MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ----------------- MAI THI THANH HANG A STUDY ON EFL 3rd YEAR STUDENTS' AWARENESS OF CEFR REQUIREMENTS IN LEARNING LISTENING AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, VIETNAM MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING HUE, 2014 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ----------------- MAI THI THANH HANG A STUDY ON EFL 3rd YEAR STUDENTS' AWARENESS OF CEFR REQUIREMENTS IN LEARNING LISTENING AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, VIETNAM MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60. NGUYEN VAN LONG HUE, 2014 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ----------------- MAI THỊ THANH HẰNG NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHẬN THỨC CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH VỀ NHỮNG YÊU CẦU CỦA KHUNG TRÌNH ĐỘ CHUNG CHÂU ÂU (CEFR) ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC HỌC KĨ NĂNG NGHE TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ, VIỆT NAM LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. NGUYỄN VĂN LONG HUẾ, 2014 ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere.
Author Mai Thi Thanh Hang iii ABSTRACT The research was carried out to investigate EFL 3rd year students' awareness of CEFR requirements in learning listening at Hue University of foreign languages (HUFL). Specifically, the listening requirements of CEFR at C1 level, the ways to practice listening skill, as well as the difficulties arisen from the learning were considered carefully. In addition to this, some suggestions to improve the learning listening skill, which may satisfy CEFR standards at C1 level, were also explored. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews and observation.
The data were analyzed through the charts, tables combining with the information from the interviews and observation. Data analysis involved interpretative, qualitative and quantitative methods. From the participants‟ perspective, CEFR requirements play an important role in learning and being assessed language competence in listening skill. The students‟ awareness of CEFR requirements has appeared but they reveal inadequate level.
From the reality of learning listening skill, some required listening contents, types, forms and materials have been taught at high frequency while some others seldom are inserted in class. The reality also reflect the difficulties of students in both learning and being assessed. Many students lack of listening materials to practice listening outside class and have negative learning attitude. On the other hand, difficulty in follow speech due to vocabulary, grammar and structure, topics beyond students‟ field, unfamiliar accents and being nervous were normal difficulties.
Solving these problems may help students achieve the defined requirements at their levels. Also, thanks to the interviews, others ideas related to student levels, teaching material, classroom facilities and difficulties were specially shared. This helped researcher have the completed and deep investigation. Some ways, therefore, were suggested to help learners with the problems they met.
For example, teachers should deliver exactly course requirements, text iv format or use appropriate methods to encourage learners‟ interest. Students should widen both background and language knowledge, have appropriate learning attitude or keep practicing listening regularly. Based on the findings, implications for students, lecturers, educational administrators and educators, have been suggested in order to help third year EFL students improve their English listening skill to satisfy the new requirements following CEFR standard. The research has limitation; it lacks studies on the awareness of CEFR requirements in reading, writing and speaking skill.
Hence, this could be a new area for further researches. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of choosing and conducting the study, I am fortunate enough to receive valuable assistance and support. My thanks first go to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Van Long, his warm support and excellent insights throughout the current study.
I am really thankful that he has spent a great deal of his valuable time correcting and giving comments to my work. Without his experienced guidance, this research would not have been done with a correct direction. I respect the support from Assoc. Tran Van Phuoc, Dr.
Ton Nu Nhu Huong and Dr. Truong Bach Le for their early suggestion of the topic. Moreover, I would like to say thank you the participating of EFL teachers and all third year students at HUFL who completed the questionnaire and the interview with interest and enthusiasm. In addition, I would like to express my sincere thank to my friends, Hoang Thi Kim Oanh and Phan Thi Thanh Thuy, who helped me a lot to collect information and count the data from questionnaires.
Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my beloved family, my parents, my younger brother, my sister in law and my friends who are always by my side, give me mental support and most importantly, more inspirations to finish the thesis after a lot of difficulties. vi vi TABLE OF CONTENT SUB COVER PAGE. i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. vi TABLE OF CONTENT.
vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ix LIST OF CHARTS. xi LIST OF DIAGRAMS .xii LIST OF TABLES. xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS. Overview of listening. The importance of listening. Implement of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) under National Foreign Languages (NFL) 2020 project in Vietnam.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The purpose of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. CEFR requirements in listening at C1 level. Overall listening comprehension.
Understanding conversation between native speakers. Listening as a member of a live audience. Listening to audio media and recordings. Listening to announcements and instructions.
Assessment by others/self-assessment. Factors influence EFL students‟ awareness about CEFR requirements. 30 CHAPTER4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Illustrating and analyzing results from the questionnaires and interviews.
