VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDY BUI THUY HA “PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS IN LEARNING IELTS LISTENING” “NHUNG KHO KHAN CUA HOC VIEN VIET NAM KHI HOC KY NANG NGHE CỦA BÀI THỊ IELTS” MA MINOR THESIS Field: METHODOLOGY Code: 60.10 HA NOI — 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDY BUI THUY HA “PROBLEMS FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS IN LEARNING IELTS LISTENING” “NHUNG KHO KHAN CUA HOC VIEN VIET NAM KHI HOC KY NANG NGHE CUA BAI THI IELTS” MA MINOR THESIS Field: METHODOLOGY Code: 60. DUONG THI NU HA NOI — 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dechration. Abstract List of tables and charts ‘TABLE OF CONTENTS CIDAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 11. Aims of the study.
Significance of the study 1. Scope of the stuữy. cà bởi kề 1. Method of the study 1.
Design af the study ke eR CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. What is listening? 2. What is listening comprehension? 2.The importance of listening. 2131 Listening as the fined goal of learninga language 2.2, Listening as a means of coquiring 4 Language cee 2.
What make listening difficult?. The ligydistic factors 0 ¬ 2.2, The non-linguistic factors. Patentidl problemw in learning to lien to Engfisi.1 Lack of control aver the speed at which speakers speak 6 2. Not heing able to get things repeated.
The listener's limited vocabulary. 2154, Failure to recognise the ‘signals 2. Problenss of interpratation. Inabdity to concentrate.
DLA? Established learning habits vi 2.2, Listening in TELTS tests - lồ 2. What is IELTS? 10 2.2, Listening in IELTS tests "1 2.3, Situation of teaching and learning IELTS listening of Vietnamese learners in some foreign language centres in Hanoi 12 CHAPTER3: THE STUDY 0. eccccsecsecseissei ste seesetissinstiasinsinsteitascenes LB 3. Data collection procedures 13 3.
Data analysis and điscussion.1, The questionnaire report - Part 1: General information about learners. The questionnaire report - Part 2: The learning and difficulties of ILLTS listening. Data analysis of the class observation and đïycussiow. Findings and conclusion.
_ 27 CIAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE LISTENING SCORES IN cà TỶ. Yo the HEL’ 30 4.1, Learning to hecome efficient listeners 30 41.2, Practicing listening skill regularly and developing learning autonomy. Yo the IELTS teachers .1, Providing learners with necessary listening strategies 3 42.2, Developing listening materials and improving teaching techniques.3, Designing an imensive IELTS listening course for Vietnamese learners. Conclusion Lạng ng game 34 5.
Limitation and suggestions for further study .cccesessiseesesee e n BS REFERENCES. Rationale In tecent years with the sound of economic growth and the global integration, there have been a growing mumber of Linglish learners wishing to study at a tertiary level or to work in English speaking countrics, However, one of the prerequisites fir their cnfrance is that they have to sit tor either the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL). IELTS, which has now been adopted by many English-medium universitics all over the world, mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia, especially in Australia, is administered by the British Council or TDP Féncation Australia in Ianoi. The test consists of fonr sections designed to test candidates’ four skills: listening, reading, spcaking and.
As a matter of fact, those who want to get high score to be admitted to the target universities all try to take part in seme preparation courses before taking the test and obviously, there are a great number of English for Academie Purposes (EAP) Contrss in Hanoi who mm IELTS preparation courses in order to meet these demands, In second end foreign language leaming, listening skill is always considered the most essential as well as the ost difficull skill for both teachers (o toach effectively and for leamers to improve themselves, Therefore, listening in IELTS test is not an exception because it camprises different task types with various topics and it requires not only learners’ proficisney in Rngtish but also their wide knowledge of the language, culture and country as well Being both an IELY'S learrer and teacher, the author realises that listening skill is really the most difficult skill to most Euglish learners and the TELTS learners often encounter a lot of difficulties with the IELTS listening subtest. This fact has encouraged the author to investigate the real “Problems faced By Vietnamese learners in learning TELTS listening” and to give some recommendations to help leamers inprove their listening skill as well as listening scores in IELTS test. Aims of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate real situation of learning IELTS cspecially IELTS listening skill and the difficulties cncountered by the IELTS Ieamners in te Diferenl đsñniHons of lalewing comprehersion feused on different aspects of this skill. Rost (2002) detined listening comprehension as “a provess of receiving: whal the speaker actually says, constructing and representing meaning, negatiating meaning with the speaker and responding, and creating meaning through involvement, anagination and empathy”.
To pul it in another way, Walvin and Coakley (1985) view Tstzning as “the process of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stinmuli”, The definitions suggest that listening is really a complex skill, the task of listening is more than the perception of sound, it also requires comprehension of meaning. Buck (2001:31) also points out that listening comprehension is “an active process of constructing meaning and this is done by applying knowledge to the incoming sound” in which “ronber of different types of knowledge are involved: both lmguistic and non- linguistic knowledge”. Therefore, when doing listening, listeners are expected to hear attentively in order to process, comprehend, interpret, evaluate and respond to the incomming dala. The importance of listening Obviously, listening plays important and active role in communication and inleraclion as it involves various kinds of the Tisteners’ knowledge.
