1 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Listening has long been considered a difficult and boring subject by many second language learners It takes much time and energy to make progress in this skill For listening teachers, correspondingly, it is a difficult task to get students involved in listening lessons Nonetheless, just as other teachers do, listening teachers should create an interesting and motivating learning environment on one hand; and on the other hand, they must become aware of difficulties and problems facing their students, then, select the best techniques to help them At my upper secondary school, teaching and learning listening is a really new challenging job In addition to the lack of well-equipped facilities, teaching listening methods are quite new and unfamiliar to teachers Since the new English textbook was in use, they have been inexperienced in teaching listening methodology and approaches Another problem is students’ low levels of proficiency in term of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills and so forth It is the reason why students find it difficult and tough to listen to and they are not confident enough to listening tasks successfully Moreover, learning habits not help much to improve their listening in classroom The students often get bored, tired and indifferent in listening lessons because of the quality of teacher’s voice and pronunciation, uncreative tasks and activities, topics, and so on In my opinion, there is a must to work out current and potential problems, then, create better suitable teaching methods and strategies that can facilitate the effectiveness of listening lessons In literature so far, there have been so few studies on the difficulties in teaching and learning listening in a foreign language Moreover, most of researchers have come to an agreement to a list of common problems facing both students and teacher in general On one hand, students’ factors which may influence in their listening are their background knowledge, language items such as vocabulary and pronunciation, and their listening strategies On the other hand, the teacher’s employment of different techniques and methodology has impacts on successful listening lessons Moreover, not many researchers study listening difficulties perceived by upper-secondary school teachers and students in using the new “Tieng Anh 10” textbook Hence, it is in urgent need of taking a serious look at such issue 1.2 Aims of the study The new “Ti ng Anh 10” , which deals with the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening, is first introduced Thus, there are a number of problems facing both the teachers and the students The main purpose of the study was to probe difficulties in teaching and learning listening among the teaching staff and the 10th form students at Que Vo II upper-secondary school, in Bac Ninh province Within this purpose the three central objectives were: (i) To describe the difficulties perceived by the teachers and the 10th -form students when teaching and learning listening skill in the new text book “Ti ng Anh 10” (ii) To investigate factors affecting the success of this process in listening lessons (iii) To suggest some solutions to stimulate students and give recommendation to improve listening methodology for the teachers at Que Vo II upper-secondary school 1.3 Scope of the study This minor thesis is conducted at Que Vo II upper-secondary school in order to perceive difficulties in teaching and learning listening skills of both teachers and 10th form students The study focuses on describing the problems and factors causing such challenges, for instance, facilities, students’ English listening proficiency, and teachers’ methodology To go ahead, the thesis also offers some appropriate suggestions to better the current context 1.4 Methodology The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods; it is carried out on the basic of situation analysis, material collection, survey questionnaires, class observations and follow-up interviews In the first place, situation analysis has a look at the background to the study including the description of the current context at Que Vo II upper-secondary school and listening skill in the new textbook “Ti ng Anh 10” Secondly, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on listening teaching methodology and problems have been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly with the due consideration for teacher’s teaching and students’ learning situations Eventually, for the practical basis, questionnaires, class observations, follow-up interviews were carried out with the teachers and students to gather the most reliable data for analysis to find answers to the research questions mentioned above 1.5 Design of the study This study is divided into four main chapters in order to get better insights into different aspects of the problems Chapter presents reasons for choosing the topic, aims, scopes, methodology and overview of the thesis design Chapter consists of three sub-parts of which the current upper-secondary school context in general and in particular is first presented Two other parts deal with introduction of the new “Ti ng Anh 10” textbook and literature review of listening skills and teaching listening approaches In chapter 3, the methodology underlying the research and descriptions of data analysis are presented In terms of methodology, the background information of the research questions, the subjects, the data collection instruments, and data collection procedure are discussed More importantly, data analysis provides specific explanations, interpretation and the findings of the study Chapter 4, Conclusion and Implication, summarizes the major findings and offers personal recommendations for such currents problems in teaching and learning listening skill at Que Vo II upper-secondary school Limitation and suggestions for further research are also discussed CHAPTER CURRENT UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL CONTEXT AND INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW “”TIENG ANH 10” TEXTBOOK 2.1 The current upper-secondary school context 2.1.1 The general context in Vietnam English has become a part of upper-secondary school curriculum since 1980s when Vietnam carried out its economic policy reformation emphasizing the open market economy, integration, and globalization However, a more than two-decade history of English teaching and studying seems not to make much progress in using English to communicate practically and efficiently The effectiveness of English language learning is very low with the outcome that the students are unable to use English for communicative purposes For the last few years, English has been taught and studied more intensively and extensively The situation, reported by Ministry of