PROPOSAL of The effects of repeated listening on junior English majors’ listening comprehension

1.1. Background of the study Although listening is now well recognized as a critical dimension in language learning, it still remains one of the least understood processes. According to Morley (2001), during the 1980s special attention to listening was incorporated into new instructional frameworks, that is, functional language and communicative approaches. Throughout the 1990s, attention to listening in language instruction increased dramatically. Until recently, there have been several studies of developing listening comprehension, one of which is repeated listening approach. According to Krashen and Dupuy’s findings, repeated listening could increase second language learners’ listening comprehension. It was discovered that repeated listening could help language learners achieve listening comprehension effectively. It is known as a very cheap, useful one to selfenhance listening comprehension. Language learners these days including AGU students, however, still struggle with finding a right method to practice listening and to improve listening comprehension. As a result, there have been AGU students galore, even graduated ones, considering listening skill as the greatest fear in their English learning, which leads them to fall in communication with the others. Knowing the seriousness of this problem, a survey on the effects of repeated listening on junior English ma

1.1 Background of the study

Although listening is now well recognized as a critical dimension in languagelearning, it still remains one of the least understood processes According toMorley (2001), during the 1980s special attention to listening was incorporatedinto new instructional frameworks, that is, functional language andcommunicative approaches Throughout the 1990s, attention to listening inlanguage instruction increased dramatically Until recently, there have beenseveral studies of developing listening comprehension, one of which is repeatedlistening approach According to Krashen and Dupuy’s findings, repeatedlistening could increase second language learners’ listening comprehension Itwas discovered that repeated listening could help language learners achievelistening comprehension effectively It is known as a very cheap, useful one toself-enhance listening comprehension Language learners these days includingAGU students, however, still struggle with finding a right method to practicelistening and to improve listening comprehension As a result, there have beenAGU students galore, even graduated ones, considering listening skill as thegreatest fear in their English learning, which leads them to fall in communicationwith the others Knowing the seriousness of this problem, a survey on the effects

of repeated listening on junior English majors’ listening comprehension at AGU isconducted to give a helpful approach of developing listening comprehension toAGU students, especially to English majors According to the personal experience

of Krashen in 1996 and the large-scale study of Dupuy in 1999, repeated listeningbrings positive results to language learners which help them enhance not onlylistening comprehension, fluency but also vocabulary Hence, this dissertationwill re-verify that to see whether repeated listening approaches help enhanceAGU students’ listening comprehension This study is divided into five chapters:introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, and results anddiscussion In the last section, in particular, we points out the study’s strengthsand limitations, and makes several suggestions

1.2 Research title

Therefore, in this thesis, I would like to focus my research on the topic:

“The effects of repeated listening on junior English majors’ listening

1.4 Research questions:

This study is conducted based on the following research questions:

(1) What is the reality of applying repeated listening approach of juniorEnglish majors at AGU?

(2) What are the effects of repeated listening on junior English majors’listening comprehension at AGU?

1.5 The aims of the study

The purpose of this study is to find out the effects of repeated listening on juniorEnglish majors’ listening comprehension at AGU and enhance English majors’listening ability As a result, the aims of this study are:

(1)To investigate the reality of applying repeated listening approach ofjunior English majored students at AGU

(2)To examine the effects of repeated listening on English listeningcomprehension

1.6 Research methodology

1.6.1 Research design

There are several kinds of research designs such as descriptive design,experimental design, evaluation design, etc Each will have different strengthsand weaknesses Therefore, we will depend on the features and contents ofquestions, study conditions such as time and financial ability to apply anappropriate research design In this study, “the descriptive design” is applied todraw a general picture about the reality of applying repeated listening approach

of junior English majors at AGU It is also used to re-describe the effects oflistening repetition on those English majors’ listening comprehension at AGU,which is to improve listening ability of AGU students Firstly, a surveyquestionnaire will be delivered to 50 DH14TA students to investigate the reality

of applying repeated listening on junior English majors’ listening comprehensionand its effects on junior English majors’ listening comprehension at AGU Theinformation from questionnaire will be analyzed to embrace the reality oflearning listening skills at AGU and find out an effective solution which can be

“repeated listening” to enhance the students’ listening comprehension Then, an

interview is also conducted to a group of students with similar contents above inorder to raise the reliability.

