The effect of technology assisted teaching on 10th forms students listening comprehension a quasi experimantal study at ngoc hoi high school

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURESTable 1: Pre-test descriptive statistics………..Table 2: Post-test descriptive statistics……….Table 3: Part I of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of th

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NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH

-THE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED TEACHING

ON 10 TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

AT NGOC HOI HIGH SCHOOL

( NGHIÊN CỨU NGUỴ THƯCC̣ NGHIÊṂ VỀ

TÁC ĐÔNGC̣ CỦA VIÊCC̣ ÁP DUNGC̣

CÔNG NGHỆTRONG DAỴ NGHE HIÊU CHO HOCC̣ SINH LƠP 10

TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT NGỌC HỒI)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, 2011

-  

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH

-THE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED TEACHING

ON 10 TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

AT NGOC HOI HIGH SCHOOL

( NGHIÊN CỨU NGUỴ THƯCC̣ NGHIÊṂ VỀ

TÁC ĐÔNGC̣ CỦA VIÊCC̣ ÁP DUNGC̣

CÔNG NGHỆTRONG DAỴ NGHE HIÊU CHO HOCC̣ SINH LƠP 10

TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT NGỌC HỒI)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor : LAM THI PHUC HAN, M.A.

Hanoi, 2011

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

ESL: English as a Second Language

IT: Information Technology

NHHS: Ngoc Hoi High School

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Pre-test descriptive statistics……… Table 2: Post-test descriptive statistics……….Table 3: Part I of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of theexperimental group……….Table 4: Part II of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of the

experimental group………… Table 5: Part III of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of the

experimental group… Fingure 1: Students’ assessment on the importance of the Powerpoint

presentations in teaching and learning listening skill……… Fingure 2: Students’ assessment on effectiveness of the Powerpointpresentations in teaching and learning listening skill……… Figure 3: Students’ assessment of the effectiveness of the Powerpointpresentations in developing listening sub-skills ( from sub-skill 1 to

sub-skill 5)………Fingure 4: Change in percentage of students’ comprehension after theapplication of Powerpoint presentations ………Fingure 5: Change in percentage of students’ retention after the application

of Powerpoint presentations……….Table 6: Students’ opinions about the advantages of the Powerpointpresentations in teaching and learning listening skill………

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration………

Acknowledgements………

Abstract………

List of abbreviations………

List of tables and figures………

PART A: INTRODUCTION……….

1 Rational for the study………

2 Objectives and significance of the study………

3 Research questions………

4. Scope of the study……….3

5 Methods of the study………

6 Organization of the study………

PART B: DEVELOPMENT………

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……….

1.1 Listening comprehension………

1.1.1 Definition of listening comprehension………

1.1.2 The importance of listening in second language learning………

1.1.3 Some challenges of to the learners………

1.1.4 Listening stages………

1.1.4.1 Pre-listening stage………

1.1.4.2 While-listening stage………

1.1.4.3 Post-listening stage………

1.2 Technology-assisted teaching………

1.2.1 Definition of technology- assisted teaching………

1.2.2 Role of technology in language teaching………

1.2.3 Previous studies………

1.2.4 The application of Powerpoint in designing the activities of a listening

1.2.4.1 Pre-listening………

1.2.4.2.While –listening………

1.2.4.3 Post- listening………

CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY ……….

2.1 Background of the study………

2.1.1 Ngoc Hoi school and its teaching and learning conditions………

2.1.2 The syllabus………

2.2 Methods of the study………

2.2.1 The quasi-experimental method………

2.2.1.1 Definition of the quasi-experimental method………

2.2.1.2 Rational of using a quasi-experimental method………

2.2.2 The subjects ………

2.2.3 Data collecting instruments………

2.2.3.1 Pre and post-tests ………

2.2.3.2 Questionnaires………

2.2.4 Procedures………

2.2.4.1 Before the experimental treatment………

2.2.4.2 During the experimental treatment ………

2.2.4.3 After the experimental treatment………

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DICSUSSION………

3.1 The findings of the study………

3.1.1 The results of listening tests………

3.1.1.1 The results of pre-tests scores of the two groups ………

3.1.1.2 The results of post-tests scores of the two groups………

3.1.2 The results of the questionnaire………

3.1.2.1 Students’ assessment on the importance and the effectiveness of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill…………

3.1.2.2 Students’ assessment on their listening skill improvement…………

3.1.2.3 The benefits of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and

learning listening skill………

3.2 Discussions on the study results………

3.3 Summary………

PART C: CONCLUSION………

1 Summary of the main findings and conclusion………

2 Pedagogical implications………

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research………

REFERENCES………

APPENDICES……….

APPENDIX 1: Pre and post tests ………

APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire ………

APPENDIX 3: Detailed scores of the pre and post tests………

APPENDIX 4: Lesson plans………

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part is comprised of six sections including the rationale for the study, theobjectives and significance of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, themethods used in the study and the organization of the study

1 Rationale for the study

Due to the current status of English as a global language of science, technology, andinternational relations, Vietnam considers the teaching of English a major educationalpriority Teachers of English have made great efforts to make use of the multimediatechnology and to integrate this technology in their classroom teaching to improve theirEnglish language teaching

Applying Information Technology (IT) into teaching and learning is one of theessential tasks of the National Education Service at present IT application to English as asecond language (ESL) teaching is, therefore, a need and the most important one to makethe more effectiveness The advantages of using the technology-assisted teaching in thelanguage classroom have been recognized by many researchers in applied linguistics Themain one is considered to be its ability to present and immerse learners into completecommunicative situations (Lonergan, 1984) According to Hutchen (2004), the use oftechnology-assisted instruction is widely applied in education to improve studentperformance, learning and satisfaction Another advantage is the ability of the technology-assisted teaching to cover non-verbal aspects of communication and its cross-culturalcomparison potential (Stempleski & Tomalin, 1990) In addition, using IT tools in theclassroom allows differentiation of teaching and learning according to students‟ abilities,learning styles and personalities

To teach English more effectively, teachers and students need to approach varioustypes of IT tools such as computers, overhead-projectors, multimedia projectors and somepopular softwares in teaching as: Power point, Word processor,Window media Thepowerful IT tools, which can help teachers to expand the four walls of the tradditionalclassroom and rebuild the class with many useful controlled and free activities forcommunicative competence, are increasing in both quality and quantity

I myself enjoy teaching English, especially teaching listening skill with the help of ITtools and I find that students are interested in the lessons with the application of IT I have

also tried using the technology-assisted teaching for the teaching of listening skill andfound it rather promising However, there have still been some questions such as howmuch does the technology-assisted teaching actually motivate students to learn? To whatextent does it affect students‟ listening comprehension in classroom? How should thetechnology-assisted teaching be used in listening lessons to improve students‟ listeningcomprehension?

