Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi – 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES.
viii LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Design of the study. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theory of listening.
Definitions of listening and listening comprehension. The importance of listening comprehension. Listening comprehension process. Factors that affect the process of comprehending listening texts.
Stages of carrying out a listening lesson. Theoretical background of language learning strategies. Oxford’s classification of language learning strategies. An overview of the course book “Campaign 2”.
Objectives of the course book. Structure of the course book. Objectives of the listening skill. Brief description of the listening comprehension section.
18 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Current teaching and learning GE and ME at English Department, MSA. Teaching staff, teaching methods, and teachers’ knowledge of Military English. Teaching and learning facilities.
20 CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION, FINDINGS, AND DISCUSSIONS. Subjects’ background information. Methods of collecting data. Findings and discussions.
Cadets’ attitude towards listening skill. Cadets’ opinion on the listening tasks in the course book “Campaign 2”. Cadets’ difficulties in listening to military texts and possible sources of difficulties. Cadets’ use of listening strategies.
Cadets’ opinion on teachers’ ways of teaching listening tasks in “Campaign 2”. Teachers‟ frequency of organizing three-stage listening lessons. Activities provided by teachers to better cadets‟ listening skill. Cadets‟ opinion on teachers‟ ways of organizing listening activities.
Utilizing appropriate strategies. Using associating and elaborating strategies. Placing new words into context. Improving note-taking techniques.
Developing writing summaries skills. 38 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Making guesses from the context. Making guesses based on visual clues.
Finding about language learning. Seeking practice opportunities. Feeling relaxed/ Lowering anxiety. Writing a language learning diary.
Asking for clarification or verification. Cooperating with peers. Developing cultural understanding. Teaching listening strategies to the third year cadets in a systematical way.
Organizing three-stage listening lessons. Pre-listening activities. While- listening activities. Post- listening activities.
A brief summary of the thesis and the main conclusion. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research. 46 Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire. I Appendix 2: Real Performance Test.
IV Appendix 3: Note taking - Symbols and Abbreviations. VII Appendix 4: Common Abbreviations and Acronyms of Military Terms Used in Listening Tasks in Campaign 2. VIII Appendix 5: A Sample Listening Strategy Instruction Lesson. IX Appendix 6: Performance Checklist for Listening Strategies.
XI Appendix 7: A Sample Listening Lesson Plan. XII Appendix 8: Some Original Listening Tasks in Campaign 2. XVII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ED: English Department ESL/EFL: English as a Second Language/ English as a Foreign Language ESP: English for Specific Purposes L2: Second Language LLS: Language Learning Strategies LS: Learning Strategies ME: Military English MSA: Military Science Academy SILL: Strategies for Inventory Language Learning LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Factors in the Literature (cited in Boyle, 1984:35) Table 2: Direct Learning Strategies to be Applied to the Four Language Skills Table 3: Indirect Learning Strategies to be Applied to the Four Language Skills Table 4: Cadets‟ Attitudes towards Listening Skill Table 5: Cadets‟ Opinion on the Listening Tasks in the Course book “Campaign 2” Table 6: Memory Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 7: Cognitive Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 8: Compensation Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 9: Metacognitive Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 10: Affective Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 11: Social Strategies Applied by the Third-year Cadets Table 12: Grenfell & Harris‟ Model of Teaching Listening Strategies LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ix LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES Chart 1: Frequency of Teacher‟s Organizing 3-stage Listening Lessons Figure1: Students‟ Difficulties in Listening to Military Texts Figure 2: Possible Sources of Difficulties Figure 3: Cadets‟ Use of Listening Strategies Figure 4: Activities Provided by Teachers to Better Cadets‟ Listening Skill Figure 5: Cadets‟ Opinion on Teachers‟ Ways of Organizing Listening Activities Figure 6: Standard Outline Note-Taking Format Figure 7: An Example of Mapping Method Figure 8: An Example of Charting Method LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The first chapter justifies the rationale for the study. Afterwards, the aims, scope and methods of the study are presented.
The chapter ends with an overview of the thesis structure. Rationale In the globalized information age in which we are living, technological advances have made global communication more and more easily accessible. In order to be a part of this global community, having good command of a common language is clearly an advantage. Needless to say, till the present time, despite the outnumber speakers of Chinese, English is still the dominant language in terms of its convenience and popularity.
To be successful in global communication, merely being good at grammar and structures is no longer appropriate. The current situation requires learners of English to acquire it to satisfy the demand of becoming not only good speakers but also effective listeners. Therefore, “English listening comprehension has taken on increased importance for ESL/EFL learners, since failing to comprehend spoken English may cause non-understanding or misunderstanding which in turn leads to a breakdown in communication.” (Chen, 2009:54) In order to improve Vietnamese learners‟ communicative competence to meet the demand of globalization, English teaching methodology has been considerably reformed. The teaching method has shifted from Grammar Translation to Audio-lingual and now to Communicative Approach in which teachers become instructors who provide guidance for students to perform lifelike tasks to more realize the teaching-learning process.
