VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NHỮ HÀ PHƯƠNG COMMON ERRORS MADE BY PRE-INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS IN THE TOEIC LISTENING TEST AND SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS NHỮNG LỖI SINH VIÊN TRÌNH ĐỘ TIỀN TRUNG CẤP HAY MẮC KHI LÀM BÀI THI NGHE TOEIC VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP ĐỀ XUẤT M.A MINOR THESIS Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI – 2012 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of figures, tables and appendices iii List of abbreviations iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1 2. Aims and objectives 2 3. Significance of the study 2 4.
Scope of the study 2 5. Methods of the study 3 6. Organization 3 PART B: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4 1. Factors affecting learners’ listening comprehension 6 2.
Classification of errors 12 2. Different approaches towards the study of error 13 3. The TOEIC test 14 3. Overview of the TOEIC test 15 3.
Overview of the TOEIC listening test 16 4. Related studies of listening comprehension and TOEIC listening errors 20 PART C: METHODOLOGY 22 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Selection of subjects 22 2. Data collection instruments 22 2.
Students’ listening test papers 22 2. Semi-structured interviews 23 3. Procedures of data analysis 24 PART D: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 26 1. Findings from the Questionnaires and Interviews 26 1.
General information of the participants 26 1. Learners’ perceptions of the TOEIC listening test 28 1. Learners’ perceptions of the causes of common errors when listening TOEIC test 29 1. Test-taking strategies applied by students in TOEIC listening 33 2.
Findings from the analysis of students’ TOEIC listening test papers 35 3. Recommendations 42 PART E: CONCLUSION 46 1. Limitations of the study 47 3. Suggestions for further study 48 REFERENCES APPENDICES iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been completed without support from a number of people.
My lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, friends and family have given me support and have in one way or another contributed to the work present here. First and foremost, I would like to heartily express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Phan Thi Van Quyen, M.A who is always willing to work hard to give her expert guidance, knowledge, insight and time. She followed the research from the initial stage giving support and constructive criticism.
I am very grateful and have learnt much from her. My particular thank goes to all students who were enthusiastic participants in the study. And I am immensely grateful to my friends who nonstop encourage me to continue the research. Moreover, without the well of love and support from my family this thesis would not have been as successful.
Nhu Ha Phuong iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Phuong, N.H (2012): Common errors made by pre-intermediate students in the TOEIC listening test and some suggested solutions. A Master’s Thesis submitted to Vietnam National University, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies. In Vietnam nowadays or Haiphong’s institutions in particular, a new standard for English proficiency is set, that is the requirement of TOEIC certificate. Thus, many foreign language centers emphasize the development of teaching and learning TOEIC.
While efforts have been made, far less attention is paid to the common errors made by students in TOEIC test. To bridge the gap, this thesis aims to explore the errors made by pre- intermediate students in the TOEIC listening test and to find out the solutions regarding this issue. This work hopes to both contribute to the existing body of TOEIC research as well as to pave the way for future studies in this field. v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES & APPENDICES Figure 1: Information sources in comprehension Table 1: Factors influencing listening comprehension (Teng) Table 2: Categories of barriers reported in learning the listening strategies Table 3: Learners by age, gender and occupation Table 4: Learners’ experience of learning English in years Table 5: Learners’ purposes of taking TOEIC preparation course Table 6: Learners’ evaluation of the level of difficulty of TOEIC listening test Table 7: Learners’ evaluation of the most difficult part of TOEIC listening test Table 8: Learners’ feelings when doing TOEIC listening test Table 9: Causes of TOEIC listening errors Table 10: Strategies used by learners when taking TOEIC listening test Table 11: The percentage of wrong-answers in each TOEIC listening test Table 12: Types of errors in TOEIC listening test and their percentage Appendix 1: Questionnaire for student respondents Appendix 2: TOEIC listening test sample and its tape script vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TOEIC: Test of English for International Communications HFLC: Haiphong Foreign Language Centre vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This initial part states the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper.
Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research. Statement of the problem and Rationale for the study: Facts have shown that English proficiency tests such as the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and the International English Language Test System (IELTS) are currently enjoying a surge in popularity in both workplace and universities, especially the TOEIC test. In other words, many colleges and universities award credits in English courses to students who reach test score requirements, and an increasing number of companies are using these scores as one criterion for selecting new recruits and promoting employees. Specifically, in Haiphong, the three biggest universities namely Vimaru (Vietnam Marine time University), Haiphong University and HPU (HaiPhong Private University) are forcing their students to have at least TOEIC 450 as a crucial requirement to graduate.