1.6.2 Population

In this research, the English majored students are the objects of the study Atpresent, faculty of foreign languages has over 800 students in total includingpedagogy and bachelor There are approximately 800 English students at AGUdivided into 3 different majors: AV, TA and CD AV, TA and CD majors, in detailed,usually take about 200, 200 and 400 students respectively Interaction books (tofreshmen) and English language skills for IELTS books (to second, third andfourth year students) are applied to primarily develop four main skills - listening,speaking, writing and reading- in their curriculum Like the three left, the totalunits of listening subjects which must be completed are 12 to university students,and 9 to college ones before their graduation

1.6.3 Sample

Due to the limitation of time, research competence and finance, in this study, weonly pick up 50 students from DH14TA and DH14AV for surveying the effects ofrepeated listening on junior English majors’ listening comprehension at AGU.These participants are chosen to be our sample because they have just beentaught enough the number of units of listening skills and observed teachers’listening teaching methods during 5 terms of studying listening subjects Hence,they are selected to be participants in this survey

1.6.4 Data collection instruments

 Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions andother prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.Although it is often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is notalways the case The questionnaire was invented by the Statistical Society ofLondon in 1838

To collect the sufficient data needed for this study, a questionnaire consisting of

18 questions is designed for 50 students ( 25 from DH14TA and 25 fromDH14AV) to get information about the reality of applying repeated listeningapproach of those students and find out its effects on the students’ listeningcomprehension at AG During the time questionnaire was set up, it underwent alot of changes Right after the first drafts had been finished, it was delivered tothese 50 students as the pilot stage The pilot data was used to check for thereliability first Then the carefully edited questionnaire would be delivered tothese ones to exploit their levels of agreement to each statement relating to thereality of applying repeated listening of junior English majors and the effects oflistening repetition on junior English majors’ listening comprehension at AGU.Before using the questionnaire for the main scheme it was read and evaluated byteacher To ensure the reliability of students’ responses, the research gave clearinstructions to do the job

The questionnaire consists of three parts with 18 questions:

(1)3 questions for participant’s background

(2)9 questions for the reality of applying repeated listening of junior Englishmajors

(3)6 questions for the effects of listening repetition on junior English majors’listening comprehension at AGU

 Interview

Beside the questionnaire, to make sure the reliability of data collected in thisresearch, an interview checklist consisting of 14 questions was designed toexploit students’ feedbacks from the reality and effects of repeated listeningapproach on junior English majored students’ listening comprehension at AGU.The subjects of the interview were 5 students selected among 50 students in thesample They are students who apply and follow repeated listening approach toimprove their listening comprehension When being interviewed, five studentswould answer 14 questions in the interview checklist about background

information, the reality and the effects of applying repeated listening on juniorEnglish majors’ listening comprehension at AGU and their answers would becarefully written.

1.7 Structure of the thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters Chapter one introduces general information

of the research Chapter two reviews the literature and chapter three discussesresearch methodology Findings are presented in chapter four Chapter five givesthe summary of the study, conclusion, implications and suggestions for furtherstudy

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

Literature review is a base of the research In this study, literature is built withtwo parts The first part is definition and clarifying of key terms includingrepeated listening, listening comprehension In the second part, it is background

of the study It concludes related studies of repeated listening and listeningcomprehension

2.2 Definition of key terms

2.2.1 What is repeated listening?

Repeated listening is when a learner listens to the same recording repeatedly Inrepeated listening, learners collect several brief tape-recordings of proficientspeakers discussing a topic selected by the acquirer They then listen to the tape

as many times as they like, at their leisure Repeated listening, interests in thetopic, and familiar context help make the input comprehensible Topics aregradually changed, which allows the learners to expand their competencecomfortably Repeated listening is a low-tech, inexpensive, and pleasant way toobtain comprehensible input

 Necessary tools for applying repeated listening

In order to best utilize repeated listening, a few tools of the trade are needed:+ “Ipod or MP3 player” for storing audio files.

