An action research on applying a blended learning program to improve students’ TOEIC listening performance in a TOEIC class

DECLARATION I, Lường Hạnh Ngân, hereby certify that this thesis entitled: “An action research on applying a blended learning program to improve students‟ TOEIC listening performance in a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

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

LƯỜNG HẠNH NGÂN

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON APPLYING A BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAM

TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC LISTENING PERFORMANCE

IN A TOEIC CLASS

(Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm về việc áp dụng một chương trình học kết hợp công nghệ thông tin vào lớp học truyền thống để cải thiện khả năng nghe

TOEIC của học sinh trong một lớp học TOEIC)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

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

LƯỜNG HẠNH NGÂN

AN ACTION RESEARCH ON APPLYING A BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAM TO

IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC LISTENING PERFORMANCE

IN A TOEIC CLASS

(Nghiên cứu cải tiến sư phạm về việc áp dụng một chương trình học kết hợp công nghệ thông tin vào lớp học truyền thống để cải thiện khả năng nghe TOEIC của

học sinh trong một lớp học TOEIC)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Dr Dương Đức Minh

HANOI - 2018

DECLARATION

I, Lường Hạnh Ngân, hereby certify that this thesis entitled: “An action research on applying a blended learning program to improve students‟ TOEIC listening performance in a TOEIC Class”, which is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, is the result of my own work I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this thesis has not been submitted for any other formal course of study

Hanoi, 2018

Lường Hạnh Ngân

I owe my parents their continuous support Their patience and love have helped me go beyond what sometimes looks like an insurmountable task

I thank all my dear friends for their lifting my spirits at each turning point of this journey as well as for their great encouragement and valuable help during the data collection process

Last but not least, I extend my special thanks to all the research participants Without their valuable opinions and ideas in the questionnaires, the study would not have been accomplished

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the use of blended learning (BL) in an on-ground traditional face-to-face TOEIC course and seeks to determine the extent to which the blended TOEIC listening course significantly affects the improvement in students‟ TOEIC listening performance, how students experience the teacher‟s practice and behavior and measure the students‟ perceptions of the blended learning environment with respect to its effectiveness The purpose is to explore how to prepare English teachers to create a productive BL environment for their students

To carry out this study both quantitative and qualitative methods were used In this case, the use of research may be directed by emphasizing on either quantitative or qualitative approaches in the mixed method research (Creswell, 2009) Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through the questionnaires at the end of the course Quantitative data would also be collected and analyzed to evaluate the effect

of the blended TOEIC listening course by continuous evaluation and the pretest and posttest at the beginning and the end of the course respectively

The results from the data revealed that the Blended TOEIC listening course significantly affected the improvement in students‟ TOEIC listening performance

In addition, most of the students involved in the study are generally happy about the program and they recognize the benefits of the curriculum in enhancing interaction between them and their classmates as well as their teacher

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Thesis outline 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Overview of listening comprehension 5

1.1.1 Definition of listening comprehension 5

1.1.2 Significance of listening comprehension 7

1.1.3 The listening comprehension process 9

1.1.4 Possible problems in listening comprehension 10

1.2 Overview of blended learning 12

1.2.1 Definition of blended learning 12

1.2.2 Features and possibilities of blended learning 14

1.2.3 Challenges to implementation of blended learning 15

1.2.4 Blended learning and E-learning 18

1.2.5 Blended learning frameworks 18

1.2.6 Learning outcomes in blended learning 21

1.3 Overview of the TOEIC listening test 23

1.3.1 The TOEIC test 23

1.3.2 TOEIC listening comprehension section 23

1.4 ICT tools and listening 24

1.5 The blended TOEIC listening course 25

1.6 Summary 30

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 31

2.1 Research design 31

2.2.Context of the study 32

2.3 Participants 32

2.4 Data collection instruments 36

2.5 Data collection procedures 37

2.6 Data analysis methods 38

2.7 Summary 39

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 40

3.1 Results and discussions 40

3.1.1 The level of the blended TOEIC listening course in the improvement of students‟ listening performance 40

3.1.2 Learners‟ attitudes towards the blended learning environment during their TOEIC listening course 42

3.2 Summary 49

PART C: CONCLUSION 50

1 Recapitulation 50

2 Major findings 50

3 Limitations 51

4 Recommendations and suggestions for further studies 53

5 Contribution of the study 54

REFERENCES 55 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1: TOEIC LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST 1 I (PRETEST) I APPENDIX 2: TOEIC LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST 2 XII (POSTTEST) XII APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT BLENDED TOEIC LISTENING COURSE XXII APPENDIX 4: REPLIES FOR OPEN QUESTIONS FROM LEARNERS XXV APPENDIX 5: TOEIC LISTENING SYLLABUS (12 Sessions) XXVI

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BL : Blended Learning

ESL : English as Second Language

EFL : English as Foreign Language

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1 The pretest results

Table 2.2 The course procedures

Table 3.1 Group‟s performance in the pre-test and post-test

Table 3.2 Results of the Paired-Sample T-tests

Figure 1.1 Khan‟s Octagonal Framework (adapted by Singh, 2003)

