VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *** *** NGÔ THỊ XUYÊN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CORRELATION BETWEEN LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING AND THEIR LISTENING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Điều tra về mối tương quan giữa thái độ học tập và khả năng nghe hiểu của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ) M.A MINOR THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *** *** NGÔ THỊ XUYÊN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATION BETWEEN LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING LISTENING AND THEIR LISTENING PERFORMANCE AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (Điều tra về mối quan hệ giữa thái độ học tập và khả năng nghe hiểu của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh Doanh và Công Nghệ) M.A MINOR THESIS Major : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dương Thu Mai, Ph.D Hanoi, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work. The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course. I also accept all the requirements of University of Languages and International Studies relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library.
i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in some ways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis. I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis. I would also like to express my thanks to the teachers of English, freshmen and second-year students at Faculty of Accountancy and Management at Hanoi University of Business and Technology for their willingness to participate in the research.
Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled. Last but not least, I am most thankful to my relatives who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study. Hanoi, December 2013 Ngo Thi Xuyen ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This paper reports the result of the study that aimed at identifying first-year and second-year students‟ attitudes towards learning listening and the relation between these attitudes and learners‟ listening performance at a university in Hanoi. Three issues, hence, are investigated: (1) the attitudes towards learning English in general and learning listening in particular; (2) the differences between two groups of students in terms of their attitudes; and (3) the correlation between the attitudes to learning listening and their listening performance.
The findings based on a survey with 130 students reveal that there was an interest in learning English, but listening lessons and tasks, and course objectives beyond their level was a barrier to learning English. A lot of the assistance from the teacher with explanation on test format and scoring was appreciated. However, that they listened to no materials but listening sections in the course books is a hindrance to their listening performance. Though admitting that their listening results can influence their future performance, students‟ gradual improvement in listening result was not ensured.
Secondly, there was a distinction between first-year and second-year students regarding the acknowledgement of difficulties with listening comprehension, test relevance to the course objectives, teachers‟ explanation to the test scoring criteria, and the agreement on the stimulation of good listening results over their later performance. Thirdly, no strong correlation between attitudes and listening performance was found. There are many other factors that contribute to listening performance like the reliability of the test, teachers‟ teaching style, and so on. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION TERMS HUBT Hanoi University of Business and Technology SD Strongly disagree D Disagree N Neutral U Undecided A Agree SA Strongly agree L2 Second language ID Identity SLA Second language acquisition SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ELT English language teaching Q Question iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Figure 1: Range of student attitudes towards target language 9 Figure 2: Range of attitudes to learning L2 expressed as learning outcomes 9 Figure 3: Representation of Socio-educational Model of SLA 15 Figure 4: Atttitudes towards learning English and learning listening 27 Figure 5: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 4 and 7 27 Figure 6: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 5, 6 and 9 28 Figure 7: Attitudes towards listening lessons, question 8 and 10 29 Figure 8: Attitudes to tests 29 Figure 9: Attitudes to teachers interms of teaching content 30 Figure 10: Attitudes to teachers regarding scoring 31 Figure 11: Attitudes towards materials 32 Figure 12: Attitudes to listening performance 32 Table 1: Results of Mann Whitney U Tests on the Differences between Year 1 33 Students and Year 2 Students in the Attitudes toward Learning Listening Table 2: Results of Spearman Rho Tests on the Correlation between Students' 35 Listening Learning Attitudes and Listening Performance v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration.
iii List of abbreviation terms. iv List of tables and figures. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Method of the study. Design of the study. 5 CHAPTER I: Literature Review. Definition of learning attitudes.
Classification of learning attitudes. Differences between motivation and attitude. Learning performance in English Language Teaching. Learning performance in listening.
Assessing listening performance. Theories on the relation between attitudes and performance. Studies on the relation between attitudes and performance .1 Context of the study. 21 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. Data presentation and analysis. 24 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.
