VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES -o0o ĐÀO THỊ HẢI YẾN AN INVESTIGATION INTO CONTEXTUALLY APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT NINH BINH CENTER OF INFORMATICS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES Nghiên cứu chiến lược dạy nghe phù hợp với điều kiện thực tế cho sinh viên Trung tâm Tin học Ngoại ngữ Ninh Bình M.A MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 Hanoi, 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES -o0o ĐÀO THỊ HẢI YẾN AN INVESTIGATION INTO CONTEXTUALLY APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT NINH BINH CENTER OF INFORMATICS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES Nghiên cứu chiến lược dạy nghe phù hợp với điều kiện thực tế cho sinh viên Trung tâm Tin học Ngoại ngữ Ninh Bình M.A MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 SUPERVISOR : Assoc Prof Dr LÊ VĂN CANH Hanoi, 2015 DECLARATION I, Dao Thi Hai Yen, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An investigation into contextually appropriate strategies for teaching listening skills to students at Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies – University of Languages and International Studies, VNU, Hanoi I have provided fully documented references to the work of others The material in this research has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of study i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Le Van Canh, PhD for his generous assistance, enthusiastic guidance and constructive supervision throughout my research Mr Le Van Canh’s enlightening suggestions and comments have shaped to a very large extent Without his help, this study would not have been completed I would also like to send my sincere thanks to all teachers at Post - graduate Studies Department, ULIS – VNU who gave me interesting lessons and comprehensive knowledge I am most thankful to learners of Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages in Ninh Binh province for their enthusiastic participation in the study I am grateful to colleagues at Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages for their continued help and encouragement Last but not least, I would like to thank my husband, my parents who always encourage me while the work was in process Ha Noi, September 2014 Dao Thi Hai Yen ii ABSTRACT Listening plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process This study tries to find the factors influencing English listening comprehension and the contextually appropriate strategies for teaching listening skills to students Participants were 60 learners and three English teachers at English Department of Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages Three questions which were examined are (1) What strategies teachers use to develop students’ listening comprehension?; (2) What teaching strategies students prefer their teachers to use in teaching listening? And (3) To what extent teachers’ teaching strategies match student’s preferences? To find out the answers to the above questions, a survey questionnaire, combining with class observation were conducted First, questionnaires were delivered to students of three different classes to find out what they thought of listening skills, what were their difficulties in listening comprehension; and what were their opinions on the teachers’ ways of teaching listening tasks; what strategies the students preferred their teachers to use in teaching listening Second, the questionnaire was delivered to teachers to find out what they thought of listening skills, what were their difficulties in teaching listening In addition, in each class, the researcher observed listening lessons to find out what strategies the teacher used to teach listening skills and how the learners performed in listening lessons Then, the data was collected and prepared for the next step of the analysis The results showed that the informants all realize the importance of listening skills in their learning English Most of the learners satisfied with the ways their teachers teaching listening skills In each stage of listening lessons teachers used different iii strategies to motivate learners and help them finish listening tasks effectively Besides, teachers taught learners how to combine direct and indirect learning strategies to better learners’ comprehension of listening texts and listening tasks effectively In addition, techniques for development of listening materials and for improvement of teachers’ activities in listening lessons were suggested Key words: listening comprehension, strategies, listening skills iv contextually appropriate TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ED: English Department EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language v ESP English for Specific Purposes L2: Second Language LLS: Language Learning Strategies LS: Learning Strategies NEF: New English File NCIFL Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages SILL: Strategies for Inventory Language Learning ULIS University of Language and International Studies VNU Vietnam National University LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Contextual factors that affect listening comprehension in English language learning in the literature Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards listening skills Table 3: Teachers’ activities in pre-listening stage Table 4: Teachers’ activities in while-listening stage vi Table 5: Teachers’ activities in post-listening stage Table 6: Standard Outline Note-Taking Format Table 7: An Example of Mapping Method Table 8: An Example of Charting Method Table 9: Grenfell & Harris’ Model of Teaching Listening Strategies Figure 1: Student participants in the study Figure 2: Students’ self-reported difficulties in learning