VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ USING VIDEO TO REDUCE STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN ENGLISH LISTENING LESSONS: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT THANH HOA MEDICAL COLLEGE Sử dụng phương tiện nghe nhìn để làm giảm lo lắng sinh viên học nghe: Một nghiên cứu hành động trường Cao Đẳng Y Tế Thanh Hóa M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Ha Noi – 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ USING VIDEO TO REDUCE STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN ENGLISH LISTENING LESSONS: AN ACTION RESEARCH AT THANH HOA MEDICAL COLLEGE Sử dụng phương tiện nghe nhìn để làm giảm lo lắng sinh viên học nghe: Một nghiên cứu hành động trường Cao Đẳng Y Tế Thanh Hóa M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dr Lê Văn Canh Ha Noi – 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATION vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study .1 1.2 Research Aims and Research Questions 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of anxiety and listening anxiety .4 2.1.1 Anxiety 2.1.2 Anxiety in listening comprehension 2.1.3 Causes of listening anxiety .7 2.1.4 Effects of FLA on listening comprehension .8 2.2 Definition and benefits of using videos in learning English in general and in learning listening skill in particular 2.3 Previous studies .12 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .14 3.1 Action Research 14 3.1.1 What is action research? 14 3.1.2 Rationale for the use of an action research .15 3.2 The context of teaching and learning listening skill at THMC .17 3.3 Participants 17 3.4 Classroom setting 18 iv 3.5 Instruments 18 3.5.1 Interviews 18 3.5.2 Questionnaires 19 3.5.3 Diaries .19 3.6 Research procedure .20 3.7 Research program 22 3.8 Data collection procedure .22 3.9 Data analysis procedure 23 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24 4.1 Students‟ initial attitude to listening skill .24 4.2 Possible explanations for the students‟ listening anxiety 25 4.3 Changes in students attitude toward listening skill after using video 26 4.4 Impacts of video- based instruction on reducing students‟ anxiety in doing listening comprehension tasks 28 4.4.1 Video as a useful tool to solve the causes of the students‟ anxiety 28 4.2 Changes in students‟ perceived learning (understanding and retention ) and performance……………………………………… ……….……… ………….29 4.4.3 Students‟ preference in doing listening activities 31 4.4.4 Students‟ preference toward video techniques used by the teacher in listening lessons 33 4.4.5 Students‟ assessment on the role of video 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 37 5.1 Major findings and discussion of the research .37 5.2 Conclusion 38 5.3 Objective revisited .39 5.4 The limitations of the research 39 5.5 Suggestion for further studies .40 REFERENCE 41 APPENDICES I v LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Tables Table 1: Students‟ attitude toward listening before using video Table 2: Students‟ anxiety in listening lesson without video Table 3: The causes of the students‟ anxiety in the listening lessons Table 4: Students‟ attitude toward listening after using video Table 5: Students‟ anxiety in listening lesson using video Table 6: Students‟ preference in doing listening activities Table 7: Students‟ preference toward video techniques used by the teacher in listening lessons Figures Figure 1: Change in percentage of students‟ comprehension after using video Figure 2: Change in percentage of students‟ retention after using video Pie charts Chart 1: Students‟ assessment on the importance of video Chart 2: Students‟ assessment on effectiveness of video material vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TMC: Thanh Hoa Medical College L1: first language L2: second language ULIS: University of Language and International Studies IT: Information Technology Ss: students ESP: English for special purpose FLA: Foreign Language Anxiety LC : Listening Comprehension vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study Recently, technology has been recommended to be used in education with a view of providing learners with more learning opportunities Videos are among the technologies that are believed to have significant influences on second or foreign language learning This type of technology is said to allow teacher to create virtually the target language environment into classroom so that live or prerecorded news, music, sports from all over the world can be viewed by students in real time The advantages of using video in the language classroom have been recognized by many researchers in applied linguistics The main advantage of using video as a technology for language teaching is considered to be its ability to present and immerse learners into complete communicative situations (Lonergan, 1984) Another important advantage is the ability of video to cover non-verbal aspects of communication and its cross-cultural comparison potential (Stempleski & Tomalin, 1990) In addition, using video in the classroom allows differentiation of teaching and learning according to students‟ abilities, learning styles and personalities Despite those benefits to language learners, the issue of how videos help to reduce the students‟ listening anxiety is not yet adequately explored As a teacher I believe that anxiety inhibits students‟ participation in the learning processes, which affects negatively the students‟ acquisition of the target language Listening comprehension