VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** ĐOÀN THỊ SỬ A SURVEY RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY Nghiên cứu khảo sát những phương pháp nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng làm bài thi TOEIC cho sinh viên Trường Đại học Hàng hải Việt Nam M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** ĐOÀN THỊ SỬ A SURVEY RESEARCH ON METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY Nghiên cứu khảo sát những phương pháp nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng làm bài thi TOEIC cho sinh viên Trường Đại học Hàng hải Việt Nam M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ Hanoi - 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that this research is entirely my work.
I have provided fully documented references to the work of others. The material in this research has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of study. Hanoi, 10 August 2014 Đoàn Thị Sử i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT In an attempt to investigate the obstacles encountered by the students at Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) while sitting for the TOEIC test and giving some recommendations to improve their test taking skills, the main purposes of the study were to find out (1) the main difficulties affecting the students’ test results, (2) and giving the students some suggestions to better test taking skills. The subjects of the study were 85 third – year students and 5 TOEIC teachers.
The students were invited to answer a survey questionnaire. The result of the research showed that lack of test taking skills led to bad results for the students. Besides, the study reveals that teachers played an important role in instructing the students about necessary techniques in the hope that they would gain better scores. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my very affectionate and deeply- felt thanks to my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, for his effective instructions and invaluable advice during the preparation and completion of this paper.
I also wish to acknowledge my debt to all the lecturers of the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies at Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Languages & International Studies, whose lectures and ideas have inspired my thesis. My appreciation also goes to the lecturers and students at Vietnam Maritime University for their valuable assistance in completing my survey questionnaire and providing me with a lot of useful information. Finally, I would like to send my great thanks to my family, my friends for their encouragements and advice. On the whole, without all their help my paper would not have possibly been completed.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language IELTS: International English Language Testing System VIMARU: Vietnam Maritime University FLC: Foreign Language Center ETS: Educational Testing Service iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Students’ attitute towards TOEIC test (Questions 1, 2 &3) Table 2: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC listening classes (Questions 4, 5, & 6) Table 3: Factors that cause difficulty in TOEIC listening texts (Question 7) Table 4: Factor that causes difficulty in TOEIC reading texts (Question 10) Table 5: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC reading classes (Questions 8, 9) Table 6: Students’ preparation for the TOEIC test (listening skill) (Questions 11, 12) Table 7: Students’ preparation for the TOEIC test (reading skill) (Questions 13, 14, 15, 16) Table 8: Students’ expectation from the teachers (17, 18) Table 9: Students’ attitude towards TOEIC supplementary materials (Questions 19, 20, 21, 22) v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration. iii List of abbreviations. iv List of tables and figures. v Table Of Contents.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION .Rationale of the study .Objectives of the study .Methods of the study .Scope of the study .Organization of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. The TOEIC test. An overview of the previous studies.
An introduction about VIMARU and FLC. Students and learning requirements. Teachers and teaching methods. Materials and Assessments.
16 CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Selection of subjects. Data collection instruments. 18 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Data analysis, findings and discussion. 29 CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTED METHODS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ TOEIC TEST TAKING SKILLS AT VIMARU. Suggestions for the teachers. Suggestions for the students .Limitations of the study .Suggestions for further study.
I vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION In the first chapter, the researcher introduces the reasons for chosing the thesis, as well as the scope, methods, objectives, and the organization of the study. The research questions are also stated. Rationale of the study There is no doubt that the role of English in the life of any society in the world today has been becoming more and more important. The widespread need for English as an international language puts a considerable pressure on the education resources of any countries.
In case of our country, since our government carried out the open door policy to attract foreign investment and co-operate with other countries, teaching and learning English has become necessary. Moreover, it is the English that is used as an effective medium of international communication. It is the language of trade, science, technology, tourism, sport, music and many other fields of life. That is the reason why at present, learning English is not only the interest but also the great and practical demand for many people, especially for students who always want to assess the modern world.