Education and Training, Secondary Division (2006: 95) is quite optimistic that the ratio of upper-secondary students learning English counts for 98.5% Actually, this figure only shows the increasing needs of English in our society, not the levels of real teaching and learning qualities at schools It is a matter of fact to discuss herein some controversial problems of the upper-secondary school context in Vietnam concerned with English learning and teaching conditions 2.1.1.1 Teachers To start with, the teachers’ qualification and proficiency are unequal According to the researches of Ministry of Education and Training (2006: 97, 98), the ratio of regular teachers who officially graduated from Universities of Education, English Department is very low A small number of those graduated from Vietnam National University, College of Foreign Languages, English Department Many others received in-service training or regular training at other local or provincial universities and colleges This can be an excuse for shortage of a skillful and professional staff in terms of language knowledge and methodology Moreover, the researches of Ministry of Education and Training (2006: 98) also point out that the percentage of teachers experiencing in teaching English for 15 years or more is rather high In other words, the age gap is another matter of discussion Consequently, their proficiency of language theory and communicative skills is remarkably low In fact, teachers of English have few opportunities or even no to communicate in person with foreigners or native speakers at schools This discourages their motivation, regardless of age and background knowledge, to practice communicative skills and to update modern technologies in language teaching Noticeably, many teachers have hardly attended training programmes or professional workshops given by the national or provincial trainers Frankly speaking, most of them have no opportunities to get acquainted with reformation of new language teaching methods and approaches Hence, they not acknowledge the communicative language teaching or learner-centered approaches in theory and in practice at all In addition, few of teachers have a chance to study abroad and enjoy various English teaching experiences in person These facts result in ineffective and theoretical outcome which is backward and no longer meet the demand of the development, the integration and globalization of our country in the modern time 2.1.1.2 Students In Vietnam, the upper-secondary school curriculum, textbook and reformation of language teaching are all prescribed and administrated by the Ministry of Education and Training Although English has been popularized at every lower and upper-secondary school in Vietnam, students’ English competence is very low It can be due to the lack of native speaking environment which discourages students’ interests Another reason results from their attitudes to importance of other subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, literature, and so forth As the result, upper-secondary students are merely able to acquire a limited basic knowledge of English in terms of vocabulary and grammar structures, except for pronunciation, intonation or communicative skills like speaking or listening In short, upper-secondary students’ language background, including those studying at normal and gifted schools, is at elementary level after graduation In general, Vietnamese upper-secondary students’ motivation is not highly appreciated There is a big gap between urban and rural students in terms of ambition to acquire English language Although many students are aware of the importance and necessity of learning English, they hesitate to speak English in real-life communication or even at school This can be influenced by their introvert characteristics Methodologically, traditional grammar-translation approach is dominant at schools rather than communicative language teaching approach In other words, it emphasizes students’ language competence; meanwhile CLT approach is interested in developing students’ communicative ability Thus, it has bad impact on students’ passive and dependent learning method and awareness They are confused and strange to new communicative activities such as pair work, group work, discussion, and so on Another disadvantage facing students at almost upper-secondary schools is the lack of actual native learning environment Students have no chance to interact with English foreigners at schools, except for some urban schools Understandably, they have neither motivation nor experience in communicating or using English in actual situation 2.1.1.3 Facilities Obviously, facilities are in urgent need to adapt with new language teaching approaches In other words, physical settings of the current upper-secondary schools come up for discussion First of all, an average class size of forty-five to fifty students is too big to carry out communicative language teaching approaches Consequently, teachers get in troubles with class management and organization if they want to apply group work or pair work activities, for example Secondly, traditional desk arrangement does not encourage communicative interaction between teacher and students as well as among students It constrains students’ motivation, comfort and creativeness and dynamic to master language comprehension and skills Thirdly, unclear sounds resulting from poor-quality equipment can interfere with students’ comprehension Indeed, noise, including both background noises on the recording and environmental ones, can take students’ mind off the content of listening passage To be worse, the lack of appropriate equipment and language teaching aids is universal and controversial in Vietnam According to the research of Ministry of Education and Training (2006:105, 106) among investigated upper-secondary schools all over in Vietnam, the number of tapes and cassette players, overhead projectors, CD players, visual aids such as pictures, teacher cards is countable It is undeniable that modern technology encourages much any aspects of language teaching and learning However, little technology support is given appropriately and evenly among different parts of the country Moreover, many of such limited devices are misspent because no one takes advantage of them Finally, reference books for teachers and students, including supplementary exercises, methodology or training books, dictionaries, magazine or newspapers in English, tapes and recorders and so on, are hardly available in every uppersecondary school Frankly speaking, there is also a big gap among urban, rural and mountainous schools in Vietnam regarding facility investment and potentiality of practical use In short, well-equipped conditions, especially modern technology, encourage much of language teaching and learning effectiveness