Using movies to increase motivation and listening comprehension of third year EFL students at academy of finance an action research study

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---NGUYỄN THANH HUYỀN USING MOVIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND LISTEN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-NGUYỄN THANH HUYỀN

USING MOVIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT

ACADEMY OF FINANCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM ĐỂ TĂNG HỨNG THÚ VÀ KHẢ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3

KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-NGUYỄN THANH HUYỀN

USING MOVIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT

ACADEMY OF FINANCE

(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM ĐỂ TĂNG HỨNG THÚ VÀ KHẢ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3

KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Đức Hoạt, Ph.D

Hanoi, 2014

First of all, my greatest thanks go to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Duc Hoat, forhis guidance and helping with professional advice and kindness Without hisinstructions and correction, this work would not have been accomplished

I am also thankful for the staff and lecturers of Post-Graduate Faculty,University of Languages and International Studies for giving me assistance andproviding me with valuable knowledge

My gratitude is also sent to my students at Academy of Finance, who provided

me with inspiration for the research topic and who helped me with the research data

Finally, I am indebted to my family and my dear friends who constantly gave

me support and encouragement during the time my study was carried out

ABSTRACT

For years, finding ways and materials to make the learning experiences for EFLstudents more inspiring and fruitful has been one of the most important tasks ofEnglish teaching Recently, it has become very popular among EFL teachers to usemovies in class to teach English And many researchers have reported that authenticvideo is motivating and beneficial However, few studies have been conducted toinvestigate the relationship between students‟ movie preferences and effectivelearning Therefore, in the present study, the effectiveness of using films of the mostpopular movie genres was examined.

This study aims at finding out how the use of movie in class can help increasestudent‟s motivation and English listening comprehension To reach the aim of thestudy, an action research was conducted on 90 2nd year non-English majored students

at Academy of Finance, Hanoi The study lasted for 2 semesters from February toJune, 2013 The researcher conducted a survey to collect data which were analyzed toevaluate participants‟ opinions on using movies to teach in EFL classrooms

The findings indicate that the use of movies can significantly increase student‟smotivation and listening comprehension and make students have good attitude to thelearning process

Hopefully, the results of the survey will provide English teachers with usefulinformation to teach EFL classrooms and add a small contribution to the ongoingprocess of renovation for English teaching and learning

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale of the study 1

2.Aims of the study 2

3.Research method 2

4.Research questions 2

5.Scope of the study 2

6.Significance of the study 3

7.Structure of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 The importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process 5

2.1.1 Definition of motivation 5

2.1.2 The importance of motivation in English teaching and learning process 5

2.1.3 The importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process 6

2.2 Previous studies on the use of movies in English teaching 8

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of movie viewing in classroom 10

2.4 Criteria to choose 11

2.5 How to exploit 14

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18

3.1 Rationale for the use of action research 18

3.1.1 What is action research? 18

3.1.2 Advantages of action research 20

3.1.3 How is action research carried out in a language classroom? 21

3.2 Participants 22

3.3 Data Collection Instruments 23

3.4 Procedures 26

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 28

4.1 Findings 28

4.1.1 Findings from questionnaire 28

4.1.2 Findings from questionnaire 2 30

4.1.3 Findings from observation sheet 32

4.1.4 Findings from interviews 33

4.1.5 Findings from tests 34

4.2 Discussion 35

4.2.1 Research Q1: To what extent does the use of movies in class increase students‟ motivation? 35

4.2.2 Research Question 2: What are the students‟ attitudes towards using movies in EFL classroom? 36

4.2.3 Research Question 3: To what extent does the use of movies improve students‟ listening comprehension? 37

4.3 Reflection 38

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39

5.1 Summary of major findings 39

5.2 Recommendations 39

5.3 Limitations 42

5.4 Suggestions for further research 43

REFERENCES 44

APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2

APPENDIX 3

APPENDIX 4

APPENDIX 5

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the Study

Motivation is the key to any learning process If you do not have motivation, youcannot learn well Motivation often performs two important characters in secondlanguage learning process; it firstly arouses people‟s interest and secondly helpspeople keep their enthusiasm Also in English learning process, it takes time and effort

to be able to master the language The question is that, how can teachers increasemotivation for students? How can students be motivated during the class?

Another aspect that catches the attention of educators in Vietnam is that many studentscomplain they can read very well, but they cannot hear anything from native speakerswhen they talk Rost (1994) appreciates the importance of listening in second andforeign language learning and states that listening is vital in the language classroombecause it provides input for learners Without understanding input at the right level,any learning simply cannot begin Nevertheless, teaching listening is a challengingjob It takes much time and energy to make progress in this skill For teachers, it isdifficult tasks to get students participate in listening lessons For students, they oftenfeel fed up with activities in listening lesson

In Vietnam, most students have taken English classes for at least 5 years before theyenter college However, most of them remain insufficient in their ability to use thelanguage Many surveys conducted by language educators and scholars have revealedthat films in video format should be utilized as teaching aids because movies provideexposures to the real language used in authentic settings and the culture in which theforeign language is spoken They also have found films that draw the learners‟ interestcan positively affect their motivation to learn (Sommer, 2001; Kusumarasdyati, 2004;Luo, 2004) The fact is that in Vietnam, not much attention has been paid to this way

of teaching foreign languages Most of teachers use textbook and materials as theirmain tools to teach in class With a view to making some changes, a study entitled

"Using movies to increase motivation and listening comprehension of third year EFL students at Academy of Finance: An action research study" is carried out to

investigate the effects of the movies to be used in EFL class to support the studentsand help them feel more comfortable with the approach of learning a language through

movie viewing and thus facilitate learning.

