An evaluation of the course book new cutting edge pre intermediate for first year non major students of english thái nguyên university of technology some suggestions for adapting

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE USE OF METACOGNITIVE STRAT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES



AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE USE OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE STUDE S’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN TOEIC TESTS AT AN

ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI

(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc sử dụng chiến lược siêu nhận thức để cải thiện khả năng nghe hiểu của học sinh trong bài thi TOEIC tại một

trung tâm tiếng Anh tại Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

HANOI, 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

  

NGUYỄN THU THỦY

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE USE OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN TOEIC TESTS AT AN

ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI

(Nghiên cứu hành động về việc sử dụng chiến lược siêu nhận thức để cải thiện khả năng nghe hiểu của học sinh trong bài thi TOEIC tại một

trung tâm tiếng Anh tại Hà Nội)

M.A MINOR THESIS

i

DECLARATION

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

“An action research project on the use of metacognitive strategies to enhance

students’ listening comprehension in TOEIC tests at an English centre in Hanoi”

is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies – University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi I commit that this thesis has not been submitted anywhere for any degree

Hanoi, 2019

Nguyễn Thu Thủy

of writing this thesis, without which this work would hardly have been accomplished

I also wish to acknowledge all the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master course for me with valuable knowledge

Last, to my family, words are not enough to express my gratitude I am grateful

to my parents, my child, and my dear husband Without their help and encouragement, I could not have completed this study

iii

ABSTRACT This research intended to explore the potential effects of instructing students

to use metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests An action research approach was employed The research project lasted 8 weeks During

8 weeks of the project, participants were given instructions on using metacognitive strategies to improve their listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests

The researcher used survey questionnaires, interviews, pre-test and post-test

to collect data from the students The pre-questionnaire was chosen to elicit the data about the students’ employment of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests before the intervention The post-questionnaire and the interview was conducted to collect students’ feedbacks on instructing metacognitive strategies in the TOEIC tests after the intervention Two TOEIC listening comprehension tests were given at the beginning and the end of the course

in order to assess the students’ listening comprehension improvement

Concerning the results of the study, instructing metacognitive strategies has a positive effect on the students’ listening comprehension and there was a slight improvement on the students’ listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research methodology 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Structure of the study 3

6 Significance of the study 3

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1 Listening 5

2 Listening comprehension 6

3 Overview of the TOEIC listening test 7

4 Metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 13

4.1 Definition of metacognition 13

4.2 Definition of metacognitive strategies 13

4.3 Differences between cognitive and metacognitive strategies 14

4.4 The role of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 15

4.5 Types of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension 16

5 Related previous studies 22

6 Summary 24

CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25

1 Action research 25

1.1 Definition of action research 25

1.2 Rationale for the use of action research 27

2 Settings 27

v

3 Participants 28

4 Data collecting instruments 28

5 Research procedure 30

6 Structure of the metacognitive strategy training sessions in listening 31

7 Data analysis procedure 34

8 Summary 35

CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

1 Students’ employment of metacognitive strategies before the intervention 36

2 The students’ improvement in the TOEC listening test 41

3 The students’ feedbacks on the instructions of using metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEC tests after the training 43

4 Summary of the chapter 51

PART THREE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 52

1 Summary of major findings 52

2 Recommendations 53

3 Limitations of the study 54

4 Suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III Appendix 1 III Appendix 2 V Appendix 3 XIII Appendix 4 XIV Appendix 5 XXVII Appendix 6 XL Appendix 7 XLV Appendix 8 LX

vi

Table 1 The description of the research program

Table 2 The students’ overall awareness of metacognitive strategies in listening before the intervention

Table 3 The students’ awareness of planning strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention

Table 4 The students’ awareness of monitoring strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention

Table 5 The students’ awareness of problem solving strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention

Table 6 The students’ awareness of evaluation strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension before the intervention

Table 7 TOEIC pre- and post-test score

Table 8 Paired Samples Statistics

Table 9 Paired Samples Test

Table 10 The students’ impression of the listening lessons

Table 11 The students’ involvement in the listening lessons

Table 12 The students’ levels of motivation in the listening lessons

Table 13 The students’ self-assessment of their listening improvement

Table 14 The students’ assessment of the use of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

Table 15 The effectiveness and importance of metacognitive strategies in TOEIC listening comprehension

Table 16 The students’ difficulties in TOEIC listening comprehension after applying metacognitive strategies

Table 17 The students’ assessment of the teaching method

Table 18 The students’ evaluation of the way teacher instructed metacognitive strategies Table 19 Metacognitive strategies that the students use to practice listening at home

1

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Facts have shown that the TOEIC test, which composes of two sections: listening and reading, is currently enjoying its popularity in both workplaces and universities in Vietnam The teaching and learning of listening in preparation for the TOEIC tests is more demanding because it requires the test takers to process information while listening Successful listening skills require the usage of effective strategies Without effective listening strategies, students’ listening becomes challenging, problematic and ineffective There are various ways of classifying listening strategies However, the classification of the strategies into cognitive, metacognitive, and social-affective strategies, which are based on cognitive theory (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990), seem to be the most popular A

listener might use a cognitive listening strategy to comprehend or make progress, but a metacognive-strategy user would monitor the process and include both self-

reflection and self-direction Learners who have developed their metacognitive awareness are likely to become more autonomous Therefore, Goh (2008) believed that metacognitive strategies instruction could potentially enhance learners’ knowledge about their listening and learning process Metacognitive strategies instruction can also bring positive effects on listening comprehension and enhance students’ level of confidence, create more motivation and lessen anxiety in learners during the listening process