Students‟ attitudes to learning listening (research question 1). Attitudes to learning English and learning listening. Attitudes towards learning English and learning listening. Attitudes towards listening lessons.
Attitudes to tests. Attitudes to teachers and materials. Attitudes to listening performance. The differences in attitudes of the two groups towards learning listening (research question 2).
The correlation between listening attitudes and listening performance (research question 3). I vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Listening skill is a critical dimension in language learning in general and in learning English as a foreign language in particular (Kurita, 2012). This input skill plays a vital role when communicators exchange information.
It is clear that once mastering this skill, students can carry out the conversation with other people, state their ideas and exchange the information (Rost, p 94). For this importance, learners try their best to improve their English listening competence; however, few students have succeeded. A large number of students after a long time learning English find it difficult to listen to dialogues, recording, or to native speakers. Hence, according to Kurita (2012), a lot of research addressing various issues in learners‟ low achievement has been carried out.
Learning a language, especially listening to it, is considered a complex process, which is often affected by many factors such as attitude, motivation, age, intelligence, learning environment, etc. These variables have been researched to see how they affect an individual learner‟s response to the task of learning a L2 (Ellis, 1985). Of these contributing factors, attitude, regarded as a positive or negative disposition toward an object, situation, or behavior, is believed to have great impact on success or failure of a language learner (Burstall, 1975). As cited in Gardner‟s book (1985), learner attitude has become key issues in language learning in general, and the subject of many studies for a long time.
In Vietnam, English is considered as an indispensable subject in all universities‟ curriculum. Communicating in English or being competent in English is considered a preferable tool to make learners understood in a workplace context, or have an advantageous job over the others. At Hanoi University of Business and Technology (hereafter HUBT), a private university, English is a compulsory subject for all students of all faculties. For freshmen who have not been familiar with the ways of studying at university, attending two or three English classes a week makes English a burden.
However, 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com the question about whether they are fully aware of the importance of learning English, especially learning listening is left unanswered in this context. Also, the transition from the first to the second school year does not seem to mean great changes in students‟ listening skill and listening performance. Besides, listening results which are seen as a tool to evaluate their progress are not up to teachers‟ expectations and to the course‟s objectives. The reasons for these symptoms, therefore, need more explanation.
Recently in Vietnam, although motivation and attitudes has been the subject of many studies (Đỗ, 2011; Nguyễn, 2011, et al), the correlation between learners‟ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance has not been investigated. Also, at the Department of English- Hanoi University of Business and Technology, there have been no attempts in investigating this issue. Regarding the critical relation between attitude and language learning, it is greatly important to research the matter intensively. The aforementioned reasons have encouraged the writer as a teacher of English at English Department at HUBT to explore this matter so as to find out how learners‟ attitudes towards listening and their listening performance correlate.
Hopefully, the results of this research could contribute to completing the insightful understanding about learners‟ attitudes, to enhance teaching and learning English at the institution, and to lay a foundation for subsequent research. Aims of the study The study is to investigate the relation between learners‟ attitudes towards learning listening and their listening performance. Surveying the first-year and second-year students, the author firstly aimed at identifying their general attitudes towards learning English, and towards learning listening as the main focus of the study. Besides, the study examines how two groups of students differ in their attitudes.
Finally, the question whether their attitudes correlate with their performance will be answered. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research questions In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions are raised in the study: 1. What are students‟ attitudes in/ towards listening? 2.
How do different groups of students differ in their attitudes? 3. To what extent do students‟ attitudes correlate with their performance? 4. Scope of the study Learning attitudes and listening performance are broad topics, and they cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper. Thus, this minor thesis attempts to investigate only the targeted students‟ attitude towards learning listening to English and the correlation between that attitude and their listening performance.
The subjects of the study include 130 students at the Department of Accountancy and Management at HUBT who are not English majored but learning listening skills according to the Communicative language teaching approach. Therefore, the results of this study may be generalized to all Vietnamese non- English majors. Method of the study This study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to get a more detailed and comprehensive picture about what is investigated.