These questions motivated me to carry out the study on “The effect of

technology-assisted teaching on 10th form students’ listening comprehension” With this study, the

researcher mainly focused on carrying out a quasi-experimental research to investigate theeffectiveness of using the technology-assisted teaching on improving students‟ listeningcompetence

The technology-assisted teaching or IT tools, which are mentioned in this study,are computers, Multimedia Projectors to show the Powerpoint presentations In applying

IT, almost teachers in the author‟s school context understand IT as the use of PowerPoint,which is introduced to them in the course of applying IT in foreign language teaching

2 Objectives and significance of the study

The first and foremost aim of the study is to find out the effects of technology-assistedteaching on improving the students‟ performance in English listening skill, so as tochange their attitude to listening as well as to enhance the students‟ participation inEnglish listening classes of the 10th form students at Ngoc Hoi High School (NHHS) Thesecond one is to discover the benefits of technology-assisted teaching that studentsperceive in listening comprehension Last but not least important, some effective ways forteaching listening comprehension are recommended with a view to improve students‟listening comprehension

The study is done in a hope that it will help better the situation of teaching andlearning English listening comprehension at NHHS Thus, it will help enhance students‟English competence

3 Research questions

To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, this study was designed to test thefollowing hypothesis:

- Hypothesis: Technology-assisted teaching helps to improve students‟ listening

in listening comprehension The findings of the study will also contribute to ourunderstanding of the role of technology in language teaching and learning in general

4 Scope of the study

The research limits its scope to the teaching of listening skill in English using theregular English text book 10 and to its participants of 10th form students at NHHS Thechoice of participants is simply a matter of convenience the researcher is teachinglistening for 10th form students at NHHS

In this study, the term “technology” is used in a very narrow sense In fact,

„technology‟ in this study refers to the use of the Powerpoint as a support to the teachingand learning of listening comprehension in the researcher‟s school She is fully aware thattechnology is not synonymous with the Powerpoint, but she decided to use the term in thisrestricted sense because this is a common way that technology is meant in her context

5 Method of the study

To realize the objectives of the study , the main research method employed in thisstudy is a quasi- experimental design which according to Seliger and Shohamy (1989:136)involves the three basic components of experiments: the population (the 10th formstudents at NHHS), the treatment (Technology-assisted teaching) and the measurement ofthe treatment (t-test) The data for the study were obtained through the followinginstruments:

* Pre and post-tests which were designed by the researcher to find out the students‟ability in listening comprehension.

experiment as a complementary tool to discover the benefits of technology-assistedteaching (the benefits of the application of Powerpoint presentations) that studentsperceive in listening comprehension

6. Organization of the study

The thesis consists of three main parts:

Part A is the introduction, which presents an overview of the study with the rationalefor the research, the aims and the research questions of the study It also narrows thescope, presents the research method and outlines the content of the study

Part B is the development, which includes three chapters as follows:

*Chapter 1 is the Literature review This chapter presents all the related theoreticalbackground that precedes and necessitates the information of the research

*Chapter 2 describes the research methods used in the study with some necessarycomponents

*Chapter 3 is devoted to a detailed description of of data analysis and thoroughdiscussion of the findings of the study In this chapter some explaination andinterpretations of the findings are explored

Part C is the conclusion which presents the study conclusions and teachingimplications Besides, it also offers the limitations and suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitatesthe information of the research is presented There are two main parts: Listeningcomprehension and Technology-assisted teaching The first part deals with definition oflistening comprehension, the importance of listening in second language learning, somechallenges of listening comprehension and stages in teaching listening, and the second onerefers to definition of Technology-assisted teaching, roles of Technology-assisted teaching,some previous studies on the effect of Technology on students‟ listening comprehension andthe application of Powerpoint Presentation in teaching listening

1 1 Listening comprehension

1.1.1 Definition of listening comprehension

Enlish listening is now well recognized as a crucial role in language learning andcommunication Over the last two decades, with a new wave of interest in thedevelopment of communicative competence in language teaching, listeningcomprehension skills have ever received much more attention in language teachingclassrooms Researchers have different views on the definition of listeningcomprehension:

Underwood (1989: 1) puts a simple and easy-to-understand definition According

to her, listening “is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from

something we hear.” Underwoord emphasizes the consciousness of listeners by using the

phrase “paying attention” Besides, listening here does not stress the word level but the

meaning of the whole utterance

Listening comprehension is defined by O‟Malley & Chamot (1989: 420) as follows:

“Listening comprehension is an active and conscious process in which the listener

constructs meaning by using cues from contextual information and existing knowledge, while relying upon multiple strategic resources to fulfil the task requirement”.