Despite its advantages, many students do not have adequate knowledge of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension Moreover, literature review shows that little attention has been paid to giving students instructions in using metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension Consequently, the listening proficiency of Vietnamese students has not reached satisfactory level From the dissatisfaction with the current situation, and the desire to make intervention to improve the situation of teaching and learning listening, I decided to conduct:

2

“An action research project on the use of metacognitive strategies to enhance students’ listening comprehension in TOEIC tests at an English centre in Hanoi”

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The ultimate aim of the study is to see whether giving students instructions in using metacognitive strategies help them improve their listening comprehension

in the TOEIC tests

The objectives of this research are:

- To find out the students’ employment of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests before the intervention;

- To investigate the extent to which giving the students instructions on metacognitive strategies help them improve their listening comprehension skill

in TOEIC tests;

- To find out the students’ feedbacks to the instructions of metacognitive strategies

in listening comprehension in TOEIC tests

3 Research methodology

Action research is appropriate for this research because the researcher has an impact on learners through the involvement of the teacher in the process of teaching and learning The combination of different instruments, namely questionnaires, interviews, pre-test and post-test in this research is hoped to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a close investigation into the problems Pre-questionnaire will be conducted in the first week It aims at investigating the use of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension by students before the intervention Post-questionnaire and interview will be delivered in the last week of the research Post-questionnaire is used to collect feedback from students about giving instructions of metacognitive strategies Interviews are applied to clarify the information collected from the questionnaires

Pre-test and post-test are designed based on the actual TOEIC listening test They are marked to reveal any improvements students have made during the research progress

3

Specifically, the study is conducted to answer the following research

questions:

 How did the students use metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

in preparation for the TOEIC tests before the intervention?

 To what extent does giving students instructions on metacognitive strategies help them enhance their listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests?

 What are the students’ feedbacks to the instructions of metacognitive strategies

in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests?

4 Scope of the study

Due to the limited knowledge and time of the researcher, the investigation could only be carried out on a small scale This action research will be conducted for only 8 lessons in the context of a certain group of 13 students from a class in the English centre

5 Structure of the study

This study is divided into three parts:

Part one “Introduction” presents the rationale of the study, aims, objectives,

research questions, scope, and methods of the study

Part two “Development” consists of three chapters Chapter 1 – Literature

review deals with the theoretical foundation for the research Chapter 2 – Methodology describes the methodology applied in the study including participants, instruments, as well as the procedures of conducting the study Chapter 3 – Research findings and discussion presents the results of the research and data analysis, from which major findings are revealed and discussed

Part three “Conclusion” summarizes the major findings as well as points out

the limitation of the study Suggestions for further study based on major findings are also mentioned in this part

6 Significance of the study

Metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension may provide a new look into the teaching and learning of TOEIC listening skills especially at my English

4

centre Hopefully, it would enable students to learn listening and apply metacognitive strategies in their listening comprehension Also, these strategies would be a helpful reference to teachers in the problems of insufficient methods for teaching TOEIC listening Apart from my centre, the study can also be feasible for ESL or EFL teachers and students in other educational institutes

It is believed that listening is a significant and essential element of communication in

a native language and in second language as well As it was estimated that adults spend 40-50% of their communication time on listening, (Holden, 2004), listening is the most frequently used language skill

There are a number of definitions of listening; however, the researcher would only name some typical and most recent ones

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, listening means paying attention to sound

(e.g listen to music) or to hear something with thoughtful attention and giving consideration (e.g listen to a plea)

(Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/listen)

The definition in the dictionary merely describes what is on the surface, but not the nature of “listening”

Rost (2002) defines listening, in its broadest sense, as a process of receiving what the speaker actually says; constructing and representing meaning; negotiating meaning with the speaker and responding, creating meaning through involvement, imagination and understanding Similarly, Helgesen (2003) states that “listening is an active, purposeful processing of making sense of what we hear.”

From these definitions, it is clear to summarize that the listener is doing more than simply decoding what is heard Listening is receiving what the speaker says then actively interpreting what the listener hears with what he/she already knows

In short, Vandergrift (2003) asserts a more precise definition of listening, which is a receptive skill, a complex, active process of interpretation in which listeners try to

6

suit what they hear with their prior knowledge Therefore, students should work to develop aural proficiency skills and strategies to help them manage the listening comprehension process

2 Listening comprehension

Listening comprehension is defined by O'Mally, Chamot, and Kupper (1989) that "an active and conscious process in which the listener construct meaning by using cues from contextual information and from existing knowledge, which relying upon multiple strategies resources to fulfill the task requirement"

Buck, G (2001, p.31) shares the ideas that “listening comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning and this is done by applying knowledge to the incoming sounds” in which “different types of knowledge are involved: linguistic knowledge and non-linguistic knowledge” However, this definition did not explain what is linguistic and non-linguistic

Based on their definitions, listening comprehension is not a passive activity in which listener receive information and then comprehend it but is a process-oriented activity which process the aural input and combine background knowledge to information in the listening text Specifically, listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammatical structures, interpret stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the larger socio-cultural context of the utterance (Wipf, 1984) It requires listeners to be active processors of information and to make meaning from the oral input by drawing from their background knowledge of the world and the second language and produce information in their long term memory and make their own interpretations of the spoken passages (Young, 1997)

There are two distinct processes involved in listening comprehension Listeners use 'top-down' processes when they use prior knowledge to understand the meaning of a message Prior knowledge can be knowledge of the topic, the listening context, the text-type, the culture or other information stored in long-term memory Listeners use content words and contextual clues to infer what the intentions of the speaker may