2 Aims of the Study

Firstly, the study aims to find out possible explanations for the weak competence ofthe students in listening comprehension skills and their passiveness when participating

in listening activities Besides, the researcher aims to figure out how the use of movies

in EFL classroom increases students‟ motivation and their listening comprehension

As a result, recommendations are made to further improve the effectiveness of the use

of movies in EFL classes at Academy of Finance, Hanoi

3 Research Method

This is an action research study, with the use of a number of data collectioninstruments, namely observation, questionnaires, tests and interviews The data arethen analyzed to figure out the findings for the research

Action research has proved to be the best choice for this study because the study isaimed at improving the students‟ motivation and their listening comprehension within

a certain context The combination of different instruments used in this research wouldhelp to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a close investigation into theproblems that the students may find challenging

4 Research Questions

The research questions are posed as follows:

- To what extent does the use of movies in class increase students‟

motivation?

- What are the students‟ attitudes towards using movies in EFL classroom?

- To what extent does the use of movies improve students‟ listening

comprehension?

5 Scope of the Study

The focuses of the study are levels of motivation, students‟ attitudes to the use ofmovies in classroom and changes in their listening comprehension The researcherused only 1 class and two movies to carry out an action research study on the topic of

using movies as a teaching aid instrument in EFL classroom at AOF for six-weekperiod.

The research was conducted on third-year accounting students at AOF Regarding itsscope, the research was only aimed at justifying the effect of movie viewing on thestudents‟ listening comprehension Other aspects of English skills would not beinvestigated

6 Significance of the Study

The study highlights the important role of using movies in English teaching andlearning process at AOF The findings of the study are believed to be useful for bothteachers and students to be aware of the essential role of movies with the aim toprepare students for listening lessons and increase their motivation Furthermore, thisstudy also helps teachers to upgrade their teaching activities in relation with theprocess of renovation for teaching

7 Structure of the Study

The thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: LiteratureReview, Chapter 3: Methodology, Chapter 4: Results and Discussion, Chapter 5:Conclusion

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the study such as background to the study, theaims and objectives of the study, the research questions and the outline of the study

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This chapter includes the importance of motivation and also the essential role oflistening skill in English language learning The researcher also states previous studies

on the use of movies in English teaching and learning process In addition, the criteria

to choose the movies and how to exploit them in the best ways are also mentioned inthis chapter

Chapter 3: Methodology

In this chapter the researcher points out the methodology used to collect the dataincluding learners‟ questionnaire and observation sheet The setting and theprocedures are also stated clearly in this part

Chapter 4: Results and Discussion

This chapter shows the results from the data collection with detailed data analysis Allthe research questions are answered in this chapter

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process 2.1.1 Definition of motivation

The word “motivation” might appear simple and easy, but it is in fact verydifficult to define Because motivation cannot be seen, heard or felt, it can only beinferred from behavior Thus, it seems to have been impossible for theorists to reachconsensus on a single definition

According to Harmer (1991), the nature of motivation is some kind of internaldrive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action Skinner and Belmont(1991) develop the definition further, noting that students who are motivated to engage

in school “select tasks at the border of their competencies, initiate action when giventhe opportunity, and exert intense effort and concentration in the implementation oflearning tasks; they show generally positive emotions during ongoing action, includingenthusiasm, optimism, curiosity, and interest” (Skinner and Belmont, 1991, p.3)

Crooks and Schmidt (1991) define motivation in terms of interest in andenthusiasm for the teaching method used in class, persistence with the listening task asindicated by levels of attention or action for an extended duration; and levels ofconcentration and enjoyment From the researcher‟s point of view, this definition isexactly right for the motivation in this study Through the innovation of teachingmethod like the use of movies in class, students are interested and motivated toparticipate in the tasks with high concentration and enjoyment

2.1.2 The importance of motivation in English teaching and learning process

Interestingly, many researchers consider motivation as one of the main

elements that determine success in developing a second or foreign language.Motivation is a central issue in understanding second language proficiency.McDonough (1981) believes that motivation is important in influencing a person‟ssuccess or failure in learning a foreign language Among other things, motivation isthe need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation, and newexperiences It is more important than language aptitude Oxford and Shearin (1994)state that motivation determines the extent of active, personal involvement in second

language learning Ellis (1997) concludes that the relationship between motivation andachievement is an interactive one A high level of motivation does stimulate learning,but perceived success in achieving L2 goals can help to maintain existing motivationand even create new types.

