An investigation of some difficulties in the listening of english majored freshmen at thu dau mot university

The thesis will study the students' subjective and objective difficulties in learning listening skills.. The results of the investigation will show the difficulties that students face wh

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

- -

GRADUATE PAPER

Title: AN INVESTIGATION OF SOME DIFFICULTIES

IN THE LISTENING OF ENGLISH - MAJORED FRESHMEN

AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

LECTURER: NGUYEN HOANG MINH DUC STUDENT: CAO THANH THAO

STUDENT CODE: 1722202010325 CLASS: D17AVKD04

MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE: 2017-2021

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

- -

GRADUATE PAPER

Title: AN INVESTIGATION OF SOME DIFFICULTIES

IN THE LISTENING OF ENGLISH - MAJORED FRESHMEN

AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

LECTURER: NGUYEN HOANG MINH DUC STUDENT: CAO THANH THAO

STUDENT CODE: 1722202010325 CLASS: D17AVKD04

MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE: 2017-2021

Thu Dau Mot, december 15 th , 2020

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Student full name Cao Thanh Thao

Title of paper AN INVESTIGATION OF SOME DIFFICULTIES IN

THE LISTENING OF ENGLISH - MAJORED FRESHMEN AT THU

DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of the paper presented Where

the work of others has been consulted, this is duly acknowledged in the

paper’s bibliography I have also not consulted any other unnamed

online sources All verbatim or referential use of the sources named in

the bibliography has been specifically indicated in the text

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Taking this opportunity, I would also like to thank the Foreign Language Department teachers, Thu Dau Mot University, who gave me the necessary knowledge to complete this lesson Thanks to all the authors of the books, tapes, and other materials listed in the references Their ideas reflected and researched You in the class because of your comments, many members of the study results.During the time of this graduation report, I have received many valuable suggestions, and encouragement and help from seeing her, her family and friends

First of all, I would like to express my profound thanks to ancient Nguyen Hoang Minh Duc, teacher of English in the Foreign Language Department, who always gave her advice and advice to complete this talent

I also want to send my most sincere thanks to the ladies in the Foreign Language Department, Thu Dau Mot University, who have taught you the basics to complete this lesson

First-year students (D20) foreign language department wholeheartedly participated in the survey

Finally, I would like to send a special thank you to my mother for their encouragement and support that played a significant role in my graduation

paper

ABSTRACT

Listening skill is one of the essential skills for communicating in real life In learning a foreign language, this skill is even more important to remember Everyone knows that hearing a message is not as simple as hearing

it, so the listener must understand the message and respond appropriately The thesis will study the students' subjective and objective difficulties in learning listening skills Therefore, I have applied quantitative methods to do the research So the collecting data instruments like questionnaires were used to

do the study The results of the investigation will show the difficulties that students face when learning listening skills More importantly, research helps

me find the cause of those difficulties so that students can realize what obstacles they encountered when listening and can promptly overcome them With the hope of improving the students' listening ability at TDMU, I have

tried to do this thesis with my own experience and knowledge of English

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

FFL Faculty of Foreign Language

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1 The age 17

Chart 2 The period is learning English 18

Chart 3 The ability 18

Chart 4 The frequency of practicing listening skills at home 19

Chart 5 The factors are affecting 20

Chart 6 The importance of English listening skill 21

Chart 7 The frequency of getting difficulties in listening skill 21

Chart 8 The difficulty in listening skill 22

Chart 9 The causes of getting difficulties in listening skill 23

Chart 10 The difficulties of listening 24

TABLE OF CONTENT

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF CHARTS vii

TABLE OF CONTENT viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 THE RATIONALE OF THE STUDY 1

1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY 2

1.3 THE RESEARCH OF THE STUDY 2

1.4 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 2

CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK 3

CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

3.1 OVERVIEW OF LISTENING 5

3.1.1 Definition of listening 5

3.1.2 The importance of listening skill 6

3.1.3 Types of listening 7

3.1.3.1 Discriminative Listening 7

3.1.3.2 Comprehensive Listening 8

3.1.3.3 Specific Listening Types 8

3.2 THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING THE LISTENING SKILL 10

3.2.1 What problems do students have with listening? 10

3.2.2 The reasons make students difficult to learn listening English 12

3.3 THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT ENGLISH LISTENING 14

3.3.1 The classroom atmosphere 14

3.3.2 Students’ motivation 14

3.3.3 Quality of recorded material 14

CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY 15

4.1 THE RESEARCH DESIGN 15

4.2 THE PARTICIPANTS 15

4.3 THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT 15

CHAPTER 5 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND DISCUSSION OF THE DATA 17