+ “Google Translate” for finding listening materials

+ “Audio Hijack” for recording any audio from the Internet that isn’tdownloadable

+ Time to search, collect, and listen

 Tips for repeated listening

+ First of all, let’s choose short English audios – from 2 to 5 minutes – which youare interested in the topics Repeated listening should only be on topics that are

of real interest, to ensure that the focus is on the message Boredom sets inrapidly when listening is undertaken only because it is in another language

+ After listening to the recording for several times, if you still do not reallyunderstand some passage of it, you should read the transcripts to make it clearerand more familiar This will make the foreign language input morecomprehensible

+ Listen repeatedly until you understand all about the audio/ tape or intereststarts to wane

+ Topics then are changed gradually and you move to related topics This willhelp ensure greater comprehensibility of input One might move, for example,from current events to history

 Repeated listening ’s theoretical foundations

Repeated listening is based on research findings on the receptive skills: listeningand reading It is based on the concept of extensive listening (listening in greatamounts and for content) and the principles of repetition, authenticity, listeningfor information, and topic familiarity In the repeated listening approachpresented here, comprehension is enhanced because subjects can listen to the

same input several times Repetitive exposure to a listening passage has beenfound to be a very effective means for improving listening comprehension.Studies that have pointed out the value of repetitive exposure to language inputare Blankenship, 1982; Pica, 1987; Lund, 1991; Cervantes and Gainer, 1992;Chiang and Dunkel, 1992; Terrell, 1993; Berne, 1995; Bygate, 1999; Krashen,1996; and Gass, Mackey, AlvarezTorres, and Fernández, 1999 From apedagogical point of view, Chambers (1996) points out that the repetitiontechnique reduces the students’ level of anxiety because the listener knows thathe/she can listen to the segment as many times as desired Moreover, subjectsstudied by Rodrigo and Krashen (1996) reported that, when rehearing a singlelistening passage several times, the speakers on the tape seemed to the listeners

to be speaking more slowly, when in fact they, the students, were listening to thesame, unaltered passage They also appeared to distinguish sound sequencesmore efficiently into more and more meaningful words and chunks/phrases,thereby improving their level of comprehension with each rehearing

Repeated listening also requires authentic listening material, which, as with allauthentic texts, focuses on culture as a natural informational context facilitatingthe language acquisition process The benefits are numerous Authentic materialprovides adult learners with an opportunity to work at a higher cognitive level(Byrnes, 1984 and Swaffar, Arens, and Byrnes, 1991) and, consequently, todevelop target language skills in a more meaningful context Authentic material,thus, leads to more effective listening skills and to cultural awareness The use ofauthentic listening material, and hence of spontaneous speech by nativespeakers, has been recommended by several researchers (Meyer, 1984; Liskin-Gasparro and Veguez, 1990; Lund, 1991; Herron and Seay, 1991; Bacon, 1992;Harlow and Muyskens, 1994; and Schmidt-Rinehart, 1994; Omaggio, 2000)

Similarly, topic familiarity has been shown to aid listening comprehension byallowing language learners to more accurately predict the unknown content of apassage as they establish links between what is familiar, i.e backgroundknowledge, and what is new Several researchers report that topic familiarity has

a positive effect on listening skills (Gass and Varonis, 1984; Glisan, 1988; Altman,1990; Lund, 1991; Chiang and Dunkel, 1992; Dunkel, 1986; Schmidt-Rinehart,1994; Bygate, 1999; and Gass, Mackey, Alvarez-Torres, and Fernandez, 1999).Finally, if a language teacher has succeeded in helping his or her students to focus

on meaning and information, (i.e listening for content, extensively and allowingfor the possibility of not completely understanding every single word in therecorded passage), they will not be concerned about form, and consequently,they will be more likely to apply top-down strategies, as used by effectivelisteners For a more detailed account of the benefits of a focus on informationand general meaning in language acquisition see Cook, Dupuy and Tse (1994),Day and Bamford (2000), and Krashen (2003, 1993)