in foreign language learning causes a lot of anxiety among learners because of a variety of reasons Therefore, efforts should be made to reduce the student anxiety as the first step towards a more learner- centered approach to foreign language teaching One of the reasons that causes students‟ listening anxiety is that while listening to the recorded messages, students cannot see the speaker‟ face This makes it impossible for them to use the non-linguistic cues such as facial expressions and other gestures to comprehend the speaker‟s message By using the video to visualize the speakers and the communication settings, I believe that the teacher can help students to feel less anxious in doing the listening tasks This is the rationale for this present study 1.2 Research Aims and Research Questions This action research is aimed to explore the impact of the teacher‟s use of videos on students‟ listening anxiety To be specific, it is intended to gain understanding of the extent to which the use of videos helps to reduce students‟ listening anxiety So, the study is to find answers to the following research questions: Question 1: To what extent does the use of video in teaching listening change the attitude of second year English non-majors toward learning listening skill? Question 2: To what extent the students’ changed attitudes to learning help to reduce their anxiety in doing listening comprehension tasks? 1.3 Significance of the study Although listening skill has always been given a significant in language teaching, the questions of how to teach and learn listening skill effectively often pose great problems to both teachers and students This study primarily explores how the use of videos instruction reduces students‟ anxiety at THMC It also serves as a valuable resource for teachers to gain a deep insight into the practice of video instruction at the college More importantly, an inventory of videos especially videos about medicine are very useful for nursing students Because medical words are difficult and practical environments are not available Videos can help them to understand the lesson, help them to be confident when performing listening tasks Placing second-year students majoring in nursing at the centre of analysis, the study intends to help the population to succeed in improving listening comprehension On an other hand, the study can be beneficial to teachers of English at other colleges, who may undergo the same context of teaching and learning this skill 1.4 Scope of the study As an action research study, the study reported here is limited itself to the exploration of the extent to which the use of videos in teaching listening comprehension helps to reduce their listening anxiety, thereby changing their attitudes towards listening comprehension I believe that once the students feel more self-confident in listening comprehension and they have a positive attitude towards listening comprehension they will learn English better After all, nobody can learn a foreign language well without the ability to understand the spoken language The results of this study will be used to deepen my understanding of how to use technology to reduce the my own students‟ learning anxiety I not intend to investigate other aspects of technology or the impact of video-based listening instruction on students‟ listening comprehension performance although this could be the focus of the second cycle of this action research project 1.5 Design of the study This study is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, presents the research problem and rationale of the study, the aims, scope, significance, methods as well as the design of the study Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, deals with the theories involving anxiety in listening comprehension and the need of using video in listening comprehension Chapter 3, METHODOLOGY, presents the methodology applied in the study including participants, instrumentation, research process Chapter 4, RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION, presents the results of the research and data analysis, from which major findings are revealed and discussed Chapter 5, CONCLUSIONS, reviews the major findings and give conclusions, revises objectives and indicates some limitations of the study And discussion and suggestions for further study are put forward CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter gives an overview of the literature in which key concepts, theories and previous studies in the field are presented 2.1 Overview of anxiety and listening anxiety 2.1.1 Anxiety Anxiety is quite possibly the affective factor that most pervasively obstructs the learning process It is associated with negative feelings such as uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension and tension Heron (1989:33) makes reference to what he terms existential anxiety, which arises out of a group situation and has three interconnected components that are relevant to the language classroom: “Acceptance anxiety Will I be accepted, liked, wanted? Orientation anxiety Will I understand what is going on? Performance anxiety Will I be able to what I have come to learn?” For acquisition to take place, the learner has to be able to absorb the appropriate parts of the input There can be “a mental block that prevents acquirers from fully utilizing the comprehensible input they receive for language acquisition” (Krashen, 1985, p.3) This block, called “ the affective filter”, might be because “ the acquirer