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 26

6.1 RECOMMENDATION 26

6.2 CONCLUSION 26

REFERENCES 28

APPENDIX 29

INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

In today's era, the booming age of science, technology, and information,

it is indispensable to grasp English to communicate with other countries worldwide because English is extremely popular worldwide The main goal of teaching and learning foreign languages was reading comprehension to serve literary, scientific, and technical research Today, to administer the open policy of innovation, integration with the region and the world, the goal of foreign language teaching is communication Teachers must change education according to the verbal communication method (listening - speaking) Listening is one of the four critical skills of learning a foreign language We cannot communicate without hearing To be successful in conversation, you must listen to and understand what other people say When we speak English,

we have time to think about what to say and how to use words When listening, we must pay attention to listening and understanding Learning to hear is the weakest of the four skills The teaching of listening skills is sometimes not respected and methodical due to several reasons such as lack

of facilities in the schools, or at the end of the term, at the end of the year, there is no listening test, etc

As a researcher, I would like to introduce to you the name "Investigating some difficulties in hearing English of first-year students majoring in Thu Dau Mot University" due to the above reasons Having spent a long time studying English at Thu Dau Mot University (TDMU), for more than three years, I feel that the first-year students majoring in English are still confused and difficult to hear To find out the difficulties that students often encounter

when practicing listening, I decided to choose the topic titled "An investigation of some difficulties in the listening of English-majored freshmen at Thu Dau Mot University."

1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY

The research is carried out with the following purposes:

Firstly, the research was conducted to survey the current English listening practice situation in TDMU to find out the cause of those difficulties

Secondly, analyze the situation of first-year students having difficulty Difficulty in English listening skills at TDMU

Lastly, the research shows that most students find it challenging to learn listening skills, so I want to find out the common difficulties students often encounter when learning English listening skills at TDMU In addition to these suggestions, we also want to help students catch up with an average conversation speed to improve their communication skills, especially their listening skills

1.3 THE RESEARCH OF THE STUDY

1 What are the real situations of learning English listening skills for the first-year student in the Faculty of Foreign Language (FFL) at TDMU?

2 What are the difficulties for the first-year student in FFL at TDMU?

3 Why is listening so difficult?

1.4 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study includes five main chapters, organize as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Overview of previous work

Chapter 3: Literature review

Chapter 4: Methodology

Chapter 5: Presentation, analysis, and discussion of the data

Chapter 6: Conclusion

OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK

Today we have to recognize that English is now one of the most popular languages globally and widely used in almost every country, including Vietnam English is more popular, along with the steady development of the economy in Vietnam No matter what kind of job you do or any profession, language appears Among English skills, listening is considered an essential skill Skills in Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing, Listening, and Speaking is used mainly in everyday life to perform activities such as going to school, going to work, socializing, in business, etc However, not everyone has good listening skills Because in fact, listening is one of the most demanding and challenging skills in language, voice, sound, and arrangement

of audible information so that it can grasp the speaker's main idea and content when listening It is more important that this skill needs to be improved, so every person who wants to strengthen listening must always be focused and extremely persistent during the listening process, even those frequently in contact with foreigners Recognizing the importance of English, several studies have improved students' hearing at schools or to employees at companies wishing to use the language

The first study is the project “KHẢO SÁT NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN HỌC TIẾNG ANH KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ" potx,” by Ton Nu Xuan Phuong at the University of Foreign Languages, University of Danang conducts teaching Language in general, in teaching and learning listening comprehension skills in particular, must be the result of comprehensive efforts from teachers and learners and related factors such as teaching materials, teaching methods, assessment methods, etc Finally, and most importantly, this study explains the difficulties faced by teachers and learners

in non-language classes in the teaching and learning process Listening skills

from which to propose several ideas to improve the situation (Ton Nu Xuan

Phuong & Báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học: "KHẢO SÁT NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN HỌC TIẾNG ANH KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGỮ" potx)