Obviously, unmotivated students are insufficiently involved and thereforeunable to develop their potential L2 skills As a result, motivation is one of thedetermining factors in the success of foreign or second language learning

2.1.3 The importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process

The importance of listening in second and foreign language learning is

admirably summarized in a recent publication by Rost (1994): “Listening is vital in thelanguage classroom because it provides input for the learners, without understandinginput at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin” (p.141-142) There are moreand more studies indicating the sheer importance of listening in communication andlanguage learning (Dunkel, 1991) As Lewis (1993, p.32) highlights: “Almost all theworld‟s natural output is spoken rather written As well as listening being a vital skillfor almost all interaction, it follows from this that it is therefore the most importantmedium for input in learning a foreign language by increasing student‟s ability toperceive speech, the amount of input will be increased and therefore aiding languageacquisition”

Moreover, listening is the ability to identify and understand what others aresaying This involves understanding a speaker‟s accent or pronunciation, his grammarand his vocabulary, and grasping his meaning (Howatt & Dakin, 1974) Willis (as cited

in Saricoban, 1999) lists a series of micro-skills of listening, which she calls enablingskills They are: (1) predicting what people are going to talk about, (2) guessing atunknown words or phrases without panic, (3) using one‟s own knowledge of thesubject to help one understand, (4) identifying relevant points; rejecting irrelevantinformation, (5) retaining relevant points (note-taking, summarizing), (6) recognizingdiscourse markers, e.g Well, Oh, Another thing is, Now, Finally, etc., (7) recognizingcohesive devices, (8) understanding different intonation patterns and uses

of stress, etc., which give clues to meaning and social setting, (9) understandinginferred information, e.g speaker‟s attitude or intention.

The focus of listening teaching and learning has also changed a lot and it has movedfrom teacher-centered approach to more learner-centered one That is why listening isnow recognized as an active receptive skill (Anne and Lynch, 1988) in which thelistener activates previous or existing knowledge to integrate new knowledge

According to Austin (1970), a teacher‟s roles in a listening lesson are to createinterest, reasons for listening, and the confidence to listen Underwood (1989)appreciate teacher‟s role in directing students in listening lessons Students willnaturally turn to their teachers when they have difficulties in understanding spokenEnglish and teacher will wish to assist in whatever ways they can The author setsobjectives to the teachers Firstly, teachers are to expose students to a range oflistening experiences, which can be done by using many different listening texts such

as stories, conversations, descriptive talks, etc, which incorporate a variety oflanguage Secondly, it is necessary for teachers to make listening purposeful for thestudents This can best be achieved by providing tasks, which are as realistic aspossible, so that the students can relate what they are doing in the lesson to things thathappen in real life, outside the classroom Thirdly, teachers are to help studentsunderstand what listening entails and how they might approach it Often, this meanschanging the attitudes of students, particularly if in the past their attempts to learn tolisten have been unsuccessful It is worth spending a little time explaining theprocesses of listening to students and talking to them about how they listen in theirnative language The final objective is to build up students‟ confidence in their ownlistening ability Success breeds success and students who feel they are succeedingwill be encouraged to go on trying The teacher‟s role in this study is to provideexperiences and activities in which students can benefit from It is important to removethe idea of testing from listening activities and to take advantage of the almostuniversal interest in problem-solving as a basis for most of teacher‟s listening work.(Underwood, 1989)

In order to make listening tasks become more attractive to students, it isnecessary for listening teachers to be cautious about the reasons why listening ischallenging to learners and it is the role of the teacher to help them with usefullearning strategies.

2.2 Previous studies on the use of movies in English teaching

Visual aids are a great enhancement for teaching an ESL class An even betterresource is the presence of film and video in class as they change the learningatmosphere of the class, and ESL students can hear authentic English in real lifescenes and natural settings Many scholars have revealed that movies used in EFLclassroom can become an important part of the curriculum This is based on the factthat movies provide exposures to “real language,” used in authentic settings and in thecultural context which the foreign language is spoken They also have found thatmovies catch the learners‟ interest and it can positively affect their motivation to learn(Kusumarasdyati, 2004; Luo, 2004)

Firstly, movies can be considered as authentic material and they provide thelearners with genuine input (Mishan 2004: 216) Moreover, as Krashen (1985: 4)points out, a natural input helps the learners to acquire language without necessarilyeven noticing that they are hearing or reading a foreign language Using videos tofacilitate learners‟ listening comprehension has also been widely discussed in the pasttwo decade (Secules et al, 1992; Weyers, 1999; Linebarger, 2001; Kusumarasdyati,2004; Luo, 2004; Lin, 2009) Joseph R Weyers (1999) carried out a study with anauthentic soap opera to measure whether it can increase students listeningcomprehension and enhance their oral production There were two groups in his study:

17 subjects in the control group and 20 subjects in the experimental group Theexperiment was conducted in two second-semester Spanish classes for 8 weeks at theUniversity of New Mexico All the students were present for the pre-and post-treatment tests Both groups followed the established curriculum for second-semesterSpanish However, the experimental group was supplemented by the experimentaltreatment The treatment required that the subjects in the experimental group watchedtwo episodes of a Spanish soap opera per week, which was taped off-air with the

commercials and was not specifically designed for language learners The viewingconsumed approximately 45 minutes of the 60-minute class period Before viewingeach episode, the teacher gave the participants a short summary in English of the

telenovela The result of the experiment suggests that telenovelas are a valuable source

in increasing the students‟ listening comprehension skills

Luo, J.J (2004) in his study examined the influence of DVD movies onstudents‟ listening comprehension Nine films were incorporated into the classcurriculum over the entire school year The DVDs were the main materials of thecourse, supported by specially designed additional activities Instructional activitiesincluded story-telling, picture description and open-ended questions for groupdiscussion on topics retrieved from the movies The researcher incorporated caption-

on and caption-off activities in order to practice student‟s listening skills The finalresults of the statistical analyses indicated that student‟s listening skill “did improve”through the instruction of using DVD movies in a motivating learning environmentwith “lower level of anxiety” after a whole school year (Luo, 2004)

