Week 12 to determine which pre-listening activities they prefer and to identify which activities teachers should begin with at the start of lessons to stimulate their interest (Appendix I).
The data were analyzed and the effects o f the action were evaluated The results were provided in 4.2.2, C hapter 4.
Plan fo r future a c tio n
Drawing on reflections of achieved and unachieved objectives, a detailed future-action plan was introduced to enhance students' listening comprehension and motivation, helping them become better listeners.
Data analysis m ethod
During this step, the effects recorded during the observations were evaluated, and the resulting reflection is detailed in the Action Research Evaluation (Chapter 4, Section 4.4) and the recommendations are outlined in Chapter 5, Section 5.1.
Collected data were presented in tables and charts, with the coding schemes and the accompanying tables and charts emerging from careful data checks rather than being predetermined and imposed on the data The study evaluated the effects of utilizing new pre-listening activities, and the major findings along with the accompanying discussion were presented.
S u b je c ts
Teachers
All 6 teachers o f English (including the researcher) in the English Department were invited to participate in this research Four o f them graduated from College o f Foreign Language (CFL) - Hanoi National University One o f them has ju st had an M.A degree TESOL, two are doing their post-graduate studies in Hanoi University (HANU) Their ages range from 26 to 37 The oldest teacher has had 13 years o f teaching experience, the tw o others in their earlier thirties have had 7 years o f teaching experience, the rest two have had only 4 years o f teaching experience The researcher selected all these teachers as the subjects for the first questionnaire with the hope to find out their attitudes towards pre-listening activities and which activities they currently applied to help students better understand the listening passage, and what they thought about them Moreover, the class teaher is the most experienced o f the department who is 37 years old and has had 13 years o f teaching experience He graduated from College Teachers o f Foreign Language (CFL) and has ju st had an M.A degree in educational adm inistration at Le Qui Don Technical University He is now a senior lecturer o f foreign language at HTCC He was invited to teach the listening class to see how different pre-listening activities helped students understand the passages in listening lessons.
Students
The other group of subjects consisted of a single class of 32 third-year English majors from the English Department at Ha Tay Community College The students had an average age of 20, with two males and the remaining 30 females.
This study selected students from a single class at HTCC because it is the college’s only class with a relatively uniform background The participants are Vietnamese students from various cities and northern rural areas of the country They are final-year English majors at HTCC who passed the national college entrance exam in Group D and are preparing for future roles such as English teachers in primary or secondary schools, translators, tour guides, and hotel receptionists None of them has studied in an English-speaking country.
At Ha Tay Community College's English Department, third-year students have been concentrating on listening skills Although their English proficiency is labeled as upper-intermediate, they are actually at an intermediate level All of them report that listening skills are very important, yet not easy They have two 45-minute periods per week dedicated to listening practice The students selected for this research are hoped to be representative and to contribute to the success of the study.