VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* BÙI PHƢƠNG THẢO AN EVALUATION OF LISTENING TASK COMPLEXITY IN THE COURSEBOOK NEW HEADWAY PRE- INTERMEDIATE TO THE NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY ( Đánh giá sự phức tạp của các hoạt động nghe trong giáo trình New Headway Pre- intermediate dành cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh tại trƣờng Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A Minor Program Thesis (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi - 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* BÙI PHƢƠNG THẢO AN EVALUATION OF LISTENING TASK COMPLEXITY IN THE COURSEBOOK NEW HEADWAY PRE- INTERMEDIATE TO THE NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Đánh giá sự phức tạp của các hoạt động nghe trong giáo trình New Headway Pre- intermediate dành cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh tại trƣờng Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A Minor Program Thesis (Type I) Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Phan Van Que Hanoi - 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially. Hanoi, January 2016 Bùi Phương Thảo i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc. Phan Van Que, for his precious advice, academic guidance and support.
Without his invaluable assistance, this thesis would not have been fulfilled. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their useful lessons and materials which are of great values to my thesis. I am appreciative of all my colleagues, and the non- major English students at Hanoi University of Industry for their precious cooperation in giving valuable information. Last but not least, I find myself in debt to my dear family, and my friends who are always supporting me with their considerations and encouragement.
ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT This study was conducted to obtain knowledge about the evaluation of listening task complexity in the coursebook New Headway Pre- intermediate used for non- major English students at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) from the perspectives of the users of the material (i. non- major English students and their listening teachers). It took into consideration the needs in listening tasks of the target students in order to suggest changes for the improvements for teaching listening skill to non- major English students at HaUI. The participants included 100 students chosen randomly among non- English major students at HaUI and 20 teachers who were in charge of teaching English for non- major English students.
Two survey questionnaires were employed to discover the participants‟ perspectives of the students‟ needs in listening tasks and how listening tasks met these needs. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse data obtained from the aforementioned data collection instruments. The findings of the research provided insight into the needs in listening tasks of non- major English students at HaUI as well as how listening task complexity in the textbook New Headway Pre- intermediate was evaluated in the students and teachers‟ viewpoints. It can be clearly seen from the results of the study that listening to English was a challenge to the students.
The results indicated that listening task complexity generally met the students‟ needs. However, there was a need to improve some elements of listening tasks such as provided vocabularies, listening topics, three stages in listening, the speed and length of listening texts, format of responses, etc. to better meet the Ss‟ needs. Based on the findings of the study, some recommendations for listening tasks in the coursebook were suggested.
iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CFL College of Foreign Languages HaUI Hanoi University of Industry MA Master of Arts NA Needs analysis SLA Second language approach TBLT Task- based language teaching Ts Teachers Ss Students iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Robinson‟ model of task complexity Table 2: Skehan‟s model of task complexity Figure 3.1: Students‟ listening needs in terms of code complexity Figure 3.2: Students‟ listening needs in terms of cognitive complexity Figure 3.3: Students‟ listening needs in terms of communicative stress Figure 3.4: Ss‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of code complexity Figure 3.5: Ts‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of code complexity Figure 3.6: Ss‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of cognitive complexity Figure 3.7: Ts‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of cognitive complexity Figure 3.8: Ss‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of communicative stress Figure 3.9: Ts‟ evaluation on listening task complexity in terms of communicative stress v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT PART I: INTRODUCTION. Rational for the thesis. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Significance of the study. Methods of the study. Design of the study .2 PART II: DEVELOPMENT .4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Task and task- based language teaching.
Real – world tasks. Significance of task- based language teaching. Definition of task complexity. Significance of determining task complexity.
Models to determine task complexity. Skenhan‟s model of task complexity. Listening tasks and teaching listening tasks. Definition of listening comprehension.
Potential problems in learning listening comprehension. Three stages in listening tasks. Needs analysis ( NA) in language teaching. Current situation of teaching and learning English listening at Hanoi University of Industry.
The context of the study .18 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. The material description. Data collection instrument. Methods of data analysis.
Data collection and analysis procedure .22 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Students‟ need in listening task .1 Students‟ needs in listening tasks related to code complexity. Students‟ listening needs in listening tasks related to cognitive complexity. Students‟ needs in listening tasks related to communicative stress.