Figure 1.2 The homepage of Blended TOEIC listening course

Figure 1.3 Further practice web page

Figure 1.4 Assigned homework

Figure 1.5 Summited homework

Figure 1.6 Further exercises/practice

Figure 1.7 The learners check the results of excersies

Figure 3.1 Periodical test results

Figure 3.2 Students‟ satisfaction of BL TOEIC listening course

Figure 3.3 Students‟ attitude of online assignments

Figure 3.4 Students‟ opinion about their online listening assignments

Figure 3.5 Students‟ perception of online assignments

Figure 3.6 Technical difficulties

Figure 3.7 The impact of online activities on listening skills

Figure 3.8 The impact of online assignments on specific listening skills Figure 3.9 Reasons for not completing the online assignments

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

With the emergence of online technology, the modern classroom is changing, nobody can deny the effectiveness of applying information communication and technology and the internet in foreign language teaching; therefore, living in the 21stcentury with a lot of new technologies coming into beings, teachers of English need

to make use of these new technologies to apply in their English language teaching The computer with the internet is the one among the achievements of the new technologies and computers have had a great marvellous impact in English language teaching, so merging these two fields - computers and English language is inevitable in a world where many things are being automated and implemented into computer programs

Listening ability is one of the important skills in foreign language learning and

no one can deny its important role However, listening skills in language learning have not received sufficient attention and listening remains one of the least understood processes in language learning Hardly has anyone doubted nowadays that listening skills must be trained and practices regularly and continuously The contemporary application of high technology in language teaching and learning is listening online which can also be consolidated into traditional classroom listening

to audio from cassettes or CDs Researchers and language practitioners have also perpetuated that listening skills could be chosen by the learners for a long period of time and the present advantages of high technology allow the use of a combination

of learning techniques in which the method blended learning of listening skills in English classrooms is employed and applied effectively From the own experience

as an English teacher in teaching English in general and listening skill in specific, the researcher has found that students encounter many difficulties when studying listening and since having a big gap in listening comprehension, when converging

on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) syllabus they

tend to be disheartened Most students were not able to get the required passing mark for the listening part and the students only got an average score of 150 over

495 Therefore, the researcher focused on listening comprehension rather than other skills and this thesis attempts to examine the practice of blended learning approach in the sense of its classic definition and present some evidence of its positive contribution to the students‟ TOEIC listening performance

2 Aims of the study

This study aims to provide English teachers and students with productive blended learning environment in an intensive TOEIC listening course More specifically, this study seeks to discover to what extent the blended TOEIC listening course affects the improvement in students‟ TOEIC listening performance as well as

to find out the attitudes of students about the blended learning environment during their TOEIC listening course

4 Scope of the study

The study is idiosyncratic to a TOEIC listening class (TOEIC 450) in Centre for Human Resouce Development for Foreign Language Studies in Thai Nguyen, Viet Nam and restricted to the exposure of a limited number (N:16) of students as participants The course is titled “TOEIC Listening Skills” and it aims at improving the listening comprehension of the learners; therefore, it gives them the opportunity

to practice listening to various types of listening materials Through this training course, students are introduced to the basic practices and strategies in listening comprehension In addition, all the participants certified that they have a sufficient

amount of background on the information technologies and most of the participants were students at colleges or universities in Thai Nguyen

5 Significance of the study

Findings from this study will contribute to the field of teacher training, computer assisted language learning, and the area of blended learning research First, this study provides a methodologically well-found approach to preparing ESL teachers for teaching listening in a blended language learning environment via blending a traditional face-to-face class and online learning environment to enhance the quality of TOEIC listening teaching and learning process in Vietnam

Another possible contribution of this study focuses on evaluating the productiveness and learner attitudes of a blended learning environment towards the effectiveness of the implementation of blended learning procedures into the TOEIC listening courses in order to determine the changes for improvements in terms of teaching and learning methods

Last but not least, the study contributes to dealing with the investigation of how teacher practice and behavior may influence student‟s satisfaction of a blended language learning environment

6 Thesis outline

The thesis is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and

the conclusion

Part A is the introduction which presents the rationale for the study, the aims

and objectives, the research questions, the scope, the methods, the significance, and the design of the study

Part B - The development consists of three chapters

Chapter 1 is the literature review which provides an overview of the

theoretical background and the previous researches related to the study

Chapter 2 presents the methodology of the study restating the research

questions and describes the setting where the study is conducted, the participants, and the instruments used to collect data, and the procedures of data collection

In Chapter 3, data analysis and the findings are shown which aims at

describing the analysis of data in detail and giving the summary of the findings as well as a thorough discussion of the findings of the study Some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter

Part C, the conclusion of the study, provides the summary of the main issues

and concluding remarks of the study The limitations as well as some suggestions for further research are also discussed in this part

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

The aim of this chapter is to provide the theoretical background for the study

It covers theories related to blended learning and listening comprehension skill Reviewing the literature is an essential part of the research process that generates ideas and helps to form critical questions in the process of research design (O’ Leary, 2004, p 83) The chapter starts with a literature review on blended learning This is followed by an overview of listening comprehension and TOEIC Listening comprehension Section The end of the chapter is a discussion of Moodle and using Moodle in education

1.1 Overview of listening comprehension

1.1.1 Definition of listening comprehension

Understanding the importance of listening and the different situations where listening skills are needed, there are numerous definitions of listening by many scholars Each one defines in a different way as seen from one‟s own point of view Chastain (1971) defines listening comprehension as the ability to understand native speech at normal speed in unstructured situation whereas Morley (1991, p.82), listening is the most communicative activity in daily life: “we can expect to listen twice as much as we speak, four times more than we read, and five times more than we write.”

