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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale In the light of communicative approach, “communicative competence” is the ultimate aim of foreign language teaching and learning or in other words, it is the “goal” of the teaching and learning process (Richards & Rodgers, 1995:67) In order to obtain the communicative competence, foreign language learners are supposed to focus on all the four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing Among these four skills, listening is often considered to be the most important skill to be acquired as “in the foreign language environment, the ability to make sense of these messages is often crucial for survival” (Hood, 1994:65) As a result, listening has been paid much attention to by language researchers and teachers Many researches have been conducted on how to teach and learn listening skills effectively For instance, on the website: www.abax.co.jp/listen, an article named “Teaching Listening Better: is listening being taught as well as it could be?” provides readers with a thorough overview of how listening should be taught; Penny Urr (1992) dedicated a nearly-two-hundred-page book on “Teaching Listening Comprehension” and Gillian Brown (1984) also wrote “Listening to spoken English” All these contributions are very useful for enhancing the listening skills However, as far as the writer has investigated, most of the researches focus largely on methods of teaching and learning rather than on exploring new sources of authentic materials for teachers to make use of Nowadays, together with the already diversified published materials for teaching listening, there co-exists a new abundant source of listening materials on the World Wide Web The use of the Internet has changed the world dramatically Yet in Vietnam, where the Internet had not been known until 1997, it is still new to many teachers of English who are hesitant to use it even when it is accessible For the time being, several teachers at the English Department, Tay Bac University are employing available materials to teach listening skills to their students However, the use of authentic materials in designing listening tasks is done spontaneously without any formal guidelines Thus, a study on designing listening tasks with authentic materials would be of value It is hoped that the thesis would bring about some benefits to EFL teachers who teach listening skills Objectives This study is intended to address the following issues: Theoretically, it aims at providing a literature review that should be taken into consideration when listening skills are taught with CLT orientation It places focus on investigating how listening skills are taught to the nd – year EFL students at the English Department – Tay Bac University with what supplementary materials are used Practically, it outlines possible prospects to use authentic materials on websites as supplementary materials to teach listening skills to the 2nd –year students at the English Department- Tay Bac University Also, it suggests some techniques for designing listening tasks using authentic materials to teach listening skills, ranging from how to choose authentic materials to what listening activities to design and how to design them Scope of the study It should be made clear that this study aims at neither a discovery of the whole process of teaching listening skills nor that of conducting listening tasks in class It would focus on the ways to develop the use of online supplementary listening materials for the nd –year students Methods of the study First of all, intensive and extensive reading helps equip the author with sufficient background knowledge and also obtain data for the literature review Secondly, survey, questionnaires, observation as well as interview would be made among the nd-year students and their teachers at the English Department- Tay Bac University Collected data, then, would be processed and analyzed Design of the study The study is composed of main chapters, each of which focuses on a particular issue: Chapter is the introduction to the study Chapter deals with theoretical background concerning CLT approaches, authentic materials, listening and listening task design Chapter studies on the use of authentic materials in teaching listening skills to the nd – year students at the English Department, Tay Bac University Chapter introduces some ways to exploit online materials for teaching listening Also, from the information in chapter 3, implications for listening task design will be presented Chapter is the conclusion CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 COMMUNICATIVE VIEW ON TEACHING LISTENING 2.1.1 The importance of listening The importance of listening skills in foreign language teaching and learning has been reflected in a 30-year shift towards interaction-based acquisition (Krashen, 1981; Pica et al , 1987; Swain, 1985), rather than learning through the translation of written texts and through formal grammar learning Though regarded as a receptive skill, listening actually requires an active process in which listeners have to activate all their knowledge of different fields such as phonology, vocabulary, culture and their life experience in selecting and interpreting information (Richards, 1983; Rubin, 1995 quoted from Duzer, http://www.cal.org) Listening skills are obviously important since first of all, a good speaker needs to be a good listener Although listening is described as the most difficult of the four skills the beginner of a foreign language has to develop (Eastman, 1987 quoted in http://www.melta.org.), it has traditionally been considered secondary to speaking skills (G.H Bower and R.K Cirlio, 1985; G Brown and G Yule, 1983, quoted in http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu) in that listening task tends to be viewed as supplementary to reinforce grammar learning David Nunan, a famous linguist, in his featured speech at the 4th Pan-Asian Conference in Taiwan in November, 2002 remarked that listening is “the Cinderella skill in second language