The second study is the study "Những khó khăn và giải pháp trong việc học kỹ năng nghe tiếng Anh ở nhà của sinh viên năm 2, chuyên ngành tiếng Anh Sư phạm ở trường CĐSP Lạng Sơn" by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh It has been clear that to learn to listen effectively; the optimal method is to increase study time and maintain study time regularly and scientifically Therefore, supporting students to use Internet-connected computer labs or labs during self-study hours is also a good thing to do to facilitate students in difficult

circumstances—practice listening skills for yourself (Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh

& Những khó khăn và giải pháp trong việc học kỹ năng nghe tiếng Anh ở nhà của sinh viên năm 2, chuyên ngành tiếng Anh Sư phạm ở trường CĐSP Lạng

However, I could not find any specific study on the difficulties students often face in listening to English students sitting in school

Richard Nordquist (Updated January 06, 2019), Listening is the active process of receiving and responding to spoken (and sometimes unspoken) messages It is one of the subjects studied in language arts and the discipline

of conversation analysis Listening is not just hearing what the other party in the conversation has to say "Listening means taking a vigorous, human interest in what is being told us," said poet Alice Duer Miller "You can listen like a blank wall or like a splendid auditorium where every sound comes back

fuller and richer." (Richard Nordquist & The Definition of Listening and How

to Do it, 06/01/2019)

Listening is the act of hearing attentively Research shows that 45% of our time spent on listening We listen more than speak If this listening skill is appropriately used, we can master the tools of communicative skills Listening is difficult, as the human mind tends to distract easily A person who controls his mind and listens attentively acquires various other skills and

benefited Listening skills can be defined as, "Listening is the act of hearing

attentively." It is also a process similar to reading, which should possess phonology, syntax, semantics, and text understanding Thomlison (1984) defines listening as "Active listening, which is very important for effective communication." Listening can also be described as "More than just hearing

and to understand and interpret the meaning of a conversation." Listening

skill makes you successful in the workplace, family, and society Good listening skill is mandatory to get into a profession in communications, management, planning, sales, etc Listening skills involve a different set of etiquettes, questioning for an explanation, showing empathy, and providing a suitable response Good listening skills include understanding ability Body language is also a part of listening skills Eye contact with the speaker, sitting

straight, and alert are good listeners' beautiful gestures (Rezinna Sebongbong

& Definition of Listening Skills, 13/2/2014)

To sum up, all of the definitions are given to clarify the nature of the listening skill, which is necessary to acquire a native language or a foreign one

3.1.2 The importance of listening skill

Listening is also one of the essential life skills defined as "skills that help you have a better view of life, skills that help you maintain a higher sense of yourself and the world around you." It is one of the most important ways people feel life People in real life often hear more than talk We listen everywhere, all the time, and listen to everything For example, at home, we watch the news, watch movies or chat with others At school, students listen

to the teachers teach At a meeting, employees listen to new plans from the director, etc Without listening, people become obsolete every minute of their lives People might funnily miss important information or answer, so listening skills are essential in real life

We were building better relationships through active listening When we are communicating with someone, we are actively forming, in our minds, what we are going to say next after the other person stops talking, which takes our attention off the other person, and we tend to miss what they are saying Listening involves more than just hearing It also consists of responding to what someone is saying This process is called active listening Michigan State University Extension suggests that active listening can help you talk with others more clearly and understand It isn’t always easy, but when you can learn to practice it often, it can help you build a better relationship with a partner, a child, a friend, or a co-worker

Strategies for active listening include the following:

Focus your full attention on the other person talking Face them and

but in your own words That way, you are checking to see if you have heard them correctly, which can provide more information, and the other person has

a chance to correct any misunderstandings It also shows that you are interested in what they are saying

Active listening takes time and practice However, every time you use active listening, it gets a little easier It can help you to navigate through difficult conversations More than that, it helps improve overall communication, builds a better understanding, and ultimately leads to better

relationships with family, friends, and co-workers (Holly Tiret & Michigan

State University Extension, 23/11/2015)

Discriminative listening develops through childhood and into adulthood

As we grow older and develop and gain more life experience, our ability to distinguish between different sounds is improved Not only can we recognize other voices, but we also develop the ability to recognize subtle differences in how sounds are made – this is fundamental to ultimately understanding what these sounds mean Differences include many subtleties, identifying foreign languages, distinguishing between regional accents, and clues to the speaker's emotions and feelings