Buck (2001: 247) provide a broader definition of listening comprehension:

“Listening is a complex process in which the listeners takes the incoming data, an

acoustic signals, and interprets it based on a wide variety of linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge The linguistic knowledge includes knowledge of phonology, lexis, syntax,

semantics, discourse structure, pragmatics and sociolinguistics The non-linguistic knowledge includes knowledge of the topic, the context and general knowledge about the world and how it works”

Therefore, the concept of listening comprehension can be broadly defined aseverything that improves on the human processing which mediates between sounds andthe construction of meaning when listeners are expected to attend to what they hear toprocess it, to comprehend, to interpret, to evaluate and to respond to the incoming data Inorder to do all these things, they have to get envolved in the process and become activelisteners

From the concept of listening comprehension above, in this study the students‟listening comprehension is their performance on the listening tests

1.1.2 The importance of listening in second language learning

English listening plays quite an important role because the key to acquire alanguage is to receive language input In Rost‟s point of view, teaching listening is animportant part of L2 teaching because the learners are provided with input that helps themable to learn better Listening instruction is also a good chance for the learners to interactand learn spoken language as well as authentic spoken language Besides, Teachers canprovide the learners with listening exercises to draw their attention to new form in thelanguage such as vocabulary, grammar, interaction patterns ( Rost, 1991: 141) It is truethat listening is of great essence not only as a respective skill but also to the development

of the language proficiency Listening skill is obviously a necessary preliminary to thesuccess of the language learning process

Moreover, according to the second language acquisition theory, language input is themost essential condition of language acquisition As an input skill, listening plays a crucialrole in students‟ language development Krashen (1985) argues that people acquire language

by understanding the linguistic information they hear Thus language acquisition is achievedmainly through receiving understandable input and listening ability is the critical component

in achieving understandable language input Rost (1994) also pinpointed the importance oflistening in the language classroom as the supplier of the input for students Withoutcomprehension input at the right level, learning cannot work well In additions, students spendmost of their time listening to the teacher‟s lecture

Nichols and Stevens (see Elkhafaifi, 2005: 505) reported that among four language skills

in language learning: listening is the most frequently used skill: 45% is devoted tolistening, 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).Thus, it is of vital importance that students should be taught to listen effectively andcritically Given the importance of listening in language teaching and learning, it isessential for language teachers to help students become effective listeners

1.1.3 Some challenges of listening to the learners

Listening is usually a hard skill to master in one‟s own language as well as insecond language acquisition.There have been different views about factors that affectlistening comprehension:

According to Brown and Yule, there are four main groups of factors that causedifficulty in listening comprehension They are, in turns, the speaker, the listener, thecontent and support

“ there are four main groups of factors that cause difficulty in listening comprehension These are the speaker (that includes the numbers of speakers, the speaker’s speed, and the speaker’s accents); the listeners (this consists of the roles of the listeners, the level of response required and the listener’s interest in the subject): the content (vocabulary, grammar, information structure and background knowledge); and support (whether there are pictures, diagrams and visual aids ).

(Brown and Yule (1983:74)

Mary Underwood (1989: 16-19) draws out seven problems learner may encounterwhen learning to listen: fast speed; unrepeated thing; the listeners‟ limited vocabulary;failure to recognize the “signals”; interpretation; concentrate; and learning habit.Inaddition, unfamiliar topic can interfere with the learner‟s concentration which is a major

problem in listening activity According to Underwood (1989: 19), “If students find the

topic interesting, they will find concentration easier.” Interesting topic makes listening

activities enjoyable; students become engaged in classroom activities; therefore, it is agood way to minimize the harmful effect

Restriction of vocabulary is also the common problem for the learners Somewords in the listening text may be the new words for them, which may cause dificulty for

the learners‟ comprehension of the text Just as Underwood (1989:17) said, “For people

listening to a foreign language, 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”.

The lack of background knowledge, which is also called prior knowledge orschemata, may impede student performance As suggested by Underwood (1989: 19),students who are unfamiliar with the context may have considerable difficulty ininterpreting the words they hear even when they can understand their „surface‟ meaning

In short, the problems students may encounter in listening comprehension aremany and various As a result, the teacher should take into considerations the challengesmentioned above in order to assist the students to overcome the difficulties in listeningcomprehension and gain success in their listening Powerpoint presentation can be applied

as an effective tool here

1.1.4 Listening stages

Underwood (1989: 30-74) indicates that the teaching of a listening lesson isdivided into three main stages: pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening The three-stage listening lesson model is usually used by many teachers as it is very useful inteaching listening Each stage has its own purposes, activities and time allocation

1.1.4.1 Pre-listening stage

“Starting lessons with pre-listening activities brings a host of benefits to language learning.” (Boyle, 1984:24) Inevitably, pre-listening stage plays a vital role in

the whole process of teaching Pre-listening stage is aimed at preparing students to listen

and think about what they are going to hear Time allocation for this stage should be five or ten minutes According to Baker and Westrup, and Lewis and Hill, the purposes ofpre-listening phase are:

short to introduce and arouse interest in the topic

- to promote an active and flexible learning environment

- to help increase learners‟ motivation for learning

- to motivate learners by giving a reason for listening

- to provide some language preparations for the text

(Baker and Westrup ,2000;233 and Lewis & Hill, 1992; 195)

During this stage, teachers may use some activities such as: teacher givingbackground information, the students reading something relevant, the students looking atpictures, having discussions about the topic/situation, doing a question and answer session

or written exercises, following instruction for the while-listening activity and takingconsideration of how the while-listening will be done (Underwood, 1989: 31) Theseactivities may provide an oppotunity for students to gain some knowledge which helpthem to follow the listening text more easily

1.1.4.2 While-listening stage

This stage is the main part of a listening lesson aiming at facilitating learners‟listening and checking their comprehension Time allocation for this stage is nearly twothirds of the whole lesson According to Underwood (1989: 45-48), while listeningactivities are what students are asked to do during the time they are listening to the text.The purpose of while listening activities is to help learners develop the skill of elicitingmessages from spoken language As developing the skills of listening for comprehension

is the aim, while-listening activities must be chosen carefully The activities of this stagehave the following requirements First, they should be interesting and carefully chosen tohelp students feel like listening, so that they may want to carry out the activites Second,they should be things which most students can do.Thus, teachers should provide otheractivities from textbook for slower classes and move from simpler tasks (listening forgetting key words/phrases, listening for main ideas, matching, deciding on true/falseinformation, numbering pictures, sequencing events…) to more complicated ones(answering MCQs, gap-filling, table/graph completing, answering informationquestions…) in order to motivate students to participate in the lessons Besides,theinstruction for these activities should be clear (rephrasing textbook instructions ifnecessary)

