The assistance of the web system in teaching listening skills at school of educational practice an giang university

ABSTRACT This thesis was designed to investigate the aid of web system in teaching listening skills, to save time on class, to evoking students’ positive attitudes and motivation toward

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Submitted by PHAN THỊ THÙY DUNG

Supervisor: Dr LÊ XUÂN TRƯỜNG

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled: “THE ASSISTANT OF THE WEB SYSTEM

IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL AT SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE – AN GIANG UNIVERSITY” is my own work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

HO CHI MINH, 2011

PHAN THI THÙY DUNG

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my thesis supervisor, Dr Le Xuan Truong, who provided valuable comments and supports for my thesis improvements and completion I could not have finished my study without his great patience and dedication Although his schedule was always full, he was always to read my drafts, and give me constant guidance He has been really my great help to complete the thesis successfully

I am greatly indebted to all my teachers for their dedication and helpful instruction during the course

My special thanks go to those who help me greatly in this study, in particular,

Mrs Nga , Mr.Ngo Ngoc Hoa, Mr Phan Minh Trung for their help with the data collection for my study; all teacher and students of School of Educational Practice participating in the study for their cooperation; all my colleagues and friends for their support

Last, I would like to send special thanks to my parents, to my husband, who always listens to me and give me good advice Thanks for his immense support, understanding, and sacrifices

ABSTRACT

This thesis was designed to investigate the aid of web system in teaching listening skills, to save time on class, to evoking students’ positive attitudes and motivation toward learning listening skills, and to increase students’ basic knowledge

at School of Educational Practice – An Giang University Website: http://staff.agu.edu.vn/pttdung

The research was conducted in the tenth grade at School of Educational Practice-

An Giang University Both quality and quantity were used in this survey to explore the advantages of the system to learners and teachers at SEP SEP has four tenth grade classes and the data was collected from these classes Data was collected in the course

of the class sessions before, and after the application of the system Questionnaires and the pre-test and post-test were given to the students to analyzed to progress in the students’ performance and listening skills as they continued using the web system The result demonstrated that having an improvement in the experimental The web system assisted to change students’ attitudes and motivation positively, to facilitate the teaching of listening skill, to the progress among the students at SEP From this possible effectiveness of the web system through the evidence that was showed by classes using the web system, this research suggests that the website

“English 10” is not only useful for teaching listening skills at the tenth grade but also the other grades

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Certificate of originality……… i

Acknowledgements……… ii

Abstract……… iii

Table of contents……… iv

List of figures……… V List of tables……… vi

Abbreviations……… vii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION……… 1

1.1 Background……… 1

1.2 Statement of purpose……… 5

1.3 Research questions……… 6

1.4 Significance of the study……… 6

1.4 Delimitations……… … 7

1.5 Overview of thesis chapters……… 7

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……… … 8

2.1 Theoretical background to listening skill……….… 8

2.2 Synthesis of Web System Literature……… 12

2.3 Listening and Cognition……… 15

2.4 English Language Learners, Academic Performance, And Web System Technology……… 17

2.5 Universal Design for Learning Listening Skills……… … 18

2.6 Text to Listening Technology……… 19

2.7 Relationship of the Literature to the Study……… 22

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY……… 23

3.1 Research Questions……… 24

3.2 Research Design……… 24

3.2.1 Time and Setting……… 25

3.2.2 Sample Description……… 25

3.2.3 Instrument……… 26

3.2.3.1 The Web System Application ……… 26

3.2.3.2 The Test ……… 33

3.2.3.2.1 The format of test……… 33

3.2.3.2.2.Scoring……… 33

3.2.3.3 Questionnaires ……… 33

3.2.3.3.1 Questionnaire for students……… 34

3.2.3.3.2 Questionnaire for teachers……… 36

3.3 Data collection Procedures……… 37

3.4 Summary……… 39

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING……… 34

4.1 Response to Survey……… 40

4.1.1 Student’s Response……… 40

4.1.1.1 Analyzing Questionnaires……… 40

4.1.1.2 Analyzing Tests……… 44

4.1.2 Teacher’s Response……… 49

4.1.3 Comparison of the Teachers’ and Students’ Responses……… 58

4.2 Finding……… 60

4.2.1 Student’s Questionnaire……… 60

4.2.2 Student’s tests……… 62

4.2.3 Teacher’s response……… 65

4.3 Conclusion……… 68

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS……… 69

5.1 Conclusion……… 69

5.2 Implications……… 73

5.3 Suggestions on using the web system……… 74

5.3.1 Equipments……… 74

5.3.2 Requirements……… 74

BIBLIOGRAPHY……… 75

APPENDICES………… 80

APPENDIX I Statistics Description of students Questionnaire………… 80

APPENDIX II The reliability analysis of Student’s Questionnaire……… 86

APPENDIX III Statistics Description of Dip and Sep teachers ………… 87

APPENDIX IV Pre-Test 1……… 91

APPENDIX V Post-Test 2……… 92

APPENDIX VI Questionnaire for students……… 93

APPENDIX VII Questionnaire for Teachers……… 101

APPENDIX VIII How many times students online……… 105

APPENDIX IX The Web System……… 106

APPENDIX X The way to up load a lesson……… 110

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 3.1 The web System……… 27

Figure 3.2 The basic story……… 28

Figure 3.3 Learn new Word Feature……… …… 29

Figure 3.4 Spell A Word Feature……… …… 30

Figure 3.5 Task Feature……… 31

Figure 3.6 Homework Feature……… 32

Figure 4.1 teaching aid of SEP teacher and DIP teacher ……… 52

Figure 4.2 the useful of web system in teaching listening skills ……… 53

Figure 4.3 the effectiveness of saving time in class ……… 53

Figure 4.4 the aid of the web system in evoking listening studying ……… 54

Figure 4.5 the convenience of the web system in teaching listening skills … 54 Figure 4.6 Audio playback feature ……… 55