From Rubin and Meldelsohn‟s (1995) standpoint, listening is an active process in which a listener selects and interprets information which comes from auditory and visual clues in order to define what is going on and what the speakers are trying to express Buck (2001) provides a broader definition of listening comprehension and noted that listening is a complex and active interpretation process in which listeners matches what they hear with what they already know He asserts that “listening involves linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge” (p.10), listeners have to be able to apply their abilities and learning strategies involved in

both linguistic knowledge and non-linguistic knowledge to interpret and comprehend messages from the speaker

In the words of Farrell and Mallard (2006), many language learners, especially

at low proficiency levels, find that listening is the most difficult English skill Listening concerns both correctly interpreting incoming speech and responding appropriately to the speaker, especially in face-to-face conversations where listeners must be able to contribute verbally

While scholars‟ definitions of these two terms are often worded differently, they typically describe the same basic concept, listening comprehension are considered as an activity in which listeners employ a variety of mental process in an effort to recognize and master major foreign language patterns, as well as to initiate all the schemata to make sense of the incoming information

In addition, Anderson and Lynch (1988) affirm there are two influential views related to listening comprehension: the first one is the traditional view and the other one is the alternative view In the traditional view, the teaching of listening comprehension centers on what teacher does, and student is a mere by stander or recipient of input during the communication process (Elkhafaifi, 2005) In this view, students are seldom required to use the language by themselves in listening classes and they just need to receive passively the information provided in the listening materials Most listening lessons take the form of simply having the students listen and then answer comprehension questions This view is criticized as inappropriate and inadequate (Anderson and Lynch, 1988; Elkhafaifi, 2005) On the other hand, alternative view considers the listener as an active model builder Listener needs to get involve actively in the interpretation of what they hear, bring his own background knowledge and linguistic competence to reach full comprehension of what had been heard Most scholars now agree with this view

In a word, listening comprehension involves to an active process of listening for meaning, using both the linguistic and nonlinguistic knowledge According to Buck (2001), linguistic knowledge consists of different types such as phonology,

lexis, syntax, semantics and discourse structure Nonlinguistic knowledge includes the knowledge about the topic, about the content, and general knowledge about the world and how it works

1.1.2 Significance of listening comprehension

Listening plays a very important role in student‟s academic success Krashen (1980) provides a large amount of listening or comprehension input which is the raw material necessary for the process to occur was the best way to learn a second language because of its contribution to the development of the overall language proficiency Rost (1994) also pinpoints the importance of listening in the language classroom as the supplier of supplying the input for students Without comprehension input at the right level, learning cannot work well Students spend most of their time listening to the teacher‟s lecture Elkhafaifi (2005) reports data on how students spend their communicative time among four language skills in language learning and listening is the most frequently used skill: 45% is devoted to listening, 30% to speaking, only 16% to reading and a mere 9% to writing Therefore, listening is a fundamental and vital skill in the acquisition of languages (Nunan, 2002)

Furthermore, listeners could develop their communicative competence through listening skills “Speaking does not of itself constitute communication unless what

is being said is comprehended by another person” (Rivers,1966, p 196) As a result, listening in EFL learning becomes a vital necessary condition of good speaking ability If the learners get a large amount of listening practice before speaking and reading, they are more likely to acquire a second language with a greater efficiency Through listening exercises, learners draw their attention to new forms such as vocabulary, grammar and interaction pattern, which provides the right conditions for language acquisition and development of their language skills The lack of listening comprehension skill may lead to difficulties in discussion and communication Therefore, listening has been shown to play a key role in language learning

1.1.3 The listening comprehension process

There are two distinct processes involved in listening comprehension:

bottom-up processing and top-down processing

Bottom-up processing

Bottom-up processing refers to what the listener is hearing by focusing on vocabulary, grammar, sounds, etc The listener starts with the smallest units such as individual sounds or phonemes of the message to later combine them into words and then into phrases and sentences These sentences create concepts, ideas, and relationships between them (Buck, 2001) Bottom-up processing applies knowledge

in a serial, hierarchical way She further states that when listening involves both bottom-up and top-down process, it is considered to be interactive listening Vandergrift (2007) explained that listeners exercise top-down processes when they use context and background knowledge such as topic, genre, culture and other schema knowledge stored in long-term memory to construct a conceptual structure for comprehension Listeners make use of bottom-up processes when they construct meaning by addition, gradually combining increasingly larger units of meaning from the phoneme - level up to discourse - level features

Top-down processing

In top-down processing, listeners use their prior knowledge including the topic

of the listening material, context of the listening material, culture of the listening material, text type of the listening material to generate assumption In addition, it is important for both teachers and students to recognize the existence of these two types of processing listening input since both of them contribute to the development

of listening skill

However, both bottom-up processing and top-down one have its weak points Bottom-up processing fails to see that understanding a text does not depend only on one‟s linguistic knowledge It is also an interactive process between the listener‟s previous knowledge and the text Top-down processing cannot evoke listeners‟ schemata if the incoming information they hear is unfamiliar to them Besides,

although listeners can trigger a schema, they might not have the suitable schema expected by the speaker