Approriacy is considered as the main characteristic of while-listening activities.Therefore, activities of this state should be suitable with students‟ abilities and shouldrelate directly to the text

The following points should be kept in mind when planning while-listeningactivities:

+Decide what is and is not important to understand

+Use predicting to encourage students to monitor their comprehension as they listen

+ Use questions to focus students' attention on the elements of the text crucial to

comprehension of the whole

+ Organize activities to guide listeners through the text (combine global activities such as getting the main idea, topic, etc.)

why their responses were incorrect.) (addapted from M.A minor thesis of Do, 2010)

To conclude, "good while-listening activities help learners find their way throughthe listening text and build u p the expectation raised by the pre-listening activities".(Mary Underwood, 1989:46)

1.1.4.3 Post-listening stage

This is the final stage of the listening lesson with the post-listening activities doneafter the listening is completed The teacher often makes up and varies the activities forlearners to do depending on their level of English competence This stage often lasts forten or fifteen minutes The activities at this stage are aimed at helping learners to use whatthey have obtained from the listening text

According to Underwood (1989), the first purpose of post-listening activities is tocheck how well the students have understood and whether they have completed thelistening tasks.The teachers may give an answer orally, show the answers on the board or

on the screen or ask students to check again the answers in the book The second purpose

of post-listening activities is to reflect why some students have failed to understand ormiss parts of the passage Another purpose of post-listening activities is to expand thetopic or the language of the listening text Post-listening work can be more effective ifthey are integrated with other skills like reading, writing or speaking skills Generally,students spend time practising designed post-listening activities in textbook, which meanssummarising listening passages in spoken or written form, relating to students‟ ownexperience and extending the topic to oral or written presentations Therefore, whatstudents should do in this stage are:

Doing evaluation: Students answer true–false questions or multiple-choice questions as

an evaluation of their understanding

Practising speaking: Students act out a dialogue, interview or discussion on topics

related to the text

Practising writing: Students write messages, postcards, letters, etc on topics related to

1.2.1 Definition of technology- assisted teaching

There are many ways to define the term Technology assisted-teaching Someteachers use this term to refer to any things that teachers can use in teaching, such asmedia images, audio or digital devices Some other educators use this term to “refer to theapplication of computer or electronic equipments in the teaching and learning”(Muffoletto, 1994:99) For the purposes of this thesis, the definition of Technologyassisted-teaching understood as educational technology which is the study and ethicalpractice of facilitating learning, and improving performance by creating, using, andmanaging appropriate technological processes and resources.” (AECT, 2004)

In this study, the term “technology” is used in a very narrow sense In fact,

„technology‟ in this study refers to the use of the Powerpoint as a support to the teachingand learning of listening comprehension According Kisito, PowerPoint presentationsconsist of a number of individual pages or "slides" The "slide" analogy is a reference tothe slide projector Slides may contain text, graphics, sound, movies, and other objects,which may be arranged freely PowerPoint, however, facilitates the use of a consistentstyle in a presentation using a template or "Slide Master" Kisito, F (2007:1-2)

1.2.2 Role of technology in language teaching

Information Technology in general and computers in particular, have had greateffects on the general picture of English Language Teaching According to Hutchens(2004:1), the use of technology can help teachers develop innovative teaching stratergies

that increase student learning and comprehension and it should be implemented in theclassroom He also strongly believes that technology can be an effective tool forconveying information and creating a rich learning environment Hubbard and Siskin(2004) argue convincingly for the significant promise of Computer Assisted LanguageLearning (CALL) for developing learners‟ conscious knowledge of the language, forimproving listening and reading comprehension, and for improving pronunciation.

Numerous researchers have supported the use of multimedial technology for EFLinstruction ( Jonassen 2000; Kitao 1995; Kang 1999; Pino-Silva 2002,2004; Stepp-Greany2002) (cited in Carlos A Mayora) Their researches show that using multimedialtechnology in the classroom:

+helps teachers to deal more effectively with a large group of students

+ makes the introducion and presentation of content more dynamic and attractive for students

+increases student motivation due to the interactive nature of the activities

+ introduces a variety of print, audio, and visual materials that match different student learning styles and preferences

Using a computer, a teacher can also provide students with different kinds oflearning Garrett‟s view is that the computer can provide textual support for listening(transcripts, glossary help, structural clues), which is particularly valuable at pre-intermediate lever of language study where literacy and knowledge for formal languageplay a much greater role in comprehension

In Vietnam, in applying IT, almost teachers and educators understand IT as the use

of PowerPoint, which is an incredibly popular piece of software, coming with Microsoftpackages Teachers can use Powerpoint to create presentations to help explain differenttopics and supply students with many kinds of tasks The main purpose of Power Point is

to enable the user to create dynamic, informational slide shows through the use of text,graphics, and animation Slide shows created with the software are often displayed onprojection screens for training, or educational presentations Additionally, the slides can

be arranged and printed as handouts for reference.With PowerPoint, teachers can makecharts, tables, and macros, and insert images, audio, video, and other multimedia files tosupport for their teaching activities Although PowerPoint has been around for years, it

has just begun to spread to schools and English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms asmore and more classrooms and teachers have access to computers and the hardware to usePowerPoint Therefore, PowerPoint is becoming an increasingly popular medium in ELT

in the classrooms (adappted from Nguyen‟s minor thesis -2010)