Figure 4.7 Learn new word feature ……… 56

Figure 4.8 spell a new word feature……… 56

Figure 4.9 the usefulness of Task feature……… 57

Figure 4.10 the usefulness of homework feature……… 57

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics of SEP students……… 41

Table 4.2 Pre-test of the control group ……… 44

Table 4.3 post-test of control group ……… 45

Table 4.4 Pre-test of experimental group ……… 45

Table 4.5 Paired Samples Statistics ……… 46

Table 4.6 Paired Samples Correlations ……… 47

Table 4.7: Paired Samples Test……… 48

Table 4.8: Descriptive Questions of SEP teachers……… 50

Table 4.9: Descriptive Questions of DIP teachers……… 51

ABBRIVIATIONS

CAST : Center for Applied Special Technology EFL : English as a Foreign Language

ELLS : English Language Learners

FLLD : Foreign Language Learning Disability IMI : Interactive Multimedia Instruction SEP : School of Educational Practice

TLS : Text to Listening

UDL : Universal Design for Learning

in a listening situation are always different from the ones used by another listener in the same listening situation When teaching listening skills, it is therefore important to keep this in mind Although there are a variety of listening skills that learners may be taught, each has his own way of understanding and different people listen differently in attempt to accomplish the same goal (Downs, 2008)

In the High School context, listening skills is an important learning concept because a student can not read and write without listening first Listening therefore is the first basic learning skill that a student should effectively learn and make good use during a learning environment It is therefore the responsibility of the learning skills tutor to establish new learning skills strategies that are tailored to meet the students listening requirements This is not an easy task and requires an in depth understanding

of the factors that come to play during the listening process (Graeme & Jean, 2003)

The acquisition of listening skills does not only depend on the tutor, but also the listener‟s perspective and perception This is the most challenging task to those teaching listening skills- to alter the mind and perception of the listener in order to eliminate a mental block Another key factor that affects the listening process is the learning environment Such external factors always have an effect on the listening behaviors of students (Graeme & Jean, 2003) The learning environment can be

characterized by factors such as: the number of students in a classroom, the teaching skills applied by the tutor, the perception of the student towards the tutor, the tutor‟s language dialect, the listening techniques applied, psychological factors and many more Those external factors can be dealt with and modified in order to enhance the listening skills of the students (Battell, 2006)

Although learning institutions offer instructions that are directed towards enhancing the listening skills of their students, the need for extra training can not be achieved by traditional methods only (Kevin & Pauley, 2002) Most High schools offer only one or two listening skills teaching courses per year, therefore resulting in insufficiency of providing enough listening skills to the students English educators are therefore calling for the dire need to establish new technologies that can facilitate teaching, learning, communication and most importantly, the listening skills (Nichols, 2009) One such technique is the use of Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI), which is the use of interactive video disc It has been reported that IMI is an effective communication approach to teaching students listening skills, IMI has also been reported to be effective than the conventional linear video tape or an instruction series that is not interactive A key advantage of the IMI is that there is less instructional time

by the listening skills tutor One major challenge associated with IMI that there is no affordable IMI software in the discipline of oral communication In addition, if it was available, a number of educators are not sure in terms of its effectiveness as a technique of teaching oral communication skills such as listening (Rainbow Bridge Publishing, 2002)

Teaching of listening skills is one of the most tedious tasks for English teacher whose first language is not English The primary reason behind it is that listening skills are acquired over a long duration of time and requires continuous practice by the students The teaching of listening skills is always frustrating to students because there

are no bound rules like in mastering grammar Contrary to speaking and writing skills, listening skills does not have specific rules which therefore means that progress of a student can not be easily quantified One of the largest inhibitors in listening is the mental block of the student (Nichols, 2009)

One of the largest factors that inhibit listening among high school students is the mental block During the listening process, a high school student can suddenly switch his mind and decide that he / she can not understand what is being taught or said Psychologists argue that at this point, the students just get caught in an internal conversation while trying to translate some words that might have been heard (Downs, 2008) The students mind is very complex and so is his /her listening abilities, some students can decide to convince themselves that they can not understand English that is spoken naturally by the tutor, possibly due to a number of facts such as the dialect of the tutor, whether English is their first language or not or they may completely have problems with listening to English as a whole (Nichols, 2009)

The significant approach to improving the listening skills of high school students is to make them accept the fact that their understanding abilities are OK This serves more of a change in attitude and its effectiveness is relative depending on the mind of the student and his perceptions In scenarios whereby the English is the first language for the students, the tutors therefore have to make sure that their students listen to English as often as possible but only regulated short durations (Carte etal, 2000)