learning” (http://www.nunan.info) What is meant in Nunan’s comment is shared by Belasco (1965) that listening comprehension has also been called the “most underestimated and least understood aspect of foreign language learning”(quoted in http://www.melta.org.my) Despite of the fact that listening is a critical element in the competent language performance of second language learners, this skill has not been paid enough attention to in comparison with other skills namely speaking, reading and writing A classic study of listening conducted by Rankin (1930) suggests that adults spend 42.1% of their communication time listening in contrast with 39.1% speaking, 15% reading and 11% writing Moreover, real communication in the classroom should be based on effective input through listening or reading According to Lewis, “almost all the world’s natural language output is spoken rather than written” (1993:32, quoted in http://www.developingteachers.com) Therefore, listening takes up a major proportion in communication time as Sam Smith noticed, that is at least 90% of his interaction time (http://www.developingteachers.com) Listening is, in fact, the most crucial medium for input in learning a foreign language and by increasing students’ ability to perceive speech and thus aiding language acquisition (Lewis, 1993 quoted in http://www.developingteachers.com) In fact, listening provides a “foundation” for all aspects of “language and cognitive development” (http://ericdigest.org) It plays a life-long role on the process of learning and communication essential to productive participation in life 2.1.2 Characteristics of listening Most linguists and educators share the similar opinion of the characteristics of listening According to Winkinson, Stratta, Dudley (1974) ans Brubridge (1986) and Penny Urr (1996), they all agree upon the common characteristics of listening as follows: First of all, looking at the characteristics of listening is actually looking at those of spoken language Spoken language is normally disorganized due to the fact that it is spontaneous The speaker talks impulsively rather than reading aloud something written beforehand As a result, the speech is full of incomplete sentences, paraphrases, hesitation, repetition and interruptions This is also the explanation to the fact that the students who are good at listening tasks with artificial dialogues are not necessarily good at real - life listening situations The understanding of spoken language could be facilitated a great deal by nonverbal clues It is said that people listen more effectively when they can see the speaker’s facial expression, gestures or especially be directly involved in the context in which the speech is happening In turn speakers may rely on such hints to interpret listeners’ implication so that they can adapt their speech accordingly to attain a successful communication These non-verbal cues could reveal what the speaker means better than just listening to the speech alone because both listeners and speakers are put in a certain context In real-life listening, listeners often know in advance some information to aid their understanding such as to whom they are listening, what they are going to listen and why they are listening Therefore, teachers of listening should always bear in mind this characteristic so that they can have suitable pre-listening activities to prepare students for what they are to listen Penny Urr additionally thinks that listening is an interactive process Listeners not passively just listen to what speakers say They take turns to speak Both sides actively involve in the communication because they it for a purpose 2.1.3 Types of listening and listening tasks 2.1.3.1 Types of listening Much as research has pointed out, adults spend almost half of their communication time listening and for EFL students the figure mounts up to 90% Listening is the most widely used skill though it is also “the least understood aspect of language of foreign language learning” (Belasco, 1964, quoted from http://www.melta.org.my) There is no fixed set of criteria for different types of listening It is categorized from various views 2.1.3.1.1 Top-down listening process vs Bottom-up listening process Top-down listening Bottom-up listening It is listener-based The listener privies to It is text-based The listener relies on background knowledge of the topic, the situation the language in the message, that is, the or context, the type of text, and the language combination of sounds, words, and (Richards, 1990) This background knowledge grammar that creates meaning activates a set of expectations that help the (Richards, 1990) listener to interpret what is heard and anticipate The what will come next bottom-up processing model assumes that listening is a process of According to David Nunan, the top-down view decoding the sounds that one hears on a suggests that the listener actively constructs the linear fashion, original meaning of the speaker using incoming meaningful sounds as clue (http://nunan.info) from units the smallest (phonemes) to complete texts The distinction between Top-down and Bottom-up listening process is visualized vividly by Helgesen and Brown as they employ the metaphor of a brick wall, “if you are standing at the bottom looking at the wall brick by brick, you can easily see details It is difficult, however, to get an overall view of the wall And if you come to a missing brick (e.g: an unknown word or unfamiliar structure), you get stuck If, on the other hand, you are sitting on the top of the wall, you can easily see the landscape Of course, because of distance, you will miss some details” (Helgesen and Brown, 1994:xii) 2.1.3.1.2 Real-life listening vs Classroom listening Additionally, listening can be realized according to the space where it occurs In general, listening may be divided into real-life listening and classroom listening Real-life listening This is what we have to in our daily life We hear music, radio, the noise and people talking, etc Sometimes, people just listen without paying much attention to People may listen and