listening skills Figure 3: possible sources of difficulties Figure 4: Frequency of teachers’ organizing 3-stage listening lessons Figure 5: Students’ opinion on teachers’ ways of organizing listening activities Figure 6: Students’ preferences for teachers’ activities in pre-listening stage Figure 7: Students’ preferences for teachers’ activities in while-listening stage Figure 8: Students’ preferences for teachers’ activities in post-listening stage vii PART A: INTRODUCTION The first chapter presents the rationale for the study Following this, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope and methods of the study are presented The chapter ends with an overview of the thesis structure Rationale Over the last few decades, many English Language Teaching (ELT) professionals and researchers have called for contextually appropriate forms of ELT pedagogy to be developed, arguing that the dominant discourse on ELT methodology has been largely generated in ideal (European and Northern American) contexts and so does not reflect the challenging realities of the majority of language teaching and learning contexts in which they are being imposed Despite these calls, there has been very little research that shows how contextually appropriate ELT pedagogies can be developed, especially in the context of large under-resourced learning environments like those in Vietnam To fill this gap, there is a need for research that develops from the bottom-up by relying on the input from teachers and learners who are the major players in the teaching and learning process When teachers moved from one teaching context to another, teaching locally and abroad, varied factors influenced teachers’ practice, teaching philosophies, and professional identities Surely teachers are not unique in their experiences So how different teachers would respond to their local contexts, what factors would affect their pedagogy and how they would teach effectively within that context need to be considered Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages (NCIFL), which is under the management of Ninh Binh Department of Education and Training, is mandated to offer English language courses for those who need to with reading, writing and speaking (ii) Teachers’ difficulties in teaching listening skills No Questions Your answers A: the class size What problems you often meet in teaching listening skills? B: learners’ ages C: the difficulty of the level of listening text D: time pressure E: lack of teaching facilities F: noise G: learners’ experience H: learners’ background I: Others (please specify) …………………… A interesting What you think of the materials used teaching listening skills at your Department? B normal C boring D appropriate E inappropriate F varied G not varied A authentic listening source from TV/radio in English From what sources have you exploited materials for teaching listening skills? B materials from Internet C you have organized listening tasks XIII with additional published listening materials Thank you very much for your cooperation! XIV APPENDIX 4: OBSERVATION SHEET Date: …………………………… Class: …………………………… Lesson: …………………………… …………………………… Time: Teacher: …………………………… …………………………… Observer: CRITERIA YES NO I Teacher’s preparation Using textbook, chalk, board, lesson plan Handout or sub-board Visual aids (real objects, pictures, mining, gestures, facial expression) Computer aid, speakers, CD Games II Teacher’s presentation Language of instructions is clear and concise and students are able to carry them on Clarity, tone and audibility of voice Pronunciation, intonation, fluency are in appropriate and acceptable use of language Teacher’s writing on the board is clear enough for students to carry on Most of the lessons are smooth, sequent and logical III Teacher’s methods Presentation – practice – product XV Grammar – translation method Communicative approach Integrated Time amount is distributed appropriately to the stages of the lesson IV Teacher’s respond characteristics Patience in eliciting students’ responses Careful Demanding and strict V Teacher – Student interaction Teacher is a facilitator Students are attentive and involved Students are active Effective individual, pair, and group work Teacher’s controlling Stages Teacher’s Students’ activities activities Pre-listening XVI Notes Whilelistening Post-listening APPENDIX A SAMPLE LISTENING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION LESSON XVII Focus listening strategies: Prediction, Using background knowledge (Elaboration) Language objective: Understand a long listening text and answer comprehension questions Review listening strategies: Meta-cognitive strategies (e.g., planning, monitoring and evaluation) Strategy objective: Use strategies of prediction and using background knowledge to prepare for and check understanding of a listening text Materials: Copies of two listening texts and comprehension questions, handout of strategy tips Procedures: Strategic-awareness raising Review the strategies that have been introduced in the previous lessons Brainstorming: Ask students to brainstorm what they can to help themselves understand before, during, and after listening Then write students’ responses on the board by making a chart, so that students can review and reinforce what strategies they’ve learned to deal with listening tasks Before listening During listening - quickly look at the - keep up with speed title/pictures/ questions - prepare my mind to concentrate - After listening - give very quick response - check XVIII my answer the text questions to check my comprehension - think about my -… comprehension fits in problems in understating -… with the situation or not this passage - … - … - … Most students may encounter many problems when they need to answer several