VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGESAND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUTAE STUDIES ******************** NGUYỄN MINH NGUYỆT AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON 10TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING ANXIETY AT THUONG CAT HIGH SCHOOL (MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU THĂM DÒ VỀ SỰ LO LẮNG TRONG VIỆC HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT THƯỢNG CÁT) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGESAND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUTAE STUDIES ******************** NGUYỄN MINH NGUYỆT AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON 10TH FORM STUDENTS’ LISTENING ANXIETY AT THUONG CAT HIGH SCHOOL (MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU THĂM DÒ VỀ SỰ LO LẮNG TRONG VIỆC HỌC KỸ NĂNG NGHE CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT THƯỢNG CÁT) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã HANOI – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify the thesis entitled “An exploratory study on 10th form students’ listening anxiety at Thuong Cat high school” as my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Hanoi, 2017 Nguyễn Minh Nguyệt i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people who deserve my sincere gratitude. Firstly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Vu Thi Thanh Nha. Without her careful guidance and her encouragement, I could not have been able to finish this study.
Secondly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my respectful professors of the Faculty of Post-Graduated Department at University of Languages and International Studies for their devotion and their interesting lectures. I also want to give my big thanks to students from three classes 10D1, 10D2, 10D6 who participate in this research. Last but not least, special thanks go to my family who are always by my side and support me during the time I carry out this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Anxiety is a common feeling that learners have to face when learning a foreign language, especially with a difficult skill like listening.
This study aims at exploring the listening anxiety of grade 10 students at Thuong Cat High school. There are 130 students from three classes participated in this survey. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative. The survey questionnaire was used to examine the existence of listening anxiety and factors causing students’ anxiety.
The informal interview further looked at the sources of students listening anxiety and found out some suggested solutions. The findings showed that the majority of participants experienced high listening anxiety. Factors causing listening anxiety were divided into three categories: factors related to listening process, factors related to listening text and factors related to students’ learning habits. From the students’ suggestions in the interview, some solutions were proposed for both teachers and students.On the part of teachers, they should pay more attention to choose appropriate listening materials, help students raise their language proficiency and teach them listening strategies.
Students also need to build their self-confidence and have more practice to reduce listening anxiety and improve their listening comprehension. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBRIVIATION.
vi LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS. vii LIST OF APPENDICES. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationales of the study.
Purpose of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Structure of the study .3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Overview of listening comprehension. Definition of listening comprehension. The listening comprehension process. Overview of anxiety.
Definition and types of anxiety. Foreign language anxiety. The previous studies of listening anxiety. Overview of current teaching and learning listening at Thuong Cat High School .15 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Data collection instruments. Data analysis method .17 CHAPTER 4: THE FINDINGS. Students’ background information. Reliability of the FLLA.
Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Participants’ suggested solutions for reducing listening anxiety. Summary of the main findings. Recommendation for teachers.
Recommendations for learners. Limitations and suggestions for further study. I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBRIVIATION ELT: English Language Teaching FLA: Foreign language anxiety FLLA: Foreign language listening anxiety FLLAS: Foreign language listening anxiety scale SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Chart 1: Students’ time of starting learning English……………………………….17 Chart 2: Students’ judgment about listening skill in comparison with other skills…….18 Chart 3: Student’s level of interest in listening skill………………………………18 Chart 4: Student’s practice outside class………………………………………….19 Table 1: Listening anxiety related to Listening process……………………………22 Table 2: Listening anxiety related to Listening text……………………………….25 Table 3: Listening anxiety related to Student’s learning habits.29 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: ROTATED COMPONENT MATRIX……………………………48 APPENDIX 2: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF FLLAS……………………….50 APPENDIX 3: THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE LISTENING ANXIETY SCALE 52 APPENDIX 4: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese version)……………54 APPENDIX 5: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (English version)……………….56 APPENDIX 6: INFORMAL INTERVIEW……………………………………….58 APPENDIX 7: TABLE CONTENTS OF TEXTBOOK TIENG ANH 10……….59 APPENDIX 8: UNIT 1- TIENG ANH 10…………………………………………60 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides the overview of the research. The researcher presents the reasons for choosing the topic, research questions, the purpose, scopes, significance and the structure of the study.
Rationales of the study. English has become the international language and it is used in many countries. It is undeniable that the number of people who learns English as a second language is increasing because of its importance. In Vietnam, English is getting more and more popular and it is one of the compulsory subjects in most high schools.