In the process of acquiring English in a new light, listening seems always to be the most challenging subject for learners, especially for those who come from rural areas. These students may have good knowledge of grammar and structures, but merely these are not enough to assure equal ability of listening and speaking. This phenomenon is quite common in universities around Vietnam and Military Science Academy is not an exception. Military Science Academy is the only military academy in Vietnam which trains major language cadets.
Like students at other language universities in Vietnam, cadets here are faced up with many difficulties in learning listening skill, especially when they listen to military texts. Among various causes of this such as students‟ background knowledge, students‟ interests in listening, the difficulty level of listening texts, etc., inappropriate strategies for exploiting listening tasks or listening without clear strategies are the main problems. As judged by Nauman (2002), the majority of students come to listening activities with little knowledge of how the listening process works and even with serious misconception about what make them successful in listening. Therefore, it is urgent that clear listening strategies should be applied in exploiting listening tasks (especially, ESP listening tasks), LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 and they should also be transferred to and absorbed by individual students so that students themselves can be more active and effective in dealing with spoken language not only in classroom but also in social contacts.
These above reasons led the author of this paper to conduct this study in order to discover listening strategies in general and applying those strategies in exploiting listening tasks in Campaign 2 in particular. The author herself hopes that this paper will contribute to improving the teaching of listening to military texts at her academy and also wishes to get useful contributions from her colleagues as well as readers to help her cadets better exploit listening tasks in the military course book „Campaign 2‟. Aims of the study This minor study is aimed at giving suggested strategies for exploiting listening tasks in the Military English course book Campaign 2 at English Department, MSA and at the same time implications for more effectively exploiting listening tasks in the book are given. In order to fulfill the abovementioned aims, the study tried to answer two following questions: (1) What are the appropriate strategies for exploiting listening tasks in Campaign 2 at English Department, MSA? and (2) What can be done to exploit listening tasks in Campaign 2 effectively at MSA? The study primarily investigates the theoretical background of language learning strategies, listening strategies and develops further in investigating strategies uses as well as exploring suitable listening strategies for exploiting listening tasks in Campaign 2.
It, therefore, serves as a valuable resource for teachers at ED, MSA to gain a deeper insight into the practice of Military English listening strategies among the third-year cadets. More importantly, a suggested list of listening strategies is presented to assist teachers with way to enhance their cadets‟ ability in processing military listening tasks. At the same time, the study is open to invite contributions from readers to add more suitable strategies for exploiting listening tasks in Campaign 2 in particular and in other Military English course books in general. Scope of the study It would be really challenging for this minor thesis to cover all the aspects of listening.
Therefore, the study just stays within the strategies for exploiting listening tasks in the course book Campaign 2 by Simon Mellor-Clark and Yvonne Baker de Altamirano, a Military English course book. Other areas of listening such as choosing materials or academic listening are beyond the study. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methods of the study In completing this research, following methods have been used: First of all, intensive and extensive reading helps equip the author with sufficient background knowledge related to listening comprehension, language learning strategies, and listening strategies so as to collect data for the literature review.
Second, survey questionnaires for students are used as the major instrument to collect data. Third, observation of students‟ real performance through a listening test as well as informal discussions with both the third-year cadets and the teachers at ED, MSA have been made. Collected data, then, have been processed and analyzed. Design of the study The study is divided into five chapters as follows: Chapter 1 is the introduction part of the study in which Reasons for conducting the research, Aims of the study, Scope of the study, Methods of the study and Design of the study are respectively displayed.
Chapter 2 reviews the literature on listening comprehension as well as its role in learning a foreign language, the listening comprehension processes and factors that affect those processes. More importantly, in this chapter, theoretical background of strategies, classifications of language learning strategies, listening strategies and stages of listening strategies implementation have been thoroughly presented. Besides, Chapter 2 also provides an overview of the course book “Campaign 2” and the basic information about current teaching and learning Military English situation at ED, MSA. Chapter 3 describes data collection, presents, analyzes as well as synthesizes data collected from the survey questionnaires, students‟ real performance through a listening test, the author‟s own observation and informal discussions with both cadets and teachers about listening strategy applying and training.
Chapter 4 is comprised of recommendations for appropriate strategies for exploiting listening tasks in Campaign 2, listening strategy teaching for the third-year cadets and suggested methods of organizing effective listening lessons. Chapter 5 provides brief summary of the thesis, presents conclusion about applied strategies, mentions the limitations of the study, and suggests ideas for further research, as well. In short, Chapter 1 has discussed the rationale, aim, scope as well as methods of the study.