1.2.3 Previous studies

According to Hutchen (2004:3), the use of technology-assisted instruction iswidely applied in education to improve student performance, learning and satisfaction.The results in his study indicated that technology-assisted instruction creates a rich,effective, and efficient learning environment which increases student performance andlearning Many other researchers share these ideas Garrett, N (2009:717) says thattechnology does offer the potential for enormous enhancement of foreing languagelearning Liu, M (2001:23) points out that computer technology holds the promise andpotential for offering ways in which teachers can help students improve their oral andlistening skills Kern, R (2006:189) states that the benefits of CALL have been widelyaccepted and educators agree that it can be an effective instruction tool In addition,several educators have realized that effective use of technology can influence student

learning Byk, J (2008:23) said: “ I find the use of technology in the classroom amazing It

offers great visual aids as well as listening and reading inputs through power point presentations, for instance I believe technology offers tools to teachers if it’s well used and we must not forget that tools without great content and interaction do not offer good quality teaching” Scrivener, J (2005: 18) mentions “Computer presentation programs (Microsoft PowerPoint ) are a good way of storing and showing images and text in unusual ways, a sort of high-tech slide show”

The M.A thesis conducted by Huong, N.T (2010) mentioned the effectiveness of

IT in language classroom as follow:

“With the use of projectors in the language classrooms, language teachers can use

slide presentation to make their performance more interesting Students have reported to be highly interested in the lesson and therefore they participated increasingly into the activities given by the language teachers It means that students are extremely motivated to interact during the class time, and as a result, the language teaching becomes more effective Motivated students are every teacher’s dream In this target, teachers use IT is one of the most effective ways”

Kisito, F (2007:1-2) says that many teachers in his school find MicrosoftPowerPoint a more powerful visual tool for aiding instruction because the program allowsthe display not just of textual information but also graphic and pictorial information, both

of which facilitate retention and learning He confirms that if you use PowerPoint smartlyand wisely to assist your teaching, you will find that it adds more dynamism to yourclassroom activities, as well as tickle the interest of many students

From the points of the previous researchers and educators about the effectiveness

of the technology applied in teaching, it is certain that application of Powerpointpresentations in language teaching, especially the teaching of listening skill is verynecessary and useful

1.2.4 The application of Powerpoint in designing the activities of a listening lesson

As a high school teacher, the author always tries to use the Powerpoint presentations

in teaching English, expecially in teaching listening skill Below are some activities used

in three stages of a listening lesson: Pre-listening stage, while-listening stage and listening stage (Lesson plans: Unit11, Unit 12 and Unit 14 – Appendix 4)

post-1.2.4.1 Pre-listening stage

The aim of this stage is to help students to get familliar with the topic of the spokentext, understand the background knowledge and stimulate students‟ interest by setting thescene Therefore, teachers can do this by pre-teaching some of the most difficult language(new words/difficult grammar points/ structures) They can also encourage students tomake predictions about the content of the text by using games, crossword, or matchingactivity

Below are some activities used to pre-teach listening skill in unit 11 and unit 12(English of 10th form) with the aid of the Powerpoint presentations

In unit 11 (English 10th form) with the listening lesson is about “ National parks”,Powerpoint sofware can be used to design some pre-listening activities in which studentslook at some photographs of Cuc Phuong National Park and listen to a part of the song(Cuc Phuong National Park) and guess the name of the place then speak about this placeusing their own knowledge of the place

Picture 1: Screen of pre-listening picture guessing designed with the use

Picture 2: Screent of the pre-listening crossword designed with Powerpoint –

1.2.4.2 While –listening stage

In this stage, students often listen to the text twice and do some tasks at the same time.Therefore, with the help of Powerpoint , teachers can design many types of gap fill ( wordlevel, phrase level or sentence level), they needn‟t use the original tasks in the textbook.For example, they can design the new tasks basing on the level of their students Below isone task in unit 11 (English 10th form)

Picture 3: Screen of while-listening gap fill designed with Powerpoint – unit 11

Task 1 Listen and fill in the missing information

Cuc Phuong National Park was officially opened in 1960

Cuc Phuong is located 160 _kilometressouthwestof Hanoi

In 2002, nearly 100,000 visitors visited Cuc Phuong There are about 2,000 different species of flora and

450 species of fauna Nguyen Hue’s army was stationed in Quen Voi before

it made its surprise attack on Thang Long

With this software, teachers can also save time by showing the mistakes and thecorrect answers on the screen For some simple gaps, teachers needn‟t explain muchbecause they can use the marking and explaining functions This save them more time to

do other activities

Picture 4: Screent of while-listening True or False designed with Powerpoint- Unit 12

T

II While you listen:

Task 1: Listen and decide whether the

statements are true or false:

some

sweet and gentle.

Vietnam, when he hears the song.

1.2.4.3 Post- listening stage

In this stage, teachers might let students practise the designed post-listeningactivities in textbook, summarise listening passages in spoken or written form, relate to

students‟ own experience, and extend the topic to oral or written presentations Basing on

the level of students, teachers can design suitable post-listening activities For example:

Picture 5: Screen of post-listening summary designed with Powerpoint –unit 11

Work in groups Complete the following table about

Cuc Phuong National Park.

Time of opening

Location

Provinces it belongs to

Number of species of flora

Number of species of fauna

Number of visitors(2002)

Best time of visiting

This table helps students a lot to present the content of listening text Moreover, it is easy for other students to follow the presentation

Picture 6: Screen of post-listening summary designed with Powerpoint –unit 14

III.After you listen: Talk about the Pelé’s life.

born/ 1940

played / Santos FC/ 1956 joined and won/ 3 world cups

played/ New York Cosmos FC /1971-1977 After his retirement/ became

ambassador for the sport

Above are some pictures illustrating the way teachers can use the Powerpointsoftware to design listening activities in three stages Due to the limited time, the authoronly chose some typical ones which are useful for this research

CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY

In this chapter, the researcher will provide some information about the background

in which the study took place, which study includes NHHS and its teaching and learningconditions, and the syllabus The second part of this chapter will deal with the methods ofthe study including the quasi-experimental method, data collecting instruments and theprocedures of the research