Therefore, English is now taught as a compulsory subject to all students at university in our country. English plays an important part in the growth and global intergration. Nowadays, the criteria for evaluating one’s English ability for people who wish to get a good job by A, B, C certificates is out of date. IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC have been the best choices.
Together with other requirements, TOEIC certificate is really necessary for any job seekers. That’s why many people are trying their best to be successful in the TOEIC test. At VIMARU students are required to get TOEIC certificate as a condition to graduate. The required score depends on the course that the students are taking in.
From my observation as a lecturer of English, my students hardly do their test well right at the first test. They have to do the test again and again to achieve the score they need before graduation. They have to sit for a Listening and Reading 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Comprehension test as their final examination. It’s blamed that lack of test taking skills leads to students’ test failure.
Previous researches related to TOEIC test paid attention to either Listening Comprehension or Reading Comprehension. The researcher challenged herself to investigate how bad test taking skills affect students’ TOEIC test result. As a teacher the researcher would like to do something in the hope of improving her students’ TOEIC test taking skills so that they can do their TOEIC test well. Therefore, the researcher has chosen the research topic entitled A survey research on methods to improve students’ TOEIC test taking skills at Vietnam Maritime University 2.
Objectives of the study The purpose of this study is to examine the areas of difficulties in doing TOEIC test encountered by students at VIMARU so that techniques can be given to help them improve these skills. Methods of the study To bring in full presentation of the thesis, firstly, the researcher spent time reading books and materials available on teaching reading and listening to get knowledge of the subject. The procedure used in this thesis is the quantitative one which consists of the following tasks: - Students are invited to answer a survey questionnaire - Collecting data and information from the students and the teachers at FLC of VIMARU to exchange the experiences. - Evaluating the techniques that best fit the teachers and the third year students at VIMARU.
Besides, this thesis is also carried out through a variety of methods such as class observation, informal interview and discussion with the teachers and students at FLC of VIMARU. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research questions The study was intended to answer three following questions: (1) What are the obstacles encountered by the students while sitting for the TOEIC test? (2) What have the teachers done to prepare their students before the TOEIC test? (3) What is the current studying situation on the preparation for the TOEIC test of the students at FLC? In seeking answers to these questions, the researcher looked into the following issues: What was the attitute of the students towards teaching methods of the teachers and the TOEIC test? What activities and techniques did teachers use to provide their students with test –taking skills? 5. Scope of the study Due to the limit of time and knowledge, this study merely focuses on methods to improve TOEIC test taking skills of the students at FLC of VIMARU.
The researcher can just conduct survey on students to investigate some problems showing the TOEIC test bad results experienced by these students then suggest certain techniques to help them better their TOEIC reading and listening test taking skills. Also, such follow-up aspects such as other factors affect the students’ performance on the TOEIC test are left untouched. Organization of the study The thesis is divided into three main parts: Part A (Introduction) presents the reasons for the choice of the study, aim and objectives of the study as well as the scope, methods and organization of the study. Chapter 1 firstly introduces an overview and the importance of the TOEIC test.
Next it will give a close look at previous studies. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Then it provides an overview of the theoretical background of the research. It is concerned with various linguistic concepts most relevant to the research topic such as the nature of reading and listening, types of reading and listening, etc. Then, it gives a closer look at presenting teaching and learning TOEIC at VIMARU.
Chapter 2 shows the context, description of instruments data collection Chapter 3 analyzes the results to draw the major findings and then the discussions about the findings. Chapter 4 offers some suggested methods to improve TOEIC test taking skills for the students at FLC of VIMARU. Part C summaries some major findings and discussions of the thesis. Then the researcher comes into some conclusions about factors that caused bad TOEIC test results for the stusdents at FLC of VIMARU and gives some suggestions for better test taking skills and for further research.
With any research paper, the limitations are unavoidable so the researcher will show her limitations while conducting this thesis in this part. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, some of the most important issues in the theories related to the study will be taken into consideration. It is an overview on the TOEIC test, introduction of previous studies, as well as theories of listening and reading comprehension are also introduced 1. An overview on the TOEIC test TOEIC is an acronym that stands for Test of English for International Communication.