Vice versa, unfulfilled facility also has bad impacts on making progress in this issue 2.1.1.4 Textbooks English was officially introduced as a subject of secondary school curriculum in Vietnam in the late 1980s, Since then, two series of English textbooks have been taught simultaneously at upper-secondary schools The three-year English textbook, “B sách h n m” (from grade 10 to grade 12), by Hoàn, Lê ng Tr n C ng, Nguy n M Dung, Ph m Kh i c Nhu n, and Hồng V n Sít, was introduced since 1980s The seven-year English student’s book, “B sách h n m (from grade to grade 12), was compiled by T Anh, Phan Hà and May Vi Ph ng In the first place, though the two series of textbooks are designed based on different approaches they share several similarities Firstly, those textbooks are dominated by integrate approach between language knowledge, especially grammar and vocabulary, and language skills, i.e speaking, listening, writing, and reading It is a matter of fact that there no distinctive focus on certain language knowledge or language skills Secondly, they attempt to teach only target upper-secondary students Finally, there is no English pronunciation or phonetics or intonation section which is very important to practice the real language In the second place, the two textbooks differ distinctively In terms of target students’ levels of proficiency, the three-year English student’s book, “B sách h n m”, is appropriate to those who start learning English at grade 10 Meanwhile, the seven-year English one, “B sách h n m”, is used by students experiencing in English from grade Therefore, the contents and the levels of difficulties are completely differential In respect of methodology, the three-year English student’s book is dominated by Situational approach which focuses on pieces of situational communication language, especially speaking skills In contrast, the seven-year English student’s book is influenced by Traditional Grammar-Translation approach In other words, this series of textbook focuses on teaching reading skills, vocabulary and grammar structures Although, the two series of textbooks have had remarkable contributions to English teaching and learning at Vietnam upper-secondary schools over more than two decades, they have become outdated as the modern language teaching requires more communicative approaches In addition to those textbooks, there have recently been also some other pilot textbooks which are implemented in certain upper-secondary schools in Vietnam However, they were no longer popularized as the standard textbook for upper-secondary curriculum like the new The new “Ti ng Anh 10” is a great improvement over the previous ones in terms of methodology, input and presentation It is designed to provide a comprehensive course for senior secondary students who have completed the new series of English from “Ti ng Anh 6” to “Ti ng Anh 9” With its much strength, it is expected that the new textbook will contribute to better quality of English language learning at the Vietnamese uppersecondary school In terms of curriculum development, the introduction of the new textbook can be a new fresh air current blown into the teaching-learning situation at uppersecondary school in Vietnam From my point of view, textbooks have important role in foreign language education However, teachers and influence on textbooks and the use of textbooks are also significant As a result, students’ language learning and percipience or achievements are significant, too Challenges in implementing the new textbook are not small, facing both teachers and students It is a matter of fact that low quality of teachers (regarding both methodology and experience in language skills teaching), and students naturally leads to low quality of teaching and of learning 2.1.2 The current context at Que Vo II upper-secondary school Students at Que Vo II upper-secondary school are sixteen years old and have experienced in English, including listening skill, for four years at lower-upper schools Nevertheless, they basically are beginners of English Moreover, they not have clear determination on English learning goals Thus, they are likely to be motivated or demotivated easily This matter of fact should be taken into account in using teaching methods and approaches in order to foster and develop their listening skills efficiently General speaking, the class size of an average of 45 students is big and inconvenient enough The desks are arranged traditionally with rows of four desks There is a narrow isle in the middle and two narrower on the sides There is no other empty space left where teachers and students move to and fro if they conduct different interaction and activities In addition, noise in a big class is inevitable which badly affect student concentration and sound quality Moreover, the class is not equipped with any necessary facilities such as tapes, cassette players, speakers, television, CDs and over head projectors, except for a board, chalks, pictures or other visual aids designed by teachers themselves The teachers all graduated form Vietnam National University, college of foreign languages, English department A majority of them are young and novice teachers In general, these teachers are well-qualified in terms of their proficiency in English and knowledge; however, they lack teaching experience, particularly teaching English skills Some of them have had opportunities to attend some short in-service workshops run by either local or expatriate trainers Since the new textbook was introduced, few of them have been lucky enough to attend the national or provincial textbook introduction workshops or training programmes to get the ideas about the textbook and new teaching methodology Unfortunately, facility condition at Que Vo II upper-secondary school can not employ a cascade training model for those who did not have opportunities to attend the national or provincial workshops Such teachers have to observation at some classes and improve themselves theoretically 2.2 Overview of the new “English 10” textbook 2.2.1 General description The new “Ti ng Anh 10” is the fifth volume which succeeds a new series of English textbook for grade to grade Unlike the old textbooks where language input was presented in terms of linguistic structures which were then mechanically practiced through a series of rule-focused exercises, the new “Ti ng Anh 10” is underpinned by a theme-based approach to the introduction of language input Lessons are arranged according to topics which are true to life, and familiar with upper-secondary students This is an important advantage of the textbook as it is relevant to the students’ needs, and thereby arousing their interests The purpose underlying in the textbook is to develop 10 students’ communicative language skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing via different interesting and well-designed units The innovation of the new “Ti ng Anh 10” is supported by what Cunningsworth (1995:86) says about a good textbook: “A study of a language solely as an abstract system would not equip learners to use it in the real world Course books must and represent language as it is actually used and they contain subject matters and deal with topics of various kinds” The new “Ti ng Anh 10” consists of sixteen units; each unit presents a theme which is updated and relevant to many aspects of the daily life: school talks, people’s background, technology, mass media, community, national parks, music, films and cinema, the world cup, and so on Those themes are represented via five sections: reading, speaking, writing, listening and language focus respectively Such division aims to improve students’ communicative skills and systematize important linguistic components Reading is selected as the first section in every unit on purpose Via the reading text and tasks which focus on developing different reading skills, it is useful to stimulate and familiarize students with the theme and relevant information and language items Teaching procedure of reading, speaking, listening, and writing sections is divided into three stages to achieve different language skills or knowledge on purpose This refers to the domination of communicative approach and characterized features of the new textbook 2.2.2 Distinctiveness of the new textbook compared to the old one 2.2.2.1 Objectives and approaches to the textbook development English curriculum at secondary school is designed based on communicative approach driving at developing and consolidating communicative skills like speaking, listening, reading and writing Of which, phonetics, vocabulary and grammatical structures are the essential instruments Also, the combination of textbook, reference books and teaching facility (tapes and recorder, CDs, television, computer, projector and so forth) play an important and oriented role in language teaching and learning The objectives of the new “Ti ng Anh 10” are specified as follows: General objectives: • Using English as a communicative tool to speak, listen, write and read in target contexts at basic level; • Acquiring fundamental and systematic target English knowledge 39 Interestingly, 11% of the teachers always and 22% often allowed students to listen to the tape as many time as possible while 67% sometimes did it Question 13 Which activities or techniques you often use in the Post-listening stage? – always - often 3-sometimes – rarely - never Do extra-listening tasks (designed or selected materials) 67% 33% Play games related to listening 56% 44% Listen for entertainment (music/films/ news) 44% 56% Discuss/ speak about the related topic (summarize/ make 67% 33% questions) Free activities 78% 22% Transcript the tape scripts and translate into Vietnamese 33% 67% Have no time to anything else 33% 67% Table 18: Activities in Post-listening stage In post-listening stage, a majority of the subject often or sometimes concentrated on oral or written work as a follow-up activity and another lower percentage rarely exploited it Listening for entertainment also sometimes or rarely was in used Transcript the tape script and translation is not very popular, however it still attract 33% of the teachers to it sometimes Amazingly, lack of time for post-listening stage is one problem often facing 33% of the teachers and another 67% sometimes got trouble with it 3.2.1.3.3 Adaptation of the new textbook Queston 14: How you make use of the textbook “Ti ng Anh 10” in your listening lessons? - strongly agree - agree - disagree - strongly disagree - don’t know 40 Use only the textbook and its procedure without creating or 33% 67% designing others listening materials or activities (due to students’ low ability and lack of time) Make advantage of the procedure in the textbook and add more 100% tasks/ activities Replace some inappropriate parts with other listening tasks/ 100% activities to motivate students’ interests Use teacher’ s voice due to lack of facilities (cassettes, tapes,…) 89% 11% Use the teacher’s voice because the students not understand the 44% 56% speakers’ voices Provide students with more listening tasks based on the available 100% text to practice and change the listening atmosphere (use handouts) Table 19: Adaptation of the new textbook Teachers’ use of the new textbook depends much on their experiences, methodology and creativeness According to the table, teachers often complied with the textbook design and procedure completely This fact is true to their following activities: making advantage of the procedure in the textbook and add more tasks/ activities; replacing some inappropriate parts with other listening tasks/ activities to motivate students’ interests; and providing students with more listening tasks based on the available text to practice and change the listening atmosphere (use handouts) Remarkably, teachers at Que Vo II school often read the text in stead of playing the tapes due to lack of facilities Only 11% sometimes used the recorder in listening lessons 44% claimed that they could not use the recorders often because their student did not understand the speakers’voice 41 3.2.1.3.4 Expectation for a better and more effective listening lesson Question 16 What you suggest to better the current listening teaching situation? - strongly agree - agree - disagree - strongly disagree - don’t know 67% 33% 56% Omit listening because it makes no sense in examination 44% and students’ needs Facilitate more equipment 22% 78% Provide regular workshops or programs to exchange 44% 56% Reduce the number of students in the class 22% 78% Combine listening and speaking to improve students’ 33% 67% experiences and train teachers’ methodology among the English staffs communicative ability Guide the students what and how to without 100% understanding all texts Do not give any listening tasks or tests Improve students’ background (vocabulary, 100% pronunciation,…) Strictly assess students’ input at the entrance exams 89% 11% Table 20: Suggestion for better listening lessons Since the new textbook and its underlying communicative approach was introduced, it has brought up many advantages for the improvement of language learning However when it come to operation, there are still drawbacks that need solving or should be changed According to the responses of the subjects, facilitating more equipment, training methodology and experience, reducing class size, and combining listening and speaking skills in a lesson were strongly approved by 22%, 44%, 22%, and 33% respectively At this point, the others share the same opinion Remarkably, 100% agree to provide techniques, i.e listening skills, and improve language patterns (vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation) Testing is also a crucial criterion that makes the decision of success Teachers claimed that most of their students had failure in listening, to some extends, since they did not have any examinations during the course Therefore, they should focus on grammar or other English pattern which involved in the tests only 42 In terms of students’ input, 89% agree to strictly be assessed at the entrance exams, but 11% was not interested in this suggestion It is true that the higher students’ English proficiency is, the better they can master other skills On the contrary, none of the respondents agree to omit listening because it makes no sense in examination and students’ needs or keep teaching it without task or test during and after the lesson 3.2.2 Class observation Class observations were conducted during the period of six weeks at the end of second term Four different classes taught by three teachers were observed and tapedrecorded randomly among 10 classes My visit is announced right at the beginning of each lesson In general, all the observed teachers followed the similar procedures Lessons started with some warm-up activities, which were chiefly in form of language games The stages of listening procedure were clearly highlighted by noting down on the board The common procedures went on with presentation of new vocabulary and new structures, chorus reading, introducing instructions and tasks and correcting answers after twice or three time playing the tapes or teachers’ reading Eventually, consolidation in the form of summary or discussion related to the text The lessons were somehow student-centered in the sense that students were involved in various activities In addition, the teachers tried to motivate students involvement by making questions and moving to and fro However, most of the classroom activities focused on controlled practice Teachers sometimes manage to elicit the students, but elicitation was very simple The teachers call no help from any kinds of equipment, thus, it is time and energy consuming to read the text again and again One of the very bad impacts of it is that teachers became the dominance of the class instead of students’ activities From the observations, the researcher realized that some students were eager to learn English and give response to teachers’ questions However, they seemed so shy and timid to initiate exchange In fact, they did not speak unless their names were called upon In some lesson the majority of students were interested in and positively participated in class activities such as games or listening for entertainments 43 Finally, language uses should be taken into account Unlike the other lessons, listening lessons focusing on providing a significant environment where target language is dominant Students not only listen to the authentic voice but also teachers’ voice and their classmates’ voice This helps to develop a good habit of using English and listening ability Unfortunately, teachers’ use of English was rare If they spoke English, they immediately translated into Vietnamese 3.2.3 Findings and discussions 3.2.3.1 Challenges of poor facilities and big class size One of the major obstacles to the success of listening lessons and its communicative language methods is the classroom facilities and the class size Like many other rural upper-secondary schools in Vietnam, all the classes are poor-equipped The appearance of necessary devices for teaching and learning listening, for instance, cassette and tapes, or modern technology like computers, CDs, stereos, speakers, or projectors is still an unsolved problem at Que Vo II school It is undeniable that modern technology encourages much any aspects of language teaching and learning, especially listening skill Without authentic materials, teachers cannot create help students to interact with real situations where English is used More seriously, teachers often have to simply their performance and another interesting activities due to limited facility Another concerning matter is that many of such limited devices are misspent because no one takes advantage of them Some teachers find inconvenient to apply new technology into their teaching Or they may be lazy because it takes time and energy to redesign the lesson plans In addition, big class size can not meet the demand of the communicative language approach This discourages students’ interaction or activeness in the classroom as well as teachers observations and assistance to individual Undeniably, unclear sounds resulting from poor-quality equipment can interfere with students’ comprehension Indeed, noise, including both background noises on the recording and environmental ones, can take students’ mind off the content of listening passage 3.2.3.2 Attitudes and motivation towards listening skills Optimistically, both teachers and students have a positive attitude toward teaching and learning listening skill They tried to cover with any part of listening tasks 44 and activities is spite of many obstacles like poor learning condition, lack of listening experience and strategies and so on Apart from that, students’ integrative motivation is regarded as one of very important stimulus to succeed in this language skills Nevertheless, the data from interviews and observations also reveal the fact that inadequate awareness of evaluation and examination demotivates the real efficiency of listening lessons Some of the subjects pay less attention to this skills and may ignore its importance or close relationship between developing listening skill and other English skills As a result, they become passive and indifferent 3.2.3.3 Problems and difficulties facing 10th grade students The findings from the data analysis can be categorized into the three main problems that students cope up with They are their low level of language background, lack of language skills, especially techniques and strategies to learn listening skill; and teachers’ assistance To start with, many 10th form students get in trouble with low level of language knowledge To some extend, 10th form students at Que Vo II upper-secondary school not have a vocabulary large enough nor a sufficient grasp of the structures of English for the texts they are listening to This, consequently, results in their self-confidence in showing off their real ability in practice Also, they often feel troublesome, nervous and less concentrative on the listening texts and specific language items In effect, lack of success in doing listening tasks in classroom can cause dispiritedness, and lead to a spiral of expecting failure Secondly, listening techniques and strategies that students have experienced not meet the demand Seriously, they lack specific bottom-up and top-down listening skills There are some problems that may specifically interfere with