Evaluation of listening task complexity in the course book. Evaluation of listening task complexity in terms of code complexity. Evaluation of listening task complexity in terms of cognitive complexity. Evaluation of listening task complexity in terms of communicative stress.
Teachers‟ opinions on the book‟ changes in order to better meet their students‟ needs. Students‟ needs in listening tasks .34 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Students‟ opinions on listening tasks‟ changes in order to better meet their needs. Students‟ needs in listening tasks.
Evaluation of listening task complexity in the course book New Headway Pre intermediate for non- Engish major at HaUI as perceived by the Ss and Ts .36 PART III: CONCLUSION. Conclusion of the study. Recommendation to improve listening tasks in the book. Limitations and suggestions for further studies .41 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rational for the thesis Task - based language teaching (TBLT) has gained favor over the last two decades, both in second language pedagogy and in studies on second language acquisition. Tasks in TBLT vary in terms of their complexity and the language they elicit. Therefore, one of the major challenges facing those concerned with gauging the influence of task characteristics and performance conditions on candidate performance is how to determine the complexity of tasks (Elder et al. At Hanoi university of Industry, there are a lot of teaching methods and TBLT is applied in teaching and learning English.
English language has been taught for non-major English students based on the coursebook New Headway Pre - intermediate (the third edition by Liz, John Soar & Sylvia Wheeldon) for a long time. From the researcher‟s observation and professional experience as a teacher of English, it can be found that the students, especially the non-English major students often have a lot of difficulties in doing listening tasks. They find the listening tasks somehow complex to accomplish. Consequently, students seem to get bored to learn listening component.
However, no research has been done to evaluate the complexity of listening tasks in this textbook. Thus, it urges the researchers to conduct a research on the topic: “An evaluation of listening task complexity in the coursebook New headway Pre- intermediate to the non- English major students at Hanoi university of Industry” with an expectation to make a small contribution towards improving the quality of teaching and learning listening skill at HaUI with listening tasks in the course book New headway Pre- intermediate. Aims of the study New Headway Pre- intermediate course book is used for the second year students during two semesters or thirty weeks. Each unit is instructed in nine or ten periods of teaching and learning.
The listening component is studied in one or two periods, including three or four tasks. The research aims to both evaluate the complexity of listening tasks in the course book and determine whether the 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com complexity of listening tasks are suitable for teaching listening in the situation. More specifically, this study seeks to examine the following research questions. What are the non- major English students‟ needs when doing listening tasks at HaUI? 2.
To what extent does the complexity of the current listening tasks in New Headway Pre- intermediate meet their needs from perspectives of teachers and students at HaUI? 3. Scope of the study Due to the small scale of the study as well as the limitation of time, this study only focuses on evaluating the complexity of listening tasks in the coursebook New Headway Pre- intermediate for non- major English students at HaUI from the perspectives of the users of these materials (e. the students and teachers taking part in teaching and learning with New Headway Pre intermediate in school year 2015-2016. Significance of the study The findings of the thesis may serve as useful information not only for the researcher, the course book designers but also for the teaching staff and the non- major English students at HaUI.
It is also hoped that the thesis will make great contributions towards the development of the listening learning at HaUI. Methods of the study To achieve the aims stated, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The data collected for the study come from two survey questionnaires (of 100 non- major English students at HaUI who have just finished studying New Headway Pre- intermediate ,and 20 teachers who have taught non- major English students using the coursebook) and interviews from 10 random ones among 100 students. Design of the study Part I: Introduction presents the rationale, aims, scope, significance and methodology of the study 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Part II: Development - consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review – The first part provides some theoretical background about task- based language teaching, including definition of task and significance of task- based language teaching.
The next one is theory of task complexity including some definitions of task complexity, significance of determining task complexity and the model of task complexity with the factors affecting task complexity. Some theory of listening is reviewed in the third part. And the last one is need analysis in language teaching and learning. Chapter 2: Methodology - in this chapter, the introduction of research method including research questions, data collection instruments are presented.
Chapter 3: The study - shows the procedure of carrying on the research and presents the data analysis result from survey questionnaires, interviews. Part III: Conclusion, which is the last chapter, followed by references is the summary of the whole study.