Listening skill is a critical aspect of education Presently, different learning institution use different approach to administer learning skills This research study will

be carried on SEP which is located at Long Xuyen City The school recently adopted the use of the website to facilitate the teaching of listening skills among its students Presently, SEP teachers in SEP use the following teaching aids: textbooks, cassette,

and a compact disc that accompanies the text books The time allocation for the listening skills is not enough to meet the needs of each and every student in the class so

as to grasp the basic content that has been taught for a listening period The class setting consists of average and bad students, with the average pupils having a little bit

of understanding compared to the bad pupils It has been reported that almost all students are bored with the listening technique that is being used by the listening skills tutor (Kratz, 2005)

Problem discussion

Quantifying the progress of listening skills is not only the difficult task but also teaching listening skills There are literally no ways to quantify the progress in the mastery of listening skills compared to writing and speaking skills This therefore implies that the English teacher must therefore establish necessary teaching skills that are tailored to meet the requirements of the students Ensuring that a student acquires the necessary skills requires more than a collaborative effort between the students and the English teachers especially in cases whereby English is a second language for the students (Groeber, 2008)

Most of the teaching techniques that are currently being employed in learning institutions can not meet the learning needs of the students In most cases, there is lack

of individual student being addressed in terms of listening skills Another challenge that faces the teaching of listening skills in the high school context is the perception of the students towards English language as whole English can be frustrating especially

to students that it is not a first language In such situations, the listening skills tutor has the challenge of ensuring that he /she use a different teaching approach that is guaranteed not to distract the students and that the students have the right attitude towards the listening skills lessons (Graeme & Jean, 2003)

Previous research on the effectiveness of teaching listening skills has reported different results with regard to the context of study In SEP school, they have recently introduced the Website in order to aid the teaching of listening skills This research attempts to evaluate its effectiveness on the aid teaching listening skills at the High School (Battell, 2006)

1.2 Statement of purpose

The main aim of the research study is to examine the use of the website in the teaching of listening skills at SEP The research will examine to what extent the Website facilitates the teaching of listening Skills at SEP On a broader perspective, the research study will attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the website in facilitating listening skills On a narrower perspective, the research will attempt to evaluate the overall improvement in the teaching of listening skills on a one student

The research indicated that five features of the web system were suggested by researcher Especially, “learn new word feature” and “the spell a word feature” were put forward to enhance listening skills Thanks to these features, learners listened individual word again and again in standard Moreover, students (the whole class) kept

up with the same/ basic knowledge in textbook when they get something unclear in class thanks to learn at home or anywhere In addition to, the web system was more convenient than traditional method because they aided teachers to give more than exercises for students to learn, and to save time in class Besides that, they evoked students‟ interested motion in learning listening skills

1.3 Research Questions

The research will attempt to answer the following research questions

i Does the website facilitate the teaching of listening skill at School of

1.4 Significance of the study

The research will reveal the importance of using the Web System with two particular suggestions “learn new word feature” and “spell a word feature” in the teaching of the listening skills at School of Educational Practice The results of this study will also be beneficial to other learning institutions when teaching the learning skills The results of the study will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the web system in teaching listening skills It will also recommend the necessary adjustments in the use of the Web system while teaching listening skills

Depending on the analysis of the results, other grades in high schools in Long Xuyen City, and other levels can adopt the use of the web system in aiding the teaching

of listening skills The research will also evaluate the student‟s attitude towards the web system in the process of learning listening skills

1.5 Delimitations

This research will not only cover the whole of the High Schools in Long Xuyen City, but will be limited only to School of Educational Practice The research will only involve the evaluation of the web system on the effectiveness of web system during the teaching skills lessons at School of Educational Practice The research will be further narrowed down to one particular class Each student‟s progress who uses the web system in listening skills class will be evaluated on a weekly basis, according to a given number of parameters that will be set to quantify the listening skills progress of the students

1.6 Overview of thesis chapters

Chapter one mentioned the background, the problems to the study, and presented an overview of the whole thesis Chapter two provided closely relevant literature and research to the study Chapter three involved the methodology including research questions, research design, and instruments of the study It consisted a brief description of the experiment the researcher applied the web system to assist to teach listening skills at SEP Chapter four presented the results of the study and discussion of the finding Chapter five gave the conclusion and recommendations of the study for the application the web system in listening skills and language teaching

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background to listening skills

Listening skills form an important aspect in education; this therefore means that the teaching of listening skills has been in existence since education began Teaching

of listening skills is one of the most tedious tasks for English teacher whose first language is not English (Carte, Gary, Lyman, & Diane, 2000) The primary reason behind it is that listening skills are acquired over a long duration of time and requires continuous practice by the students The teaching of listening skills is always frustrating to students because there are no bound rules like in mastering grammar (Battell, 2006) Contrary to speaking and writing skills, listening skills does not have specific rules which therefore means that progress of a student can not be easily quantified One of the largest inhibitors in listening is the mental block of the student