something else at the same time This kind of listening is called Casual listening (cited in Bang Nguyen, Ngoc Nguyen, 2002) On the other hand, people listen with a certain purpose in mind, hence, they really concentrate on getting the content of what is said, which constitutes another type if real-life listening, called Focused listening (cited in Bang Nguyen, Ngoc Nguyen, 2002) Classroom listening Penny Urr argues that classroom listening should be addressed accurately as real-life listening in the classroom Though a paradox can be sensed in this way of addressing, it is not only true that classroom listening is not real-life listening; but a clear envision of the notion “classroom listening” is also created All the listening activities in the classroom aim at equipping students with skills to deal with real-life listening Even in classroom listening, it can be subdivided into intensive and extensive listening as collected and classified by Bang Nguyen, Ngoc Nguyen (2002) According to Broughton et al (1987) extensive listening is concerned with the more general listening to natural English It serves the function of letting the students hear the vocabulary items and structures which are unfamiliar to them Rixon (1986) added that extensive listening is listening for pleasure and interest without having to pay a lot of attention to content and language Extensive listening keeps students’ motivation and interest high, as well as gives valuable contact with English in its spoken form In contrast, intensive listening is much more controlled, with one or two specific points Intensive listening can be primarily for language items as part of the language teaching program or it can be for general comprehension and understanding (Broughton et al 1978) Rixon (1986) also stated that intensive listening is the more widely used form in the classroom In intensive listening, students have to collect or organize information The listening passages used usually contain more concrete information and may be quite densely packed On Allen’s stand, listening is categorized as follows (1976): Simple listening – hearing sounds without any particular meaning to the sounds Discriminative listening - listening to hear and identify the likenesses and differences in sounds Listening for specific information Listening for organizing ideas Listening for main points Listening for varied points of view Critical listening Creative listening Meanwhile, Burn and Lowe (1966) categorized listening into three types: Appreciational listening (enjoying the development of s story; listening for pleasing rhythm; reacting to the mood set by the author) Informational listening (listening for the answer to a specific question; listening to follow directions; following sequence; listening for main ideas) Critical listening (discriminating between fact and opinion; detecting prejudice and bias; sensing the speaker’s purpose) According to Burn and Lowe (1966) some authors have also suggested levels of listening such as little conscious listening, half listening, listening passively, listening and expressing some reaction and listening with a real meeting of the minds However, Burn and Lowe (1966) pointed out that there is no research evidence to indicate such levels 2.1.3.2 Types of Listening Tasks Having investigated into the characteristics of listening as well as the types of listening, I now move on to review different listening tasks that reputable educators have suggested in order to develop students’ listening skills These listening tasks are various, though sorted respective to the way listening is viewed from different perspectives, they consist of a rather fixed set of tasks As held by Penny Ur, the kinds of the listening tasks are classified by the natures of students’ response No overt response - Following a written text: sts listen to and read it at the same time - Listening to a familiar text: sts listen to an already known text This kind of task requires not much listening comprehension skills but simply gives pleasant experience in listening to meaningful English sounds - Listening aided by visuals (e.g pictures, diagrams ): sts look at visual materials while simultaneously following a spoken description of it - Listening to an informal talk: teacher or any good speakers of English can be excellent material Some general topics may be used (e.g your family, your childhood, your hobby…) This activity may well serve as relaxing break from more intensive work - Listening to something entertaining (e.g stories, songs, films, and television programs): Such kind of activities provides useful interludes to put in before or after more demanding exercises, or when sts’ concentration is at low ebb Short response Students are asked to some tasks in the form of simple and short answers For example: - Following instructions: sts listen to commands; they will show their comprehension by complying with the commands Responses can be physical movement (e.g stand up, sit down…), building models and picture dictation (draw as you are told to) - Ticking off items: Learners tick beside the items: Learners tick beside the items that they hear in the listening - True/False: Identify whether the statement is true or false based on the listening - Detecting mistakes: Some fact is mentioned with intentional mistakes for students to point out - Cloze: students make a guess of what can be fill in the blanks in the listening text - Guessing definitions: this is synonymous with guessing games Sts listen to a definition or description of something and guess what it is For example, a number of pictures which have some similarities are not given Sts have to listen and choose the right choice - Skimming and scanning: learners have to make out some general ideas (skimming) and details (scanning) of the listening - Pictures: one picture or a series of pictures may be used Sts are then asked to identify pictures or components as they are referred to, either naming or ordering them in the order in which they are mentioned - Maps: Using a map, sts are asked to name a specific place as they listen