Because neither bottom-up process nor top-down process alone is sufficient for comprehension, “these two processing intersect to develop an interactive processing.” (Wu, 2008, p.23) In the Vandergrift‟s (2007) words, successful listeners will use a combination of top-down (meaning-focused) and bottom-up (detailed-focus) accordingly to the listening objectives He also notes that the speed and effectiveness at which listeners carry out these processes depend on the degree

to which the listeners can efficiently process what is heard Successful listening depends on the ability to combine these two types of processing; therefore, one of listening teacher‟s jobs is to help students learn to balance the two kinds of processing

Listening is a complex process and critical in developing the second language competence Guiding students through the process of listening not only provides them with the knowledge by which they can successfully complete a listening task but motivates them and puts them in control of their learning as well Therefore, by designing appropriate listening tasks and activities, teachers can help students develop their listening comprehension skill through these processes

Understanding how listeners process listening comprehension and considering the possible problems students often encounter in learning to listen to English will provide students and teachers with a lot of ideas to listen more effectively

1.1.4 Possible problems in listening comprehension

Listening is usually a hard skill to master in one‟s own language as well as in second language acquisition There exist some problems from the point of views of the listeners when learning to listen

Underwood (1989) states seven problems in listening comprehension which include “lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak”, “not being able to get things repeated”, “the listener‟s limited vocabulary”, “failure to recognise signals”, “problems of interpretation”, “inability to concentrate”, and “established

learning habits ” (p.16) Lack of vocabulary is really an obstacle for people listening to a foreign language since they can sometimes hear the words clearly, but the problem may occur in understanding the meanings of the words they do not know An unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech Besides, “established learning habits” mean students are traditionally taught to understand everything in the English lessons by listening carefully to teachers who probably speak slowly and clearly As a result, students become worried and discouraged if they fail to understand every word while listening

Ur (1996) shares some of the main points with Underwood (1989) about problems in listening comprehension There are six major problems refered by Ur (1996) which are difficulties in perceiving sounds, following natural speed and native accent, catching up with the load of information as well as the needs to understand everything, to get things repeated, and to have a rest Trouble with sounds seems to be the biggest problem as most students have difficulty catching the actual sounds of the foreign language The misconception that listening means having to understand every word is a very common problem and is often unconsciously fostered by teachers and/or listening materials The effort to understand everything results in ineffective comprehension as well as feelings of fatigue and failure The speed of the speakers also causes many difficulties to students because they cannot hear the sounds clearly when dealing with fast and natural native-sounding speech

Yagang (1993) provides a little bit different point of view when saying that

“The evidence that shows why listening is difficult comes mainly from four sources: the message to be listened to, the speaker, the listener, and the physical setting.” The message is considered in terms of the content (topic, organization …) and linguistic features (liaisons, elision …) The speaker factor includes redundancy, speaker‟s voice, accent and speech style The listener factor involves in

linguistic knowledge, background knowledge, exposure to different kinds of listening materials, psychological and physical factors The physical setting consists

of background noises, visual and aural environmental clues, etc

The problems students may encounter in listening comprehension are various

As a result, they need to have some solutions to overcome these difficulties and develop their listening competence

1.2 Overview of blended learning

1.2.1 Definition of blended learning

In general blended learning is defined as a combination of online and face face education, but the definition somewhat varies according to different scholars According to Sharma (2010), there are three definitions of “blended learning” that are pertinent in the world of education The prototypical interpretation of the term is

-to-“the integrated combination of traditional learning with web based online approaches” (Oliver and Trigwell, 2005, p 17) “Traditional learning” is understood

as classroom face-to-face language classes Two other definitions refer to either a combination of technologies or a combination of methodologies (Sharma, 2010, p 456) and the educational effect of blended learning Considering the features and educational effects, blended learning has become an issue of great interest lying in the apparent fact that there is no single way to meet the needs of various learners and to achieve an optimal level of learning

From the learner‟s viewpoints, blended learning is effective in satisfying the learner‟s satisfaction in that it enhances the learner‟s convenience and accessibility (Cottrell & Robinson, 2003), meeting the various needs and learning styles (Dziuban, Hartman & Moskai, 2004), encourages interaction between learners (Osguthorpe & Graham, 2003), and it creates an environment where both real-time and delayed interaction are available Blended learning also improves the learning achievement by fostering active interaction between learners, learners and teachers, and learners and lessons Since this blended course is a combination of face-to-face

learning with web-based online one, this thesis generally follows the definition of blended learning by Oliver and Trigwell (2005)

1.2.2 Features and possibilities of blended learning

There are several reasons why a blended learning (BL) approach can be beneficial Osguthorpe and Graham (2003) classified the six reasons for using blended learning They are pedagogical richness, access to knowledge, social interaction, personal agency, cost-effectiveness and ease of revision Of these six reasons Graham, Allen and Ure (2003) explored that blended learnning was primarily carried out for the reasons of improved pedagogy, increased access and flexibility, and increased cost-effectiveness Knowing these possible reasons why blended learning is used in many training courses brings up the topic of who is promoting this use, how it is being integrated into training courses, and whether it

is, in fact successful It is generally well established that there is a savings potential

in moving some classroom contact hours online (Dziuban & Moskal, 2001; Oh & Park, 2009) This reduces the need for physical meeting space and classrooms with their associated costs While cost-effectiveness is undoubtedly a significant motivation to support the use of blended learning, it is not the focus of this dissertation study and will not be addressed Notwithstanding the issue of cost-effectiveness, it is clear that administrators play an important role in the promotion and success potential of blended learning Among other things, institutional goals and policies may seek to promote personal agency and increased learner responsibility for their own learning Many educational institutions also seek to reach as many potential students as possible, which means that access and flexibility are likely to be prioritized by administrators Regarding some scholars‟ review of