Herron and Seay (1991) had conducted research on using video in listeningcomprehension for EFL students He used intermediate level of students and hasdivided them into two groups, experimental and controlled group The experimentalgroup has substituted the regular classes with listening to the authentic radio tapes.The controlled group followed the regular class activities without and exposure to theradio tapes The study has provided evidence that the experimental group performedsignificantly better on the final tests of listening comprehension with both the videoand the audio than did the control group in which no strategy training occurred

Champoux (1999) has studied the use of films as a teaching resource and Allan(1985), Stoller (1988), Katchen (2003) and Sufen (2006) have analyzed the use offilms and videotapes concerning particularly EFL or ESL teaching

However, in Vietnam, the fact is that, not much research on this topic has been carriedout A number of thesis or assignments focus only on studies of the use of pictures orshort video clips as their teaching aids As a result, by combining these previous

studies, it is easier to notice why using movies in EFL teaching is a useful method andhas several advantages compared to the more traditional teaching styles.

2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of movie viewing in classroom

Movies provide a wonderful opportunity for students to gain backgroundunderstanding to combine with their own understanding about a story or concept Ithas been studied that films enhance English language skill development since theybring variety, reality, authenticity and flexibility into the EFL classroom Good filmscan serve as a valuable pedagogical aid, both for classroom use and self-study Theultimate goal is to arouse sensitivity in the learner and to provide a stimulus to stretchhis/her imagination and creativity Moreover, using movies can motivate the students

to study English and the visuality of the film may also help the weaker students tounderstand since it offers another channel of understanding in addition to just listening

to the language (Champoux 1999, Allan 1985: 65, Stoller 1988) Allan (1985: 65) also highlights the realistic examples that the films enable Combining both audioand visuality makes film a comprehensive tool for language teaching The visualityalso supports the students: it helps learners by supporting the verbal message andprovides a focus of attention while they listen In addition, viewers are not just passiveobservers but their responses also add to the power of the film According to Stoller(1988) films are a flexible tool for second language learning and instruction since theyadd an extra dimension to course design and assure a rich variety of language andcultural experiences Additionally, films expose the students to authentic targetlanguage, speech forms that are not normally encountered in the more restrictedclassroom environment The more realistic language often also motivates the students

48-to participate actively in film-related activities With the help of films teachers canpresent these characteristics to students better than with only a textbook By watchingfilms the students can also explore the issues of appropriateness and pragmatics whileobserving also linguistic, paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviour According to Allan(1985: 48-65) films actually get students to talk and they can be a stimulus to genuinecommunication in the classroom by bringing out different opinions within the group

Authentic materials usually help them to notice, that knowing foreign language is veryuseful and that the language can be used every day in different contexts.

Even though using movies can diversify the curriculum and motivate thelearners to study a foreign language, using movies is not always straightforward andtrouble-free From the teacher's perspective, it may be argued that the planning stage istime-consuming and demanding since it requires previewing the film and designingadequate activities According to Stoller (1988) using movies requires for instanceextensive preparation and thus some teachers may feel that using movies is toodemanding Since teachers usually are rather busy, preparing film lessons is consideredtoo time-consuming and it is perhaps easier to follow a text book instead of preparingthe film and the related assignments Moreover, Champoux (1999: 240-251) points outthat using films is not only time-consuming for the teacher, but it can also take timeaway from other classroom activities In addition, Stoller (1988) mentions also poorequipment as a factor which may complicate the use of films in teaching However,nowadays the language classrooms are rather well equipped, and almost everyclassroom has either a television or a computer, which allows using for instance DVDfilms Nevertheless, the teacher must keep in mind the costs and make sure that thefilm lesson does not overrun the budget It is also important to notice that the students‟reactions may vary and for some students, for instance, a certain scene can bedistracting The teachers in Vietnam should be aware that young learners of Englishjust would love to go to the cinema or theatre with friends to relax and then leave forhome They might think movies are for entertainment and do not pay enough attention

to the benefit it might bring to them Therefore, it would be much better if they havechance to have movies in class under the instructions of teachers DVD films would bemuch interesting if it is used appropriately

In sum, it is obvious that the pendulum swings to the asset side, and the prosoutnumber the cons So, why not give it a try?

2.4 Criteria to choose

An important factor when planning the movie lessons is choosing the movie Itcan be based on thematic content to reinforce and consolidate topics treated within the

language syllabus, such as discrimination, moral issues, mass media, ecology,education, and work, or to illustrate language functions and grammatical patterns inreal use Selection should be very careful especially with respect to accent since someproblems may arise Comprehension may be hindered by dialectal varieties of thelanguage used by the characters.