7

have been On the other hand, listeners also use 'bottom-up' processes when they use linguistic knowledge to understand the meaning of a message They build meaning from lower level sounds: syllables, words, grammatical relationships, to lexical meanings in order to arrive at the final message In bottom-up processing, the learner uses sound input to guess what a word might be, based on matching initial sounds to his known lexicon Listening comprehension is not either top-down or bottom-up processing, but an interactive, interpretive process where listeners use both prior knowledge and linguistic knowledge in understanding messages The degree to which listeners use the one process or the other will depend on their knowledge of the language, familiarity with the topic or the purpose for listening For example, listening for gist involves primarily top-down processing, whereas listening for specific information involves primarily bottom-up processing

Based on the above mentioned statements, listening comprehension is a cognitive skill, an active and conscious process, in which listeners focus their own attentions

on taking the information from the aural input, comprehend the meaning of the input, and combine them with the contextual information and background knowledge to produce output (O’Malley, Chamot & Küpper, 1989) It may develop through acquisition of learning strategies Consequently, having knowledge and the use of effective strategies such as metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension can help learners to understand most of the language input

3 Overview of the TOEIC listening test

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is defined as a standardized test that measures learners’ listening and reading skills.Since1979, test taker numbers have steadily increasedand today the TOEIC test is one of the most internationally recognized English proficiency exams in the world. An increasing number of companies worldwide use the TOEIC to settargets for English proficiency for the purposes of hiring new workers, transfers to different companies, or for promotion to management positions TOEIC is also being used within academiccontexts as away of screening candidates for their graduate programs

8

Traditionally and popularly, TOEIC is a paper-and-pencil test consisting two sections: listening and reading comprehension There are 100 multiple-choice questions in each section Each section score scales ranging from 5 to 495 and total score scales ranging from 10 to 990

TOEIC listening is a kind of listening comprehension Firstly, the listening section requires test takers to be familiar with different native speaking accents, including the

US, Canadian, British, and Australian speakers Many students have difficulty understanding speakers with other accents To overcome this, it is important that students be exposed to a variety of English accents Secondly, students need to be aware of the sound changes that occur in natural English speech The sound of words spoken in natural conversation can differ dramatically from words spoken in isolation

(e.g going to and gonna) Helping students become aware of the ways that sounds

are combined, dropped, and changed in natural speech can significantly improve their listening comprehension, both for the TOEIC test and in the real world Thirdly, listening section in TOEIC test requires students to understand language in use

(conversational English) The English used in the TOEIC test reflects everyday usage

as encountered in offices, shops, and on the street in English speaking environments

around the world In order to do well on the test students must be given exposure to

English as it is really used Finally, success on the TOEIC test requires an extensive range of vocabulary and knowledge of how these words change and are organized grammatically Vocabulary is one of the most significant factors in doing well on the test, and any effective study program should include an organized system for noting and reviewing words and phrases that students encounter as they study

The TOEIC listening test includes 100 questions with a time limit of approximately

45 minutes It is divided into 4 sections, namely: picture description (10 questions), question and responses (30 questions), short conversations (30 questions) and short talks (30 questions).The listeners’ ability to understand what they hear and choose the correct answer is evaluated It might be a detail to remember, an inference to make, or main idea that they need to comprehend

9

Part 1: pictures description (10 questions)

In this part, examinees see a picture and hear four descriptive statements about it The picture can represent people, things, actions and places Listeners must select the statement that best describes what is presented in the picture Listeners hear the sentences only once, and must make their choice immediately after that The photographs show people in typical workplace settings as well as in everyday situations There are three question types in this part They are: location questions, action questions (active or passive form), situation questions (the condition of things

in the pictures)

The best way to approach these questions is to scan the picture completely and identify what’s happening Part 1 requires predicting the type of possible statements students may hear, brainstorming nouns and verbs related to the picture before they

listen, determining the focus or main idea of the picture, identifying common distractors such as similar sounding words or words of the same form but different parts of speech, and understanding natural spoken English

For example:

[Audio script]

(A) The firefighters are rescuing a woman

(B) The firefighters are riding in a truck

(C) The firefighters are holding a hose

(D) The firefighters are holding a child

The correct answer is C

Part 2: Questions and responses (30 questions)

In this part, the test taker will hear a short exchange between two speakers with a question and three possible responses They must choose the response that best answer the question The question may ask about people, location, time, an activity,

an event, emotions, reasons or opinions in everyday conversational English The question types include 3 types: Questions with an interrogative word (Who, whose,

10

whom, what, which, where, when, why, how), questions with no interrogative word, (be/do, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs) and other types of questions like indirect questions, tag questions, negative questions, alternative questions, declarative sentences, requests and suggestions

In order to do well in part 2, students need to identify the correct responses to each

type of questions, listen for answers with related details or explanations, listen for key words (nouns, verbs, question words) to help them avoid distractors and find the correct answer choice, distinguishing between confusing words, be aware of the

language commonly used in social interactions including offer, request, and opinions.For example: [audio script]

What are you going to do after the meeting?

(A) I went to a natural history museum

(B) I have to finish a marketing report.

(C) I didn't know about his birthday

The correct answer is B

Part 3: Short conversations (30 questions)

In this part, examinees will hear 10 short dialogues After each conversation, they are asked to answer 3 questions about what the speakers say There are four possible answers for each questions The questions will ask about the general idea of the conversation or specific details Students will be asked to identify an activity, an emotion, a relationship, or the location of the speakers In some cases, they may have

to do some minor calculations based on measurements in the dialogues They will need to use short term memories as well

Tactics in part 3 include previewing each set of 3 questions and predicting possible vocabulary and expressions that are related, identifying the key words in the questions together with their corresponding answer choices, paraphrasing, identifying same word distractors, inferring things about the situation, be familiar with language

common to negative responses

For example:

[Audio script]

11

Questions 41 through 43 refer to the following conversation.

