A survey research on methods to improve students’ TOEIC test taking skills at vietnam maritime university

ABSTRACT In an attempt to investigate the obstacles encountered by the students at Vietnam Maritime University VIMARU while sitting for the TOEIC test and giving some recommendations to

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************

ĐOÀN THỊ SỬ

A SURVEY RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE

STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM

MARITIME UNIVERSITY

Nghiên cứu khảo sát những phương pháp nhằm nâng cao

kỹ năng làm bài thi TOEIC cho sinh viên Trường Đại học Hàng hải Việt Nam

M A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************

ĐOÀN THỊ SỬ

A SURVEY RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE

STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM

MARITIME UNIVERSITY

Nghiên cứu khảo sát những phương pháp nhằm nâng cao

kỹ năng làm bài thi TOEIC cho sinh viên Trường Đại học Hàng hải Việt Nam

M A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Nguyễn Huy Kỷ

Hanoi - 2014

DECLARATION

I certify that this research is entirely my work I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this research has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of study

Hanoi, 10 August 2014

Đoàn Thị Sử

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to investigate the obstacles encountered by the students at Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) while sitting for the TOEIC test and giving some recommendations to improve their test taking skills, the main purposes of the study were to find out (1) the main difficulties affecting the students’ test results, (2) and giving the students some suggestions to better test taking skills The subjects of the study were 85 third – year students and 5 TOEIC teachers The students were invited to answer a survey questionnaire The result of the research showed that lack of test taking skills led to bad results for the students Besides, the study reveals that teachers played an important role in instructing the students about necessary techniques in the hope that they would gain better scores

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my very affectionate and deeply- felt thanks to my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, for his effective instructions and invaluable advice during the preparation and completion of this paper

I also wish to acknowledge my debt to all the lecturers of the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies at Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Languages & International Studies, whose lectures and ideas have inspired

my thesis

My appreciation also goes to the lecturers and students at Vietnam Maritime University for their valuable assistance in completing my survey questionnaire and providing me with a lot of useful information

Finally, I would like to send my great thanks to my family, my friends for their encouragements and advice

On the whole, without all their help my paper would not have possibly been completed

FLC: Foreign Language Center

ETS: Educational Testing Service

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Students’ attitute towards TOEIC test (Questions 1, 2 &3)

Table 2: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC listening classes (Questions 4, 5, & 6) Table 3: Factors that cause difficulty in TOEIC listening texts (Question 7)

Table 4: Factor that causes difficulty in TOEIC reading texts (Question 10)

Table 5: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC reading classes (Questions 8, 9)

Table 6: Students’ preparation for the TOEIC test (listening skill) (Questions 11, 12) Table 7: Students’ preparation for the TOEIC test (reading skill) (Questions 13, 14,

15, 16)

Table 8: Students’ expectation from the teachers (17, 18)

Table 9: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC supplementary materials (Questions 19,

20, 21, 22)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Abstract ii

Acknowledgements iii

List of abbreviations iv

List of tables and figures v

Table Of Contents vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale of the study 1

2.Objectives of the study 2

3.Methods of the study 2

4.Research questions 3

5.Scope of the study 3

6.Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 The TOEIC test 5

1.2 An overview of the previous studies 5

1.3 Theoretical background 6

1.4 Summary 13

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 14

2.1 An introduction about VIMARU and FLC 14

2.2 Students and learning requirements 15

2.3 Teachers and teaching methods 16

2.4 Materials and Assessments 16

CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 18

3.1 Selection of subjects 18

3.2 Data collection instruments 18

3.3 Data analysis, findings and discussion 19

3.4 Summary 29

CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTED METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIMARU 31

4.1 Suggestions for the teachers 31

4.2 Suggestions for the students 34

PART C: CONCLUSION 39

1.Recapitulation 39

2.Conclusions 39

3.Teaching implications 40

4.Limitations of the study 41

5.Suggestions for further study 41

REFERENCES 42

APPENDIX I

PART A: INTRODUCTION

In the first chapter, the researcher introduces the reasons for chosing the thesis, as well as the scope, methods, objectives, and the organization of the study The

research questions are also stated

1 Rationale of the study

There is no doubt that the role of English in the life of any society in the world today has been becoming more and more important The widespread need for English as an international language puts a considerable pressure on the education resources of any countries In case of our country, since our government carried out the open door policy to attract foreign investment and co-operate with other countries, teaching and learning English has become necessary Moreover, it is the English that is used as an effective medium of international communication It is the language of trade, science, technology, tourism, sport, music and many other fields

of life That is the reason why at present, learning English is not only the interest but also the great and practical demand for many people, especially for students who always want to assess the modern world Therefore, English is now taught as a compulsory subject to all students at university in our country