There are also other important points that need to be made sure before usingmovies in foreign language teaching These are, for instance, copyright matters, theteaching environment in which to use films and the proficiency level of the learners It

is also important to remember, that the films are not a substitute for the teacher.Moreover, students should understand that they are not expected to understand everyword The teacher should get students to accept that getting the „main idea‟ is enough

In addition, it is the teacher‟s responsibility to promote active viewing and the filmshould also promote active participation from the beginning of the lesson in order forthe students to be more than just passive listeners and watchers

Each film dictates different types of activities Thus, careful selection andpreviewing of the films is important It is also important that the students understandthe instructional objectives of a film lesson Thus, it is important to giveunderstandable and simple instructions to the students, in order to make themunderstand that the film is not just an entertaining way to pass time but that it hascertain pedagogical goals However, Allan (1985) emphasizes that it is important tochoose topics that are relevant to the students The stories should interest and appeal inorder for the students to stay motivated All in all, the topics should be both interestingand pedagogically rich

Additionally, one important factor that should be taken into account whenselecting appropriate movies is the proficiency level of the students and thecomprehensibility of the film The film should be sufficiently comprehensible so thatstudents can complete the language related tasks and that the teacher does not have towork too hard in order to help the students to understand the language

Allan (1985) points out some concrete factors which should be taken intoaccount when choosing a film for certain proficiency level Firstly, the density of

language is important There should be enough pauses in the dialogue in order for thestudents to be able to follow along Secondly, the film should provide the students withenough visual support This means that the visual messages support the verbalmessage and it is also possible, at least to some extent, guess what is happening in thefilm Thirdly, delivery of the speech is also a factor that affects understanding If thecharacters speak too quickly or there are various different accents, it can be difficultfor the students to understand the language However, for instance different accents areagain a simulative challenge for the more advanced learners.

Moreover, according to Stoller (1988), also the length of the film is a usefulthing to consider It is important to choose films that are long enough to conveymeaningful content, yet short enough to allow classroom time for pre-viewing andpost-viewing activities

The teacher also should think about the reasons why he or she wants to use thefilm, what for and with which students It is also important to think beforehand, what

he or she expects the students to understand from the film It makes the preparationseasier, if the teacher also thinks about what techniques might work with the film, howmuch time the film will need and what kind of preparatory work is necessary beforethe film lessons However, Stoller (1988) states that films can be linked into syllabus

in various ways: by language items, by functions or by thematic units It is alsopossible to use content-based curriculum, in which case the subject matter of theselected film must be related

There are many kinds of movie available such as Thriller, Comedy, Warmovies, Action movie, Romance, Documentary, Walt Disney movie, etc However, inVietnam, youngsters love to watch Walt Disney‟s Picture films for some reasons.Firstly, films of Walt Disney are popular all around the world They usually makefilms that catch the interest of many types of people, especially kids and teenagers.Secondly, the messages in their films are very gentle, understandable and encouraging

Many films are well-known in Vietnam such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Treasure Island, The Story of Robinhood and His Merrie Men, Little Chicken, Aladdin, Tarzan and Jane, etc These are very good movies for young

learners of English as the content is very comprehensible, the music is so interestingand the characters are beautiful and professional Especially, the DVDs are easy tofind That is the reason why the researcher in this study decides to choose 2 Walt

Disney movies to present to her students as a teaching aid instrument; they are High

School Musical 1 and The Parent Trap 1998.

It is not an easy task to make a good movie class because there are so manythings the teacher must be aware of However, if the teacher really takes it for grantedwhen using movies as a teaching aid, he or she will make the students really interestedand motivated

2.5 How to exploit

According to Stoller (1988) the film lesson and its activities should consist ofpre-viewing, viewing and post-viewing activities This ensures that the students stayfocused and motivated throughout the lesson, and the goals of the lesson are clear tothem Stoller (1988) emphasizes that the pre-viewing activities prepare students for theactual viewing Some examples of pre-viewing activities could be student polls,interviews, problem solving discussion of the title of the film, brainstorming activities,information gap exercises, and dictionary or vocabulary exercises and so on Pre-viewing is important in order for the students to be able to follow the film andunderstand the storyline and characters Pre-viewing can make it easier for also theweaker students to benefit from the film and its many beneficial aspects Pre-viewingtask gives the ESL instructor an opportunity to provide some background information

on the film (director, producer, actors, year of production, music, writer, etc.) ordiscuss the background and setting of a scene (characters, plot, and themes)

Stoller (1988) points out, that viewing activities during the film, on the otherhand, facilitate viewing of the film The activities help students to deal with specificissues and focus on characters or storyline also at crucial junctures in the film Someexamples of viewing activities are directed listening, information gathering, filminterruptions and second screening For instance a film interruption helps the teacher

to control whether the students have understood what happens in the film viewing tasks provide an opportunity to deepen the understanding of a film and

While-conduct a comprehension check One idea is for the teacher to play important sceneswith the sound off and the English subtitles on (subtitles can be in the students‟ firstlanguage if the level demands) The teacher then replays the scene with both thesubtitles and sound, and replays it a third time with the sound alone and no subtitles.This technique is suitable for dramatic scenes, or when dialect or slang is spoken,because it facilitates understanding and makes students feel more confident (Roell,2010).