(W) Hello, Excelsior Hotel How may I help you?

(M) Hi I telephoned yesterday to make a reservation for two single rooms over the weekend of the first I'd like to add a third room to my reservation.

(W) OK, let me check availability for you I'll need your last name and reservation number, please.

(M) Certainly The last name is Jordan and my number is 1076KJ.

41 What is the man doing?

(A) Changing a flight reservation

(B) Changing a hospital room

(C) Reserving an extra hotel room

(D) Canceling a hotel room

42 What information does the woman need?

(A) A telephone number and address

(B) A name and reservation number

(C) A name and cell phone number

(D) A date of birth

43 What is "Jordan"?

(A) The woman's name

(B) The man's given name

(C) The man's family name

(D) The man's pet dog

Part 4: Short talks (30 questions)

In this part, the test takers will hear a short monologue, followed by 3 questions The difference from part 3 is that instead of a conversation, the listening features a single speaker giving a talk: a news report, an advertisement, an acceptance speech, a weather forecast and etc

There are 4 types of questions in this part, which are: main idea questions, fact and detail questions, inference questions, and cause and effect questions

Similar to part 3, this part requires students to pick out the key words from the

questions and also the answer choices to help predicting what students are going to hear and focus on what students have to listen for, brainstorm words related to the

12

answer choices to identify information in the talk that restates the answer choices,

understand the main idea of the talk, listen for meaning, not just the key words

For example:

[Audio script]

Questions 71 through 73 refer to the following news report.

(W) The top business story today is American Aircraft Manufacturer's success at drumming up business in Europe AAM has won a slew of aircraft orders worth 1.6 billion dollars They have received 30 orders for their new model, the 62F plane, to be delivered in such countries as England, Norway, France, and Germany With the total European orders, AAM will be manufacturing 60 more planes than it sold in all of 1995 The company has pulled itself from the brink of failure to expected net profits of no less than 13 billion dollars this year This unexpected turnaround is thanks to the innovative marketing approach implemented by CEO, Mark Simpson, since he took over the company in April Mr Simpson was unavailable for comment

71 What is the top story?

(A) AAM's plans to build factories

(B) AAM's success in foreign sales

(C) AAM's impending financial failure

(D) AAM's new commercial airplanes

72 To which countries will AAM deliver aircraft?

(A) England, Norway, Spain, and Austria

(B) England, Norway, France, and Germany

(C) England, Sweden, France, and Germany

(D) England, Denmark, Italy, and Germany

73 Who is credited with this change?

13

4 Metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

As stated above, listening in the TOEIC test is listening comprehension which requires strategy use and teaching students how to use strategies can enhance the process of listening comprehension Among those, metacognitive strategies are considered effective tools for successful listening With the help of metacognitive strategies, language learners’ performance is improved in a number of ways, including better use of prior knowledge, better use of strategies, and better preparation

to make conscious decisions about what they can do to improve their learning

4.1 Definition of metacognition

In cognitive psychology, metacognition is defined as an executive control which includes monitoring and self-regulation It refers to thinking about one’s thinking or the human ability to be conscious of one’s mental processes (Nelson, 1996) In this definition, it is not quite clear to the readers what is “thinking about one’s thinking” According to Flavell (1976), metacognitive knowledge is “one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them”, and the capacity for “active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration

of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some concrete goal or objective” This definition seems to cover the concept of metacognition in the most complete sense

Based on the above mentioned characteristics of metacognition, metacognition are thoughts or behaviors consciously employed by the learner to think about the learning task, plan for the task, monitor the task, and evaluate how well he/she has completed the task

4.2 Definition of metacognitive strategies

The mental processes that listeners use to understand spoken English can be broadly described as listening comprehension strategies Listening should be approached as a skill requiring strategy use and teaching students how to use these strategies leads to improvement in listening ability Among well-known language learning strategies in listening are metacognitive strategies

14

O’Malley and Chamot (1990) states that “metacognitive strategies involve thinking about the learning process, planning for learning, monitoring comprehension or production while it is taking place, as self-evaluation of learning after the learning activity is completed” (p 137) Therefore, these strategies have an executive function Goh (1998) defines metacognitive strategies as the techniques that “involve thinking about the way information is processed and stored, taking appropriate steps to manage and regulate these cognitive processes” (p 126)

According to Liu (2008), metacognitive strategies include skills which require more complex processes involving attention, strategic thinking, and the ability to engage

in self-monitoring and self-evaluation

Each of the definition above mention aspects of metacognitive strategies The definition of metacognitive strategies proposed by Holden (2004) has summed up all previous definitions: metacognitive strategies are the actions that learners use consciously while listening to a spoken text attentively, dealing with knowing about learning With the help of this language learning strategy, learners are involved in thinking about the process of learning while they are planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own learning Learners checkup and appraise their comprehension of the listening text

4.3 Differences between cognitive and metacognitive strategies

The cognitive strategies are separate learning activities and they are basically activities that are used by learners in order to understand the linguistic input and get knowledge For example, when a learner finds a difficult word in a text and inferring the meaning of that word from the context, in fact he used the cognitive strategy In addition, cognitive strategies are those that control the input or use a certain skill to complete a particular task According to O'Malley and Chamot (1990), cognitive strategies enable learners to understand and produce new language by many different ways Cognitive strategies may include repeating, translation, grouping, note taking, deducting, imagery, auditory representation, transferring…

