MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ LE THI THANH PHUOC AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCE OF THE CEFR ON TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO FIRST YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT THUA THIEN HUE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING HUE, 2014 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------ LE THI THANH PHUOC AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCE OF THE CEFR ON TEACHING LISTENING SKILLS TO FIRST YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT THUA THIEN HUE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: TRUONG VIEN Assoc. Dr HUE, 2014 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------ LÊ THỊ THANH PHƢỚC ĐIỀU TRA ẢNH HƢỞNG CỦA KHUNG TRÌNH ĐỘ NĂNG LỰC NGÔN NGỮ CHÂU ÂU VÀO VIỆC DẠY KĨ NĂNG NGHE CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGỮ NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƢỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƢ PHẠM THỪA THIÊN HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC PGS. TRƢƠNG VIÊN HUẾ, 2014 ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere.
Author Le Thi Thanh Phuoc iii ABSTRACT This study was conducted to look into the influence of the CEFR on teaching listening skills to first year English – major students at Thua Thien Hue College of Education. Questionnaire, class observation and interview were used as data collecting tools. All 10 first year English – major foreign and Vietnamese teachers, who were teaching at Thua Thien Hue College of Education and 65 students at HCE filled in the questionnaire. It aims at finding out teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes in teaching and learning the listening skills towards CEFR based on Objective PET, syllabus and teaching materials, the reality of teaching and learning listening skills in the classroom according to requirements of CEFR standards based on Objective PET which helps students reach level B1 in CEFR and difficulties in teaching and learning listening skills in reference to CEFR.
According to results from questionnaires and interviews, most teachers and students had positive attitudes on learning and teaching listening skills based on CEFR in using Objective PET to teach English at HCE. The reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR based on Objective PET for students is effective. However, this study also explored some possible solutions as well as suggestions to overcome the difficulties in teaching and learning listening skills towards level B1 in CEFR. This study explored difficulties faced by the teachers and students when teaching and learning listening skills based on Objective PET to reach B1 - level.
The analyzed data showed that most of the teachers and students had difficulties in teaching and learning listening skills to get level B1 in CEFR such as students‟ habit of practicing listening, students‟ different level, time, etc. Therefore, the researcher suggested useful solutions to improve its quality. Based on the findings of the research, the implications help both teachers and students to better the teaching and learning process. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I am very grateful to Assoc.
TRUONG VIEN for his guidance, encouragements, patience and help. My truthful thanks are for teachers at Thua Thien Hue College of Education in the theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching course 2014-2015 for their devotion in teaching so that I can have the background knowledge to carry out this research. The data collection for my research paper was supported by the teachers and students at Thua Thien Hue College of Education. Without their valuable contributions, I could not do well with my research paper.
I want to express my thanking to the teachers and students who were willing to spend their time participating in the interview. Finally, my thanks go to all my friends and colleagues for their encouragements and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUB COVER PAGE. i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
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4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REWIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Previous studies related to the topic. Theoretical background of listening skills. The definition of listening.
The process of listening. The definition of skill. The definition of listening skill. Types of listening skills.
The process of listening skills in language learning. The importance of listening skills.Theoretical background of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Self-assessment grids for A1-C2 level listener according to CEFR (for listening). The benefits of using CEFR in teaching and learning listening skills.
CEFR-based English instruction at Hue College of Education. The introduction of CEFR - related to teaching and learning listening skills. PET Test Format. PET for Listening Skills.
21 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY. 26 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCSSIONS. Results from the questionnaires (quantitative results). Results from teacher (see Appendice 1).
Teachers‟ attitudes on requirements of CEFR-B1 level on teaching listening skills based on Objective Pet (Cluster 1) .Syllabus and teaching materials (cluster 2). The reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR for first year English – major students at HCE (cluster 3). Results from student (see Appendice 2). Students‟ attitudes on requirements of CEFR – B1 level on learning listening skills (cluster 1).
Syllabus and teaching materials (cluster 2). The reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR for first year English – major students at HCE (cluster 3). Difficulties in learning listening skills in reference to CEFR (cluster 4). Comparison results between teacher and student questionnaires.
Teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes on requirements of CEFR – B1 level on teaching and learning listening skills. Syllabus and teaching materials. The reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR for first year English – major students at HCE. Difficulties in teaching and learning listening skills in reference to CEFR.