In the process of listening, a student might suddenly decide to say that s/he doesn‟t understand what is being taught or said (Graeme & Jean, 2003) This is the point when they tune out or are caught up in an internal dialogue process trying to translate or find meaning to a specific word that has been used The problem becomes more complicated when a part of the students convince themselves that are incapable of understanding spoken English well and therefore end up creating problems for themselves The best way to help students to improve their listening skills is by trying

to convince them that not understanding is OK and a good sign (Graeme & Jean, 2003) This method is more of an attitude adjustment method and it makes it easier for some of the students to accept that they are not able to understand Another important aspect in teaching is to try and convince the students to always learn to listen and do it

in bits Supposing you want to keep fit and be in shape, you have to jog and on the first

jogging again because you over did it on the first day Therefore, it is important for you

to start doing small and little steps and over time, you will be able to jog more miles Just like the person who wants to keep fit; high school students should also use and apply the same approach to their listening skills (Groeber, 2008) It is therefore advisable for students to listen for at least five to ten minutes even if they don‟t understand, it would be a starting point For this mechanism to work effectively, students must not expect an improvement in understanding too quickly It is therefore very important for students to have and practice patience and wait for the results (Rainbow Bridge Publishing, 2002)

Good listening skills among high school students is very important and a basic necessity for them Good listening skills will help students to be come more productive and hardworking hence improving their grades and overall performance of the school

A student has good listening skills is able to understand assignments and what is expected of him at the end of the day It also helps a student develop and build good rapport with fellow students, teachers and sub ordinate staff thus building and improving his listening skills (Nichols, 2009) A student is therefore able to learn better

in a team based environment besides being able to resolve problems with his colleagues In addition, a student is able to ask and answer questions in class or outside the class room Last but not least, a student is able to find meaning to what others are saying (Kratz, 2005)

In order to listen well, there are some basic rules that can be followed to help you understand what is being said First and foremost as a teacher, you should encourage your students to put down important notes This not only helps in concentration in class but also helps in taking in and understanding what is important that is being said In addition, it provides a valuable reference point to a student when it comes to completing of assignments and revising for the exams (Nichols, 2009)

Secondly, you have to maintain eye contact; this increases your level of concentration

A student who listens with the mind rather than the ears is less likely to think about themselves and most likely to pay attention to what the teacher is saying This is very important not only for classroom use but also for the future use i.e nurturing relationships among friends and family Secondly, ensure that you don‟t interfere with the teacher as he is teaching (Kratz, 2005) This ensures maximum concentration in class Furthermore, it gives the teacher a chance to explain himself adequately and fluently It is also important to ensure that you sit still as you are learning In addition, lean towards the teacher and nod your head at intervals to affirm that you are listening This tells the teacher that you are together i.e that you are listening and understanding Once the teacher is done with teaching, it is now your time to ask questions (Rainbow Bridge Publishing, 2002) A good student listener is one who is attentive to what the teacher doesn‟t say and knows that it is important just like what he is saying To overcome the barriers to listening, students must be aware of the following things that may be barriers to effective listening Avoid being biased and prejudiced, this helps you to be open minded therefore you are able to listen to anything without filtering Language barrier is another thing that comes into play A good student will try to over come this by taking his time to listen and understand what is being said In addition, he will take a step of learning the language if he does not understand it Listening in a noisy environment will hinder your listening process, this is because there are lots of interferences from the outside hence you will not listen effectively (Kratz, 2005) While listening, avoid being worried, angered or fearful Possessing these traits inhibits you from listening effectively Lastly a lack of attention hinders ones listening process, therefore it is important for a student to be as attentive as ever in class so that he might understand what is being taught

The process of listening starts as early as one is a child It is important to help children develop their listening skills as this will help them in future when they have grown This is done by ensuring that the child repeats what you said to him As a parent ensure you teach them how to maintain contact when talking or listening to somebody as this helps increase their attention span You have to read out loud to your children and engage the child in your conversations This is important as it helps them develop the confidence to ask, react and assign meaning to what is being said or read (Battell, 2006) The process of listening is real and has three basic processes that are very vital The first one is hearing which simply means listening enough to capture what the speaker is saying The second one is understanding, which means that you try and assign meaning to what has been said in your own way The third and the last are judging This is trying to figure out if what has been said really makes sense or has meaning

After teaching ensure that you summarize whatever you have said in a few words This is important for clarification purposes A good teacher will always ask questions at the end of lesson to find out whether the students have been listening or not Therefore, as a teacher, always ensure that you ask a question (Nichols, 2009)

Boote and Beile (2005) contend that researchers require a clear understanding of the existing literature in a specific field before they can perform significant research in that field This literature review provided that prerequisite knowledge, established the context for the investigation, and justified the need for educators to seek language support mechanisms for second-language learners Topics include: (1) synthesis of Web System literature, (2) situated cognition, (3) cognition and listening, (4) ELLs, academic performance, and Web System, (6) universal design for learning, and (7) text-to-listening technology The chapter ends with a discussion of the relationship of

the literature to the study

2.2 Synthesis of Web System Literature

Advances in technology challenge current second-language acquisition theory and outpace advances in language learning practices (Chapelle, 2009) The bulk of existing research on the efficacy of web system is focused on young learners with learning or physical disabilities Alper and Raharinirina (2006) conducted a meta-analysis of 60 articles published in English-language refereed journals between 1998 and 2003 on the topic of web system and skill acquisition of persons with disabilities The majority of studies (53%) involved persons with learning disabilities; only 25% of the selected articles pertained to persons over 22 years of age, the age range of the population identified for this investigation