students’ listening which are concerned with their studying strategies In the first place, students need to learn to process sounds quickly; and while they must initially pay conscious attention to this processing, the process needs to become automatic in order to improve their listening ability Naturally, when listening to a complex passage, an unusual accent or an entirely new idea, students tend to pay more attention to individual sounds and words In this case, they should be taught that they not need to concentrate so much on consciously on specific words but guess main ideas of the text 45 In the second place, unlike in reading, students cannot control the rate at which information comes to them In the case of conversation, they may be able to ask the speaker to repeat information or slow down, but in many other listening situations such as listening to a long text, a program, or a presentation they will hear the information only once and cannot adjust the rate Students are aware of these problems and are often quite anxious about them Understandably, their choices of listening tasks or activities lean toward the topics, instructions and purposes which are more relaxing, visible, and unspecific Indeed, if their teachers provide them with some useful and appropriate techniques or tips for certain tasks, their listening competence can make a progress As students see that their goal is to get main idea and important details, there is not such a great effort to understand and get every single word Eventually, such about difficulties in language skill can be solved thank to teachers’ assistance and guidance during the listening stages Unfortunately, teacher’ s roles is not fully acknowledged by both teachers and students at Que Vo II uppersecondary school Methodologically, a listening teacher is the guider, instructor, and tailor the tasks or activities in the classroom instead of being a controller In addition, he or she should provide students with not only clear instructions and purposes but specific strategies or techniques for different tasks For example, if students listen to a taped passage several times, it may be best to give them different purposes each time to help them concentrate without discouraging their interest in the same text The first time or two, students should listen for general ideas or factual information, and in succeeding times the questions can become more specific and complex In addition, teachers can offer up optional questions or tasks which more advanced students can listen to Teaching listening is not a simple task, but it can be quite rewarding if we find ways to help our students improve, and help them see for themselves that their progress has been In some ways, we are helping them cope with vocabulary and grammar, as we in other subject, but there also many unique aspects of the listening process that we can help them grasp When our students understand how to listen and what to listen to, the foundation for continued improvement in listening will be set Our own ability to teach listening will be improved as we work to better grasp the strategies and skills students need 46 3.2.3.4 Teachers’ current difficulties Although teachers of English at Que Vo II upper-secondary school all take a positive view of the new textbook “Ti ng Anh 10”, the communicative approach to language teaching and students’ high motivation, they find it difficult to succeed in teaching listening in their pedagogical practice There are a number of reasons for this constraint in this unsolved problem, of which difficulties in lack of experience and communicative methodology are the most important ones In the first place, English teaching staff all has good background knowledge in terms of language and skills; however, they lack experience in teaching listening as well as other communicative skills Their years of teaching listening range within one or two years only which is suitable for a trial process since the new textbook is put into existence More seriously, few of them have got full training course to adapt new communicative methods for the new textbook; thus, lack of theoretical and practical experience is another universal matter of fact of all teachers at this school Despite carrying out gradual exchanges methodology via class observations and discussions among teaching staff, teachers feel vague about the objectives and approaches, or even the concepts of new communicative language teaching Owing to the quality of teachers, the strengths of the new textbook are the least fully exploited Consequently, their teaching is less active and less dynamic Moreover, new teaching methods require new understandings and skills Those often force teachers to spend more time doing additional preparatory work while there are already many demands on teachers’ time apart from their syllabus teaching work In the second place, the data also reveal that methodology in teaching language skills, especially listening skills is obviously the most challenging issue facing all teachers at Que Vo II upper-secondary school This matter is discussed specifically according to four following aspects: teaching listening approaches, time management, adaptation of textbook, and language use in classroom First and for the most, teachers get in troubles with carrying out successfully teaching listening approaches in their listening lessons One of the difficulties facing teachers of english at Que Vo II upper-secondary is their confuse to understand the definitions of methodological terms such as communicative language teaching, top-down and bottom-up listening approaches According to the classroom observations and 47 interviews, teachers selected in this thesis followed the same teaching listening procedure: warm up, pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening and took advantage of activities or tasks given in the textbook Teachers presented the new words, gave the instructions, played the tapes or read the text several times, and asked students to the task in the textbook Finally, doing the summary or answering questions given was involved In other words, there was no difference or significance between a listening lesson and the other skills As a matter of fact, teachers did not have any creativeness or make a choice of using appropriate activities that motivate students’ attention and listening improvement When designing an activity, the most important consideration is probably the degree of interest and involvement it generates Many activities may be well thought out in terms of their pedagogical goals, but if the input of materials is not interesting or relevant to students, the activity is sure to fall flat and have little learning value The second thing to consider is how to assess the activity This does not mean that every activity should be a test