English plays an important part in the growth and global intergration Nowadays, the criteria for evaluating one’s English ability for people who wish to get a good job by A, B, C certificates is out of date IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC have been the best choices Together with other requirements, TOEIC certificate is really necessary for any job seekers That’s why many people are trying their best to be successful in the TOEIC test

At VIMARU students are required to get TOEIC certificate as a condition to graduate The required score depends on the course that the students are taking in From my observation as a lecturer of English, my students hardly do their test well right at the first test They have to do the test again and again to achieve the score they need before graduation They have to sit for a Listening and Reading

As a teacher the researcher would like to do something in the hope of improving her students’ TOEIC test taking skills so that they can do their TOEIC test well Therefore, the researcher has chosen the research topic entitled

A survey research on methods to improve students’ TOEIC test taking skills at Vietnam Maritime University

2 Objectives of the study

The purpose of this study is to examine the areas of difficulties in doing TOEIC test encountered by students at VIMARU so that techniques can be given to help them improve these skills

3 Methods of the study

To bring in full presentation of the thesis, firstly, the researcher spent time reading books and materials available on teaching reading and listening to get knowledge of the subject

The procedure used in this thesis is the quantitative one which consists of the following tasks:

- Students are invited to answer a survey questionnaire

- Collecting data and information from the students and the teachers at FLC of VIMARU to exchange the experiences

- Evaluating the techniques that best fit the teachers and the third year students at VIMARU

Besides, this thesis is also carried out through a variety of methods such as class observation, informal interview and discussion with the teachers and students

at FLC of VIMARU

4 Research questions

The study was intended to answer three following questions:

(1) What are the obstacles encountered by the students while sitting for the TOEIC test?

(2) What have the teachers done to prepare their students before the TOEIC test? (3) What is the current studying situation on the preparation for the TOEIC test

5 Scope of the study

Due to the limit of time and knowledge, this study merely focuses on

methods to improve TOEIC test taking skills of the students at FLC of

VIMARU The researcher can just conduct survey on students to investigate some problems showing the TOEIC test bad results experienced by these students then suggest certain techniques to help them better their TOEIC reading and listening test taking skills Also, such follow-up aspects such as other factors affect the students’ performance on the TOEIC test are left untouched

6 Organization of the study

The thesis is divided into three main parts:

Part A (Introduction) presents the reasons for the choice of the study, aim and objectives of the study as well as the scope, methods and organization of the study

Part B (Development) Chapter 1 firstly introduces an overview and the importance of the TOEIC test Next it will give a close look at previous studies

Chapter 4 offers some suggested methods to improve TOEIC test taking skills for the students at FLC of VIMARU

Part C summaries some major findings and discussions of the thesis Then the researcher comes into some conclusions about factors that caused bad TOEIC test results for the stusdents at FLC of VIMARU and gives some suggestions for better test taking skills and for further research With any research paper, the limitations are unavoidable so the researcher will show her limitations while conducting this thesis in this part

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, some of the most important issues in the theories related to the study will be taken into consideration It is an overview on the TOEIC test, introduction of previous studies, as well as theories of listening and reading comprehension are also introduced

1.1 An overview on the TOEIC test

TOEIC is an acronym that stands for Test of English for International Communication The TOEIC test measures one’s ability to use English in daily

business situations covering such topics as corporate development, finance and budgeting, corporate property, IT, manufacturing, purchasing, offices, personnel, technical matters, meetings, telephone communications, health and business travel, etc Educational Testing Service (ETS) began developing the TOEIC test in 1978 as

a way of measuring the communicative ability of business people The test is based, with students using a pencil to mark their answers on a special machine-readable answer sheet.The test has two sections: Listening Comprehension (100 multiple choice questions) and Reading Comprehension (100 multiple choice questions) The total time allowed for the test (including administrative tasks) is approximately 2.5 hours The Listening section takes 45 minutes; the Reading section takes 75 minutes The content of the TOEIC is not specialized, the vocabulary and content are familiar to those inviduals who use English in daily activities The TOEIC test is scored on the scale of 10 to 990 Only correct responses count toward TOEIC score Listening TOEIC test is divided into four parts including Picture Description, Questions and Responses, Short Conversations and Short Talk Reading TOEIC test is devided into three parts including Incomplete Sentences, Incomplete Texts and Reading Comprehension