Results from teacher interviews and classroom observation (qualitative results). Effects of teaching and learning listening skills by integrating in Objective PET to help students gain B1 level. Teachers‟ attitudes about using Objective PET to evaluate first year English – major students‟ level. Types of supplementary materials used to help students practice listening skills to gain B1 level.
Difficulties of using Objective PET to teach listening skills faced by teachers. Results from student interviews and classroom observation (qualitative results) 76 4. Effects of teaching and learning listening skills by integrating in Objective PET to help students gain B1 level. Students‟ attitudes about using Objective PET to evaluate first year English – major students‟ level.
Types of supplementary materials used to help students practice listening skills to gain B1 level. Difficulties of using Objective PET to teach listening skills faced by students. 78 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS .1 Summary of the findings .3 Limitations of the study. 87 APPENDICES ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS APEC : Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CE : Council of Europe CEFR : The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL : English Foreign Languages EP : English Profile HCE : Hue College of Education KET : Key English Test MOET : Vietnamese Ministry of Training and Education PET : Preliminary English Test S : Statement SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences St : Students TC : Teacher YL : Young Learners x LIST OF TABLES Table 2.
Common Reference Levels: global scale from Chapter 3 of the CEFR (2001a:24). Common Reference Levels: self – assessment grid from Chapter 3 of the CEFR .1: Summary of the questionnaire components. The reliability of the questionnaire for students. The reliability of the questionnaire for teachers.
The reliability of the questionnaire for teachers. The reliability of the questionnaire for students. Mean score of teachers‟ attitudes. Mean score of S1 to S5.
Mean score of syllabus and teaching materials. Mean score of S6 to S10. Mean score of the reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR for first year English – major students at HCE. Mean score of S11 to S20.
Mean score of difficulties in teaching listening skills in reference to CEFR. Mean score of S21 to S24. Mean score of students‟ attitudes. Mean score of S1 to S5.
Mean score of syllabus and teaching materials. Mean score of Q6 to Q10. Mean score of the reality of teaching and learning listening skills developed in reference to CEFR for first year English – major students at HCE 55 Table 4. Mean score of S11 to S20.
Mean score of Difficulties in learning listening skills in reference to CEFR. Mean score of S21 to S24. 66 xi LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4. Results from S1 to S5.
Results from S6 to S10. Results from S11 to S20. Results from S21 to S24. Results from S1 to S5.
Results from S6 to S10. Results from S11 to S20. Results from S21 to S24. Mean score of clusters M1, M2, M3 and M4 between teachers and students 67 xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study Learning English as a foreign language has become an essential part of our lives. In Vietnam, people learn English as a foreign language with different purposes. Being English teachers, getting a good job, communicate with foreigners or simply having an English certificate is the common reasons why people learn English. However, many teachers of English face lots of challenges like “How to teach English effectively?”, “What methods should teachers use in teaching English?”, “What are suitable materials for learning and teaching English?.
In fact, effects on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning as well as changing methods of teaching English have not brought satisfied results. As an illustration, many Vietnamese students can write and read English well but they cannot listen well. Most of the students find that listening is difficult and uninteresting. After several years of teaching English, I have found that university students are quite passive in listening English.
They do not actively participate in listening lessons. So, “what is the best solution to this reality?” is still a difficult question for English teachers as well as educators. To solve this problem, many Vietnamese teachers of English participated in some workshops related to methods of teaching English listening skills to develop their professional competence. Today, a Vietnam language proficiency framework which consists of six levels compatible with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) was developed.
CEFR is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment. As a result, CEFR is applied in Vietnam in general and at Thua Thien Hue College of Education in particular to teach English subject. First year English – major students at Thua Thien Hue College of Education are required to master four language skills before graduation. Furthermore, they must gain requirements of language skills to gain level B1 after finishing Objective PET.
Compared with other language skills, 1 listening is considered as the most difficult skill for many students learning English. Listening requires considerable training because it is a difficult skill requiring multiple sub-skills and stages, which have to be undertaken simultaneously. According to Feyten (1991), in our daily life, listening accounts for 45 percent of the time people spend communicating while reading 16 percent, speaking 30 percent and writing 9 percent.