is unmotivated, lacking in self-confidence, or anxious” (Krashen, 1985, p.3) The Affective Filter Hypothesis ascribes variation between learners to their psychological states If the filter is “ up”, comprehensible input cannot get through; if it is “ down”, they can make effective use of it In particular the reason why younger learners are better at L2 acquisition over the long term is that “ the affective filter gains dramatically in strength at around puberty” (Krashen, 1985, p.13) Older learners are cut off from proper access to comprehensible input by the increased strength of the filter In Krashen‟s words, “ comprehensible input and the strength of the filter are the true causes of second language acquisition” (Krashen, 1982, p.33), one positively, one negatively APPENDIX FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS ( Translate into English) STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW ANSWERS ( ST1 ) Do you feel anxious in the listening lessons ? I don’t know why I am always afraid of listening lessons I feel the time of listening lesson lasts too long Especially when I meet some new words I always try to guess what they mean and forget all other things Do you like learning listening in video-assisted instruction rather than in audioonly version ? Of course, listening with video materials is more interesting Does your anxiety reduce when you learn listening skill through videos ? I think, I sometimes feel anxious when listening with videos Of course, if the topic of the listening text is too difficult, I am still worried However, it is not as much as when I listening through audio- only version Why you feel less anxious when you learning listening through video ? For me, I am worried because I can not watch facial expression or actions of a person who is speaking That is why when I listen through videos I feel more comfortable What activities in the listening lesson you like participating ? I like doing the word- recognizing exercises The teacher organizes this activity very effectively Many students in my class want to take part in Do the teacher’s video techniques satisfy you? what techniques you like the most? Yes, I like a lot I like watching, pausing and then describe what happens in the video Thank you very much for your cooperation ! XI FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS ( Translate into English) STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW ANSWERS ( ST2 ) Do you feel anxious in the listening lessons ? In fact, I am always worried when learning listening I am tension because I am afraid that I can not hear the important information If I can’t catch that information I can not the listening tasks Do you like learning listening in video-assisted instruction rather than in audioonly version ? Oh, I think listening with visual symbols is more exciting Does your anxiety reduce when you learn listening skill through videos ? Oh, very much When I listen with video, I am eager to look what happens in the video Why you feel less anxious when you learning listening through video ? My vocabulary is limited I am worried if the listening lesson has too many new words to me When listening through video, I can guess the meaning of some words based on the images What activities in the listening lesson you like participating ? In my opinion, I supposed that the tasks that I was assigned were useful The activity I like the most is listen and identify the setting It stimulate my creativeness I like listening and matching exercises Do the teacher’s video techniques satisfy you? what techniques you like the most? Wonderful! I like pausing and guessing It stimulates my imagination Thank you very much for your cooperation ! XII FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS ( Translate into English) STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW ANSWERS ( ST3 ) Do you often feel anxious in the listening lessons ? Well, I guess I have to say that I am often anxious in listening lessons I am worried because I am afraid that the pronunciation of the speaker is not clear and the speed of speaker is so fast that I can not hear anything Do you like learning listening in video-assisted instruction rather than in audioonly version ? Yes, I Does your anxiety reduce when you learn listening skill through videos ? Yes, I think it reduces a lot Why you feel less anxious when you learning listening through video ? Oh, the speed and pronunciation of the speaker are the factors that affect me the most Therefore, I think videos can partly reduce my anxiety because it is difficult to listen to but it is easy to watch What activities in the listening lesson you like participating ? In my opinion, I supposed that the tasks that I was assigned were interesting The activity I like the most is multiple choice It stimulates my creativeness Do the teacher’s video techniques satisfy you? what techniques you like the most? Yes, I like pausing and describing stage Thank you very much for your cooperation ! XIII FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS ( Translate into English) STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW ANSWERS ( ST4 ) Do you often feel anxious in the listening lessons ? Uh! I guess I have to say that I am often anxious in listening lessons I am worried because I am afraid that the topic of the listening text is not familiar to me Do you like learning listening in video-assisted instruction rather than in audioonly version ? Yes, I Does your anxiety reduce when