paper-1.2 An overview of the previous studies

Previously, many studies were conducted on some fields of TOEIC For example, M.A thesis by Nhữ Hà Phương (2012): “Common errors made by pre-intermediate

students in the TOEIC listening test and some suggested solutions” A Master’s Thesis submitted to Vietnam National University, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies The thesis’s far less attention is paid to the common errors made by students in TOEIC test To bridge the gap, this thesis aims to explore the errors made by pre-intermediate students in the TOEIC listening test and to find out the solutions regarding this issue This work hopes to both contribute

to the existing body of TOEIC research as well as to pave the way for future studies

in this field

The M.A thesis titled “Some strategies for students to avoid the typical traps in the listening section of the TOEIC test” by Hoàng Vĩnh Lộc introduces the typical traps and specific strategies for the listening section of the TOEIC test to help the students be confident in taking the TOEIC test The writer’s hypothesis was that after having acquaintance with the traps and knowing the strategies for avoiding them, the students can success in taking the test and getting required test scores In this research, the writer wishes to introduce the typical traps in the TOEIC listening section and effective strategies for avoiding them Besides, the writer, at the position of a language learner would love to make some recommendations for improving the students’ listening skill for the TOEIC test and building more effective listening classes at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Lac Hong University

1.3 Theoretical background

To provide a theoretical background to the study, this section is devoted to the examination of concepts most relevant to the thesis’s topic They are nature of reading and reading comprehension, reading process, classification of reading The importance of listening, classification of listening and listening process are also introduced

of reading is not completely understood nor easily described

Rumelhart (1977) defines “reading involves the reader, the text, and the interaction between the reader and the text” It means the role of learners and reading texts are placed an important position in reading act

According to Goodman (1971:135), reading is “a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language users, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”, and the act of reconstruction is viewed as “a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing and confirming.” William (1986:3) shares the same view on reading when he argues that “written texts, then, often contain more than we need to understand them The efficient reader makes use of this to take what he needs, and no more, to obtain meaning.” Harmer (1989:153) views reading from a different perspective He considers reading as a mechanical process that “eyes receive the message and the brain has to work out the significance of the message.”

Though definitions of reading are numerous, none can certainly capture all the ideas and features of what reading is However, what they all share is that they try to find out the nature of reading, and reading act, in which the readers, reading process, and reading message are emphasized

1.3.1.1.2.Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension plays a key role in teaching and learning reading a foreign language It can be understood as the ability to obtain the information as required in the reading lessons as efficiently as possible Thus, three elements - reading text, background knowledge of the reader, and the contextual aspects relevant for the interpretation of the text - are involved in the reading process

Swam (1975:1) proposes “a student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding.”

Grellet (1981:3) considers “reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible

Though these opinions are not exactly the same, what comes up as a common point

is that reading comprehension is the process in which the readers, as they read, can recognize the graphic forms of the reading text and understand what is implied behind these forms

1.3.1.1.3.Reading Process

Bottom-up Models

In Bottom-up models, the reader begins with the written text (the bottom), and

constructs meaning from letters, words, phrases, and sentences found within, and then processes the text in a linear fashion In the process of meaning interpretation, the language is translated from one form of symbolic representation to another (Nunan, 1991) Clearly, these are text-driven models so the reader plays a relatively passive role as he/she builds comprehension by moving eyes from letters to letters, words to words, phrases to phrases, and sentences to sentences to identify their exact meaning Samuels and Kamil (188:301), in which the shortcomings of these models are stated, says the lack of feedback makes it “difficult to account for sentence-context effects and the role of prior knowledge of text topic as facilitating variables in word recognition and comprehension.”

In Top-down models the reading process moves from the top, the higher level of mental stages down to the text itself This approach emphasizes the reconstruction

of meaning rather than the decoding of form, the interaction between the reader and the text rather than the graphic forms of the printed pages The readers proves his active role in the reading process by bringing to the interaction his/her available knowledge of the subject, knowledge of and expectations about how language works, motivation, interest and attitudes towards the content of the text

Apparently, the strong points of top-down models outnumber those of the

bottom-up as the reader – the central of the reading process as we personally assume –

proves his active role However, to some researchers, these models still reveal certain shortcomings because it sometimes fails to distinguish adequately between beginning readers and fluent readers Moreover, a purely top-down concept of the reading process makes little sense for a reader who can be stymied by a text containing a large amount of unfamiliar vocabulary What is more, in top-down models, the generation of hypotheses would actually be more time-consuming than decoding (Stanovich, 1980)

The third type – interactive models of the reading process – is proposed in the

thought of the perceived deficiencies of both bottom-up and top-down models Interactive theorists appreciate the role of prior knowledge and prediction, and at the same time emphasize the importance of rapid and accurate processing of the actual words of the text

Hayes (1991:7) proposes “in interactive models, different processes are thought to

be responsible for providing information that is shared with other processes The information obtained from each type of processing is combined to determine the most appropriate interpretation of the printed pages.”