2.1 Background of the study

This section is devoted to the discussion of NHHS, where the researcher worksand does the research In fact, the researcher will refer to the factors that play a great part

in her research such as the school with its teaching and learning conditions and theEnglish syllabus which has been used for grade 10 at the school

2.1.1 Ngoc Hoi school and its teaching and learning conditions

Ngoc Hoi High School, which is located in Thanh Tri district, Hanoi, was founded

in 1966 Since its foundation, it has always proved to be a school of high teaching andlearning quality and has made contributions to the education and training course of thenation It has more than eighty teachers, eight of them are teachers of English Its 1584students are divided into 36 classes NHHS students are not very interested in Englishbecause they are specialized in Maths, Physics and Chemistry, which they will do to takethe entrance exams to universities Therefore, all teachers of English at NHHS are trying

to improve their teaching to motivate their students In fact, they have been trying to apply

IT to their teaching to motivate their students to learn English

In recent years, computer has been used in NHHS A multi-functional room equippedwith a computer and a projector was built in 2004 This has made the application ofinformation technology into language teaching feasible Therefore, all the teachers in thisschool have been applying IT in their teaching to make their teaching lessons more effective

In the year 2007, the school has invested much more in equipments for teaching and learning.Actually, there are 5 classrooms which are equipped with the wifi network Each has onecomputer accompanied with loudspeakers, headphones, microphones, an overhead projectorand a PowerPoint screen, and a video player, which has changed the ways of EnglishLanguage teaching and learning As a result, teachers can design electronic lesson plans withvisual illustrations and audio aids to teach their students This

makes the lessons more interesting and easier for students to understand Students alsoappear to be more enthusiastic with these kinds of electronic lessons Moreover in eachlistening lesson, students no longer have to listen to the teacher‟ voice They have chance

to listen to tape recorder or CD This helps them to get familiar with the native accent

2.1.2 The syllabus

At NHHS, the new English textbooks have been in use for four years These newtextbooks are underpinned by a theme-based approach to the introduction of languageinput Now they are compulsory and adapted in teaching English at all schools and allgrades Each textbook contains sixteen units Each unit consists of five sections They are,

in turns, reading, speaking, listening, writing and language focus In the English textbook

10, there are twenty listening periods with different topics They are arranged as follows:

Unit 1:A day in the life of ………( A cyclo‟s morning activities)

Unit 2: School talks

Unit 3: People‟s background

Test yourself A: Martin Luther King‟s background

Unit 4: Special Education (Vang Trang Khuyet Club)

Unit 5: Technology and you ( An old company director‟s experience of learning how to use a computer)

Unit 6: An excursion ( The weekend picnic)

Test yourself B: Oxford City

Unit 7: The mass media ( Some radio news)

Unit 8: The story of my village ( Popffero town)

Test yourself C: Sheila Brooks‟s village

Unit 9: Undersea world

Unit 10: Conservation ( Forest fire)

Unit 11: National parks

Test yourself D: National park

Unit 12: Music (Van Cao)

Uni1 13: Films and cinema

Unit 14: The world cup ( Pele- a famous footbal player)

Test yourself E: Advertisement

Unit 15: Cities ( The Statue of Liberty)

Unit 16:Historical Places ( Hoi An – an ancient town)

Test yourself F: Bangkok

This is the background where I has done my research The next section will deal withthe methods of the study

2.2 Methods of the study

This section will deal with quasi-experiment method which is used for this study, theresearcher would like to provide its definition with an aim at more understanding this type

of method

2.2.1 The quasi-experimental method.

2.2.1.1 Definitionof the quasi-experimental method.

Quasi-experimental method is a method designed basing on situations whichalready exist in the real world (Campell and Stanley 1963) These researchers labeled thisresearch method “quasi-experimental” because they conducted under conditions in which

it is difficult to control many of the variables and in which subjects cannot be assigned tospecial groups for the purposes of the research Quasi-experimental studies examineoutcome; however they do not involve randomly assigning participants to treatment andcontrol groups A quasi-experimental study might compare outcomes for individualsreceiving program activities with outcomes for similar group of individuals not receivingprogram activities (Herbert W Seliger & Elana Shohamy 1989)

2.2.1.2 Rational of using a quasi-experimental method

There are some reasons why a quasi- experimental method is used

First, a quasi- experimental research is probably more representative of theconditions found in educational contexts, (Campell & Stanley 1963) where laboratory-likeresearch conditions are impossible Yet, Seliger and Shohamy (1989) argues that “ Thismethod is likely to have more external validity because it is conducted under conditionscloser to those normally found in educational contexts For these reasons, researchconducted under a quasi-experimental design format is often less likely to meet resistance

from the „consumers‟ of research, such as language teachers Furthermore, it is easier togain access to subject populations and thus easier to conduct such research For thesereasons, quasi-experimental designs are also ideal for teacher-conducted research, inwhich the exploration of a research ideal is the primary goal.”(Seliger & Shohamy 1998:149)

Second, quasi-experimental method is carried out to test a hypothesis about a

“cause-and-effect relationship” Specifically, classroom researchers use control andexperimental groups to test their hypotheses about the effects of implementing a particularmethodological treatment in language teaching (Allwright, 1991:41)

This study was intended to test the causal relationship between the effect oftechnology- assisted teaching and students‟ listening competence A quasi-experimentaldesign is therefore quite appropriate to the purpose of the study The next section providesinformation about the research subjects and data collecting instruments

2.2.2 The subjects

The subjects are one hundred sixty grade 10 students at Ngoc Hoi High school.They come from class 10A3, 10A5, 10A8 and 10A10, in which the researcher taughtEnglish Their pre-supposed level in English is pre-intermediate; however, the majority ofthem can not reach this level In fact, they are not very good at English This can beproved by their results in this subject English results in the class and in examinations areusually the lowest in comparision with other main subjects‟ In short, it can be said thatthe majority of the subjects possess low English competence These one hundred sixtystudents were devided into two groups: the experimental group and the control one Theexperimental group received technology-assisted teaching in their listening lessons, whilethe control one followed non-technology-assisted teaching while they learn the listeningskill