Finally, Stoller (1988) highlights also the importance of post-viewing activities.They are meant to stimulate both written and oral use of the target language utilizinginsights and information from the film Post-viewing activities should extract the mainideas, concepts or issues of the film, since the small details may have been missed, and

it is essential to understand the main points of the film Post-viewing activities can befor instance film summaries, alternative endings, discussions, comparisons, speedwriting, using notes for writing practice, role plays or debates Post-viewing activitiesallow students to check their comprehension and use the new language they havelearned (Roell, 2010) In the activity called “Fly on the Wall,” students reconstruct amovie scene from memory, as if they are unseen witnesses After writing down theiraccounts, they view the scene again to check their recall and have the opportunity toamend their rendition (Sherman 2003) To strengthen their descriptive abilities,students can analyze characters in a film and write descriptive portraits of thecharacters‟ appearance, education, profession, relationships, likes and dislikes, andother qualities According to Allan (1985: 66) it is important to try to exploit all thepositive sides that a film can offer on language teaching For instance visuality isobviously a great part of films, and it can help also the weaker students to follow thefilm and understand what is happening There are non-verbal signals in a film, forinstance gestures, facial expressions, eye-contact, posture, proximity, appearance andsetting All these factors play an important part in the film and may help or, on theother hand, also possibly hinder watching the film

In brief, the following are some techniques for using film or video in EFL classroom:

 Active viewing:

Active viewing increases students‟ enjoyment and satisfaction and focuses theirattention on the main idea of the movie presentation Therefore, it is necessary for thestudents to take an active part in the movie Before starting the showing, the teachershould write some key questions on the board about the presentation so that thestudents can get an overview of the content of it After viewing the questions, thestudents answer them orally For more comprehension, the students may be providedwith cue sheets or viewing guides The teacher then let them watch and listen forspecific details or features of the target language.

 Freeze framing and prediction

Freeze framing means stopping the picture on the screen by pressing the still or pausebutton Teacher freezes the picture when he or she wants to teach words andexpression regarding mood and emotions, to ask questions about a particular scene or

to call students‟ attention to some points By freezing the scene, the students can beasked what is going to happen next and they, then, will speculate on what will happen

in the next action Freeze framing is excellent for speculation This activity also firesthe imagination of the students by leading them predicting and deducing furtherinformation about the characters

 Vision on – Sound off

As video is an audiovisual medium, the sound and the vision are separate components.Silent viewing arouses students‟ interests, stimulate thoughts, and develop skills ofanticipation In silent viewing, the video segment is played with the sound off usingonly the picture This activity can also be a prediction technique when students watchthe film for the first time One way of doing this is to play the video segment withoutthe sound and tell the students to observe the behavior of the characters and to usetheir power of deduction The teacher presses the pause button at intervals to stop thepicture on the screen and get students to guess what is happening and what thecharacters might be saying or ask students has happened up to that point Finally,video segment is replayed with the sound on so that the learners can compare theirimpressions with what actually happens in the movie

 Sound on – Vision off

This activity can be interesting and useful to play a section of a video unit and remove the visual element from the presentation by obscuring the picture so that students can hear only the dialogue but unable to see the action Through this activity, the students predict or reconstruct what has happened visually depending only on what they hear.

 Captions or Subtitles on

It is easier for students to watch with both sound and visual on In terms of listeningand the overall ESL comprehension, captioned videos are more effective for thefollowing reasons:

- Students are more motivated to learn the English dialogue

- The gap between reading and listening skills is bridged

- Students can follow a plot more easily

- Pronunciation of words is learned

- Word recognition is enhanced

- Idioms become better understood

- Reading and processing skills are improved (King, 2002)

 Reproduction activity

After students have seen a section, students may be asked to reproduce eitherwhat is being said, to describe what is happening, or to rewrite what has happened.This activity encourages students to try out their knowledge Students will benefitfrom experimenting in English, even though it may be challenging and mistakes can

be made As it seems a bit difficult to act out, guidance, help and reassurance frominstructor may be needed

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter is to provide readers a detailed description of how the study iscarried out, namely to describe in detail the action research, the participants and theprocedures of the study The chapter is to give readers an elaborate description ofevery step of the research

As mentioned above, the study aims to answer the following research questions:

- To what extent does the use of movies in class increase students‟

motivation?

- What are the students‟ attitudes towards using movies in EFL classroom?

- To what extent does the use of movies improve students‟ listening

comprehension?

3.1 Rationale for the use of action research

3.1.1 What is action research?

According to Jerry G Grebhard (1999), the concept of action researchoriginated in the work of Kurt Lewin (1948, 1952) Action research had been defined

in many different ways In Stephen Corey‟s definition “(Action research is) a way inwhich teachers try to study their own problems scientifically, in an effort to evaluate,guide and correct their procedures” Tsui‟s definition was more detailed and simpler:

"Action research is a very effective way of helping teachers to reflect on their teachingand to come up with their own alternatives to improve their practice.” (Tsui, 1993)

Teachers in general and teachers of English in particular actually carry outaction research for most of their time Whenever s/he identifies a problem which ishappening in the class, it is his/her task to find ways to solve that problem Therefore,action research is inevitably a very common practice As defined by Mills (2003: 4),action research is “any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gatherinformation about the ways that their particular school operates how they teach, andhow well their students learn The information is gathered with the goals of gaininginsight, developing reflective practice, effecting positive changes in the schoolenvironment and on educational practices in generals, and improving studentoutcomes.” A typical action research needs to go from one step to another Nunan(2001) defines the framework of a research as consisting of seven steps:

 Step 1: Initiation (Identify the problem)

 Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Collect data through a variety of means)

 Step 3: Hypothesis (Develop research questions)

 Step 4: Intervention (Devise strategies and innovation to be implemented)

 Step 5: Evaluation (Collect data again and analyze it to work out the

Figure 3.1: Action research cycle

In brief, action research is a kind of scientific study which is often carried out

by a teacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom As itwas named, it focuses mainly on the actions of both students and teachers So, it cansolve the problems which are related to all actions and activities in a classroom Theproblems which are solved by action research are often practical and useful forteachers