HPU also announced the target score for Vietnamese English teachers as TOEIC over 700. Some companies in the region like Vietnam register of shipping or Internal Relations Office demand their employees to have TOEIC at least 380. Yet, to many TOEIC students, listening is a nightmare and most failing in TOEIC, TOEFL or even IELTS are generally weak at listening. Obviously, achieving language proficiency means mastering the four skills and listening is considered to be one of the most problematic.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Establishing reputation for being a reliable place providing and training English courses for such a long time, Haiphong Foreign Language Centre has attracted thousands of learners to register TOEIC courses since they were first introduced in 2010. Identifying the demands of studying TOEIC in Haiphong as well as the teaching situation, “Common errors made by pre-intermediate students in the TOEIC listening test and some suggested solutions” was conducted to gain insights into students’ problems when listening TOEIC practice tests with the hope to contribute to the improvement of TOEIC teaching in Haiphong Foreign Language Centre as well as other educational institutions. Objectives of the study: The purpose of the study is to explore the following objectives: To explore the students’ perceptions of the TOEIC listening test To investigate the errors that pre-intermediate students at Haiphong Foreign Language Center often make when taking the TOEIC listening test To suggest solutions to avoid errors based on the results of the study The research questions, therefore, are addressed as below: 1. What are pre-intermediate students’ perceptions of the TOEIC listening test? 2.
What strategies do these students often apply when doing TOEIC listening test? 3. What are the common errors when taking the TOEIC listening test made by pre-intermediate students? 3. Significance of the study: With the above objectives, the study primarily displays insightful knowledge of errors conducted by pre-intermediate students as well as their 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com difficulties or strategies in listening TOEIC. Pedagogically, the findings of the study are believed to be useful for both TOEIC teachers and learners.
Scope of the study: The research focuses mainly on the analysis of the data collected from the students’ TOEIC listening test papers and the survey questionnaire distributed to TOEIC students at Haiphong Foreign Language Centre. Methods of the study: Both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including a survey questionnaire, students’ TOEIC listening test papers and semi-structured interviews, are employed to collect data for the study and the major method used is the quantitative one. Firstly, the analysis of students’ TOEIC listening test papers is conducted to find out the common errors as well as the current situation of learning this skill. Then, the data is also collected through survey questionnaire, informal interviews and discussions with these TOEIC learners.
Organization: Part A- Introduction describes the study’s rationale, aims, objectives, research questions, scope, methods and significance. Part B- Theoretical Background lays the theoretical foundation for the research. Part C- Methodology details the research methods that have been used and the procedures of conducting the study. Part D- Results and Discussion presents the research’s findings about the errors of pre-intermediate students when listening TOEIC test and then explains the causes of these errors.
This explanation will lead to some possible implications behind the findings. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Part E- Conclusions ends the study by summarizing its main points, implications, limitations and suggestions for further studies. Moreover, the thesis includes Appendices where the study’s bibliography, sample questionnaires and interview transcription are attached for reference. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This part attempts to provide the framework within which the research is carried out.
Listening There are different definitions about listening coming from different views of the linguists. It is believed that listening is a significant and essential element of communication and interaction in a native language and in second language as well. 279) defines listening as “mental process of constructing meaning from spoken input”.24) proposes “listening is an active, purposeful processing of making sense of what we hear”. From these definitions, it is clear that the listener is doing more than simply decoding what is heard.
In fact, a person who is trying to learn a second or foreign language has to improve four basic language skills possessed by the native speakers of that language. As stated by Harmer (1998), speaking and writing, which involve language production, are referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading, on the other hand, involve receiving messages and therefore, they are identified as receptive skills. Listening skill is a receptive skill in which listeners actively produce comprehension.
There is a purpose behind every listening people perform. However, in a conversation listeners should also consider other factors apart from sound. Listeners do not only receive the auditory stimuli but also visual stimuli, for example face expression, posture, movement, appearance and so on. For example, in the TOEIC listening Part 1, visual stimuli (in the form of photographs) is used.
Listening Comprehension 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com When listening is referred to during discourse, it tends to be connected automatically to comprehension. This is due to the fact that “comprehension is often considered to be the first-order goal of listening, the highest priority of the listener, and sometimes the sole purpose of listening. Especially for the L2 learners who are acquiring a new language, the term “listening comprehension” typically refers to all aspects of listening since comprehension through listening is considered to be a foundation for enabling learners to process the new language, and since L2 listening research has focused exclusively on the comprehensive aspect of academic listening. However, Rost (2002) insisted that the term “comprehension” needs to be used in a more specific sense in listening studies.