In recent years, teaching English has changed remarkably from the traditional teaching methods to Communicative Language Teaching. Accordingly, learners’ ability to communicate is the first priority. When learning English, learners have to master four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening is one of the most important skills for a student to communicate effectively.
However, it seems that many Vietnamese learners have difficulty in listening to English. One of the most major factors that influence on students’ listening comprehension is the anxiety. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) asserted that “anxiety poses several problems for the students of a foreign language because it can interfere with the acquisition, retention, and production of the new language” (p. Every learner experiences anxiety in different degrees.
Feeling anxious in the classroom makes learners show negative reactions, emotions and behaviors and they are not able to develop their full ability in language learning. From the reality in Thuong Cat High School, many students perform poorly and they feel stressful when they learn listening lessons. Some of them are very nervous when they are faced with a difficult task. Some others have the feeling of tension when they cannot understand the words they hear.
Students seem afraid of listening to foreign language and unwilling to listen to the records. Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to be aware of the factors that cause students’ anxiety in listening lessons and have more appropriate teaching 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com methods to help students improve their listening ability. In fact, learners’ anxiety has been great concern of the researchers and teachers because reducing anxiety is a key to success in foreign or second language learning. A lot of research about listening anxiety has been conducted; however most of them are conducted with university students.
There are few studies about anxiety of high school students. That is motivation for researcher to do the study “An exploratory study on 10th form students’ listening anxiety at Thuong Cat High School. Purpose of the study The purpose of the research is to find out factors causing students’ anxiety in listening English at Thuong Cat High School. These factors originate from the listening process, listening texts and students’ learning habits.
Another aim of this study is to suggest some solutions for teachers and students to help students reduce listening anxiety and improve their listening competence. Research questions The study aims at finding out the answers to the following questions: - What factors cause students‟ listening anxiety at Thuong Cat High School? - What are possible solutions to reduce students‟ listening anxiety? 1. Significance of the study Awareness of the anxiety that students encounter in listening skills benefits both students and teachers. This study will provide teachers’ knowledge of the foreign language anxiety, especially the causes of listening anxiety and give some guidelines for teachers to help their students overcome their anxiety.
This research will also help students identify their anxiety in learning listening and from this they can find some ways to manage their anxiety level not only in listening skill but also in other skills when learning a foreign language. Hopefully, the findings of this study will be of some help to the improvement of the teaching and learning listening skills of teachers and students in high schools in general and at Thuong Cat High School in particular. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study In this study, the researcher only focuses on the causes of listening anxiety of 10thform students at Thuong Cat High School and gives some solutions for teachers and students to help students reduce anxiety.
Structure of the study The study is divided into five chapters. This chapter presents the rationale, the purpose, scope, significance and the structure of the study. - Chapter 2: Literature review. This chapter provides the literature review of foreign language anxiety in general and listening anxiety in particular.
It also gives the theories of listening comprehension. This chapter discusses the participants, method of the study, data collection instruments and data analysis. - Chapter 4: The findings. This chapter presents the information about participants, the findings from questionnaires and interview.
This chapter makes a brief summary of the major findings, the implications, limitations and suggestions for further research. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on anxiety, listening anxiety and listening comprehension. The factors causing listening anxiety in previous studies are also mentioned. This knowledge, therefore, serves as a basis for further work in the latter chapters.
Overview of listening comprehension 2. Definition of listening comprehension Listening has been defined in different ways by many researchers and from different perspectives. In the past years, listening has not received much attention compared with other skills. 32) notes that “listening is an important skill but due to the practical complexities of providing spoken texts, it is neglected in many language learning situations”.
Field (cited in Richard, 2012) points out that “In the early days of English language teaching, listening was a way of presenting new grammar through model dialogues” (p. According to Richard (2008), listening as comprehension is the traditional way of thinking about the nature of listening and the main function of listening in second language learning is to facilitate understanding of spoken discourse. It means that the first appearance of listening was just to interpret and facilitate the message in order to speak. However, the view of teaching listening has already changed.
Listening has changed its role from a passive activity which deserved less class time to an active process through which language acquisition takes place. Listeners actively involve themselves in the interpretation of what they hear, bringing their own background knowledge and linguistic knowledge to bear on the information contained in the aural text.