To sum up, the appearance and popularity of interactive models show that interactive models can maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of the separate use of either bottom-up or top-down models

1.3.1.1.4.Classification of Reading

Classification according to Manner

Reading, according to manner, is divided into reading aloud and silent reading in

which “reading aloud involves looking at the text, understanding it and also saying it.” (Doff, 1988:70) Though reading aloud is considered a way to convey necessary information to the others, it is an unpopular activity outside classroom

In fact, reading aloud proves itself to be advantageous for the learners because it helps them make the connection between sounds and spelling of letters and words,

and assists the teachers to check learner’s pronunciation However, there is contradictory opinion about it Greenwood (1985) criticizes the overemphasis of the purpose of “teaching pronunciation” through reading aloud

Unlike reading aloud, silent reading is more often used in both real life and classroom, and “it is the method we normally use with our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” (Lewis, 1985:110) Because reading is a very personal skill so silent reading is a more effective skill for reading comprehension because firstly learners do not need to read all the words in the text, secondly they can read at their own speed and if they do not understand the sentence, they can go back, thirdly students can not only attain the main ideas in a short time but also understand its details thoroughly to answer the questions, and finally the teacher can check his/her learners’ understanding easily and add reading materials and exercises suitable to their ability

Classification according to Purpose

According to purpose, reading is categorized into four types: skimming, scanning,

extensive reading, and intensive reading

Skim-read and scan-read are necessary reading techniques for general sense or the

gist of a reading text

Nuttal (1982:36) says “by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through the text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our own work or in order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great importance to us.”

Grellet (1981:19) states that “when skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get its main points or the intention of the writer, but not to find the answer to specific questions … When scanning, we only try to locate specific information and often we do not even follow the linearity of the passage to do so.”

Though these two reading techniques are important for quick and efficient

reading, they should not be selected separately because a text can be best tackled

by a combination of strategies

Unlike skim-read and scan-read which to some extent still have something in common, extensive and intensive reading are viewed differently While extensive reading is associated with reading outside the classroom and fluency and pleasure in reading are expected as reading fruits while intensive reading, also called study reading, involves the close guidance of the teacher and require great attention to the text Students need to “arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of the text not only of what it means but also of how the meaning

is produced” (Nuttal, 1989:23)

1.3.2 Listening Comprehension

1.3.2.1 The importance of listening

It is now widely accepted that oral communication can not take place without listening and listening plays a central and possibly predominant part in the whole process of language learning Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four skills of parts of that “indivisible range called communication” They are

interrelated and interdependent According to Pearson Ian (1981), The Functional

Notional Approach in Language Teaching, p 80 , listening is tied to the essential

cognitive elements of comprehension and understanding In order to take part in oral communication, clearly, the first thing anyone must have is the ability to absorb the pieces of information from the speaker by listening When nobody listens to a speaker or when a listener fails to understand the message, communication is considered unsuccessful Moreover , listening is an important way of acquiring the language , a good way of picking up vocabulary and structures Teaching listening

to spoken language is ,therefore, of primary importance

“ Teaching the comprehension of spoken language is therefore of primary importance if the communication aim is to be achieved.”

(Wilga.M.Rivers, Teaching Foreign Language Skills, The University of

Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1968, p 135.)

1.3.2.2 Classification of Listening

Many learners of English will, sooner or later, find themselves in a variety of situation where they need or want to listen to English being used in real – life for a range of purposes However, they feel a big gap between listening activities in the classroom and actual situations This is because in listening materials learners listen

to dialogues, conversations which are very grammatical and controlled in many ways The speakers often speak at perfectly controlled speed, with perfect voice tone, accent and correct grammar Whereas, in real – life conversations learners encounter various people speaking with different accent, speed and voice tone

without paying attention to grammar

Class-room listening

According to Rixon (1986) and Hubbard, R and others (1984), there are two kinds of listening in classroom, they are: intensive listening and extensive listening