BL studies, Bliuc, Goodyear and Ellis (2007) asserted the vital role of the teacher

by demonstrating that “a substantial portion of the literature is written by teachers researching their own innovative educational practice” (p 232)

In the words of Osguthorpe and Graham (2003), teachers may be attracted to

BL thanks to its benefits such as improving pedagogy, providing greater access to knowledge, and facilitating increased opportunities for social interaction As different researchers focus on a multitude of variables, factors, and variants of

instructional approaches in an attempt to gain knowledge about the usefulness of blended learning, leading to the result of somewhat muddied researches focusing in the area of blended learning; therefore, several researchers (Bliuc, Goodyear and Ellis, 2007; Shea, 2007; Vignare, 2007) call for more and better research that goes beyond to seek and to establish useful frameworks for the integration and application of BL in education They also believe that research should focus on key aspects such as accessing, quality and blended learning environments

1.2.3 Challenges to implementation of blended learning

Based on recent research on the implementation of blended learning in general and in language education in specific, there are numerous challenges in the implementation of blended learning in EFL education

Challenges from students

The major student-related challenges to the implementation of blended learning come from the students‟ lack of knowledge and skills for independent learning and their problems with utilizing computer and Internet-based resources The serious and very important requirement for the success of applying blended learning is that students are responsible for and play an active part in learning (Alebaikan, 2010; Kaleta, Garnham & Aycock, 2005; Launer, 2010) This is explained in details that students are aware of the learning objectives and are encouraged to achieve these aims They also need to have their individual learning needs in their minds in order to choose necessary learning steps, to demonstrate, analyze and evaluate their learning progress and to reorganise the steps if necessary (Launer, 2010) However, not many students are able to carry out the self-regulated learning practices required in a blended learning environment in early years of their study According to Alebaikan (2010), this aspect might be due to their previous learning experiences in teacher-centred learning environments at high schools Alebaikan (2010), Launer (2010), Moskal & Cavanagh (2013) and Oliver & Stallings (2014) also share the same view in their research which shows that students face difficulties in managing time and motivating, controlling and directing

independent learning In particular, many students do not realise the importance or the benefits of their self-study phase online, regarding online learning as optional or less important than learning in face-to-face classes (Alebaikan, 2010; Comas Quinn, 2011; Murphy & Southgate, 2011; Orton Johnson, 2009) Hence, students‟ lack of knowledge and skills in self-regulated learning could become a major challenge for implementating blended learning Since students have to employ technologies to study blended courses, their lack of experience in employing computer and web-based technology for learning or their unfamiliarity with a technology-advanced learning environment can cause difficulties for learning The fact that students face with technical problems when studying online such as the requirement for additional software or problems with Internet connection and assignment submission systems is also shown in research (Chew, 2009; Grgurović, 2010; Larsen, 2012; Moskal & Cavanagh, 2013) Students also encounter difficulties when making meaning out of materials presented (Oh & Park, 2009), correlate online materials with learning in face-to-face classes or identify critical content or resources online (Chew, 2009; Taylor & Newton, 2013)

The student-related challenges can be even more extreme in the context of EFL education in Vietnam in which students are familiar with a teacher-controlled learning environment where they are expected to listen and follow teachers‟ instruction to learn (Williamson, 2009) Their tendency to depend on teachers for learning motivation and direction can hinder students from making their own decisions on what and how to learn While the interaction and collaboration with teachers and peers is considered as an important potential of blended learning environment

Research indicates that in order to address to the challenges and minimize such barriers to blended learning implementation, particular consideration and attention would be needed to provide students with sufficient training and ongoing assistance to develop their ability to carry out active and collaborative learning and utilise technology-assisted learning environments effectively

Challenges from teachers

The main challenges related to the teachers in the implementation of blended learning include teachers‟ limited pedagogical expertise and information and communication technology skills, and low motivation to develop a sound pedagogical approach is another challenge The didactic hypothesis for implementing blended learning, which is the key contributing factor for effectiveness of implementation, is to foster a more student-centered pedagogical approach which addresses students‟ diverse learning needs and promotes their active and collaborative learning (Marsh, 2012; Sanprasert, 2010; Vaughan, 2007) However, for those teachers who are familiar with teacher-centred pedagogy, the affirmation of a student-centred approach requires profound changes in teachers‟ pedagogical practices

According to Vaughan (2007) and Stracke (2007), many teachers show little awareness of their students‟ self-study periods or have considerable difficulties in integrating students‟ self-study periods into their teaching in face-to-face classes Teachers also report encountering problems with giving online feedback, facilitating students‟ online discussion and community, and addressing and managing online problems (Alebaikan, 2010; Chew, 2009; Dziuban, Hartman, Juge, Moskal & Sorg, 2006; Taylor & Newton, 2013; Vaughan, 2007) Some teachers indicate doubt about the quality of blended learning courses (Betts, 2014) and report feelings of isolation when teaching in blended format (Moskal & Cavanagh, 2013)