2.2.3 Data collecting instruments

The study employed two instruments to obtain the data They are pre and tests and the questionnaire The combination of these instruments will increase thepreciseness and reliability of the data collected because the data obtained from onemethod will help to inform and refine the other

post-2.2.3.1 Pre and post-tests

Before the treatment, the researcher designed a pre-treatment test to find out thestudent‟s ability in listening comprehension Next, after the treatment, a post-treatmenttest was administered to measure the difference between experimental students‟ listeningcompetence before and after the treatment as well as to measure the difference betweenthe control group and the experimental group Post-test is also designed with the sameformat as pre-test Both tests were carefully designed in terms of the following quality:

*The tests were designed for students of pre-intermediate level

*The tasks in both pre and post test must be equal in terms of the difficulty

*The task types in the pre and post test are similar Each listening test has three tasks

including gap-filling, true or false and question-answering

` The topic for each listening task in both pre and both test is similar Task 1 is aboutpeople background Task 2 is about people talking about their countries Task 3 is aboutNational Parks

The two tests elaborated to trace learners‟ progress in their listeningcomprehension skills had the following characteristics:

A pre-test and a post-test were designed to check the learners‟ ability in listeningcomprehension Both pre-test and post-test consist three sections:

Part I: In this section, students had to listen to a talk about a personal backgroundand fill in blanks with the information about him/her in 6 blanks

Part II: In this section, students had to listen to some talks about some countries inthe world and decided whether the statements about these countries are true or false

Part III: In this section, students had to listen to some talks about some NationalParks in the world and answered 4 questions (Appendix 1)

The researcher decided to design these tests basing above criteria to check thestudents' sub listening skill (listening for specific details, listening and interpretation, andlistening for comprehension) which the students were taught and asked to do in thelistening tasks in 8 listening lessons, in which the Powerpoint presentations were applied.Therefore, the researcher could analyse the results of the both tests to investigate theeffects of the Powerpoint presentations on students‟ listening comprehension

Both tests were evaluated by the researcher using the following marks: 1:Correctand 0: Incorrect.

These similarities between the two tests help ensure the reliability and validity ofthe research The test had been given to one hundred and sixty students in four differentclasses Then, the results obtained were analyzed by mean The mean scores from the pretest and post test was compared to see the changes in their ability in listeningcomprehension after being taught with the help of technology The detailed pre and post –treatment tests are described fully in Appendix 1

+ Question 1 worked out students‟ self –assessment on the importance of the application of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening

+ Questions 2 and 3 were intended to discover students‟ assessment about theeffectiveness of the application of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill

from the application of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill

+ Question 8 was designed to investigate benefits of the application of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill at NHHS

Questionnaire for students was in Vietnamese so that there was no misunderstanding

of the questions, which helped ensure the reliability and validity of data collected

2.2.4 Procedures

The study was conducted four months, beginning from 20th January, 2011 and finishing by May 20th, 2011 at Ngoc Hoi high school.The procedures are as follows:

2.2.4.1 Before the experimental treatment

A pre-test was designed and given to both groups At this time, the students in bothgroups had just finished the first term with 60 periods of English They had gained somebasic knowledge of English and partly been familiar to learning and practicing four skills

of English In the first week of the second term, the teacher helped students revisegenerally what they had learned in the first term In the listening lesson, the students ofboth groups were asked to do some listening tasks in their class These listening taskswere served as documents for pre-test because after this test each group would be taughtwith different methods The pre-test were scored by the teacher- researcher based on thescoring criteria shown in Appendix 3

2.2.4.2 During the experimental treatment

After comparing the result of the pretest scores of the four classes, the researcherstarted teaching listening for both control group and experiment group following thetimetable of the school, but applying different methods The control group (10 A3 & 10A5) was provided with non-technology-assisted teaching listening lessons in theclassroom while the experimental group (10 A8 & 10 A10) was provided withtechnology-assisted teaching listening lessons as treatment During the teaching time, theresearcher always paid attention to the students‟ participation, students‟ improvement aswell as their interest in in-class activities

2.2.4.3 After the experimental treatment

On week 15, one week before the term ended, all the students in both classes took atest called post- test with the same topic as the pre-test The results from the teacher‟sjudgments for these tests were compared with the results of the pre- test to investigate theimprovement the students made in their listening In addition, the questionnaire wasdelivered to 80 students who were in experimental group The researcher then collectedthe information from this questionnaire to find out the students‟ self –assessment on theimportance, the effectiveness and the benefits of the application of the Powerpointpresentations in teaching and learning listening skill in computer-assisted classroom.The methods of the study was mentioned in detail above The next chapter analysesthese various types of data collected and interpretations are made with an attempt toanswer the research questions

CHAPTER 3 DATA ANLYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents and discusses the findings that arise from two types of datacollected instrumentss: pre and post-tests results and the questionaire

3.1 The findings of the study

3.1.1 The results of listening tests

3.1.1.1 The results of pre-tests scores of the two groups

The results from the pre-tests of both groups were analyzed as follow:

Table 1: Pre-test descriptive statistics (N=80)

As shown in Table 1, the mean scores of the experimental group and control groupare identical (M=9.11) In other words, the students‟ listening proficiency as measured bythe pre-test is at the same level before technology was used to teach listeningcomprehension The fingures also postulate that any gain in the achivement in the field oflistening comprehension measured by the post-test could be attributed to the application

of technology-assisisted teaching

3.1.1.2 The results of post-tests scores of the two groups

Table 2: Post-test descriptive statistics

The post-test scores show that there is difference between the control group andthe experimental group as indicated by the mean score The mean score of the controlgroup is 10.525, which is lower that that of the experimental group (11.02) The meanscores indicate that both groups made progress , but the experiemental group made greaterprogress (Mpre-test= 9.11 vs Mposttest= 11.02) However, the two groups did not differ

in terms of mode (11) and median (11) Especially, the lowest score of the experiementalgroup is 6, or one point higher in comparison with the control group In short, thedifference in listening proficiency between the two groups after the experimental programcan help us confirm that after the applying technology to teach listening skill, theexperimental group made more improvement in listening comprehension than the controlgroup

The following tables: Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 show the impact of Assisted Teaching on Students‟ Different Sub-listening Skills

Technology-Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics of the scores made by the experimental groupbefore and after the experiment when they did the first part of the pre-test scores and post-test scores (listening for specific details-blank-filling)

Table 3: Part I of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of the experimental group.