2.2.2 What is listening comprehension?

 Definition of listening

Listening can be defined as, “Listening is the act of hearing attentively” It is also aprocess similar to reading which should possess knowledge of phonology, syntax,semantics and text understanding Thomlison (1984) defines listening as, “Activelistening, which is very important for effective communication” or “More thanjust hearing and to understand and interpret the meaning of a conversation”.Listening is receiving language through the ears It involves identifying thesounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences When we listen,

we use our ears to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm and pauses)and we use our brain to convert these into messages that mean something to us.Listening in any language requires focus and attention It is a skill that somepeople need to work at harder than others People who have difficultyconcentrating are typically poor listeners Listening in a second languagerequires even greater focus Like babies, we learn this skill by listening to peoplewho already know how to speak the language

 Types of listening

† Discriminative listening

Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby thedifference between difference sounds is identified If you cannot hear differences,then you cannot make sense of the meaning that is expressed by such differences.

We learn to discriminate between sounds within our own language early, andlater are unable to discriminate between the phonemes of other languages This

is one reason why a person from one country finds it difficult to speak anotherlanguage perfectly, as they are unable distinguish the subtle sounds that arerequired in that language Likewise, a person who cannot hear the subtleties ofemotional variation in another person's voice will be less likely to be able todiscern the emotions the other person is experiencing Listening is a visual aswell as auditory act, as we communicate much through body language We thusalso need to be able to discriminate between muscle and skeletal movements thatsignify different meanings

is also known as content listening, informative listening and full listening

† Critical listening

Critical listening is listening in order to evaluate and judge, forming opinionabout what is being said Judgment includes assessing strengths and weaknesses,agreement and approval This form of listening requires significant real-timecognitive effort as the listener analyzes what is being said, relating it to existing

knowledge and rules, whilst simultaneously listening to the ongoing words fromthe speaker.

† Biased listening

Biased listening happens when the person hears only what they want to hear,typically misinterpreting what the other person says based on the stereotypesand other biases that they have Such biased listening is often very evaluative innature

† Evaluative listening

In evaluative listening, or critical listening, we make judgments about what theother person is saying We seek to assess the truth of what is being said We alsojudge what they say against our values, assessing them as good or bad, worthy orunworthy Evaluative listening is particularly pertinent when the other person istrying to persuade us, perhaps to change our behavior and maybe even to changeour beliefs Within this, we also discriminate between subtleties of language andcomprehend the inner meaning of what is said Typically also we weigh up thepros and cons of an argument, determining whether it makes sense logically aswell as whether it is helpful to us Evaluative listening is also called critical,judgmental or interpretive listening

† Appreciative listening

In appreciative listening, we seek certain information which will appreciate, forexample that which helps meet our needs and goals We use appreciativelistening when we are listening to good music, poetry or maybe even the stirringwords of a great leader

† Sympathetic listening

In sympathetic listening we care about the other person and show this concern inthe way we pay close attention and express our sorrow for their ills andhappiness at their joys

† Empathetic listening

When we listen empathetically, we go beyond sympathy to seek a truerunderstand how others are feeling This requires excellent discrimination andclose attention to the nuances of emotional signals When we are being trulyempathetic, we actually feel what they are feeling In order to get others toexpose these deep parts of them to us, we also need to demonstrate our empathy

in our demeanor towards them, asking sensitively and in a way that encouragesself-disclosure

† Therapeutic listening

In therapeutic listening, the listener has a purpose of not only empathizing withthe speaker but also to use this deep connection in order to help the speakerunderstand, change or develop in some way This not only happens when you go

to see a therapist but also in many social situations, where friends and familyseek to both diagnose problems from listening and also to help the speaker curethemselves, perhaps by some cathartic process This also happens in worksituations, where managers, HR people, trainers and coaches seek to helpemployees learn and develop

† Dialogic listening

The word “dialogue” stems from the Greek words “dial”, meaning “through” and

“logos” meaning “words” Thus, dialogic listening mean learning throughconversation and an engaged interchange of ideas and information in which weactively seek to learn more about the person and how they think Dialogiclistening is sometimes known as “relational listening”

† Relationship listening

Sometimes the most important factor in listening is in order to develop or sustain

a relationship This is why lovers talk for hours and attend closely to what eachother has to say when the same words from someone else would seem to be

rather boring Relationship listening is also important in areas such asnegotiation and sales, where it is helpful if the other person likes you and trustsyou.