1.3.2.2.1 Intensive listening

Intensive listening is the careful, focused listening to a short passage for detailed information or for full comprehension, for example, listening to the announcements, listening to the instructions or listening to the weather forecast There may be much concrete information for this kind of listening and learners often find it difficult to get full comprehension in the first listening This helps learners develop their listening skill or knowledge of the language in their effort to

do exercises or other activities The passage should be short so that learners have chances to get to grip with the content, have several tries at difficult parts and to be fitted within the time allowed of a lesson Learners also feel it easy, interesting and encouraging when they listen to a short passage Therefore, they often listen with a great concentration and stretching effort

1.3.2.2.2 Extensive listening

Extensive listening is free and general listening to natural language for general ideas, not for particular details The listening passages for extensive listening can be long (reports, talks, etc) or short (introductions, instructions, phone messages,etc) The language that is used in this type of listening is often within the students’ current ability so that students find it pleasing and interesting when they are listening Students feel satisfied as they can understand the passage well They are not asked to do any language work and they can do their listening freely without any pressure Moreover the topics are various and entertaining, it, therefore, motivates students to develop their listening skill as well as exposes them to valuable extra contact with spoken language

1.4 Summary

In short, this chapter focuses on the concepts which are useful for the accomplishment of the paper Firstly, it is an overview of the TOEIC test Next, it is overview of the previous related studies to this thesis And then that is an introduction of theories about reading and listening comprehension

on the findings

2.1 An introduction about VIMARU and FLC

2.1.1 An introduction about VIMARU

Founded in 1956, The VIMARU has been a leading university of Vietnam in the maritime section With total number of nearly 16,000 students who study 19 fields

of education and constant – annual enrolment of 2,400 to 3,000 students, VIMARU nowadays has been assigned for aducating higher aducation level graduates of nautical science, marine engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, shipbuilding, sea – transport economics, waterway engineering and all the other fields relating to the national maritime sector Besides, the university also educates postgraduates of MSc and PhD in the fields of Nautical Science, Marine Engineering, Energetic Engineering, Naval Architecture, Waterway Engineering, Sea – transport Economics, etc

2.1.2 A brief introduction about FLC

As a department of VIMARU, FLC has been a reliable address for those who are eager to study foreign languages and want to practise for the test to achieve the international certificates like TOEIC, IELTS FLC provides a variety of language

courses to meet the students’ needs, for example Japanese classes, English classes for marine purposes, etc However, FLC mainly trains TOEIC test – taking skills for VIMARU’s students as well as students from other universities in Haiphong city A TOEIC training – course may last from 50 to 100 hours Students can choose suitable time to attend any courses Each TOEIC class may have from 25 to 45 students It is potential for the lecturers at this center to access to students of different levels and variable TOEIC test score requirement, thereby they can develope their teaching methods as much as they can

Alongside with many of evening classes, FLC has full-time classes and classes for TOEIC training Apart from this, the center also has training cooperations with other colleges, universities, or institutes within Vietnam such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology; Vietnam National University, Hanoi; International School

of Education, etc

With its new position as a member of Vietnam Maritime University, the Center goes on with upgrading teaching and learning facilities, training teachers, expanding the teaching areas

2.2 Students and learning requirements at FLC

Students who join TOEIC classes normally come from VIMARU There are also many students who come from other universities in Haiphong city as Haiphong Medical University, Haiphong Private Univerisity as well as Haiphong University They can be freshmen or final – year students But most of them have the same purpose to gain TOEIC certificate The students come from different departments of VIMARU and levels of English Normally, those who come from Maritime Economics Faculty are better than any other Falcuties However, these students are

trained with the same course book Starter TOEIC in 6 periods of English per week

They have to study English at least three times a week and within 15 weeks of studying, each class has 3 TOEIC-based progress tests designed by the teacher of the class The content and length of the tests are different from classes At the end

of fifteen weeks, they are asked to sit for a full TOEIC- based test and then the score will be converted into10- mark scale as a traditional way of marking

2.3 Teachers and Teaching Methods

At FLC, there are totally 14 teachers of English aged from 22 to 45 Most of them had formal ELT training in different tertiary institutions inside Vietnam The oldest teachers have more than 20 years of teaching experience, and the youngest just has more than a year The teachers in FLC are assigned to teach at different levels, and different classes Class time is often 2 hours, and teachers have to go to class at least

once a day Each teacher is responsible for one class separately

Most of classes in FLC are TOEIC ones The fact is that not all the teachers use the same techniques and activities to teach reading and listening skills They have tried

to choose the activities that are suitable to their students It is good for the students

to get used to as many types of activities and techniques as possible In order to find out the effective way of implementing the activities and techniques, the teachers have to spend a lot of time choosing and designing the reading and listening activities that the students can do properly The activities are often used such as true

or false exercises, answering the questions, filling in the blanks, choosing the correct answer, etc

