MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY ----------------- DINH THI QUYNH NGAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PRE –LISTENING ACTIVITIES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY ----------------- DINH THI QUYNH NGAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PRE –LISTENING ACTIVITIES AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: PHAM THI NGUYEN AI, Ph.D HUE, 2019 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ----------------- ĐINH THỊ QUỲNH NGÂN NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH VÀ HỌC SINH VỀ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƯỚC KHI NGHE TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. PHẠM THỊ NGUYÊN ÁI HUẾ, 2019 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Date: 30/8/2019 Signature Dinh Thi Quynh Ngan i ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore EFL teachers’ and students’ perceptions of and their preferences for pre-listening activities at An Luong Dong high school in Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam.
For these purposes, the study adopted a mixed methods approach. Both survey questionnaires and interviews were employed as methods for collecting the data. In the first phase, the questionnaires were delivered to 5 teachers and 80 students from 2 classes (11A1 and 11A2). The interviews with 5 teachers and 5 students were also conducted in the second phase in the process of data collection.
The research findings indicated that most of the EFL teachers and students at An Luong Dong high school fully acknowledged the importance and purposes of pre-listening activities. The study revealed that pre-listening activities were organized with a high frequency level at this school. Among the pre-listening activities such as brainstorming, pre-questions, pre-teaching vocabulary, discussing, using games to introduce the topic and previewing the listening tasks, pre-teaching vocabulary is regarded as the most effective one. Furthermore, the study also showed that the nature and content of the listening text and students’ levels are major factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities.
Concerning the preferred activities, there was a mismatch between the teachers’ and student’ preferences. A majority of teachers selected previewing listening tasks while the students preferred pre-teaching vocabulary. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications were made with the aim of enhancing teaching and learning listening skills in the EFL context. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper could not have been completed without the encouragement and support from a number of people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and appreciation.
First and foremost, my heartfelt appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr. Pham Thi Nguyen Ai, for her scholarly expertise, wise guidance and continual assistance. The discussions with her as well as her helpful comments on my writing deepened my insights into this research and improved my research skills. Without her unfailing support, my research would not have been fulfilled.
I would like to offer my special thanks to 80 students from two classes: 11A1, 11A2 in An Luong Dong high school for being willing to complete the questionnaires and sincerely providing me with valuable information in the interviews. Without their enthusiasm, the thesis would not have been possible. Special mention goes to my colleagues in An Luong Dong high school. I am deeply grateful to all of the language teachers in An Luong Dong for making themselves available to answer all my questions and doubts about my study, for offering me detailed advice on designing the questionnaire and giving me precious information in the interviews.
Last but not least, I would like to show my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my family, my parents, my parents-in law, my husband, my five- year-old son and my one-year daughter. I also give thanks to my close friends and my classmates who were always by my side and gave me great mental and physical support. Their love, support and constant encouragement provided me a great deal of strength and determination that help me during the stressful time of writing this paper. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF FIGURES. viii LIST OF TABLES .2 Aims of the study .4 Scope of the study .5 Significance of the study .6 Structure of the study .3 Listening in an EFL context .1 The nature of EFL listening.2 Teaching EFL listening .3 Problems in EFL listening .4 Stages of teaching EFL listening .5 Role of pre-listening stage .4 Pre-listening activities .2 Types of pre-listening activities .3 Factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities .4 Benefits of pre-listening activities .1 Previous studies in other countries .2 Previous studies in Vietnam .6 Gaps in the literature .4 Context of the study .7 Procedure for collecting questionnaire and interview data.
32 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Teachers’ perceptions of and preferences for pre-listening activities .1 Teacher’s perceptions of the importance of using pre-listening activities in EFL classes .2 Teacher’s perceptions of the purposes of using pre-listening activities in EFL classes .3 Teacher’s perceptions of the frequency of using pre-listening activities in EFL classes .4 Teacher’s perceptions of factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities in English classes at An Luong Dong high school .5 Teacher’s perceptions of effectiveness of various pre-listening activities in English classes at An Luong Dong high school.6 Teachers’ preference for using pre-listening activities .7 Teachers’ recommendations for improving the effectiveness of pre- listening activities in the English textbook .2 Students’ perceptions of and preferences for pre-listening activities .1 Students’ perceptions of the importance of using pre-listening activities in EFL classes .2 Students’ perceptions of the factors that make listening lesson more difficult .3 Students’ perceptions of the purposes of pre-listening activities .4 Students’ interests in using pre-listening activities .5 Students’ preferences for pre-listening activities. 55 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS .1 Summary of the study .2 Implications for teaching and learning listening skills .1 Implications for teachers .2 Implications for students .3 Limitations of the study .4 Recommendations for further research. 65 Appendix 1- Questionnaire for EFL Teachers. 65 Appendix 2- Questionnaire for students.