Jeffs and Morrison (2005) conducted a similar analysis of over 400 scholarly web system articles published between 2000 and 2004 They found only five percent of the current research on web based technologies focused on the diversity dimensions of culture, race, or gender The above findings are consistent with earlier literature research investigations Edyburn (2004a) conducted a comprehensive one-year meta-analysis of the 2003 special education technology literature and noted that the majority

of publications focused on Pre-K to Grade 8 classroom applications Edyburn also reported that the top two disabilities studied were communication disorders and learning disabilities

MacArthur, Ferretti, Okolo, and Cavalier (2001) synthesized 15 years of research on the use of web system to support literacy among students with mild disabilities and concluded that more research is needed on the integration of web based technologies with literacy instruction in classroom environments Previous research on the efficacy of web based technologies provided a range of findings Although the majority of studies support the efficacy of web based technologies in listening skills,

Twyman and Tindal (2006) reported similar findings of no statistical difference

in the comprehension rates of students using a computer-adapted history text, as compared to those using a traditional textbook Brown and Augustine (2001) found no significant difference between test scores for those with listening-related disabilities on tests administered orally versus a paper-based test; however, a confounding variable was postulated: Students with poor listening skill may have retained less content because the material for the test was presented in traditional manner using textbook and cassette

Dawson, Venn, and Gunter (2000) compared the effects of teacher read versus computer assisted reading models Although they found the teacher model to be the most effective, the computer model was deemed more effective than the use of no model Tumlin and Heller (2004) reported mixed results with the use of word prediction software for increasing typing fluency They found the effectiveness of the web system varied depending on pre-intervention typing speed or the severity of physical disability Although some investigations found no significant difference in either comprehension or reading rates between students who used computer assisted reading versus independent silent reading, (Sorrell, Bell, & McCallum, 2007)

Others reported performance increases with web based intervention Lange, McPhillips, Mulhern, and Wylie (2006) demonstrated the positive effects of web- based tools (speech synthesis, spellchecker, homophone tool, and electronic dictionary) across several domains of literacy They found the use of web based technologies increased listening skills, reading comprehension, decreased spelling errors, and improved homophone error detection

Lee and Vail (2005) reported positive effects of computer-based reading instruction on children with listening disabilities Weikle and Hadadian (2003) discussed the effectiveness of a broad range of technologies that enhance emergent

listening skills in children with disabilities Silver-Pacuilla (2006) explored the efficacy

of web based technologies for adult students with learning disabilities in improving literacy skills and noted the gap in research involving secondary and postsecondary populations Beck (2002) demonstrated how both low-tech and high-tech web based technologies can support literacy development in pre-school children previously diagnosed with speech and language developmental delays

Venkatagiri (2002) described the benefits of speech recognition technology for learners with communication disorders Hecker, Burns, Elkind, Elkind, and Katz (2002) reported the positive effect of assistive reading software on post-secondary students diagnosed with attention disorder Situated Cognition Cook and Polgar (2008) define cognition as the process of understanding and knowing The cognitive process encompasses a series of skills and related tasks including listening, attention, memory, problem solving, learning, and language Schunk (2004) discusses the role cognition plays in the overall learning process According to Schunk, the cognitive processes of conditional knowledge, metacognition, understanding, concept learning, problem-solving, transfer, and self-regulation are all components of the cognitive learning model

A number of cognitive theories have been developed to explore the learning process as it applies to educational settings Situated cognition (Driscoll, 2005), for example, explains cognition in terms of the relationship between learners and their learning environment Proponents of this model see learners as social beings and participants in communities of practice Learning is influenced by ability to make knowledge meaningful through interactions with the world Advocates of situated cognition seek to understand learning as it relates to the situation at hand Learning does not reside solely in a person's mind, but rather in the relationship between the person and the situation (Schunk, 2004)

2.3 Listening and Cognition

Listening is a complex process that requires a combination of motor, sensory, and cognitive skills Motor skills allow us to physically acquire and manipulate reading materials Sensory skills allow us to view text through the visual senses, or alternatively in auditory (speech) or tactile (braille) format (Cook & Polgar, 2008) The cognitive component of listening and reading includes the various processes that allow

a person to derive meaning from the set of language symbols found in text (Johnston, Beard, & Carpenter, 2007) This view is shared by Lipka, Siegel, and Vukovic (2005), who argued that deficits in these three cognitive processes can be used to diagnose a listening disability in either first or second-language students

Listening skills is the most prevalent form of academic disability, but the challenge in diagnosing listening disabilities in ELLs is to differentiate cases where a limited language proficiency level is interfering with the learning process from cases were the language deficiency is actually masking an undiagnosed Listening disability (Wagner, Francis, & Morris, 2005) Winzer and Mazurek (1998, as cited in Winzer, 2005) report that limited English proficiency levels are often incorrectly diagnosed as learning disabilities because the characteristics displayed by ELLs are similar to behaviors associated with learning disabilities and communication disorders The disproportionate rate of non-whites in special education programs is often attributed to poor English language proficiency levels (Artiles, Trent, & Palmer, 2004)