Besides that, changes can be made Sts have to listen and mark these changes - Ground-plans: ground-plans are a kind of maps but single sketch can be interpreted in many different ways relating to various listening tasks Its advantages lies in its simplicity: it can be very easy to trace -Grids: a grid is simply a rectangle marked off into squares and used to display data Sts may be presented with an inadequately or inaccurately filled-in grid, fill in or correct the information on the grid as they listen - Family trees: family tree is a kind diagram Sts listen to stories or descriptions of families, then identify family member relationship - Graphs: sts are given a graph with some missing details While listening to the information, they fill in the missing details Moreover, “multiple choice items” is also introduced by Bang, Nguyen and Ngoc, Nguyen To this task, learners listen and choose the suitable option from the list of alternatives given in advance Longer response - Answering questions: based on the content of the listening, students are required to give longer and full answer to the questions - Note-taking: students take notes of the talk - Paraphrasing and translating: students use their own words to rewrite or retell the listening texts either in the same language or in their mother tongue - Summarizing: learners write a summary of the content of what they have just listened - Long gap-filling: similar to a cloze exercise, the only difference is that the information to be filled in the gap is longer - Dictation is also a recommended kind of task which can boost learners’ listening skills a lot - Predictions: after hearing the first part of an utterance or passage, sts make a guess at the possible continuation Prediction can be effectively practiced when integrated with other skills in the exercises based on passages of discourse Extended response Tasks of this kind are on the whole more demanding than those of other kinds Listening serves as basis and starting point for other activities Sts are expected not only to understand the listening material but also to be able to compare or collate its different parts of aspects, analyze, interpret, evaluate and reason from it In some ways, these may be called communicative tasks as they involve sts’ feelings, attitudes, tastes and values as well as their intellectual abilities - Problem solving: sts listen to all the information relevant to a particular problem and then set themselves to solve it, either individually or through group discussion - Jigsaw listening: this activity is used very much like jigsaw grouping for discussion In jigsaw listening, different groups of sts listen to a different but connected passage, each of which supplies some parts of what they need to know They, then, come together to exchange information and possibly to discuss or evaluate that information - Interpretative listening: sts listen to somebody’s speech The meaning of what he says is not the only thing sts absorb Sts may also take into account many other things, such as what kind of person the speaker is, the way he speaks, his mood, his attitude, etc The ability to make such interpretations is one of the communicative abilities - Evaluative and stylistic analysis: recordings used for this type of tasks can be interviews, comedy, drama, advertising, rhetoric and poetry When sts are able to understand the information explicitly conveyed in the listening text as well as appreciate some of the implicit “message”, they may try to analyze its style and assess its impact Obviously, to this, sts have to be highly proficient in spoken English 2.2 AUTHENTIC MATERIALS 2.2.1 Definition of authentic materials The term “authentic materials” has been defined in a number of ways The most common definition is that authentic materials are texts which are taken from ordinary radio or television programs, etc (Richards, et al 1992:27) Nunan (1989:54) describes authentic materials as any materials which are not specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching Also, authentic materials can be understood as anything a native speaker of English would hear or read or use Authentic materials can be theater programs, newspapers, magazines, poems, songs, brochures, information leaflets, menus, new broadcasts, films, or videos and so on (Bang, Nguyen & Ngoc, Nguyen, 2002) Generally speaking, authentic language is used by native speakers communicating in spoken form or in written form 2.2.2 How authentic materials have been used in language teaching The use of authentic materials in EFL classroom is what teachers are involved in foreign language teaching, which has discussed in recent years While some hold the view that authentic materials are only for advanced learners (Ls), most teachers (Ts) agree that authentic listening materials can and should be used for all learners from elementary to advanced learners Moreover, teachers should exploit more authentic texts with native accents and intonation in order to involve students in activities that reflect real-life listening Studies show that Ls working with authentic materials will gain valuable practice in the specific skill of making sense of natural speech without necessarily understanding every word in the text; then, an increase in listening comprehension is a natural consequence of this practice The challenge for Ts, therefore, is to identify authentic materials of potential interest to Ls and to prepare Ls for dealing with these texts in a meaningful way 10 ... Reasons for using authentic materials in teaching listening skills The need for and the usefulness of authentic materials have been increasingly acknowledged Martinez (2002) suggests a list of. .. with theoretical background concerning CLT approaches, authentic materials, listening and listening task design Chapter studies on the use of authentic materials in teaching listening skills to the. .. AUTHENTIC MATERIALS 2.2.1 Definition of authentic materials The term ? ?authentic materials? ?? has been defined in a number of ways The most common definition is that authentic materials are texts which