15

On the other hand, the metacognitive strategies refer to the actions that learners use consciously while listening to a spoken text attentively Metacognitive strategies are rather a sequence of tactics that are used They may include planning for learning, thinking about the learning process as it is taking place, monitoring of one's production or comprehension, and evaluating learning after an activity is completed

In short, the distinguishing feature between cognition and metacognition is that a

listener might use a cognitive listening strategy to comprehend or make progress, but

a metacognition would monitor the process (Flavell, 1985), and include both

self-reflection and self-direction

4.4 The role of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

Metacognitive strategy is not one single tactic or skill, but rather a sequence of tactics that are used In details, using metacognitive strategies means learners thinking about their understanding in the language Listeners build on more insights in the listening process, and are able to question themselves They involve themselves in the process

of connecting new information to known material, creating practice chances, and of self-evaluation L2 learners focus on their learning processes, arranging and planning their learning activities, and then evaluating their learning progress For instance, while listening, listeners review new information and link it with already known material, and pay extra attention to main ideas After lectures, they self-identify errors

in their understanding, try to avoid errors the next time, self-evaluate their progress, and come to better understand the new language in the future Then they set short-term and long-term goals in order to use English in academic settings (Oxford, 1990; Vandergrift, 1997, 2003a)

The definition of metacognition, metacognitive strategies, the difference between cognition and metacognition and the role of metacognitive strategies provides the researcher and also the readers with conceptual framework of metacognitive strategies

16

4.5 Types of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

(O’Malley and Chamot, 1990, p 137, 138) proposed the following categories of metacognitive strategies that can be used to carry out listening tasks:

a) Planning: Organizing concept or principle of an anticipated learning task; proposing strategies for handling an upcoming task; generating a plan for the parts, main ideas, or language functions to be used in handling a task

b) Directed attention: Deciding in advance to attend to a learning task and to ignore irrelevant distractors; maintaining attention during task execution

c) Selective attention: Deciding in advance to attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details that assist in performance of a task; attending to specific aspects of language input during task execution

d) Self-management: Understanding the conditions that help one successfully accomplish language tasks and arranging for the presence of those conditions; controlling one’s language performance to maximize use of what is already known e) Self-monitoring: Checking, verifying, or correcting one’s comprehension or performance in the course of a language task

f) Problem Identification: Explicitly identifying the central point needing resolution

in a task or identifying an aspect of the task that hinders its successful completion g) Self-evaluation: Checking the outcomes of one’s own language performance against an internal measure of completeness and accuracy; checking one’s language repertoire, strategy use, or ability to perform the task at hand

h) Production evaluation: Checking one’s work when the task is finished

i) Performance evaluation: Judging one’s overall execution of the task

j) Ability evaluation: Judging one’s ability to perform the task

k) Strategy evaluation: Judging one’s strategy use when the task is completed

l) Language repertoire evaluation: Judging how much one knows of the L2, at the word, phrase, sentence, or concept level

CALLA (Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach) was developed by Chamot and O’Malley (1994, p.43-44) as a metacognitive strategy training model It

- Practice: Students practice using the strategy with regular class activities

e.g.: Asking questions, cooperating with others, seeking practice opportunities

- Evaluation: Students self-evaluate their use of the learning strategy and how well the strategy is working for them

e.g.: Self-monitoring, self-evaluating, evaluating their learning

- Expansion: Students extend the usefulness of the learning strategy by applying it to new situations or leaning for them

e.g.: Arranging and planning their learning

Vandergrift (1997) lists four strategy categories, planning, monitoring, evaluation and problem identification, which make up the basics of his model

For planning, he draws attention to an appropriate action plan to deal with difficulties that may hinder the listener from completing a task successfully At this stage, he underlines the importance of pre-listening activities that help students make predictions about what to listen for and, subsequently, to focus attention on meaning while listening

In his monitoring category, students check consistency with their predictions In the evaluation category, students evaluate the results of decisions made during a listening task by getting involved in group or class discussions

18

Within the problem identification category, he underlines the importance of explicitly

identifying the aspect of the task that hinders completion of the listening task successfully He also suggests some teaching techniques to develop students’ metacognitive strategy use by illustrating some listening activities that are simple and helpful for listeners to develop their metacognition He also suggests using a checklist including two parts as “before listening” and “after listening” After the pre-listening activities, students complete the first part of the checklist, before listening, to evaluate whether they have followed all the necessary steps for successful listening before they begin to listen After listening and attempting to complete the listening task, students complete the second part, which will help them to evaluate their performance in a system, particularly if they had difficulty completing the task This self-evaluation will help students to adjust their strategies for the following tasks Room for a written reflection at the bottom of the instrument encourages students to personally reflect on the process, and state what they will do to improve their performance the next time

As can be seen, metacognitive strategies are used to manage these cognitive processes

by influencing their operations This can include a move to greater knowledge, awareness and control of one’s learning, selecting strategies, monitoring the progress

of learning, correcting errors, analyzing the effectiveness of learning strategies, and changing learning behaviors and strategies when necessary

Chamot, Bernhardt, El-Dinary and Robbins (1999) proposed four types of metacognitive strategies: planning, monitoring, problem-solving and evaluating

Planning is making a comprehensive plan for comprehending the aural input It

arouses learners' interest, expectations, and promotes their motivation to find out what will happen during the listening and it also clarifies the purposes for listening

Monitoring or comprehension monitoring is listeners’ self-regulation of their own

comprehension during listening Monitoring strategy assists listeners to compensate lost comprehension and to use listening strategies to enhance comprehension Self-assessment has its foundations in metacognition and self-regulated learning and is