The importance of listening in second and foreign language learning is summarised in a recent publication by Rost (1994:141) as follows: - Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learners. Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin. - Spoken language including listening provides a means of interaction for the learners. Because learners must interact to achieve understanding, access to speakers of the language is essential.
Moreover, learner's failure ta understand the language they hear is an impetus, nat an obstacle, to interaction and learning. - Authentic spoken language preserits a challenge for the learner to atiempt tv understand language as it is actually used by native speakers - Listening exercises provide teachers with a means for drawing learners’ attention to new forms (vocabulary, grammar, interaction pulterns)in the language. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides the theoretical background to the study composed of two sections. The first section presents different views on the definition of listening and listening comprehension; the importance of listening skill in foreign language learning, the factors that make listening difficult and potential problems in learning listening skill.
The second section is to provide general information about IELTS, IELTS listening as well as the current situation of teaching and learning IELTS of Vietnamese learners in Hanoi.1, What is listening? There are different definitions about listening, they come from different views of the linguists. It is believed that listening is a significant and essential element of communication and interaction in a native language and in second language as well. Bentley and Bacon (1996), defines listening as ‘an active process during which the listener constructs meaning from oral input’. From this definition, a learner can express himself orally but he will never be able to communicate with an English speaker if he is unable to understand what is said to him.
Similarly, Grant also states that listening skill includes everything from learning particular sounds to comprehending complicated message. Without this skill, communication can break down. Steil and Watson (1983:22) also view listening as a major communication activity. On the website hitp:/Avww.cesf edu, listening is considered to be “the absorption of the meanings of words and sentences by the brain, Listening leads to the understanding of facts and ideas” Following is another view about listening Listening is an invisible mental process, making it difficult to describe.
Listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammar structures, interpret stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the large socio-cultural context of the utterance.(Field, 1998:38) The above definition presents a quite full overview of the nature of listening and the difficulties that might face in communication or interaction. What is listening comprehension? Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter deals with the theoretical background of the study relating to listening skill and IELTS listening. Chapter 3: The study This chapter presents data collection, data analysis, the findings and discussion as well as the conclusion drawn from the study. Chapter 4: Recommendations to improve listening scores tn IELTS tests: This chapter is to give some recommendations to both Ieamers and teachers in order to improve the learning and teaching of IEI.TS listening, Chapter 5: Conclusion This chapter presents summary of the major findings, the conclusions and linntations of the study; ioplications as well as suggestions for fiather research.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides the theoretical background to the study composed of two sections. The first section presents different views on the definition of listening and listening comprehension; the importance of listening skill in foreign language learning, the factors that make listening difficult and potential problems in learning listening skill. The second section is to provide general information about IELTS, IELTS listening as well as the current situation of teaching and learning IELTS of Vietnamese learners in Hanoi.1, What is listening? There are different definitions about listening, they come from different views of the linguists. It is believed that listening is a significant and essential element of communication and interaction in a native language and in second language as well.
Bentley and Bacon (1996), defines listening as ‘an active process during which the listener constructs meaning from oral input’. From this definition, a learner can express himself orally but he will never be able to communicate with an English speaker if he is unable to understand what is said to him. Similarly, Grant also states that listening skill includes everything from learning particular sounds to comprehending complicated message. Without this skill, communication can break down.
Steil and Watson (1983:22) also view listening as a major communication activity. On the website hitp:/Avww.cesf edu, listening is considered to be “the absorption of the meanings of words and sentences by the brain, Listening leads to the understanding of facts and ideas” Following is another view about listening Listening is an invisible mental process, making it difficult to describe. Listeners must discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammar structures, interpret stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the large socio-cultural context of the utterance.(Field, 1998:38) The above definition presents a quite full overview of the nature of listening and the difficulties that might face in communication or interaction. What is listening comprehension? iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS 1.
TABLES Table 1: Learners by age, gender and occupation Table 2: I.earners’ purposes of taking IELTS preparation course Table 3: Learners’ feelings when listening Table 4 Learners’ self- practice of listening skill Table 5: Low lewmners practiced listening skill themselves Table 6: Factors caused difficulties for learners to learn listening Table 7: Learners’ views on suggested topics Table 8: Learners’ attitude towards TELTS listening activities Table 9: Learners’ activilies in listening lessons Table 10: hat learners do while learning to listen Table 11: Learner spectation in learning to listen Table 12: Teacher's activities to heip learners listen better 2, CHARTS Pie chart 1: Learners’ experience af learning English ia years Pie chart 2: Leavers’ apinion of learning listening skill Pie chart 3: Learners’ opinion of the IELTS listening sub-test kè IBL,T8 prepzration coursss. Therefore, the study will aim to answer the following research questions: 1.