with a score It is, however, important that the activity has an outcome that the teacher can observe When there is a tangible outcome, both the teacher and the students will be able to judge whether the activity is effective Another important challenge in teaching listening methods is how to use texts and tapes effectively to facilitate teaching process Theoretically, using a textbook and a tape for listening lesson activities can be quite useful Textbooks often give questions or tasks that can be used to give students a purpose and focus their concentration on particular aspects of meaning However, it is advisable for teachers to examine questions and tasks and choose some for the first time students listen, others for a second listening, and perhaps others for a third time Otherwise, students may be overwhelmed with listening for too many things at once, or they may get stuck on difficult questions or tasks Apart from that, teachers had better make sure such listening questions or tasks are appropriate for students’ levels and needs In other words, it is teachers’ job to tailor listening tasks and activities flexibly and effectively depending on certain students’ background knowledge and skills as well as teaching learning condition Secondly, time management is also considered an art of language teaching which currently challenges many communicative language teachers It refers to a well-organized teaching procedure and teachers’ ability to control and balance the time for their presentation and students’ activities All the teachers involved in the study acknowledge 48 time needed for each stage of listening lesson in theory and they tried to make the best use of it However, their failure is inevitable and understandable due to many reasons: poorequipped classroom condition, students’ low level of proficiency and background knowledge, and activeness; and teachers’ lack of experience and less appropriate methods and techniques in teaching listening Among of those, teachers’ methodology is the decisive factor Thirdly, adaptation of textbooks could be an effective answer to problems with students’ low and uneven listening abilities and the difficult or irrelevant items found in textbook, as well as to lack of facilities at high school No single textbook is completely suitable for any specific class Therefore, one of the teacher’s roles is to make it more appropriate and relevant to students’ background, levels, and interests This can be done by simply changing the order of some parts of the tasks, or by getting rid of some exercises or tasks and adding others Such flexibility and creativity prevent students from over-relying on bilingual textbooks, especially when teachers pay more attention to practice and give students new tasks For example, if listening topics or texts are familiar and understandable, top-down listening tasks should be encouraged Meanwhile, the topic “Undersea world” is quite challenging to almost rural Vietnamese students who have no chance to experience the ocean world as well as its creatures in person They have no idea about the scientific names or definitions of fish, plants, or their activities Consequently, top-down exercises like listening for main ideas, getting the gist, making inferences In case of Que Vo II upper-secondary school, teachers of English, frankly speaking, lack experience in teaching listening and motivation or interests to facilitate their listening lesson They followed accurately the contents, instructions or tasks given in the textbook step by step All they did were to ask students read the requirements, read the words given and read the text or play the radio twice or three times This seems similar to a reading lesson without an available text Consequently, students find no differences or any significance to improve their listening ability rather than reading or speaking or writing skills Last but not least, language use in classroom should be taken into consideration in terms of teachers’ methodology According to the new communicative language teaching approach, teachers should minimize first language use and maximize the use of English This will help students more exposure to the target language, as well as improving 49 listening and speaking skills However, observations have shown that teachers not often speak English when giving instructions or explanations If they do, they immediately translate into Vietnamese Moreover, teachers’ voice is dominant in listening lessons at Que Vo II school where the necessary equipment (radio and tapes) is in urgent need As a result, teachers reduce students’ chances to get familiar with English sounds, words and listening skill also More importantly, teacher’s pronunciation is not good enough They have problems with the pronunciation of sounds, words, stress and intonation Obviously, teacher’s poor pronunciation affects negatively the students’ pronunciation and listening proficiency in the target language 50 CHAPTER CONCLUSION This chapter first gives the summary of the study with regard to teachers and students’ perceived difficulties in teaching and learning listening skill Then, it is followed by some recommendations to better the situation Finally, the chapter discusses the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research 4.1 Summary of the findings Through the three chapters, the study investigates the difficulties in teaching and learning listening perceived by the teachers and 10th form students at Que Vo uppersecondary school The research arrived at four main conclusions: First, both teachers and students face a universal problem that is lack of facilities Although technology is not a decisive factor in success of language learning, however it prevents both teachers and students from making progress in listening teaching and learning General speaking, teachers have to simplify their performances and activities in classroom because they spend a lot of time reading the text Moreover, some of them seem to be indifferent to the benefits of technology or they are too lazy to make use of available equipment Therefore, they have few skills of use it effectively Second, to some extend, 10th form students at Que Vo II upper-secondary school not have a vocabulary large enough nor a sufficient grasp of the structures of English for the texts they are listening to In other cases listening techniques and strategies that students have experienced not meet the demand Such about difficulties facing students in language skill can be solved thank to teachers’ assistance and guidance during the listening stages Unfortunately, teacher’s roles are not fully acknowledged by both teachers and students at Que Vo II upper-secondary school Methodologically, a listening teacher is the guider, instructor, and tailor the tasks or activities in the classroom instead of being