In language education, Comas-Quinn (2011) proclaims there are still some teachers, instead of facilitating students‟ meaningful and interactive communication, they still focus mainly on language accuracy They also do not have sufficient knowledge of the potential of nonsynchronous communication tools for language learning and prefer face-to-face or real time online communication with students (Comas-Quinn, 2011) Larsen (2012) and Stracke (2007) also affirm that teachers‟ role is fundamental in creating and shaping a supportive environment

to promote students‟ active and collaborative learning; therefore, their lack of

knowledge and skills in exploiting a blended learning environment to promote and develop students‟ learning is one of the most stringent challenges to the implementation of EFL blended learning

1.2.4 Blended learning and E-learning

The term “blended learning” and “E-learning” may sometimes be confused with each other; however, in fact, the usage of the two approaches is not interchangeable While e-learning refers to the situation where the interaction between the students and the teacher is done online, blended learning is a combination of learning at a distance and the traditional on-site learning According

to Littlejohn and Pegler (2007), e-learning has become an umbrella term that covers web-based instruction, online learning, networked learning, computer-assisted learning and computer-mediated learning or internet-enabled since 2002 Morris and Nahlik (2009) also share the similar viewpoints when stating that e-learning, in its broadest sense, is the learning that is electronically enabled and in its narrowest sense, it is web-based or internet-enabled To make it clearer, e-learning is referred

to as “the term most commonly used to represent the broader domain of development and research activities on the application of technologies to education” (Morris and Nahlik, 2009, p 4) From all these definitions, it is clear that the use of information and communication technologies in learning is strongly emphasized in

e-learning Blended learning, which is also called “hybrid learning” or “mixed - mode learning”, on the other hand, despite being a controversial term, is the

combination of face-to-face and online learning in its essence

1.2.5 Blended learning frameworks

Hornby (1995) defines a framework is a structure giving shape and support to something Frameworks for blended learning are also varies for different learning

goals Alammary et al (2014) presented three distinct design approaches for

developing blended learning modules namely: low-impact approach in which online activities are added to an existing course, medium-impact approach which designs

an online activity to replace an existing activity and high-impact approach which

focuses on developing a blended module from the outset or redesigning a face or web-enhanced module as a blended learning module However, according to Alammary et al (2014), it can increase the teachers‟ workload and be challenging for the teachers or lecturers to develop an appropriate online activity due to lack of time and incentives Another framework for e-learning was created by Khan (2003) Khan‟s e-learning framework which is also referred to as Khan‟s Octagonal Framework because of its octagonal shape representing the eight dimensions of the e-learning environment provides a framework that enables educators to select appropriate ingredients for flexible learning environments (Khan 2003) While Khan‟s Octagonal Framework focuses primarily on e-learning, Singh (2003) adapted this framework to focus on blended learning In the words of Singh, the framework created by Khan (2003) can serve as a guidance to outline, create, provide, organize and assess blended learning programmes Khan‟s framework consists of eight dimensions as be shown in Figure 1.1

Figure 1.1 Khan’s Octagonal Framework (adapted by Singh, 2003)

The framework has eight dimensions namely: institutional, pedagogical, technological, interface design, evaluation, management, resource support and ethical Each of these dimensions in the framework represents a category of issues that need to be addressed in order to create a meaningful learning experience

(Singh, 2003) The institutional dimension is involved in issues relating to organizational, administrative affairs, academic affairs and student services with reference to matters of education Staff involved in designing and implementing blended learning programmes should consider the preparedness of the organization, availability and structure of content and infrastructure as well as the students‟ needs According to Singh (2003), a needs analysis should be conducted to ascertain the needs of the students

The pedagogical dimension refers to teaching and learning needs This dimension addresses issues concerning content that has to be delivered, students‟ needs and learning objectives This dimension also includes the design, organization and methods and strategies of blended learning environments In Singh‟s view, the learning goals or learning outcomes need to be listed and the most appropriate delivery method is selected The technological dimension considers issues related to technology infrastructure used in blended learning environments, particularly the e-learning aspects This includes infrastructure planning such as servers that support the learning programme, bandwidth and accessibility, security and hardware and software This includes creating a learning environment with the appropriate tools

to be able to deliver a learning programme (Singh, 2003) This dimension also addresses the need for finding the most suitable learning management system that could manage multiple delivery types and a content management system that catalogues the learning content for the learning programme (Amalou, 2006)

The interface design directs to the overall look and feel of the blended learning programme Teachers need to ensure that the user interface supports all the components and features of the blend The interface design dimension includes page and site design, content design, navigation, and usability testing The user interface needs to support all the elements of the blend It has to be able to unite the different components of the blend, which will enable the students to use the different delivery types as well as switch from one delivery type to another In the words of Singh

(2003), issues relating to content structure, navigation, graphics and help features are also addressed in this dimension

According to Singh (2003), the evaluation dimension involves both assessment of learners and evaluation of the instruction and learning environment Programmes should have the capability to evaluate the efficiency of a learning programme as well as the performance of the students This dimension also addresses maintenance of learning environment and distribution of information, registration and notification and scheduling the different elements of the blend The resource support dimension analyses the online and offline support and resources required to support meaningful learning environments Resource support could also include counselor or tutor that is accessible in person, via e-mail or on chat systems (Singh, 2003) Singh also states that issues such as equal opportunities, cultural diversity, bias, geographical diversity, information accessibility, etiquette, and legal issues such as copyright are also addressed in this dimension

