ABSTRACT The purpose of the graduation paper is to study the use of note-taking of the second-year English major students at ThuongMai University. The author has also cultivated in his mind the idea of providing the students with a rich source of information and future research priorities concerning the theme "the use of note- taking skill in English listening". Methodologically, note-taking studies were researched by survey questionaires and interviewing students. The search notes focused on the theory underlying note-taking and the findings of the previous studies.
Note-taking performs a crucial function in improving English listening skill. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mrs. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc for her continuous support for my study, for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this graduation paper.
Besides my supervisor, I would like to thank ThuongMai University and English Faculty of ThuongMai University for creating favorable conditions for me to do my graduation paper. I’d like to send my sincere to my family for their support during the development of this graduation paper. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.ii TABLE OF CONTENTS.iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.vii Chapter 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY.3 Aims of study.5 The scope of study.7 Organization of the study.4 Chapter 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.1 Definition of Listening comprehension.1 Definition of Note-taking.3 The importance of note-taking while listening.4 Effective note-taking techniques while listening.1 Learn to abbreviate and use symbols.2 Use mind maps in taking note.3 Two - column method to take notes.4 Review and edit your notes.14 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS.1 Discussion about English listening skill of the second-year English majors of ThuongMai University (Q1, Q2, Q3).2 Discussion about note-taking skill while listening to English of the second-year English majors of ThuongMai University.2 Using Mind map (Q6).3 The two-column method (Q7).22 Chapter 4: SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES.1 Improve English listening skill.2 Use symbols and abbreviations.3 Use Mind Maps.4 Use Cornell method to take notes.5 Review and edit the notes.1 Make clear and accurate notes.3 Write phrases, not full sentences.4 Take notes in your own words.4 Organize the notes.5 Underline, circle the notes.6 Think while you take note.XI iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TMU ThuongMai University Q Question = Stand for v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Frequency of students in using symbols and abbreviations to take notes while listening to English.17 Table 2: Tips or techniques of students to abbreviate.18 Table 3: Reasons of not using mind map to note while listening.20 Table 4: Frequency of students in using two-column method to take notes.21 Table 5: Frequency of students in leaving a space between entries to fill in it.22 Table 6: Reasons of not review and edit your notes.23 Table 7: Reasons of not review and edit your notes.23 Figure 1: Prestyn Kylie (2015, April19) some abbreviations for taking note.9 Figure 2: Mind mapping information and advices, how to make a mind map.12 Figure 3: Two - column method to take notes.13 Diagram 1: English listening level of second-year English majors at ThuongMai University. 16 Diagram 2: Frequency of students in using symbols and abbreviations to take notes while listening to English.18 Diagram 3: Using mind map while listening to English.20 Figure 4: List of Abbreviations.27 Figure 5: List of Internet Acronyms.28 Figure 6: An example of a mind map.30 Figure 7: An example of a mind map.30 Figure 8: An example of the Cornell note-taking method.32 Figure 9: Using different colors to take notes.34 vi Chapter 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale Today, English is the most commonly used language in the world.
It is the language of science, technology, technology, commerce and information across the globe. English has become a compulsory subject in most schools in Vietnam, especially in universities. During the course of learning English at Thuong Mai University, especially in the field of listening in the second year, I myself discovered that if Vietnamese people can master the listening skills, the problem of settling listening to English will be overcome. Listening is an important part as well as an essential means of language acquisitions.
In the mid twentieth century, Bloomfield (1942) ever declares that: “One learns to understand and speak a language primarily by hearing and imitating native-speakers”. Although this saying a little looks down on the written language, it is true to assume the indispensable role of listening skills in learning English. Lundsteen (1979) also affirms that listening is the first language skill to appear. In chronologic order, children listen before they speak, speak before they read, and read before they write.
From this point of view, the importance of teaching listening can well be seen and it is now regarded the first and foremost skill to be acquired in learning a new language. In fact, English Faculty of ThuongMai University offers listening courses to all the students of English Faculty. However, the second-year students are not professional listeners, so obviously they do not have a wide knowledge about note- taking skill. Furthermore, they do not know how to take note fast, what to note, etc.
They tend to write as much as they can. This not only takes long time but also go too far from the main idea. Sometimes, they note the less important information and leave behind the main purposes of the speaker. All of problems above lead to an unexpected result.
Together with many others skills in listening skill, note-taking plays very important role because this stage supplements memory to have a better listening skill. However, note-taking is not a simple skill. It requires very high requirements. 1 Students have to analyze, choose information and note down while listening for speaker.
