Note-taking strategies employed by Level 3 students at International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi while listening to the book “Lecture Ready 2

Note-taking strategies employed by Level 3 students at International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi while listening to the book “Lecture Ready 2 Nguyễn Thị Thu Huyền Trườn

Note-taking strategies employed by Level 3 students at International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi while listening to

the book “Lecture Ready 2

Nguyễn Thị Thu Huyền

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn ThS Chuyên ngành: Theory and methodology of English Teaching

Mã số: 60 14 10 Người hướng dẫn: Văn Thị Thanh Bình, MA

Năm bảo vệ: 2011

Abstract: This paper reports on note-taking strategies employed by Level 3 students (N=50) at

International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi while listening to the book „Lecture Ready 2‟ The purpose of this study was threefold: To indicate whether all the participants take notes while listening to the book „Lecture Ready 2‟, and if not what the reasons are; To explore the strategies of note-taking used by Level 3 students at International School; To find out whether there are differences in listening proficiency, experience and knowledge of note-taking between note-takers and non-note-takers or not A note-taking strategy questionnaire was used for data collection Statistical analysis revealed that not all participants take notes when listening

to the book „Lecture Ready 2‟ and there are more non note-takers than note-takers All of the strategies given in the questionnaire were used by students who take notes, but the frequency in the use of each strategy and the numbers of strategies used by individual note-taker vary There

is no difference in listening score between note-takers and non note-takers, yet it is not the same

in the previous experience in and knowledge of note-taking between two groups Suggestions should be that students need introducing, guiding and encouraging more so that they can make their best notes

Keywords: Kỹ năng nghe; Kỹ năng ghi chép; Tiếng Anh

Content

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part introduces the rationale and the aims of the study The scope of the study and the significance as well as the design of the thesis will also be presented in this chapter

I Rationale

Listening to an English lecture has long been a difficult task to Vietnamese university students who hardly had any chances to practice listening skills at lower- level schools Note-taking has long been considered an integral part of effective listening Note-Note-taking while listening is considered one of the most important skills which language learners should master, particularly as it helps to develop a sense of listening, allowing the reader to recognize main ideas and to understand the organization of the material Note-taking is believed to be an important part of all of our learning interactions, from the most traditional, structured experiences to highly informal, unstructured situations.‟ This is extremely significant for Vietnamese learners who have been studying English listening skills traditionally in non - native environment, and have just started to learn listening in communicative way

But acquiring and mastering note-taking is likely to become a big hindrance to many learners while they often find it difficult to exploit this skill in their learning experience It is especially true for General English students at International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, whose English level are not very high There are many reasons behind this phenomenon Students can be neither paying attention, nor write quickly enough It can be due to the fact that their spelling is not good enough or they cannot understand the teachers Sometimes, the lectures are in a too high level for their capabilities However, the most common reason may

be students‟ shortage of note-taking strategies to use flexibly in listening to different lectures

Therefore, the question of how to equip students with note-taking strategies so that they can use the skill to support foreign language listening in any situation has become a matter of teachers of English in general and teachers of English at International School in particular

In Vietnam, there has so far been some research on note-taking strategies However, research on note-taking strategies employed by students at International School, VNU has not been done yet

As a teacher of English, I have dealt with many questions relating to note-taking which are raised by my students or among my colleagues For example, what are the effective ways of taking notes? How to note down important information? Personally I found it necessary to

provide to them successful note-taking strategies to listen to the lecture This is the major reason why this topic interests me

II Scope, objectives, research questions, significance, method and design of the study

II.1 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

- To indicate whether all the participants take notes while listening to the book „Lecture Ready 2‟, and if not what the reasons are

- To explore the strategies of note-taking used by Level 3 students at International School

- To find out whether there are differences in listening proficiency, experience and knowledge of note-taking between note-takers and non-note-takers or not

II.2 Research Questions

The study set out to seek answers to the following research questions:

♦ Do Level 3 students at International school take notes while listening to the book „Lecture Ready 2‟? If not, what are the reasons?

♦ What are note-taking strategies employed by Level 3 students at International School?

♦ Are there any differences in listening proficiency, experience and knowledge of note-taking between note-takers and non-note-takers

II.3 The scope of the study

The study is concerned with finding the students‟ note-taking strategies in listening to the book “Lecture Ready 2”

As note-taking strategies pointed out by individuals, institutions, and scholars are of a variety, the present study only focuses on those which are considered to be popular and the most easily-used by International School students

II.4 Significance of the study

This study plays an important role in the identification of note-taking comprehension strategies employed by Level 3 students at International School Also, non-note-takers‟ reasons for not taking notes are identified Based on the findings, the study will have many important implications for training Level 3 students of English at International School in taking notes

II.5 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the aims of the study mentioned above, the descriptive method is the

main tool for analyzing the data, which is collected from the questionnaire

After the data is analyzed and discussed, the findings will be showed and some conclusions will be drawn and some suggestions will be raised in the thesis

II.6 Design of the study

This thesis consists of three parts:

Part A: is the Introduction, which presents the rationale, the objectives, the research questions,

the scope, the significance, the methods and the design of the study

Part B: consists of four chapters

Chapter 1: deals with a theoretical background It starts with listening in general including

definitions, types and techniques The next is note-taking and its importance in language teaching, then an overview of some note-taking methods - their advantages and disadvantages in applying in the classroom Last, the previous studies on note-taking strategies are briefly summarized

Chapter 2: presents the survey questionnaires Firstly, there is a description about the present

situation of English listening teaching and learning at International School Secondly, the methodology is performed in the study It provides participants, instruments and data analysis

Chapter 3: presents the findings

Chapter 4: analyzes and discusses the findings of the study are

Part C: is about the conclusion and suggestions for a further study

This part has presented an overview of the study which includes the rational for the study, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the significance as well as the design of the study The next chapter will review the relevant literature which provides a theoretical framework for the study

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http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/listen.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notetaking