The methods of teaching reading and listening skills and the reading and listening activities are considered to be the effective way to improve the students’ abilities of reading and listening and the quality of teaching and learning reading and listening skills of the center is improved everyday

2.4 Materials and Assessments

English, as mentioned above, is taught at different levels The teachers often choose these following materials as their course books: Beginning TOEIC Test –taking

skills Very Easy TOEIC second edition by Anne Taylor & Garrett Byrne,

Developing skills for the TOEIC test by Paul Edmunds & Anne Taylor, Building

TOEIC Test –taking skills Starter TOEIC third edition by Anne Taylor & Casey

Malarcher, Target TOEIC second edition by Anne Taylor, Longman New Real

TOEIC Full Actual Tests, Oxford Practice Tests for the TOEIC Test, Barron’s TOEIC Practice Exams, Barron’s 600 essential words for the TOEIC Test

From the combination of the two skills in one lesson, the teachers at FLC find it hard to develop intensively each skill separately What they often do in each reading section is giving hand-outs to their students which they could do either in the class

or at home, then the teachers correct their mistakes if any and give explainations if necessary In a listening section, students are asked to do four sample parts as the real TOEIC test, after that their teachers correct their mistakes if any and provides them with new words and explainations if they want

CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Selection of subjects

The survey was conducted with the participation of 85 third- year students at classes TOEIC 7 and TOEIC 5 These classes did not start at the same time This means the students are not learning the same lesson when the survey was carried out However, they have finished 20 lessons of the course so they all know what their teachers in each practice skill often present About the students, there are 75 of them are male, and only 10 of them are female All of them have one thing in common: they are all officially trained at VIMARU and have at least 6 years of learning English These figures show that the data collected from the survey will surely be reliable because the learners are well aware of their mission, and have enough knowledge of English to answer the questions given

3.2 Data collection instruments

To arrive at the reliable data, survey was conducted and questionnaire was administered to 85 students at two TOEIC classes The questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection It was designed to get information concerning:

1, Students’ attitude towards TOEIC test (Questions 1, 2, 3)

2, Students’ attitude towards TOEIC listening class (Questions 4, 5, 6)

3, Factors that cause difficulty in TOEIC listening texts (Question 7)

4, Factors that cause difficulty in TOEIC reading texts (Question 10)

5, Students’ attitudes towards TOEIC reading class (Questions 8, 9)

6, Students’s preparation for TOEIC listening skill (Questions 11, 12)

7, Students’ preparation for TOEIC reading skill (Questions 13, 14, 15, 16)

8, Students’ expectation from the teachers (Questions 17, 18)

3.3 Data analysis, Findings and Discussions

To have a good understanding of the issues under discussion, it is essential to refer to an important source of data collection associated with the literature review All the questions

in the survey were purposefully designed so that the researcher can get the students’ opinions on the TOEIC test, the reading and listening materials they are using, the teachers they are contacting, and the methods of teaching reading and listening skills they are adapting to These questions are closely related to the techniques that can be worked out to improve the current teaching and learning reading and listening skills at FLC by means of literature comparison and by cross-checking with information obtained from the responded questionnaire Here are some major findings, interpretations and discussions

3.3.1 Students’ attitude towards TOEIC test (Questions 1, 2 &3)

As for the students’ attitude towards TOEIC test, a large number of the students (55,3%) think that TOEIC test is very difficult, no students consider TOEIC test is easy , the number of students who finds TOEIC test difficult or quite difficult is the nearly the same (0%, 21,4%, 23,3%)

Another observation from the table above is that most students find that they seem

to lack time to complete the TOEIC test (79,5%), only 20,5 % of the students find that time limitation is suitable And no one said that two hours is too long for a TOEIC test Maybe the students do not have a good time management while doing the test

It can be concluded that the students at FLC are studying for the TOEIC test because they have a very real need to improve their scores So they can be some of the most motivated learners They find the TOEIC test difficult so they always try to

do best in the test They are all aware of their mission in completing their TOEIC test However, what they are doing seems not effective to get better test scores

3.3.2 Students’ attitude towards TOEIC listening classes (Questions 4, 5 & 6)