Students‟/ Teachers‟ awareness of CEFR requirements in learning listening skill at C1 level (Cluster 1). The CEFR level in English that students need to achieve for their graduation (sub-cluster 1. The CEFR requirements in overall listening comprehension at C1 level (sub-cluster 1. The CEFR requirements for particular situations (sub-cluster 1.
The CEFR requirements in understanding conversation between native speakers at C1 level. The CEFR requirements in listening as a member of a live audience at C1 level. The CEFR requirements in listening to audio media and recordings at C1 level. The CEFR requirements in listening to announcements and instructions at C1 level.
Factors influence EFL students‟ awareness about CEFR requirements in learning listening skill at C1 level (Cluster 2) .Presage factors (Sub- cluster 2.Process factors (Sub- cluster 2.Product factors (Sub- cluster 2. Suggestions for learning listening skill (Cluster 3). 57 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. For educational administrators and educators.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further studies. 68 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CE : The Council of Europe CEFR : The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESP : English for Specific Purpose HUFL : Hue University of foreign languages MOET : Ministry of Education and Training NFL : National Foreign Languages x LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4. How often teachers have mentioned CEFR requirements as course goal in learning listening.
The CEFR requirements at C1 level. The CEFR requirements in overall listening comprehension at C1 level. Students‟ perception on the CEFR requirements in listening as a member of a live audience at C1 level. Teachers‟ perception on the CEFR requirements in listening as a member of a live audience at C1 level.
Students‟ and teachers‟ perception on the CEFR requirements in listening to audio media and recordings at C1 level. Students‟ and teachers‟ perception on the CEFR requirements in listening to announcements and instructions at C1 level. Skill that students could be good at when they were at high school. Characters which a good listener need to have.
The question types that teachers have used to teach listening skill. The frequency of assessing listening skill. Types of speech in listening periods. Student and teachers‟ opinion on difficulties students encounter when learning listening.
Types of listening process. General perception about gaining CEFR requirements at C1 level. 54 xi LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram 2.1: The relationship between the academic environment, approaches to study, and academic outcomes at the level of the whole university. 24 xii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.
Common Reference Levels: global scale. Overall listening comprehension. Answering form for listening. Understanding conversation between native speakers.
Listening as a member of a live audience. Listening to audio media and recordings. Listening to announcements and instructions .1: Structure of the questionnaire content. The CEFR level in English for EFL students‟ graduation.
Students‟ and teachers‟ awareness on the CEFR requirements in understanding conversation between native speakers at C1 level. Number of periods per term. Textbooks including speaking parts. The supporting tools teachers have used to teach listening skill.
Form of oral inputs in listening periods. Difficulties may appear when students are assessed listening. Suggestions for achieving CEFR- C1 level in listening skill. 55 xiii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale “Fluency in the English language is a key to success in life” (Hall, 2012). The saying refers a new era for not only the dominant role of English but also the change of language learning, teaching and assessment. “Fluency” word reflects the direction of moves towards communicative acts rather than linguistic knowledge as previous time. English now can be found in many areas of our real life such as “business, finance and banking, science and technology, popular culture, media and international relations” (Hall, 2012).
Obliviously grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc cannot be highly appreciated if speakers are not able to use them effectively in these particular contexts. For Vietnam, entering into the WTO and opening its markets to the outside world entails the demand for a good English language competence among both workers and students. There were many teaching and learning language projects aim at enhancing Vietnamese English ability. However, education officers admitted at a conference that foreign language teaching in Vietnam has been a “failure”.
According to experts, the reason firmly comes from “incorrect understanding of the subject has led to inappropriate teaching methods of foreign languages” (Thanhniennews, 2011, December 26th). As a result, “many college students have passed their exams with high grades but could not use the language in their life and work” said Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Hung, chief manager of the National Foreign Language 2020 project. For a long time, in Vietnam, English language function is to learn and remember as a subject of knowledge instead used for connecting people from other different languages.
So hopefully by the implement of the National Foreign Languages 2020 project, the tasks, content, methods, curriculum of teaching and learning foreign language within national education system will be renovated. It may end human perception on learning English just for tests; instead, learners will make their effort to grasp English proficiency at the same time. 1 The National Foreign Languages 2020 project in Viet Nam is designed and adapted under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) of The Council of Europe.The project was released in 2008 and now (2014) being implemented in the second phase of the project (2011-2015). All students at Hue University of foreign languages have been taught and assessed under CEFR.
I wonder whether they have prepared for it. What do they think about CEFR, its criteria in language proficiency in general and CEFR‟s requirements in listening in particular? How do they adapt their learning methods?