Thanks to Khan‟s (2003) e-learning framework, educators can select appropriate components for bendable learning environments While Khan‟s Octagonal Framework focuses primarily on e-learning, Singh adapts this framework

to focus on blended learning Khan‟s framework can serve as a guide to planning, development, delivery, management and evaluation of combined learning programs

1.2.6 Learning outcomes in blended learning

According to Mugenyi and Zhu (2016), there are four factors that make up the learning outcomes of a blended learning course: they are intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, knowledge construction and learning performance

The first factor is intrinsic motivation which is used to measure the learners‟ experiences with regard to the experimental tasks set in the blended learning intervention; it is also considered as a learning outcome The learners‟ intrinsic motivation can be negatively influenced by emotional feelings of anxiety, nervousness and tension among learners taking part in blended learning

environments Saadè and Otrakji (2007) also point out that the state of learner anxiety can result from the utilization of a learning management system or the tasks

to be attempted among other factors Kuo et al., (2013) share the same view when

state that much as course grades are usually used as indicators of student achievement, affective factors are also as good as cognitive factors in indicating outcomes of learning From Kremenska‟s (2009) viewpoint, doing work with ease, fun, enjoyment and competence has been found to indicate learners‟ intrinsic motivation

The second factor and another learning outcome is satisfaction According to Naaj, Nachouki and Ankit (2012), the satisfaction of learners under blended learning environments is the baseline requirement in order for a successful implementation plan Debourgh (1999) noted a high connection between learner satisfaction and the teachers‟ work especially in terms of availability and feedback time to students

According to Bower and Kamata (2008), technology with reliable and accessible equipment is essential for learner satisfaction In addition, the learners‟ felling of being frustrated with technology involved in blended learning often leads

to low satisfaction in the learning process as stated by Chong (1998) In Debourgh‟s (2003) view, the outlining of the course content and its teaching in blended learning environments are known to lead to learner satisfaction Jones and Chen (2008) found out that since the course instructor helped learners update and gave prompt feedback, learners made more effort to interact with the instructor as compared to a traditional classroom

In addition, research shows that the learning process from others as a way of

knowledge construction in online learning has resulted from learners exchanging

ideas as well as sharing information (Rahman et al., 2011) According to Lai

(2013), high levels of knowledge construction were found in a doctoral program in which the instructor had a good design of the academic programs and assigned roles

to the learner acquisition of their own knowledge

Learning performance is the last learning outcome When comparing the

learner performance while doing traditional face-to-face instruction with blended learning, it shows that blended learning instruction yields better performance (Hill, Chidambaram and Summers, 2013) although the contrary has also been found out

in other studies (Brown and Liedholm, 2002) Kwak, Menezes and Sherwood (2013) affirm there is no effect of blended learning on the performance of students

in a statistics course Or even in some studies, performance in blended courses has been the same as in traditional face-to-face as noted by Delialioglu and Yildirim (2009), superior or better (Atan, Rahman and Idrus, 2004) or even worse (Brown

and Liedholm, 2002)

In this study, not all factors mentioned above was dealt with, only satisfaction and learning performance were considered to be the main criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the blended TOEIC listening course

1.3 Overview of the TOEIC listening test

1.3.1 The TOEIC test

TOEIC, which stands for Test of English for International Communication, measures English proficiency in a work related environment It is designed to give

an accurate measurement of the English capabilities of people who do not use English as their mother tongue According to the information from the website by IIG Vietnam (a leading organization in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in testing and educational quality accreditation), TOEIC is widely used in more than

150 countries around the world with more than 7 million test entries per year and is the most prestigious test used by more than 14,000 organizations to assess English proficiency in the internationally working environment In Vietnam, TOEIC has been used as a benchmark for more than 127 universities, colleges and vocational schools and is a recruiting and evaluation standard in more than 350 corporations, enterprises

1.3.2 TOEIC listening comprehension section

In the TOEIC listening section, there are 100 questions and lasts for about 45 minutes: In part 1, students see ten pictures For each picture, they will hear four statements and they must select the statement that best matches the picture Students should see the picture carefully and try to predict the vocabularies and statements they might hear By first picking out the key focus of the picture and quickly brainstorming related vocabularies and possible statements, they are likely to be much better prepared when they actually listen In part 2, students will listen to the questions or statements followed by three possible responses They must choose the response that best matches the question This part of the test is a pure listening challenge as there are no clues students can use to predict what they are going to listen to Responses in this part are authentic and students must often listen for implied meaning of a response to realize it is the correct one In part 3, students will listen to ten conversations and then answer three questions for each conversation The students should answer questions as quickly as they can especially when the listening text is still being read Moreover, students need to use the time between conversations to skim the next three questions, predict what they are going to listen

to and isolate exactly what they should be listening for As in part 3, in part 4 students will listen to ten monologues followed by three questions for each The difference is that instead of a conversation, the listening features a single speaker giving a talk: a report, a speech, an advertisement, etc The similarities to part 3 mean that students can adopt the same approaches used there In fact, the significantly longer texts make it even more important that students have an exact idea of what they are listening for in advance, listening first and then considering the questions later won‟t work because there is simply too much information to remember