a controller In addition, he or she should provide students with not only clear instructions and purposes but specific strategies or techniques for different tasks Third, listening teachers had made a great deal of efforts to stimulate learners They had use a variety of listening activities and designed teaching aids apart from textbook Teachers can play an active role to encourage students to sustain long- term motivation in learning this subject Clarification and whole-hearted guidance are influential 51 factors which help stimulate learners, so instructions should be brief, clear, and easy to understand Following activities or tasks, explanations should be provided depending on the level of the students One of the most challenges facing teacher is their adaptation of the new textbook into reality and have good comments of using its underlying communicative approaches Teachers did not have any creativeness or make a choice of using appropriate activities that motivate students’ attention and listening improvement No single textbook is completely suitable for any specific class Therefore, one of the teacher’s roles is to make it more appropriate and relevant to students’ background, levels, and interests This can be done by simply changing the order of some parts of the tasks, or by getting rid of some exercises or tasks and adding others In conclusion, teaching listening is not a simple task, but it can be quite rewarding if we find ways to help our students improve, and help them see for themselves that their progress has been In some ways, we are helping them cope with vocabulary and grammar, as we in other subject, but there also many unique aspects of the listening process that we can help them grasp When our students understand how to listen and what to listen to, the foundation for continued improvement in listening will be set Our own ability to teach listening will be improved as we work to better grasp the strategies and skills students need 4.2 Recommendations for more effective listening lessons To take advantage of teaching and learning listening in the new textbook and its underlying communicative methodology more effectively, greater efforts should be made on the part of the teachers, the students, the educational authorities and the whole society in general The following recommendations are listed to be taken if improved quality is desired: Getting students to listen to spoken English is to let them hear different accents and varieties apart from their teacher and that way better prepare them for real world listening The main method of exposing them to spoken English rather than their teacher’s is using taped material that exemplify a wide range of topic such broadcast news, announcement, advertisement and so on The teachers can tailor those sources of materials to suit their students’ level and particular needs, especially by controlling vocabulary and grammar 52 Although, it takes time, energy and money in selecting and preparing such authentic listening materials and designing tasks, the teachers can reuse in different classes or exchange with other colleagues in the English staff In addition to in-service workshop, teachers should be provided with more professional support They should be introduced to new skills and classroom techniques related to the new methodology such as presentations of new language, using specific listening tasks or activities appropriate to certain group of students, pair work or group work, teaching aids through various professional development activities Eventually, there must be changes in testing listening skills The frequency of standardized tests, including progressive and achievement examinations, should be included in school curriculum to stimulate students’ instrumental motivation To some extends, it forces teachers’ responsibility for planning and teaching listening lessons more carefully and appropriately 4.3 Limitations of the study The researcher has tried best to offered some insightful findings, however, there remains some limitations Regarding of time, the thesis was carried within weeks which is not long enough to have an incentive overview of the real problem All the items for selection in the questionnaires were designed and supported by the researcher Therefore they cannot fulfill all aspects of the situation Moreover, although classroom observation and interview instruments were employed but they are uneven and frequent among all 10th classes at Que Vo II uppersecondary school Also, activities of both teachers and students may not true to what was really going on in the listening lessons due to the participation of the observer As the matter of fact, data based on classroom observations and interviews may not reflect all the challenges facing teachers and students One of the matters the researcher has not expected is the influence of introduction new English textbook and its testing standardization on listening skill as well as other communicative skills In other words, there are not any progress or achievement assessments that encourage teachers and students’ attitudes, interests and motivation 10th 53 grade students are not affected yet by more high-state examinations or any official evaluations in listening skills Hence, their response to some suggested issues may make no sense to the real problems 4.4 Suggestions for further research On the basis of the findings and the limitations of the study, several suggestions for further research are made As indicated in the findings, both teachers and student have coped up with a numbers of difficulties which remain unsolved for the time beings The root of the teachers’ perceived difficulties may be either in the textbook itself or in the teachers’ professional knowledge and experience Some of their perceived challenges may be takenfor-granted assumptions Also, more studies on techniques for improving listening skills and the effectiveness of listening lessons Apparently, an analysis on students’ motivation and needs should be carried out to get deeper insights into this issue Moreover, researches on how other communicative techniques are used to teach other specific language skills such as speaking, writing, reading would be beneficial ... (including listening) and methodology for the new textbook? The new textbook is put into operation since the beginning of the school year And it is the first time teachers at Que Vo II upper- secondary. .. the findings Through the three chapters, the study investigates the difficulties in teaching and learning listening perceived by the teachers and 10th form students at Que Vo uppersecondary school. .. the teachers and the students The main purpose of the study was to probe difficulties in teaching and learning listening among the teaching staff and the 10th form students at Que Vo II upper- secondary