you learn listening skill through videos ? Yes, I think it reduces a lot Why you feel less anxious when you learning listening through video ? Oh, familiar or unfamiliar topics are sometimes not important to me when I learn with videos because I listen and I can see, so I can guess what I am listening to What activities in the listening lesson you like participating ? In my opinion, I supposed that the tasks that I was assigned were effective The activity I like the most is word-recognizing It develops my vocabulary Does the teacher’s video techniques satisfy you? What techniques you like the most? I am fond of Pausing- describing technique Thank you very much for your cooperation ! XIV APPENDIX STUDENTS’ DIARIES Date: Unit : (Write down what you think about the lesson based on some cues: What you think about the lesson today? Does it satisfy you? According to your observation, how about your seatmates? What they feel and think ? Do you like doing listening tasks today? What kinds of listening activities you like the most in this lesson? Do the video techniques used by the teacher in the listening lesson satisfy you?) XV NHẬT KÝ CỦA SINH VIÊN ( Phiên tiếng Việt) Ngày .tháng năm Tên : ( Hãy viết suy nghĩ bạn, nhận xét bạn sau học học dựa gợi ý sau: Bạn nghĩ học học nghe hơm nay? Bạn có hài lịng khơng? Theo quan sát bạn bạn ngồi bàn với bạn có suy nghĩ nào? Bạn có thích hoạt động học nghe ngày hôm không? Bạn thích tham gia hoạt động nhất? Kỹ thuật sử dụng băng hình giáo viên làm bạn thích nhất?) XVI MẪU NHẬT KÍ CỦA SINH VIÊN Ngày: 5/3/2013 Bài : Bone Hôm nghe hai đoạn video nói loại gãy xương thường gặp thật thú vị Tơi hài lịng với hoc ngày hơm tơi thấy dễ hiểu nội dung nghe tơi khơng có khả để hiểu hết từ nội dung video Theo quan sát tôi, nhận thấy bạn lớp có tâm trạng gần giống Họ háo hức xem ý lắng nghe Khi cô giáo cho xem dừng lại để đoán tên loại gãy xương, bạn lớp thi đốn: “gãy kín”, “gãy hở”, “dạn xương” Mặc dù định nghĩa loại gãy xương tương đối dài khó nghe trình bày xác chữ thơng qua tập “multiple choice” “true or false” hiểu đặc điểm loại gãy xương Hai dạng tập mà cô giáo đưa phù hợp với lực chúng tơi thích làm Task cho chúng tơi vừa xem vừa nghe chọn đáp án đúng, task cho xem sau dừng lại đốn đáp án Tơi thích làm tăng khả phán đốn tơi Bài học nghe hơm thấy hiệu cảm thấy thoải mái tham gia học nghe XVII APPENDIX SAMPLE OF A LISTENING LESSON PLAN USING VIDEO Unit 9: Bone Class: Nursing K12B Allowed time: 45 minutes Topic: Types of fracture I Aims : The purpose of this lesson is to: - Provide students with some vocabularies relating to fracture and the definition of each type of fracture - Enhance students‟ learning and motivation by using real world context - Improve students‟ listening comprehension and retention II Teaching Contents: - Language items: Bone Fracture - Teaching skills: Listening, speaking III Teaching methods: - Communicative Approach - Grammar Translation IV Teaching aids: - Textbook, lesson plan, chalks, board, Projector, video XVIII V Procedures: Teacher’s activities Good morning! Greeting Warm up: Guessing game - Divide students into two teams Ten pictures are put behind ten numbers, - Give pictures behind the numbers They related the subject “bone” to choose One of these pictures “ fracture” * Pre- listening Introduce students some new - Ask students to guess the vocabularies meanings of the new words through - Skeletal system example, situation, pictures - Cracked - Read the new words and ask them - Tree branch to repeat - bend 7mins - Transverse - Ask students to put the words into - Oblique the correct pictures - Pressure - Check and correct - Twisting - Put the words into the correct pictures - Give pictures key: 1, 4, 6, 3, 2, 5, 8, 11mins * While – listening ( watching- listening) - Guide students how to this exercise Task ( video 1) - Play video and ask students to Listen and the decide whether the choose whether are true or false statements true ( T) or False (F) The skeletal system protects the while listening Time 7mins Content XIX Students’ activities Good morning! - Work in two teams - Choose numbers to find the pictures related to fracture - Guess the meanings of the new words and write down on the notebooks - repeat - listen and answer the questions - Listen to the instruction - Pay attention on video and answer internal organs of the body - Ask students to listen again and Too much pressure can results a correct the statements on their fracture, notebooks Green stick causes the bone break into a lot of pieces Transverse, oblique and spiral are simple fracture Comminuted fracture cause the bone to bend key: T F F T F 11mins Task 2: Choose the correct answer ( video 2) ( watching- predicting) Too much pressure is applied to a bone that in what is known as a fracture A Makes B Results C Causes D Gives An open fracture is a fracture where a piece of the broken bone pierces through A the muscle B The skin C cells D The wound fracture commonly occurs to bones of the spine and may be caused by falling into a standing or sitting position, or a result of advanced osteoporosis - Introduce briefly the content of the video Tell them listen only 1time - Ask them try to listen, watch and guess - Ask Sts to write the answers on their papers - Give the correct answers and ask them to correct if it is wrong XX - Watch and listen - Listen, check and correct - Listen carefully - Listen and focus - write the answers on the papers - watch and correct - Check 7mins A avulsion B open C compression D pressure is common in