19

seen as having the potential to provide teachers and students with opportunities to understand and enhance the ways students monitor and adjust strategic thinking Anderson (2002) further adds that metacognition can be divided into the following five components Each of these components is briefly discussed below:

a Preparing and planning for learning: Learners reflect on what they need or want

to achieve and how they are going to achieve it Teachers may assist this reflection

by explicitly defining the particular learning goals which are set for the class and helping the learners in setting their own learning goals If goals are clearly articulated,

it will be easier for the learners to measure their progress

b Selecting and using learning strategies: This component deals with selecting and

using particular strategies in a given context for a specific purpose It is based on learners’ thinking and making conscious decisions about the learning process

c Monitoring strategy use: This component enables students to direct their own

progress This component primarily deals with revisiting the way strategies are employed and making sure that the strategies are implemented correctly

d Orchestrating various strategies: The mastery of employing a number of strategies

together is a crucial and influential metacognitive skill Being able to coordinate, organize, and relate different strategies can make a distinction between strong and weak learning strategy users Teachers might develop this ability in learners through introducing various available strategies

e Evaluating strategy use and learning: At this stage "students attempt to evaluate

whether what they are doing is effective by means of self-questioning, debriefing discussions after strategies practice" This ability can be developed by teachers through asking students to answer: a) What is s/he is trying to accomplish? b) What strategies is s/he employing? c) How well is s/he employing the strategies? and d) What other strategies can s/he employ? These questions address all of the aspects of metacognition stated earlier At this step, all the steps stated above are revisited and evaluated Teachers attempt to encourage using all of components of metacognition Metacognitive strategies (Rashtchi & Keyvanfar, 2010, p.181) are as followed:

20

a Planning and organizing for learning

- Previewing the next unit of the course book

- Deciding in advance to pay attention to general or specific aspects of language input

b Finding ways to make learning more effective

- Making word cards

- Categorizing words in semantic groups

c Self-monitoring while learning

- Reviewing one's notes while studying

- Monitoring one's production of tenses while speaking

d Evaluating one's work on language

- Reading the teacher's comments and corrections on a written work

- Checking one's writing for accuracy

In a recent research by Dimassi (2017), he focused his research on planning, monitoring, and evaluation

a Planning is a strategy that allows learners to develop awareness of what needs to

be done to accomplish a task and to develop an appropriate action plan to overcome difficulties that may interfere with successful completion of a task Learners determine what their objectives are and decide on the strategies by which they will achieve them In a listening activity, for instance, a learner might decide to read over what they have to do or to try to think of the questions that is going to be asked Self-management necessitates two metacognitive strategies: directed and selective attention Directed attention allows learners not only to decide in advance to ignore irrelevant distractors, but also to maintain attention during task execution Selective attention permits learners to decide in advance to attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details during task execution Before tackling a listening task, for example, a student decides to listen for the key words or to establish the speakers in the conversation, their relationship by tone of voice, and how they will address each other

21

In addition, preparation and planning allow learners to anticipate some aspects of the input such as the main contents and some known vocabulary related to the main content Learners can achieve this by activating their prior knowledge of the topic and by recalling their approaches to similar tasks

b Monitoring is the strategy that allows learners to check, and/or correct their comprehension in the course of learning and taking appropriate measures to deal with difficulties that interfere with the process With regards to self-efficacy, it appears that monitoring is the ability to recognize the causes of learners’ comprehension breakdown, and to pause in order to decide on the appropriate remedy to rectify it

On the other hand, learners can examine the relationships between learning goals and the means of achieving their goals A learner, therefore, may discontinue using a revision list of strategic knowledge and select the appropriate strategies for the task Second, monitoring allows learners to track the causes of their learning problems, such as inappropriate translation or overgeneralization from a native language Learners understand more about the new language, their own use of learning strategies, and the extent of their progress Equally important, monitoring enables learners to use a variety of strategies during the process of problem-solving, such as: using known words to deduce the meaning of unknown words, using the general idea

of a text to deduce unknown words, using one’s experience and general knowledge

in interpreting the text, adjusting one’s interpretation upon realizing that they are not correct, monitoring the accuracy of one’s inferences

Also, monitoring provides learners with opportunities to practice a variety of strategies which they can apply in their pair and class discussions, for instance, supporting ideas, using evidence and providing counter-arguments Moreover, monitoring allows learners to generate deep-level elaborations, inferences and predictions through self, peer and class monitoring

c Evaluation is the strategy allowing learners to check the outcomes of their language learning against an internal measure of competence and accuracy Evaluation refers

to appraising the products and efficiency of one’s learning When they evaluate their

22

learning, learners apply the criteria they establish during planning to determine whether they have met some or all of the other goals Learners then consider whether they are satisfied with the performance or need to apply problem solving strategies to obtain their goals

Evaluation allows learners to maintain an involvement in metacognition by asking themselves questions and responding to them thoughtfully For instance, while learning to listen for main ideas, learners can evaluate their strategy use in many ways Such strategies include performance evaluation, problem identification and problem-solution To evaluate their performance, learners judge their overall execution of the task when the task is completed Problem identification relates to learners deciding which problems they are still encountering with the text or task

5 Related previous studies

Many researchers have examined the use of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension process

A study proving the effectiveness of metacognitive strategy training on L2 listening performance is that of O'Malley and Chamot (1990) whose 75 intermediate high school ESL students were grouped into two experimental groups and a control group The experimental groups consisted of a metacognitive group and a cognitive group, the third was a control group, and received no strategy instruction Performance on a post-listening test was compared Results revealed that in each daily test, the treatment groups performed better than the control group, and that the metacognitive group had a better performance than the cognitive group on three of the four tests