3.1.2 Advantages of action research

One of the most significant features of action research is it is very situational,which means it appears to provide specific solutions to specific problems in eachcontext While other types of researches focus on experimenting or testing a pre-assumed theory or concept, action research aims at “improving the situation”.Therefore, it is very beneficial to the teaching and learning process

When thinking of choosing an appropriate methodology, the researcher, who is also ateacher, found out that action research is the best choice for the purpose of improvingthe students‟ pronunciation

First of all, action research means “act upon research” It is impossible toassume listening problems that students are having without having adequate amount ofobservation An action research enables the teacher to have a thorough investigation

on the listening problems of students on a weekly basis Thanks to this, the findingswould be up to date and mostly reliable The teacher can have a thorough look and isable to work out a detailed analysis on the students‟ performance during the progress

of the research In short, an action research helps the teacher design a detailed programwhich is most suitable to the class and therefore benefits students to the most Thisprogram will be consulted for building up a more suitable listening course for studentswho share the same problems as the subjects of the research

Secondly, in this action research, the data is taken from every student andtreated individually Therefore, the teacher can see students‟ progress easily S/he will

be able to get the most up-to-date information and make sensible changes if necessary

to the research while applying it to meet the demand of the students For listeningmistakes that persist for a long time, the teacher can spend more time on it by givingmore practice time in class, as well as paying more attention when giving feedback tostudents Performance of students is collected weekly, and any potential problems can

be solved in time

Last but not least, by using an action research on the use of movies, theresearcher gives the student a strong sense of themselves They will have chance topractice listening on their own This is typically different from other types of research

in which the teacher treats all the students in one class the same way In this case, data

is carefully collected and analyzed for each student The students‟ awareness as well

as their gratefulness for the teacher‟s effort will serve as a strong motivation to makeprogress in their listening skills

Despite the obvious advantages, the research has some shortcomings compared

to other types of research, such as an experimental one It is sometimes claimed thataction research has limited application This comes from one of its typicalcharacteristic, which is situational This means the research program may work well inone class but cannot be applied to other classes in different context If the sameresearch is carried out in another class, the result may not be effective as expected Inother words, action research lacks generalization

3.1.3 How is action research carried out in a language classroom?

Action research in schools, colleges or universities solves everyday practicalproblems experienced by teachers, rather than the “theoretical problems” defined bynon – teaching researchers It should be carried out by the teachers themselves or bysomeone who is interested in educational research

Action research in education focuses on the three related stages of action:

1 Initiating action, such as adopting a text, choosing an alternative assessment strategy

2 Monitoring and adjusting, such as seeing how a pilot project is proceeding, assessing the early progress of new program, improving a current practice

3 Evaluating action, such as, preparing a final report on a completed project”

find out the causes of the problem from professional books or journals, colleagues andstudents.

Secondly, the teacher designs the strategies for improvement and tries them out

in some following lessons Next, a lesson is observed or video-taped to get data toillustrate the changes and improvements

Finally, the teacher reflects on the reasons for the changes and improvements

To ensure the success of the applied strategies in action research a survey is necessary

to get the evaluation from students From the results of the action research someconclusions and comments will be made

If the teacher was trained to conduct action research, he could solve his problems onhis own or in collaboration with other teachers It also needs the supports from bothstudents and education administrators Its results should be popularized and sharedwith anybody who is interested in

3.2 Participants

The participants of the research were all the students in class CQ48/21.03 Theresearcher, who is also a teacher, was in charge of teaching English for 3rd yearstudents at Academy of Finance Naturally, they became ideal samples for theresearch

Taking every factor into consideration so as to minimize the risk of invalidityand to ensure that every single participant was treated under the same conditions of theresearch, the researcher reached the final number of 25 students whose performancewould be appropriate data provider for the research They were the ones whoparticipated thoroughly in the research from the beginning to the end They are all in amulti-level classroom setting and their level of proficiency is pre-intermediate andintermediate

The participants in this study were Academy of Finance (AOF) undergraduatestudents, between the ages of 19-21 They are all 3rd year students because for the firsttwo years and even at high school they just studied grammar and not much of listeningand speaking The researcher supposed that third year students could utilize thebenefits of watching movies to learn English listening because these students certainly

had the basic knowledge to comprehend not very complicated English talks as well asthe skills to deal with new contexts in a movie The study took place over six-weekperiod of time, from August, 2nd to September, 13th at Academy of Finance (AOF) inthe academic year 2013 In this study, in order to get students‟ perceptions on using

movies in ELT classroom, 2 Walt Disney movies presented to the students were High School Musical 1 and The Parent Trap 1998 These two movies were chosen because

there are similar scenes in each movie and the participants of the project could beexposed to repeatedly utilize English language, such as school activities, songs, dailyconversations among friends and family members The language used in these films isunderstandable and not too difficult to comprehend In addition, the messagesconveyed by the characters are meaningful and quite attracting Especially, the spiritand the atmosphere created in the films would completely arouse the students‟ interest.The pedagogical goals in these films are very clear and attainable During the films,the students were asked to do listening exercises to check their listeningcomprehension and after that, the students were expected to share their thoughts andunderstanding of what they had seen