Meskill and Hilliker (2005) argued that uninformed teachers often mistakenly label a child as having a disability because of the student's limited ability to communicate in English These children require support in developing their academic language literacy, rather than being labeled as disabled It has been reported that the language barriers facing undergraduate ELLs have parallels with mild learning disabilities (Burgstahler, 2002) Some even argue that a separate learning disability

(Foreign Language Learning Disability or FLLD) can be diagnosed for students struggling to learn a second language (Reed & Stansfield, 2004)

Although there is limited support for FLLD (Sparks, 2006), research suggests that students whose first language is not English may have barriers to learning that could be overcome by web system resources traditionally provided to individuals with learning disabilities Learners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are likely to be disadvantaged with the introduction of educational technology (Brown, 2005) Even though cultural groups tend to have learning style elements that differentiate them from other cultural groups, there is limited research in the area of culture and its influence on web system decision-making (Parette, Huer, & VanBiervilet, 2005)

Unfortunately, there is limited research on the assessment and identification of listening learning disabilities for ELLs (Bernhard et al., 2006) There are challenges in diagnosing learning disabilities in second-language students, but current research in the area of neuroimaging shows promise for more reliable diagnosis of language related disabilities in both bilingual and multilingual learners (Simos, Billingsley-Marshall, Sarkari, Pataraia, & Papanicolaou, 2005)

Recent research with the use of non-invasive functional brain imaging demonstrates that skilled listening and reading behavior is supported by left-hemisphere brain networks across multiple languages (Pugh, Sandak, Frost, Moore, & Mencl, 2005) Pugh et al also report the presence of a neurobiological signature for reading disabilities for monolingual readers across several languages As compared to non-impaired readers, learners with reading disabilities under utilize their left hemisphere posterior dorsal and ventral systems Future research in the area of neuroimaging will hopefully allow educators to isolate student cognitive deficits from

limited English language proficiency levels have challenges that may be addressed with the aid of web system

2.4 English Language Learners, Academic Performance, and Web System Technologies

Students whose first language is not English, along with students of color, students with disabilities, and those living in poverty are considered a subset of the underperforming student group (Edyburn, 2006b) It has been demonstrated that English language proficiency levels can act as a significant predicator of academic achievement for international students (Ying, 2003) Second-language learning can affect academic performance, and web system can play a role in the academic performance of ELLs

Sung, Padilla, and Silva (2006) studied the effects of foreign language program offerings in 220 public high schools in California and reported that foreign language learning not only fosters critical thinking and cognitive development, but also improves native language reading and writing The effective use of technology can play a role in learning a second language through developing first the listening skills Wang and Sutton (2002) demonstrated an improvement in English vocabulary for ELL students using Web-based resources

Williams, Empey, and Mendiola (2003) report on the effectiveness of computers

in helping non-English speakers to improve language abilities Preliminary research also indicates that listening software can build conversation skills in ELL learners (Hallahan, Lloyd, Kauffman, Weiss, & Martinez, 2005) Decoding places a heavy load

on working memory for new readers (Lipka, Siegel, & Vukovic, 2005) Readers who tax their mental resources with decoding no longer have sufficient mental resources to comprehend what they have listened (Schunk, 2004) Winzer (2005) draws an

association between the learner characteristics of ELLs and those with listening disabilities If the Web based system has been shown to be effective when applied to learners with learning disabilities, and if there are similarities between learner characteristics of ELLs and students with listening disabilities, then Web System may also be effective when applied to ELLs

2.5 Universal Design for Learning Listening Skills

Although the emphasis of this investigation is on the efficacy of Web System as aid in teaching listening skills, the research has implications for the potential use of web system to support literacy development for all learners When electronic resources are designed to assure accessibility to users with a wide range of abilities and disabilities, then the process is referred to as universal design (Burgstahler, 2002)

This concept is embodied in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach championed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) CAST (http://ww.cast.org/), founded in 1984, is an innovator of technology-based educational resources and strategies based on the principles of UDL The cost effectiveness of using the universal design approach can be seen in the example of television captioning Captioning was initially designed for the hearing impaired and initially required expensive decoders Today, captioning is built into all televisions, costs only a few cents, and is used not only by the hearing impaired, but in such diverse settings as noisy restaurants, health clubs and by people working on their language skills (Hitchcock et al., 2002)

Parette and Peterson-Karlan (2007) distinguished between Web system and UDL UDL anticipates the need of all users; web system is designed to support individual learners with specific needs The UDL is introduced when a student with a disability cannot access universally designed curriculum or when a compensatory tool

is required If the UDL is removed, then the student cannot perform the academic function Web system, in contrast, supports learning but is not essential to the learning

If the web system is removed, then the student can learn other ways to perform the function

Although the authors draw a distinction between web system and UDL, they also admit to a "blurring" (p 389) of the various types of technologies found in current classrooms Existing research supports the premise that the web system would support all learners if the UDL model were applied to the design, selection, and implementation

of AT The concept of UDL is one of the newest terms being incorporated into the field

of learner accommodations (Tindal & Crawford, 2005)

