VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LƯƠNG THỊ THÚY HẰNG A SURVEY RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCES LEFT BY ANXIETY ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF GRADE 12th STUDENTS AT GIA VIEN A HIGH SCHOOL. Nghiên cứu ảnh hưởng của sự lo lắng đến việc nghe hiểu của học sinh lớp 12 trường Trung học Phổ thông Gia Viễn A. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hà Nội- 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LƯƠNG THỊ THÚY HẰNG A SURVEY RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCES LEFT BY ANXIETY ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF GRADE 12th STUDENTS AT GIA VIEN A HIGH SCHOOL. Nghiên cứu ảnh hưởng của sự lo lắng đến việc nghe hiểu của học sinh lớp 12 trường Trung học Phổ thông Gia Viễn A.
Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Phan Văn Quế Hà Nội- 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A survey research on the influences left by anxiety on listening comprehension of grade 12th students at Gia Vien A High school.” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees. Ha Noi, March 2016 Luong Thi Thuy Hang i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like primarily to thank Assoc. Phan Van Que for helping me complete this study.
This paper would not have been possible without his constant support and encouragement. His patience and helpful criticism helped me confidently express my ideas into this paper. I regard myself extremely fortunate in having him as my dissertation supervisor. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures which have helped me a great deal in gaining a lot of theoretical as well as practical knowledge.
My special thanks go to the teachers at Gia Vien A High school who has helped me enthusiastically observe the classes during the listening lessons. I never forget to express my thanks to 69 students in the classes 12B1, 12B3, 12B6 and 12B9 and 10 students in the classes 12B2, 12B4, 12B7 who helped me collect the data through the questionnaire and the interview. Finally, I would also like to express my deep gratitude and love to my devoted parents, my husband and my lovely son who gave me time and encouraged me to complete this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Foreign language anxiety is one of the best predictors in accounting for individual differences in language learning success in SLA, and that it is proved to be one of the most essential and influential affective factors.
The present study adopts English listening questionnaire( Listening Anxiety Questionnaire developed by Kim- 2000), interview and classroom observation to conduct a survey on English listening anxiety with 79 English non- majors at seven 12 classes. The results show that there exist certain negative correlations both between English listening anxiety and listening achievement. This thesis investigates the influence anxiety has on listening comprehension, explores the potential sources of English listening anxiety in a hope to create a low- anxiety classroom atmosphere, and help to improve students’ listening performance and proficiency in a most favorable affective state. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
III TABLE OF CONTENTS. IV LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS. VI LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH. THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS. SCOPE OF THE STUDY. METHOD OF THE STUDY.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. DESIGN OF THE STUDY. Definition of listening comprehension. Significance of listening.
Process of listening comprehension. Foreign Language Anxiety. Anxiety in listening comprehension. Restatement of research questions.
The fitness of the research approach. Context of the study. Setting of the study. Listening skills in the textbook.
12 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data collection and analysis procedure. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS. Students’ attitudes towards listening lessons and listening skill.
The students’ anxiety when learning listening. Reduction of the listening anxiety. 33 PART III: CONCLUSIONS. SUMMARY OF THE STUDY.
Select material of general interest level. Use teachers’ prior knowledge of the material to guide the listeners. Use more teaching aids to support for listening lessons. Be sympathetic and sensitive to student anxiety about LC and FL learning.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS SLA: second language acquisition ESL: English as a second language EFL: English as a foreign language LC: Listening comprehension FLLAS: Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale FLLCAS: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale FL: Foreign language vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. Table 1: Categories and items of fllas. 16 Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards listening skill.
19 Table 3: Students’ ideas towards listening lessons and listening skill. 21 Table 4: Factors making students not like listening. 21 Table 5: Lack of the confidence in english listening. 26 Table 6: Insufficient background knowledge.
28 Figure 1: Students’ attitudes towards learning listening skill. 20 Figure 2: Students’ motivation of learning listening. 23 Figure 3: The reasons of listening anxiety. 30 Figure 4: How to reduce listening anxiety.
32 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale for the research English is the most popular language in the world. It plays an important role in our social- economic life of human beings. Indeed, it is no longer an issue.