Besides, the speed of speaking is faster than the speed of writing, student must be fast to catch up with the speaker's idea. Thus, it seems harder work for the second-year English majors at ThuongMai University. All the above reasons have inspired me to choose the subject: A study on the use of note-taking skill in listening skill of the second-year English majors at ThuongMai University and suggested solutions.2 Previous studies “Note-taking and Information Retention and Recall” - A thesis submitted to the College of Communication and Information of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts by Gary E. This thesis offers a framework for the development of Notable.
He supposed that notable is a versatile tool that functions in varied note- taking environments. Considerations for different learning styles and activities that aid in information retention and recall are uniquely utilized throughout the application. Ethnographic research was conducted on middle school students to gain insight into their learning environments, including the classroom, lecture styles, note-taking tools, organizational methods and social interactions amongst teachers and classmates. "Notes on Note-Taking: Review of Research and Insights for Students and Instructors" by Michael C.
This literature overview is designed as a resource for both students and instructors to gain insight into what education research reveals about note-taking. He said that note-taking is an acquired skill that improves student learning and retention of information in a variety of domains and subjects. Importantly, comprehension and production processes (which both require working memory resources) are needed simultaneously for optimal learning to occur, making effective note-taking difficult to accomplish. The methods of assessment for notes can be relatively subjective or inconsistent from one study to the next, which makes it difficult to uniformly capture what makes for high-quality notes.3 Aims of study The study has purposes: To find out the use of note-taking skill in listening skill by second year English majors in improving note-taking skill in listening class.
To suggest some techniques to improve note-taking skill of the second-year English majors of ThuongMai University.4 Research subjects How to take note while listening to English by the second year English majors at ThuongMai University? 1.5 The scope of study English listening is a big theme. However, because of the limited time and my knowledge, in this graduation paper, I only focus on the use of note taking skill in listening of the second year English majors at ThuongMai University and some techniques to improve note-taking skill for them. The study limits itself at presenting how to take note while English listening of the second-year English majors of ThuongMai University. Moreover, I concentrate on improving note taking skill in listening class accessed in the view of students.6 Research Methology With a hope that I could research successfully the topic "A study on the use of note-taking skill in listening skill of the second-year English majors at Thuong Mai University and suggested solutions" the following methods are used in the research process: Firstly, interviews 300 second-year English majors of ThuongMai University.
Secondly, survey questionnaires for 300 second-year English students Major of ThuongMai University. Finally, in order to accomplish the graduation paper, a flexible combination of methods is used, which embraces collection, categorizing and analyzing of data, and description of result.7 Organization of the study The study is divided into four parts: Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION presents the rationales, aims, research subjects, scope, methodology and organization of the study. Chapter 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - deals with the concepts including listening and note taking skill in listening skill, types of listening, and the roles of note taking skill in listening skill. Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS – shows the results of the survey and a comprehensive analysis on the data collected.
Chapter 4: SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES 4 Chapter 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Definition of Listening comprehension Listening is considered as one of the most important parts of the oral communication. The term is used in order to make oral communication effective. There was an idea that “Students spend 20 percent of all school related hours just listening. If television watching and one-half of conversations are included, students spend approximately 50 percent of their waking hours just listening.
For those hours spent in the classroom, the amount of listening time can be almost 100 percent”. Obviously, it is believed that listening is a significant and essential area of development in a native language and in a second language, therefore, there have been numerous definitions of listening and listening skill. According to Howatt and Dakin (1974), listening is ability to identify and understand what others are saying. This process involves understanding a speaker’s accent and pronunciation, the speaker’s grammar and vocabulary and comprehension of meaning.
An able listener is capable of doing these four things simultaneously. Rubin (1995) conceived listening as an active process in which a listener selects and interprets information, which comes from auditory and visual clues in order to define what is going on and what the speakers are trying to express. Purdy (1991) defined listening as “the active and dynamic process of attending, perceiving, listening, remembering and responding to the expressed verbal and non-verbal needs, concerns and information offered by the human beings”. Carol (1993) described listening as a set of activities that involve “the individual’s capacity to apprehend, recognize, discriminate or even ignore”.
Wolvin and Coakley (1985) points out that listening is “the process of receiving, attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli”. This definition suggests that listening is a complex, problem-solving skill. The task of listening is more than perception of sound. This view of listening is in accordance with second- 5 language theory which considers listening to spoken language as an active and complex process in which listeners focus on selected aspects of aural input, construct meaning, and relate what they hear to existing knowledge (O’Malley & Chamot, 1989).
Recently, Imhof (1998) stated that listening is “the active process of selecting and integrating relevant information from acoustic input and this process is controlled by personal intentions which are critical to listening”.