According to Tindal and Crawford, children with disabilities are no longer seen

as qualitatively distinct from non-disabled students, but rather as falling on a continuum with all other students They also argue that all children, not just those with disabilities, require accommodations Although Web System and UDL may be dissimilar, they are complementary (Rose, Hasselbring, Stahl, & Zabala, 2005) Web System is to the individual what UDL is to the classroom, and both are seen as representing two sides of the same coin, both rely on modern technology and advances

in one generally result in advances in the other

Text-to-Listening Technology

Although there are discrepancies in current research, each critical listening skill has one or more matching technologies with demonstrated potential to prevent or remediate learning failure (Strangman & Dalton, 2005) According to Strangman and Dalton, text-to- listening (TLS) applications are at the forefront of the current technologies used to support struggling readers TLS applications convert computer text into recognizable speech that is then played back through a computer speaker

system, speech synthesizer, or converted to a digital speech file for later playback (Cavanaugh, 2003) Speech synthesis refers to the "generation of human-sounding speech using electronic circuits and computer software" (Cook & Hussey, 2002) Speech synthesizers generate spoken words through a series of code sequences that can generate the correct word if they receive the correct codes in the proper sequence

The TLS software analyzes the text to be processed and converts the text into the required codes necessary for speech synthesis The most common application of TLS applications are combined screen-reader and screen synthesizer programs Screen-listeners convert computer-based text (e-text and accessible Web pages) to synthesized speech by contextually analyzing text and converting the text to a phonetic system Users generally have the option of selecting 35 words, passages, or entire documents There are three key approaches to listening synthesis: whole-word look-up, letter-to-sound conversion, and morphonemic text-to-speech conversion The whole-word look-

up approach stores all of the words that a user is likely to require along with each word's speech codes The codes are simply looked-up on a word by- word basis as they are typed or processed The major disadvantage of this approach is that the process can only retrieve codes for words stored in the system This is a major limitation when there are potentially hundreds of thousands of words associated with a specific language, and in most cases it is impractical to store all of them (Cooks & Hussey, 2002) Letter-to-sound conversion breaks words into syntactically significant groups or morphs Only the codes associated with the morphs are stored It is estimated that roughly 8000 morphs can represent 95% of the English language This process offers a significant savings in terms of memory and disk requirement, but it also requires a systematic set of rules to translate the selected text into the required series of morphs

With this approach, the text is matched to sounds on a letter-by-letter process according to the predefined set of rules Letter-to-sound conversion provides for an

unlimited vocabulary with a low memory requirement, but the overall quality of the output is limited by the sophistication of the defined rules (Cooks & Hussey, 2002) Morphonemic text-to-speech conversion combines letter-to-sound rules with stored morphs This approach maximizes the use of pre-stored pronunciation rules, but relies

on the letter-to-sound approach for uncommon or user-specific vocabulary Similar to letter-to-sound conversion, morphonemic text-to-speech conversion provides for an unlimited vocabulary with low memory requirements, but it is a more intelligible system This process comes at a higher dollar cost than any of the other methods discussed (Cooks & Hussey, 2002)

TLS systems have many applications that can range from providing access to resources not normally accessible to individuals with disabilities to providing alternate delivery methods for traditional text-based resources Screen-readers and other TTS systems can provide support to individuals with reading disabilities Engstrom (2005), for example, concluded that synthesized speech and computer-assisted instruction can assist remedial reading instruction and enhance comprehension by compensating for reading difficulties

TLS applications can improve comprehension by allowing students to focus on the text being presented (Parette, Wojcik, Peterson-Karlan, & Hourcade, 2005) Forgrave (2002) reported the remedial benefits TLS can have on reading skills through stronger word recognition and increased comprehension Balajthy (2005) discussed the benefits of TLS software for struggling readers, and Forgrave (2002) reported the use

of TLS in empowering students with learning disabilities TLS can be especially beneficial in content areas that require a significant amount of reading or in content areas containing specialized vocabulary (Pisha & Coyne, 2001)

2.6 Relationship of the Literature to the Study

There is a need to address the limited availability of the Web system in teaching listening skill in high school education Though there is a plethora of research on the efficacy of a broad range of web based technologies to aid in teaching listening skills among college learners, research on the use of web based technologies to support literacy among high school second language learners is scarce (Michaels, Prezant, Morabito, & Jackson, 2002)

In fact, Fox (2005) argued that the lack of language support resources for ELLs has reached a crisis point This project focused on the application of the Web System for ELLs, addressed the stated shortfall of existing research in that area, added to the existing knowledge-base on the efficacy of reading software for instructional support, and may serve as the basis of additional research that more closely examines the role that Web System can play as an aid in teaching listening skill for high school second-language learners

Strangman and Dalton (2005) stated the need for additional research involving flexible approaches to reading and learning using the principles of UDL This research applied Web based resources traditionally designed to support students with listening disabilities to second-language high school students Whether the use of Web based tools to enhance listening skills of ELLs is best viewed as a remediation or a compensation tool is unclear, but there is a continued need to explore the application of new web based technologies for enhancing listening skills (Edyburn, 2007)

This researcher applied Edyburn's question to the listening skills of the language learner population and asked how much failure data is required before it is decided that ELLs deserve support mechanisms such as the aid of the Web System