69 Appendix 3- Interview questions. 72 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR : The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL : English as a foreign language MOET : Ministry of Education and Training. vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Teachers’ perceptions of the importance of using pre-listening activities Figure 4.2 Teachers’ perceptions of the purposes of using pre-listening activities Figure 4.3 Teachers’ perceptions of the frequency of using pre-listening activities Figure 4.4 Teachers’ perceptions of factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities Figure 4.5 Teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness of pre-listening activities Figure 4.6 Teachers’ perceptions of the preferences for using pre-listening activities Figure 4.7 The suggestion for improving the effectiveness of pre-listening activities in the English textbooks.8 Students’ preferences for teachers’ methods of leading to the listening lessons Figure 4.9 Students’ perceptions of the importance of using pre-listening activities in EFL classes Figure 4.10 Students’ perceptions of the factors that make listening lessons more difficult Figure 4.11 Students’ perceptions of the purposes of pre-listening activities Figure 4.12 Students’ interests in using pre-listening activities Figure 4.13 Students’ preferences for pre-listening activities viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Summary of teachers’ questionnaires Table 3.2: Summary of students’ questionnaires ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In our modern society, English plays an essential role as an effective means of communication and also a factor deciding the success of a person as well as a nation. Hasman (2004) states that English may become one tool that opens windows to the world, unlocks doors to opportunities, and expands our minds to new ideas.
Pennycook (1994) believes that English is a language of imperialism and he also expresses deep concerns about the role English plays as a gatekeeper to better jobs and positions in many societies. On commenting on the phenomenon of linguistic imperialism in the former colonies of Britain, Phillipson (1992) concludes, “English has a dominant role internally, occupying space that other languages could not possibility fill. English is also the key external link, in politics, commerce, science, technology, military alliances, entertainment and tourism. According to British Council (2013), English is now widely acknowledged as the dominant international language of the 21st century and used by 1.75 billion people – a quarter of the world’s population in 2013.
This number is forecast up to two billion English speakers by 2020 with more non-native speakers than native speakers of English. This is to say that teaching and learning English as a foreign language to communicate in both spoken and written forms are of crucial importance. For successful communication, it is necessary for a learner to grasp the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is undeniable that listening is the most frequently used language skill (Morley, 1991).
Bird (1953) found that female college students spent 42% of their total verbal communication time in listening while they spent 25% in speaking, 15% in reading, and 18% in writing. In a similar vein, Mendelsohn (1994) reported that, of the total time spent on communicating, listening takes up to 40-50%; speaking, 25-30%; reading, 11-16%; and writing, about 9%. As Croom (1998) affirmed, in learning a language for communicative purposes, listening plays a vital role, as it helps the language learner to acquire pronunciation, word stress, vocabulary, and syntax. The comprehension of messages conveyed can be based solely on tone of voice, pitch and accent; and it is only possible when we listen.
He also emphasizes that without understanding input appropriately, learning simply cannot get any improvement and without listening skills: no communication can be achieved. Similar to Croom’s comment, Renukadevi (2014) believes that listening has an important place in learning as it is one of the four major skills in language acquisition. Even though the other skills such as reading, speaking and writing are essential to develop language proficiency, 1 listening contributes primarily to language expertise. Learning to listen to the target language improves language ability.
The sound, rhythm, intonation, and stress of the language can only be perfectly adapted through listening. To understand the nuances in a particular language, one must be able to listen. Being aware of the crucial role of listening skills, many attempts have been made by the Ministry of Education and Training with the aim of helping the learners develop their listening ability. One of them is the integration of the listening skill, along with the other three skills, into official teaching and learning materials which are used in a majority of schools.
Especially, in recent years, new versions of English textbooks, i., New Tieng Anh 10,11,12 were published to meet the new demands of language education and improve the quality of education throughout the country. New versions of English textbooks aim to develop students’ communicative competence in language skills so that students, on finishing upper secondary education, will have achieved level three of the Vietnamese Foreign Language Competence Framework, the equivalent of B1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Hoang et al, 2014). However, such application seems to be far more difficult in the context of An Luong Dong high school.