1.4 ICT tools and listening

According to Vandergrift (2011), information and communication technology (ICT) can be a great asset for listening development Thanks to technology, teachers can choose audios and videos from different sources according to their learners‟

needs and use multimedia to improve their listening lessons (Lynch, 2009; Flowerdew and Miller, 2005) English listeners can also be supported by ICT in many ways First, they can independently access the recording from their computers, mobiles or other audio devices Second, they can carry the listening tasks at their own pace without having to depend on the pace of the class (Wilson, 2008) Third, thanks to multimodality, “the opportunities for processing input are amplified” (Rost, 2007: p.102) In fact, with multimedia devices the second language listener can control the audio, see images while listening and use subtitles and the transcript Moreover, with the replay, pause and rewind options, the listener

is no longer subject to the temporal and linear nature of speech (Guichon and McLornan, 2008)

Fourth, multimedia can aid listening comprehension as it has been shown by some researchers such as Guichon and McLornan (2008), Grgurvic and Hegelheimer (2007), Hulstijn (2003) and Brett (1997)

Overview of Moodle

Moodle stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment According to Moodle Official Web Site, Moodle is defined as an Open Source Course Management System, also known as a Learning Management System or a Virtual Learning Environment It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students Moodle with its wide range of tools definitely offers users to be creative, but with certain purpose, the most probably seen in self-directed studying The focus of the Moodle project is always on giving educators the best tools to manage and promote learning, Moodle is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other e-learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors With customizable management features, it is used to create private websites with online courses for educators and trainers to achieve learning goals

1.5 The blended TOEIC listening course

The blended TOEIC listening course was planned and designed by the researcher in order to provide an alternative instructional environment for the on-ground TOEIC listening course The blended TOEIC listening course was organized

as a combination of both face-to-face and online instructional assignments The class meets face-to-face every week for two hours in the classroom and the rest of the activity was carried out online In class, teacher would instruct the learners to discuss the previous online assignments, and learn different kinds of questions in the different listening parts The learners would have chances to take part in pair works or group works to practice listening, discuss some topics or questions related

to the lesson Teacher also gave the learners feedback as well as tips for the listening task, some of which are also provided on the course web page as power point presentation

The TOEIC learners enrolled in a 12 - week TOEIC course (see Appendix 5 for the detailed syllabus of the listening course) and were asked to complete a variety of assignments both online and offline Since the course is a mixture of face

to face and online classes, the materials used were a combination of handouts with CDs and videos prepared by the teacher as well as various e-learning resources uploaded and linked through the Moodle system A number of Moodle technology features are utilized such as discussion, forums, and online assignments

Figure 1.2 The homepage of Blended TOEIC listening course

When the learners log on the TOEIC listening web page via Moodle, the blended TOEIC listening course (Figure 1.2) becomes visible A plentiful number

of online resources are available on the course platform providing a wider arena of listening materials for practice All assignments are submitted electronically by being uploaded to the course homepage The previous handouts and audios are also uploaded on the page to the equivalent weeks in addition to other added resources All these means helped to increase the e- learning experience of the learners

Figure 1.3 Further practice web page

The course web page also provides tools to enhance interaction between students and the teacher and includes security and administration The learners are capable of uploading their homework and opinions; therefore, the teacher can leave comments or feedbacks for every homework (See Figure 1.4 & 1.5)

Figure 1.4 Assigned homework

Figure 1.5 Summited homework

Besides, students have opportunities to access to a variety of exercises when doing online homework through online web page linked to the main site prepared

by the teacher Students‟ exercises are not only checked and commented from the teacher, but the students can also do their tasks and check that they are doing right

or wrong by themselves Furthermore, they can listen to the task at any time, any place and as many times as they like (Figure 1.6 & 1.7)

Figure 1.7 The learners check the results of excersies

1.6 Summary

In conclusion, this chapter mainly summarizes the theories, ideas, opinions related to the blended learning and listening skills The chapter has so far presented the relevant literature, which has helped to form the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study It is firstly concerned with the overview of blended learning, including some definitions of blended learning and features and possibilities as well as challenges to implementation of blended learning It also reviews the overview of listening comprehension, their definitions, significance, listening comprehension process and possible problems in listening comprehension The chapter also focuses on presenting a review of TOEIC listening test and ICT tools and listening All of these serve as a basis for an action research on applying a blended learning program to enhance listening performance for the students which

is carried out and presented in the following chapter

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the details of the methodology employed to carry out the present study It includes a discussion of the participants, the data collection instruments and the procedures for data collection and analysis

2.1 Research design

Action research was adopted as the research approach to answer the two research questions and achieve the aim and objectives of the study According to Ferrance (2000), action research is a suitable method for teachers who want to make appropriate changes to student learning and measure the possible effects Ferrance (2000) demonstrates “Action research projects influence thinking skills, sense of efficacy, willingness toshare and communicate, and attitudes toward the processof change.” (p.14) This method is also justified to offer significant benefits for the researcher, who is also a teacher Carr and Kemmis (2003) shares the same view when mentioning that action research is simply a form of self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of those practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out Johnson (1995) pointed out three mains advantages of action research The first one is to promote personal and professional growth and the second advantage is to improve practice to enhance student learning, and the final one is to advance the teacher profession

Action research was considered the best approach to do this study for three main reasons First, the aim of action research is bringing changes and the improvements in practice by intervening in a a deliberate way in the problematic situation (Burns, 2009) Second, action research is a problem-solving approach for a particular teaching or learning situation Finally, Beatty (2003) states that action research is very useful for teachers and researchers trying to find out how and for that purposes Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to assist learning