The sample class had chance to participate in the research program during 6weeks The first week was for some investigation into the study The next 4 weeks

were for High School Musical 1 and The Parent Trap The last week was for

consolidation of the research program Every student of the sample class covered thesame materials and the same setting The researcher was also the instructor who gavepresentation to the class and one English teacher was invited to observe the activitiesduring the time of the study

3.3 Data Collection Instruments

In order to ensure the validity of the research, a number of different instrumentswere implemented, which were largely qualitative

Questionnaire (Appendix 1 & 2)

Questionnaire 1 comprised of six questions and was conducted at the first weekand Questionnaire 2 was delivered to the student at the last week of the research.Questionnaire 1 was to find out the problems of the students in listening skill and

evaluate the students‟ level of interest in listening lessons By doing so, the researcherhoped to work out possible solutions to help improve students‟ listeningcomprehension Questions 1 to 3 in this section were designed to get to know whatlistening activities were employed in class and the students‟ problems as well as theiropinions about their listening lessons in general Questions 4 to 6 focused oninvestigating the students‟ opinion about the new way of teaching listening skill which

is the use of movies in class Questionnaire 2 included 8 questions This questionnairewas aimed to assess the value of using movies in class to teach listeningcomprehension From questions 1 to 5, the questionnaire was adapted from Gliksman,

et al, (1982, p.648) Each question was based on a semantic differential scale ofadjectives expressing students‟ motivation such as interesting/boring,enjoyable/unenjoyable Each learner at the end of the research completed thequestionnaire and each item scored from one to five Questions from 6 to 8 aimed atfinding out students‟ impression on the use of movies in listening lessons

Observation sheet (Appendix 3)

As for action research, observation is obviously one of the main instrumentsbecause it provides the researcher with a deep insight into how the research program isgoing Regarding this study, observation was conducted through the whole researchprogram The researcher paid great attention to the students‟ motivation This helpedher find adequate amount of data to yield any conclusions about the students‟motivation, as well as how much progress in listening comprehension they madeduring the research However, to make it more reliable, an English teacher at Academy

of Finance was invited to observe the class during the research program Anobservation sheet which was adapted from Nunan (1989, p.110), was used to assessoverall class motivation generated by the listening activities applied during thelistening lesson The observation was manifested by levels of learner interest,enthusiasm, and persistence with listening activities, concentration and enjoymentduring class Each item was scored on a scale of one (low) to five (high) Observationswere made for the whole 4 weeks while the listening lessons were carried out

Interviews (Appendix 4)

Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected students so thatthe researcher could be able to find possible explanation for the students‟ choiceswhen they answered the questionnaire and did the pre-test, and get a deeperunderstanding of the listening problems that the students have made The researcherchose 1 of the students who had best performances in pre-test and 1 of the studentswho had the worst results in pre-test to interview They were selected for the reasonthat the researcher wanted to get the most objective opinions from different students toplan for the action in the most suitable way so that every students can benefit from.The researcher took notes in her paper while the conversations were conducted.

The first interview was carried out right after the students did questionnaire 1and pre-test It was aimed at finding evidence for the students‟ problems in listeningskill over questions such as „What are your listening problems?” and “What are thereasons for those problems that you can think of? In the interview, the researcher alsoasked the students about the use of movie in class to get a thorough understandingabout the situation

We were fully aware that there might be differences between the listeningperformances of different participants even though they all participated in the sameresearch program therefore another interview was conducted at the end of the researchwith a hope to find reasons for the students‟ remaining problems and to work out amore effective listening program to apply to other classes The interviewees were thesame as in interview 1 The students were asked to talk about what they had learntfrom the movies, what problems they had or had not made progress with and what theythink about the application of movies in listening classes

3.4 Procedures

The chronological steps of the study are summarized as follows:

- Step 1: Preliminary investigation (Collect data through questionnaire 1,

pre-test and interview 1)

- Step 2: Plan the action (Develop 3 research questions)

- Step 3: Intervention (Implement the research program on the pilot class)

- Step 4: Evaluation (Collect data again through questionnaire 2, post-test andinterview 2 and analyze them to work out the findings and yield conclusions,recommendations and suggestions for further study based on findings)

- Step 5: Reflection (what changes can be made to the actions to elicit better

results (Ferrance, 2000)

The detailed program of the research is presented as follows:

Topics

1

5 2nd half of The Parent Trap

6 Consolidation

Table 3.1: An overview of the research program for third-year students

6 listening lessons were taught in 6 weeks The time allowed for each movie class was

45 minutes The researcher in every film class followed the listening teachingframework of three stages: pre-, while- and post-viewing stages In pre-listening stage,the teacher gave the students with new vocabulary and explained to the students a littlebit about the plot of the session to be watched so that the students could familiarizewith the context and prepare for listening comprehension In while-listening stage, theresearcher made the students focus on the aspects of pronunciation, intonation,listening comprehension and do the exercises From time to time, the teacher wouldpause to check understanding of the students by asking small questions such as: Who

is he? What are they going to do next? Or would you do the same if you were him/her?

At other times, the teacher might ask the students to do exercises While the studentswere watching, the invited teacher would move around the class to observe and notedown into the observation sheet that was given to her beforehand In post-viewingstage, the students were given some discussion questions and asked to work in pairs or

in groups Then they would have chance to talk about their ideas In every lesson, theclass would cover different items of English listening skills so that the students couldfind it interesting and useful for learning process