In another study, Thompson and Rubin (1996) worked on the influence of metacognitive and cognitive strategy instruction on the listening comprehension performance of American university students learning Russian After a two-year period, the listening results were compared within two groups: one is the experiment group which received systematic training in listening strategies and the other received

no instruction Pre- and post-tests showed that the students who received strategy

Mareschal (2007) also studied the effect of self-regulation and meta-cognitive strategy instruction on some low and high intermediate French language learners during 8 weeks of language training program The results of data analysis by using a metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire, stimulated-recall protocols, diaries, think-aloud protocols, and a final summative open-ended questionnaire, revealed that the students benefited from the metacognitive strategy instructions and were able to self-regulate themselves better during the listening task; therefore, their listening comprehension ability improved

Coskun (2010) investigated the effect of metacognitive listening strategy training on the listening performance of a group of preparatory school students at a university in Turkey The experimental group received five weeks of metacognitive strategy training embedded into a listening course book, while the other group did not At the end of the training, a listening test taken from the teacher’s manual of the same course book was administered to both groups The analysis of the test scores revealed that the experimental group did statistically better on the test The implication of the study

is that metacognitive strategy training should be incorporated into the regular listening teaching program to help students become more effective listeners

Finally, Rasouli, Mollakhan, and Karbalaei (2013) examined the effect of metacognitive listening strategies training on EFL learners’ listening comprehension

in Iran The participants in the study were selected from six classes A listening

24

comprehension test, pre-test and post-test standardized measures of listening comprehension, and metacognitive listening strategy questionnaire were administered to the experimental and control group The results of this study showed that metacognitive strategy training can advance EFL learners' comprehension ability from the beginning level to a higher level of listening comprehension

To sum up, although the number of studies in listening comprehension strategy instruction is still limited but in these limited number of studies, it is highly proved that learners can be instructed to employ the use of metacognitive strategies and these strategies improved their listening comprehension It is inferred from the strategies used by learners that they develop learners' self-regulated learning through learners’ selection of their goals, assigning goals in their learning, supervising their improvement of learning, and assessing their learning results

6 Summary

In general, the literature on metacognitive strategies and some previous studies reviewed provide evidence of the positive impact of metacognitive strategies on learners’ language acquisition, particularly the beneficial effects on students’ listening comprehension Therefore, instructing students to apply metacognitive strategies is possible in helping students improve their listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests

25

CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher employs survey questionnaires, interviews and pre-tests and post-tests to collect data from students.These instruments are employed in order to answer the following research questions:

1 How did the students use metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension

in preparation for the TOEIC tests before the intervention?

2 To what extent does giving students instructions on metacognitive strategies help them enhance their listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests?

3 What are the students’ feedbacks to the instructions of metacognitive strategies

in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests?

This chapter describes methodology of the research including the rationale for the use of action research, research settings, description of the participants, research instruments, research procedure, structure of the training sessions and data analysis

procedure

1 Action research

1.1 Definition of action research

Action research has been defined in a number of ways in literature

In Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and applied linguistics, Richards and Platt (1992) gave the following definition of action research: “Research has the primary goal of finding ways of solving problems, bring about social change or practical action, in comparison with research which seeks to discover scientific principles or develop general laws and theories.”

According to Cohen and Manion (1994), action research was a “small-scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects

of such intervention.” Action research was first and foremost situational, being

concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context

To be more specific, in classroom, action research was research designed to help a teacher find out what was happening in his or her classroom, and to use that

information to make wise decisions for the future Gwynn Mettetal (2002) It can be

26

seen that in an action research project, teachers are both a changing agent to the social reality and at the same time a subject influenced by that reality So it is a very effective way of helping teachers to reflect on their teaching and come up with their alternatives

to improve their practice

The main characteristics of action research was: it is situational It is a cyclic process

of planning, action, and evaluation; and conducted by active participants in the teaching/learning process and derived from a real problem in the classroom Action research has continuous feedback resulting to all parties involved It takes into account differences in value systems and power structures of all the parties involved

in the research It is concerned with the identification and solution of problems in a specific context Its main aims are: to solve a problem, to improve the current state

of affairs, and to generate new knowledge

According to Sagor (2005), there are 4 stages in an action research project illustrated

in the figure 1 below

27

In short, action research is a process of scientific investigation which is often conducted by a teacher or a practitioner in order to improve the current state of affairs

within the educational context As it is named, “action” and “research” highlights the

essential features of this method: carrying out theory of action in practice to help

action researchers understand what is going on and then based on data regarding the

impact of their actions, action researchers produce a revised theory of action, and solutions for identified problems

1.2 Rationale for the use of action research

When thinking of choosing an appropriate method for this research, the researcher found out that action research is the best choice for the purpose of this study

Firstly, action research aims at “improving the situation” As stated in chapter 1, the purpose of this study is to help to improve students’ listening skills in using metacognitive strategies In general, action research in schools, universities or any other educational institutions solves everyday practical problems experienced by teachers, rather than the “theoretical problems” Specifically, the research is conducted by the researcher as a classroom teacher with her own students, and in her classroom The result of the study would be helpful to her own teaching process The teacher who conducts action research could solve his/her problems scientifically Secondly, action research allows the teacher to have a careful investigation on the metacognitive strategies in listening skills of students The teacher can have a thorough look and is able to work out an analysis on the students’ performance during the progress of the research Action research helps the teacher design a detailed program which is most suitable to the class students and benefits them the most