Being able to distinguish the subtleties of sound made by somebody who

is happy or sad, angry or stressed, for example, ultimately adds value to what

is said and, of course, does aid comprehension When discriminative listening skills are combined with visual stimuli, the resulting ability to ‘listen’ to

recognizing somebody is sad despite what they are saying or how they are saying it

3.1.3.2 Comprehensive Listening

Comprehensive listening involves understanding the message or messages that are being communicated Like discriminative listening, extensive listening is fundamental to all listening sub-types

To use comprehensive listening and therefore gain understanding, the listener first needs appropriate vocabulary and language skills Using overly complicated language or technical jargon, therefore, can be a barrier to comprehensive listening Comprehensive listening is further complicated because two different people listening to the same thing may understand the message in two different ways

Comprehensive listening is complimented by non-verbal communication sub-messages, such as the tone of voice, gestures, and other body languages These non-verbal signals can greatly aid communication and comprehension but can also confuse and potentially lead to misunderstanding In many listening situations, it is vital to seek clarification and use reflection to help to understand

3.1.3.3 Specific Listening Types

Discriminative and comprehensive listening are prerequisites for specific listening types Listening types can be defined by the goal of the listening The three main types of listening most common in interpersonal communication are: Informational Listening (Listening to Learn); Critical Listening (Listening to Evaluate and Analyse); Therapeutic or Empathetic Listening (Listening to Understand Feeling and Emotion)

In reality, you may have more than one goal for listening at any given time – for example, you may be listening to learn while also attempting to be empathetic

with a computer - there are many other examples of listening to information Although all types of listening are ‘active’ – they require concentration and a conscious effort to understand Informational listening is less active than many of the other kinds of listening When we’re listening to learn or be instructed, we take in new information and facts; we are not criticizing or analyzing Informational listening, especially in formal settings like in work meetings or while in education, is often accompanied by note-taking – a way

of critical recording information to be reviewed later (See Note-Taking for more details)

 Critical Listening

We can be said to be engaged in critical listening when evaluating or scrutinizing what is being said Essential listening is a much more dynamic behavior than informational listening and usually involves problem-solving or decision making Critical listening is akin to critical reading; both include analyzing the information being received and alignment with what we already know or believe Whereas informational listening may be mostly concerned with receiving facts and new information - critical listening is about analyzing opinion and making a judgment

When the word ‘critical’ is used to describe listening, reading, or thinking, it does not necessarily mean that you are claiming that the information you are listening to is somehow faulty or flawed Instead, listening means engaging in what you hear by asking yourself questions like

‘what is the speaker trying to say?’ Or ‘What is the main argument being presented?’, ‘How different is what I’m hearing? Critical listening is, therefore, fundamental to authentic learning (Also see our page: Critical Reading)

Many day-to-day decisions that we make are based on some form of

‘critical’ analysis, whether it be critical listening, reading, or thought Our opinions, values, and beliefs are based on our ability to process information and formulate our feelings about the world around us and weigh up the pros and cons to make an informed decision

It is often essential when listening critically to have an open mind and

become a better listener and broaden your knowledge and perception of other people and your relationships

 Therapeutic or Empathic Listening

Empathic listening involves attempting to understand the speaker's feelings and emotions – to put yourself into the speaker's shoes and share their thoughts (See our page: What is Empathy? for more information)

Empathy is a way of deeply connecting with another person, and therapeutic or empathic listening can be particularly challenging Compassion

is not the same as sympathy; it involves more than being compassionate or feeling sorry for somebody else – it involves a more profound connection – a realization and understanding of another person’s point of view

Counselors, therapists, and other professionals use therapeutic or empathic listening to understand and ultimately help their clients This type

of listening does not involve making judgments or offering advice but gently encouraging them to explain and elaborate on their feelings and emotions Skills such as clarification and reflection are often used to help avoid misunderstandings (See our different pages: Counselling?, Clarification, and Reflection for more information on these topics)

We are all capable of empathic listening and may practice it with friends, family, and colleagues Showing empathy is a desirable trait in many interpersonal relationships – you may well feel more comfortable talking about your feelings and emotions with a particular person They are likely to

be better at listening empathetically to you than others; this is often based on similar perspectives, experiences, beliefs, and values – a good friend, your

spouse, a parent, or sibling, for example (SKILLSYOUNEED & Types of

Listening)

3.2 THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING THE LISTENING SKILL 3.2.1 What problems do students have with listening?