As presented above, the first part statistics of the post-test show that the students‟

listening scores are higher than those of the pre-test For example, the mode of the

post-test are 1 point higher than those of the pre-post-test The mean is also 0.68 points higher than

that of the pre-test This helps to confirm a higher level of the central tendency of thepost-test scores The results of the first part of pte-test and post-test in Table 4 show thatthere is a significant difference between the experimental group‟s first part of pre- andpost-tests which helps to confirm a positive change in the experimental group‟s listening.Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics of the scores made by the experimental groupbefore and after the experiment when they did the second part of the pre-test scores andpost-test scores (listening and interpretation-True/False)

As shown in Table 4, the mean scores of the pre- test is 3.825 , which is lower thanthat of the post- test (4.3) The mean scores indicate that the experimental group madeimprovemetn in sub-skill listening and interpretation of their listening comprehension.Table 5 shows the descriptive statistics of the scores made by the experimental groupbefore and after the experiment when they did the third part of the pre-test scores andpost-test scores (listening for comprehension (short answers)).

Table 5: Part III of pre-test and post-test descriptive statistics of the experimental group.

As presented above, the statistics of the post-test show that the students‟ listening

scores are higher than those of the pre-test For example, the mode of the post-test is 2

point higher than those of the pre-test The mean is also 0.74 points higher than that of thepre-test This helps to confirm a higher level of the central tendency of the post-testscores The results of Pre- and post-tests in Table 5 show that there is a difference betweenthe experimental group‟s listening for comprehension in pre- and post-tests This helps toconfirm a positive change in the experimental group‟s this sub-listening skill.Interestingly, students made greater progress in this sub-skill (listening forcomprehension), which is considered to be the most difficult task of three tasks in the test

In summary, the students in the experimental group, in which technology-assistedteaching was applied, made better progress at the end of the second term

3.1.2 The results of the questionnaire.

The aims of the questionnaire were to explore students‟ self-assessment to theirlistening proficiency and to what extent the application of the teachnology-assisted

teaching, especially the application of the Powerpoint presentations helped to improvetheir listening skill This point would partly prove whether the application of thePowerpoints presentations in teaching listening skill was effective or not All the questionswere handed out to 80 students in experimental group who had had technology-assistedlessons in class All below are what they revealed.

3.1.2.1 Students’ assessment on the importance and the effectiveness of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill.

Fingure 1: Students’ assessment on the importance of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill.

very important

slightly important

A noticeable finding in Pie Chart 1 is that most of students in experimental groupreached an agreement on the importance of the Powerpoint presentations in learninglistening skill when 50% believed that it was very important to apply the Powerpointpresentation in listening lessons Only three students, accounting for 4% thought that itwas unimportant

Fingure 2: Students’ assessment on effectiveness of the Powerpoint presentations in teaching and learning listening skill.

According to Pie Chart 2, 89% of the students evaluated the Powerpointpresentations in learning listening skill to be very effective and effective in assissting theirlistening skill Only 10% of the students said the Powerpoint presentations in learninglistening skill were slightly effective One of them said that the Powerpoint presentations

in learning listening skill were not effective at all This student may not understand theteacher‟s intention So, the question raised here is what teacher should do in class to makethe listening lesson better with the help of IT

Figure 3: Students’ assessment of the effectiveness of the Powerpoint

presentations in developing listening sub-skills ( from sub-skill 1 to sub-skill 5)

60 50

40 30 23 20

10

0 sub-skill 1

Very effective Effective Not very effective Not effective at all

sub-skill 1 Predicting ( guessing ahead what is going to be listened)

sub-skill 2

of the text)

From Figure 3, for sub-skill 1 , 84% of the students (67 students) appreciated thatthe application of the Powerpoint presentations helped them very much with theirprediction of what was going to be listened Among 80 students, 13 of them (16%) saidthat the application of the Powerpoint presentations did not help them much or did nothelp them at all However, with some before-listening activities designed with the help ofPowerpoint software, almost students appreciated their effectiveness in assisting them topredict the contents of the listening lesson.

For sub-skill 2 (guessing meaning from context), which is often much moredifficult for high school students, 12 students (15%) considered that the aids of theapplication of the Powerpoint presentations were very effective, and 41 students (51%) %)considered that the aids of the application of the Powerpoint presentations helped themeffectively 27 students (34%) said that the application of the Powerpoint presentationswas not effective in helping them to guess meaning from context This depends on thelevel of students Some good students can guess the meaning of words from the context ofthe text but the others may not So, a few students can understand what is said and what ismeant basing on the context

For sub-skill 3 dealing with extracting detailed information (sentence level), which

is more difficult, so 7 students (9%) appreciated that the application of the Powerpointpresentations helped them very much, 52 students (65 %) said that the aids of theapplication of the Powerpoint presentations were very effective and effective, while 13students (16%) and 8 students (10%) said that the application of the Powerpointpresentations did not help them much or could not help them at all It is reasonablebecause this is a very difficult skill for all language learners not only high school studentswith low level of English competence

For sub-skill 4 dealing with getting the gist, 40% of the students (32 students) and53% (42 students) said that the application of the Powerpoint presentations assisted themvery much Only 7% (6 students) said the application of the Powerpoint presentations didnot assist them in listening

For sub-skill 5 dealing with extracting specific information (word level), 97% ofthe students (78 students) said that the application of the Powerpoint presentations helped