2 Settings

The English centre where the researcher is working was founded in 2008 with 1 headquarter and 2 branches, all of which are located in Hanoi The centre has been organizing thousands of offline English courses with approximately 3500 learners each year There are a number of English courses for many types of learners from kids to adults The TOEIC preparation course is divided into 3 levels: Pre TOEIC,

28

TOEIC A, and TOEIC B, and other supplementary courses for the TOEIC preparation course Each TOEIC course often lasts 20 sessons (90 minutes for each session) The course employs a number of popular commercial TOEIC test preparation books by well-known publishers such as ABC TOEIC, Big Step, Longman New TOEIC Listening Comprehension Learners participating in the course receive training in the format of the TOEIC test, and frequent practice of the relevant skills to be tested Normally, the number of learners in each class is from 10 to 20 learners; so the teachers can easily implement activities, supervise, monitor, facilitate learning or provide help when needed

3 Participants

The researcher surveyed 13 learners who were studying in 1 TOEIC class In the placement test, learners had to gain at least 350 points in the 990-point scale of TOEIC After finishing the course, it guaranteed a post-test score of at least 450 points

to each learner

The learners were mainly university or college students along with some employees

in several companies in Hanoi Learners came from different provinces in Vietnam The students wanted to take part in the TOEIC course in order to meet the graduation requirements set by their schools or colleges The office workers participated in the course to get a certificate in English as an evaluation tool in their enterprises Previously, they mainly studied English grammar and did not pay much attention to listening Therefore, they could not comprehend very complicated English conversations or speeches as well as lack the appropriate strategies to deal with the TOEIC test They voluntarily paid tuition fee to take the course Most of the learners were very studious and purposeful in studying English

4 Data collecting instruments

Questionnaires (Appendix 1 and 2)

Two questionnaires were designed and administered: one prior to the instruction of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension and the other after the intervention

29

The pre-intervention questionnaire consisted of 21 questions and was conducted at the first week The questionnaire was adapted from Vandergrift, et al, (2006) The purpose of the questionnaires was to assess learners’ metacognitive awareness about listening strategy use It represents four areas of metacognitive awareness about L2 listening: planning, monitoring, problemsolving, and evaluation This questionnaire was written using a 6-point Likert scale (1= Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3= Slightly disagree, 4= Partly agree, 5= Agree and 6 = Strongly Agree)

After the intervention, which was instructing metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension to the students, post-questionnaire which composed of 12 questions was administered to the students in the last session of the research program The purpose of this questionnaire was to obtain information about how much metacognitive strategies help improve students’ listening comprehension and their feedback about the instructions of metacognitive strategies in listening skill

Pre-test and post-test (Appendix 4 and 5)

The scores of the pre-test and post-test were used as they provided a quick and easy way of looking at the improvements made by the TOEIC learners The format and level of difficulty of these two tests are closely similar to those of an official TOEIC test They were marked by a third party to ensure the validity of the result

30

The aim of the pre-test was to identify learners’ level of English before they were enrolled in the course The post-test was to decide how much the learners have improved their TOEIC listening score after the intervention

5 Research procedure

This research procedure is based on the action research cycle by Sagor (2005) Steps of the study are summarized in five steps as follows:

Step 1: Initiation (Identify the problem)

After a few courses of teaching TOEIC listening, I recognized that my students felt anxious in the listening skills To understand more, I informally talked to some of my students after classes They said that they were worried because they couldn’t hear the recordings and understand very little or nothing at all They didn’t know the strategies or techniques to use when practicing the listening exercises

Step 2: Preliminary Investigation (Collect data through questionnaire 1, and test)

pre-Students did the placement test After that, the pre-intervention questionnaires were delivered to the learners The test helped to identify the learners’ level of English and the questionnaire helped the researcher to find out students’ awareness of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension in the TOEIC tests before the intervention

Step 3: Intervention

The researcher decided to choose metacognitive strategies that were appropriate to the content of the lessons and suitable for the students’ proficiency The research program was implemented on the class The entire intervention took 8 weeks to be completed: first week was for the pre-test, next six weeks were devoted to the training sessions and last week involved the post-test The goal of this intervention was to instruct students to use metacognitive strategies to improve their listening abilities

Step 4: Evaluation (Collect data and analyze it)

31

In order to identify the students’ opinions toward instructions of metacognitive strategies and the changes in their learning progress after the training period, the researcher gave them the post-intervention questionnaire and interviews on selected students The data was collected from post-intervention questionnaire, interview and post-test and analyzed to work out the findings and come up with conclusions and suggestions based on the findings

Step 5: Reflection

What changes can be made to revise the theory of action and plan for future action

6 Structure of the metacognitive strategy training sessions in listening

Every training session of metacognitive strategies in listening comprehension consists of four stages:

1 Planning: In this phase, learners develop awareness of what needs to be done to accomplish a task and decide the strategies by which they will achieve them Teacher may assist this by helping the learners setting their own learning goals and proposing strategies for handling the task Students make predictions about what to listen for and decide in advance to pay attention to general or specific aspects of the aural input

2 Monitoring: Learners may verify their predictions when listening and the way strategies are employed and making sure that the strategies are implemented correctly Learners can also employ and orchestrate a number of strategies together

3 Problem solving: Learners identify the points needing resolution in a task or identify the aspects of the task that hinders its successful completion

4 Evaluation: They determine whether they have met some or all of the goals Learners reflect on their listening performance, strategy use, evaluate their progress, solutions for the difficulties they encountered, and the way they should face similar listening tasks in the future

A description of the research program together with the topics and the objectives of each training session is provided in the table below