comprehension questions right after listening to a long conversation or passage Ask students what problems they have and what they usually to deal with this situation Make a list of students’ ideas on the board Review and discuss on students’ list Demonstration: Present the focus two strategies – predication and using background knowledge by defining the strategies, giving examples and explaining why and when these two strategies are useful Write the key information on the board Model the two strategies by thinking aloud Write some key ideas by using mind-mapping on the board Ask students to comment on the teacher’s think-aloud of using strategy of prediction and using background knowledge Ask students to recall the steps for answering the comprehension questions Elicit the strategies and make a small handout to each student Before listening  Predicting by looking at the title or picture  Using the question words to build background information and XIX knowledge Find the question word in the given questions (who, what, where, when, why, or how) Identify what type of information you will need to find to answer the question (person, place, event, time, reason, or procedure) While listening  Selectively attending to the text for the answer  Predicting what is going to mention in the next part  Relating personal experience to the listening text  Checking the answer against what you know to determine if the answer makes sense After listening  Evaluate your comprehension and strategy use Practice: Have students practice another listening task with several comprehension questions and remind them to use the process the teacher demonstrated Have students work in pairs, allow them to listen the listening task again Then they can review their work on the comprehension questions and revise any answers that are incorrect After that, ask students to verbalize their thinking processes during the task with each other and how they get the answer (either correct or incorrect) At this point, students have chances to discuss, either finding out their problems of getting wrong answer, or sharing their processes of successful comprehension Evaluation: XX Have the class discuss the focus strategies and evaluate their effectiveness Ask students if and how the strategies of prediction and using background knowledge helped them and if they would use them again Ask them to discuss difficulties they had using the strategies or suggestions for using it Self-directed practice: For homework, assign students a longer text to listen Students need to complete the reflective journal to self-observe and self-reflect on their listening strategies during the listening task This aims to expand and orchestrate their strategy repertoires to deal with listening tasks more effectively (Adapted from Chen, 2009:81) APPENDIX PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST FOR LISTENING STRATEGIES What listening strategies have you used for the listening task that you just completed? XXI Check the strategy that you have just used Before listening Yes I check that I understand the task I have to I look carefully at the title and any pictures to see if I can guess what it will be about I try to predict the words I am likely to hear or what it is likely to be said in this passage I decide on the key words or what I must pay attention to in advance I am ready to concentrate on what I am about to hear I encourage myself While listening: Yes I listen for the information needed to accomplish the task I focus harder on the text when I have trouble understanding I use key words, cognates or word families to understand the text I use my knowledge of the context and of text structure to understand the text I try to get the main idea first and then details I listen out for specific details like the name of people, place, time and event I attempt to verify my predictions and then revise them accordingly I make picture of what is said or the spellings of words in my mind I use background noises, tone of voice, and other clues to help me guess at the meaning of words I did not understand XXII I try to use grammatical clues to decide what kind of a word it is – a noun, verb, etc I try to quickly look for familiar content words that show in written questions If I don’t understand, I use my knowledge or experience to guess what I have worked out so far If I don’t understand one part, I listen out for the next parts to fill out that information I break the stream of sounds down into individual words and write them down to see if they are like words I know I quickly jot down key words or important concepts to remember the whole part I skip over words that I not understand so that I don’t miss what is said next I don’t panic when there is something I don’t understand but I keep on listening After listening: Yes I check back to see if my interpretation were right and made sense I try to remember key points and mentally summarize everything in order I evaluate the logic of what I understood I check how much I could understand this time I reflect my problems encountered during the listening task Adapted from Vandergrift (1999) and Harris (2007) XXIII XXIV ... entitled ? ?An investigation into contextually appropriate strategies for teaching listening skills to students at Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages? ?? is the result of my own... Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages in Ninh Binh province for their enthusiastic participation in the study I am grateful to colleagues at Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign. .. appropriate strategies for teaching listening skills to students Participants were 60 learners and three English teachers at English Department of Ninh Binh Center of Informatics and Foreign Languages