young athletes and can occur when muscles are not properly stretched before activity A Open B Avulsion C impacted D Compression 5.Impacted fracture occurs within the bone when pressure is applied to both ends of the bone, causing it to split into two fragments that jam into each other A same B different C similar D typical Key: B B C B 5.A * Post – listening ( watching-describing) Answer the questions: How many main types of fracture? What are they? The key: types: Incomplete fracture: hairline and - Divide the class into groups - Ask them to summary the types of fracture they have learned - Play video and then pause and ask student to describe what happens - Ask leaders of the two group to go to the board and write down the answer - Check and correct XXI - work in group - Think and give the answer - Listen, watch and describe - Go to the board and give the answer - correct 2mins greenstick Complete fracture: simple fracture and comminuted * Homework (1 min) - Teacher asks students to the exercises 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 in the textbook and guides students if it‟s necessary XXII - pay attention and remember APPENDIX Transcript: Types of Fractures ( Video 1) The Human Skeletal System The skeletal system is made up of 206 bones and provides support, allows for movement, and protects the internal organs of the body What Is a Fracture? Sometimes, too much pressure is applied to a bone that results in what is known as a fracture Fractures are commonly caused by a fall, strike from an object, or by twisting or bending of the bone What Is an Incomplete Fracture? When the bone is only cracked or partially broken, doctors refer to it as an incomplete fracture What Is a Hairline Fracture? A hairline fracture is an incomplete fracture, like a crack that does not break all the way through the bone It usually is the result of a relatively minor injury What Is a Greenstick Fracture? A greenstick fracture is an incomplete fracture that is similar to the break of a young tree branch Only one side of the bone breaks causing the bone to bend Both hairline and greenstick fractures are usually treated by immobilization with a cast to allow it to mend What Is a Complete Fracture? When the bone is broken into pieces, doctors refer to it as a complete fracture What Is a Simple Fracture? A simple fracture is a complete fracture where the bone is broken into two fragments This break can be transverse (which means straight across the bone), oblique (which means at an angle) and spiral (which means an angle that is twisted) What is a Comminuted Fracture? A comminuted (or multi-fragmentary) fracture is a complete fracture where the bone is broken into several fragments This type of fracture is usually a result of a severe injury XXIII Both simple and comminuted fractures are usually treated with immobilization with a cast or sometimes with pins, screws, and plates If You Fracture a Bone All fractures must be taken seriously If you think that a bone has been fractured, you should seek immediate medical attention Transcript: Types of Bone Fractures ( Video 2) The Human Skeletal System The skeletal system is made up of 206 bones and provides support, allows for movement, and protects the internal organs of the body What Is a Fracture? Sometimes, too much pressure is applied to a bone that results in what is known as a fracture Fractures are often classified as either open or closed What Is an Open Fracture? An open fracture is a fracture where a piece of the broken bone pierces through the skin This can be dangerous because the bone is exposed, increasing the risk of infection What Is a Closed Fracture? A closed fracture is a fracture where the bone is broken, but does not come through the skin What Is a Compression Fracture? A compression fracture is a closed fracture that occurs when two or more bones are forced against each other It commonly occurs to bones of the spine and may be caused by falling into a standing or sitting position, or a result of advanced osteoporosis What Is an Avulsion Fracture? An avulsion fracture is a closed fracture where a piece of bone is broken off by a sudden, forceful contraction of a muscle This type of fracture is common in young athletes and can occur when muscles are not properly stretched before activity This fracture can also be the result of an injury What Is an Impacted Fracture XXIV An impacted fracture is similar to a compression fracture, yet it occurs within the same bone It is a closed fracture that occurs when pressure is applied to both ends of the bone, causing it to split into two fragments that jam into each other This type of fracture is common in falls and car accidents If You Fracture a Bone All fractures must be taken seriously If you think that a bone has been fractured, you should seek immediate medical attention Copyrighted animations provided by Blausen Medical XXV ... second-year English non- major students This questionnaire is designed for my research into: “ Using video to reduce students’ anxiety in listening lessons - An action research at Thanh Hoa Medical College. ”... action research on using video as to reduce students‟ anxiety in listening lessons, I not want to find out new application of video in teaching English as it is no longer new I focused on investigating... need of using videos in learning English in general and in learning listening skill in particular According to Lonergan (1994), the term ? ?video? ?? has two meanings For some, it means no more than replaying