 Types of listening skills

† Intensive listening

Intensive listening is when teachers use taped materials or materials on disk tomake students practice their listening skill (Harmer, 129) In intensive listening,teachers have to concentrate on making students achieve and recognize thephonological and morphological elements of the language (Brown, 122) Forexample, the case of hearing two words nearly pronounced similarly but in factthese two words include two different vowels as what Douglas Brown showedhere; phonemic pair, vowels, (123)

Test-takers hear: is he living?

more than other one Douglas Brown considered dictation as one of extensivelistening tasks (132) For EFL teachers, dictation considers as a means forassessing listening comprehension because dictation' nature shows that studentsneed a verity of lexical grammatical competences.

 Definition of listening comprehension

With the regard to the term “listening comprehension” in language learning,scholars have proposed a number of different definitions

Chastain (1971), for example, defined listening comprehension as the ability tounderstand the speech of native speakers at normal speed in listening situations.Similarly, Saricoban (1999) noted that listening comprehension is the ability toidentify and understand what others are saying This involves understanding aspeaker’s accent or pronunciation, his or her grammar and vocabulary, andgrasping the meaning conveyed

Listening comprehension can also be defined broadly as human processing whichmediates between sound and the construction of meaning (Morley, 1991) That

is, after people receive sounds from the environment, they try to get the meaningout of the sounds they hear In a similar token, listening comprehension isdescribed as a complex process of what people use to understand speech Dirvenand Oakeshott-Taylor (1984) suggested that those complex activities cannot beunderstood by simply looking at the linguistic cues or knowledge of the language,but non-linguistic cues or knowledge of the world also have to be considered inthe comprehension process

Byrnes (1984), who defined listening as a complex skill in which people have toemploy all types of knowledge to interpret the meaning, proposed anothersimilar view of listening comprehension definition She explained that listening ismore than the perception of sounds Rather, it includes comprehension of words,phrases, clauses, sentences and connected discourse

By Wallace, Stariha and Walberg, 13, listening skills are essential for learningsince they enable students to acquire insights and information and to achievesuccess in communicating with others This means that students receiveinformation from school settings to transfer it to their daily life to benefit from itfor the purpose of communicating in a real social interaction Moreover, GaryBuck argues the same point of view "listening is a complex process in which thelistener takes the incoming data, an acoustic signal, and interprets it based on awide variety of linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge (247).

Spratt, Alla, Pulverness, and Williams (The TKT Teaching Knowledge TestCourse) added that listening is sense of language sounds that have meaningfulindication (30) The authors meant that when the person feels that there is audiosound which has a meaning, he/ she is listening by this way

Jack C Richards viewed in his introduction that considering listening as"…themastery of discrete skills or micro skills, such as recognizing reduced forms ofwords, recognizing cohesive devices in texts, and identifying key words in a text,and that these skills should form the focus of teaching" is not enough and addsthat listening examination is not exclusively for comprehension but also forlanguage learning itself (1) Jack C Richards' view shows the importance of whatreally should be taught and the aims of teaching should not be exclusive only onmaking students understand for a moment Students' understanding shouldcover the possible learning progression

Although these definitions vary to some extent, basically listening is considered

as an activity in which listeners employ a variety of processes in trying tocomprehend information from oral texts In this way, listeners construct meaningfrom the passage and relate what they hear to their existing knowledge.Additionally, it is meaningful to consider listening comprehension as a threestage process

 The process of listening comprehension