They argued that English has become a world knowledge by the virtues of the political and economic progress made by English speaking nations in the past 200 years. It is now the main of language books, newspapers, airports, international business and academic conferences, science technology, medicine, diplomacy, sports, international competitions, music and advertising. Nowadays we live in the age of globalization so we need English language because it is the language of this age. The number of foreign language learners is increasing, and foreign language educators and researchers have been putting efforts into teaching English more effectively.
Along with the desire to find more effective ways of teaching English, concern over dealing with learners’ negative feelings and attitudes while learning English has also increased. This concern over learners’ negative feelings and attitudes is based on a few language learning theories proposed by a number of language researchers( i., Krashen, 1988; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 1999; Young, 1991). A number of factors influence foreign language learning, and anxiety when learning a foreign language has been identified as one critical factor interfering with foreign language learning and achievements( Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1991). Among the many skills required to use a language( i., speaking, listening, reading, and writing), listening comprehension is at the heart of language learning.
Language learners are expected to understand what the interlocutor is saying in order to continue the conversation. When learners have difficulty with listening comprehension, it is likely that their listening anxiety will increase, which in turn will negatively affect their performance. Being exposed to a natural context and an authentic environment is claimed to be desirable for foreign language learning. Hadley( 2001) asserted that learning 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com and practicing language in meaningful contexts is more appealing; however, this way of practicing a foreign language is not always affordable or feasible.
Some foreign language learners may experience higher language anxiety when talking with native speakers face-to-face, and some may not have an opportunity for exposure to an authentic environment. Many students may have experienced some degree of helplessness and anxiety when doing the listening comprehension. In traditional listening classes, students are given listening materials but not taught “how” to listen. Most of them do not have appropriate listening strategies.
Ever since language teaching and learning have shifted from the teacher-centered model to the learner-centered model. A number of studies have been undertaken from the students’ perspective. Foreign language anxiety is one of the best predictors in accounting for individual differences in language learning success in second language acquisition( SLA), and that it is proved to be one of the most essential and influential affective factors. At my upper secondary school, learning listening is a really challenging job; especially, in grade 12 because of students’ low levels of proficiency in term of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills and so forth.
And they are the reasons that cause the anxiety when listening of students. The anxiety makes students find it difficult and tough to listen to and they are not confident enough to do listening tasks successfully. The study is based on the assumption that unless teachers understand students’ anxiety, their teaching of listening comprehension will never be efficient and effective. Although it is important to understand students’ anxiety so as to provide them with needed support, not a single study on the upper secondary school students’ perceptions of the anxiety they have faced with in comprehending the listening tasks in the textbook.
Being a teacher of English, I myself think that it is essential to do a research on students’ listening anxiety so I decided on choosing the topic “A survey research on the influences left by anxiety on listening 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com comprehension of grade 12th students at Gia Vien A High school. Aims and objectives of the research The main purpose of the study is to investigate the anxiety of 12th grade students towards learning listening skill. It also proposes some suggestions to minimize the influences on students when learning listening skill. With the above aims, the objectives of this study were as follows: • Examining the effect of anxiety on students in listening lessons.
• Investigating the degree of these influences on students’ listening comprehension. • Proposing some suggestions to minimize the negative effect on students when learning listening skill. The research questions With the given aims and objectives, the study implies two research questions: - Does the anxiety have any influences on listening comprehension of grade 12th students at Gia Vien A high school? - What are the effects and sources of foreign language listening anxiety as well as suggested ways to reduce listening anxiety? 4. Scope of the study The survey research was conducted at Gia Vien A High school, Ninh Binh province.
Because of limited time, it only focused on investigating the influences of anxiety on listening comprehension of grade 12th students, the sources and the degree of the impact. The participants were 69 students from four classes 12B1, 12B3, 12B6 and 12B9( answer the questions in questionnaire), 10 students( answer the questions in interview) from classes 12B2, 12B4, 12B7, who are non- English major students. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Method of the study The study was carried out by some steps as follows: First, the survey questionnaire for students was employed to find out the sources and effect of anxiety when learning listening skill.
Second, class observation was designed to study students’ performance in listening lessons. After that, semi- structured interview was conducted in order to: 1. Survey students’ perception on the magnitude of learning English and listening skill in students’ learning English. Study the factors that cause their anxiety.
Find out the influences left by anxiety in their listening comprehension and their way of going on the lessons.