English-CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter will map out the methods that I have used to conduct this research and will therefore explore when the study was carried out, where it was carried out, what materials and techniques were used, what procedures were used and how the study was carried The chapter will therefore encompass the conceptual framework, the theoretical framework and the practical elements of the research The methodology chapter will look at the research questions further and also establish the methods used and why those methods were used with respect of objectivity The sample size and the sampling process will then be analyzed In addition to this, data collection methods that were used in conducting the research will be established and the reasons why the above named methods were used discussed After this, the chapter will discuss how the data collection was done step by step and the subsequent data analysis Details of the procedures used will conclude the chapter

The research methodology was carried out as following:

1 Creating a teaching aid through the assistance of web system

2 Two groups took pretest before class (control group and experimental group)

2 Two groups took posttest after class

3 Questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and two groups after finishing the web class

4 Comparing pretest and posttest of two groups to find the result

5 Collecting and analyzing data

3.1 Research Questions

The aims of this study are to identify the aid of the website in teaching listening skills at School of Educational Practice The effectiveness that it brings to the learners Therefore, the research questions formulated are the following:

i Does the web system facilitate the teaching of listening skill at School of Educational Practice?

ii In what ways does the Web System aid the teaching of listening skills at School

of Educational Practice?

iii Does the web system report any progress among the students at School of Educational Practice?

3.2 Research Design

In this research qualitative data was collected as well as quantitative data which

is measured and represented in numerical terms Qualitative research enables the research questions to be answered from the perspective of the respondents It is used

to describe, understand and explain a situation in its context The data collected will thus be able to establish the role of the website in high schools and more so in the SEP It is worth noting that quantitative data is critiqued for its suppression of people‟s perspectives under figures (Silverman, 2006) This is in opposition to the educational basis of drawing attention to teaching perspectives from teachers and students themselves

There are varying definitions of coding but one particular researcher regards coding as the core of qualitative research as it directly influences the interpretation and analysis of the data (Glaser & Strauss, 1998) A theoretical coding procedure was introduced by a number of researchers and has been further developed by them individually throughout the 1980s and 1990s Whilst Glaser & Strauss‟ grounded

theory approach was not applied here (e.g the interpretation of the data to feed back into collection of more data), an understanding of coding was important in order to enable a full analysis of the data (Glaser & Strauss, 1998) Thus Flick‟s notion of „open coding was applied whereby concepts and categories are coded at varying levels: word, sentence and paragraph With these codes as basic units, it is possible to then take each category and look at the relationships between the codes, thus facilitating the formulation of theories (Flick, 2010)

3.2.1 Time and Setting

The experimental was conducted at four classes of SEP during the first semester

of the school year 2010-2011 (from August 2010 to fifth December 2010) Each group studied eight lessons (40 periods) Each lesson is 5 periods The time for each period is

45 minutes There are two Tests: Pretest at the beginning of the semester, and posttest

at the end of the semester The time for each test was 30 minutes

The study was basically conducted at School of Educational Practice with the target population being students of the tenth grade The tenth grade has four classes with a total of one hundred and forty eight students All the 148 students were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group The experimental group was applied the website All students took the two tests, and were given questionnaires at the end of the semester All that was required of this set of students was to fill in the questionnaires

Eight teachers from School of Educational Practice and fifty-three teachers pursuing their masters in English also participated in the study

The experimental group consisted of 73 students (40 females and 33 males) This group was applied the website

The control group consisted of 73 students (38 females and 35 males) This group was not applied the website

3.2.3 Instrument

3.2.3.1 Web System Application

The experiment was conducted in the classroom The teachers taught the listening with the assist of a laptop, a projector, a rolling screen, or LCD, and a megaphone/ loudspeaker

Materials for the experiment based on the English 10 textbook and CDs attacked, Longman dictionary, Colins CoBuiLD 2006 dictionary, English conversations of elementary levels loaded from the Internet were used as sources of materials for the content of the website

The study English 10 program is an online English program offered by An Giang University The program has the following lessons;

1 Unit 1: A day in the life of

2 Unit 2: school talks

3 Unit 3: people‟s background

4 Unit 4: special education

5 Unit 5: technology and you

6 Unit 6: an excursion

7 Unit 7: the mass media

8 Unit 8: the story of my village

The web system consisted of five features This tool is very convenient for learners and teachers because learners can learn anywhere, and anytime, and teachers can control learners‟ learning

Figure 3.1 the Web System

1 The Basic story feature:

This feature helped learners to check the typescript when they hear something unclearly

Figure 3.2 the basic story feature

2 The learn new word feature

It aided learners to pronounce exactly thanks to native speaker‟s voice and transcribing phonetically feature Also, learners could train and imitate a new word many times This was the difference between the web system and traditional methods In traditional methods, Vietnamese teachers read a new word in class, so learners couldn‟t listen these new words again

Figure 3.3 learn new word feature

3 The Spell a word feature

In this feature, learners listened to a new word first, and next they wrote the word they hear in the blank After that, the feature checked the spelling right

or wrong, and showing the meaning of the word This feature was very beneficial for learners to train their writing and listening skills because it checked learners‟ listening abilities through the way the learners listened a new word and wrote down These were the differences in comparing to the others old methods

Figure 3.4 spell a word

4 Task feature

In task feature, there were 02 tasks: task 1 was multiple choice or True, False forms, and task 2 was filling in the blank It helped learners to get knowledge in textbook, and checked their listening ability

Figure 3.5 task