THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THI THUY TRANG THE USE OF DICTOGLOSS TO DEVELOP THE 10th GRADERS’ LISTENING SKILLS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN LANG SON MASTER THESIS THAI NGUYEN, OCTOBER 2023 ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM LÊ THỊ THÙY TRANG SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHE VÀ GHI CHÉP CHÍNH TẢ ĐỂ PHÁT TRIỂN KỸ NĂNG NGHE CHO HỌC SINH KHỐI 10 TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TẠI LẠNG SƠN Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ Cán bộ hướng dẫn: TS. Ngô Thị Bích Ngọc Thái Nguyên, tháng 10 năm 2023 DECLARATION I hereby certify that, unless specifically stated in the text, I am the sole author of the research paper titled "The Use of the Dictogloss Technique to Enhance the Listening Skills of 10th Graders at a high school in Lang Son." This work was undertaken as a prerequisite for my Master's degree at Thai Nguyen University of Education, and I solemnly affirm the accuracy of this statement. Furthermore, I confirm that this work has not been submitted for consideration for any other degree at a different higher education institution, and I have no intention of doing so. Thai Nguyen, 2023 Student Le Thi Thuy Trang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to those who have supported, encouraged and assisted me in my thesis completion.
First of all, I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to Dr. Ngo Thi Bich Ngoc, my supervisor, for her great patience, careful guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement through the whole research process. Without her support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I would like to express my thanks to the school board staff, including the principals, the vice principals and teachers and students Dinh Lap high school in Lang Son Province who have given me encouragement, support of time and permission to implement this thesis there.
Last but not least, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my family, including my parents and younger brother with their unconditional love, understanding and help. ii ABSTRACT The study “The use of dictogloss technique to develop the 10th graders’ listening skills at a high school in Lang Son” focused on applying and using dictogloss method into learning English for the purpose of improving the students’ English listening skills and investigate the students’ attitudes towards dictogloss method. Sixty students of grade 10 at Dinh Lap high school in Lang Son province were chosen. The researcher used the quasi-experimental research method to carry out this study.
The data was collected by listening tests and questionnaires distributed before and after the research. The findings from the date analysis showed that dictogloss method was effective in helping students improve their listening skills. Dictogloss helped students understand unfamiliar words, interpreting the meaning of long-spoken texts, not being interrupted by listening problems, predicting what's coming next, and listening without transcripts. Students also acknowledged that dictogloss made learning listening activities more interesting to them.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF FIGURES. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Aims and Objectives. Scope of study. Significance of the study. Organization of the study.
4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. 18 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Data Collection Instrument(s). Data collection procedures.
29 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Findings from the tests. Findings from the post-questionnaires. Research question 1: To what extent does the implementation of dictogloss impact the development of students’ listening skills?.
Research question 2: What are the attitudes of 10th grade students towards the use of dictogloss as a means of improving their listening skills?. 41 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 47 APPENDIX v LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Dictogloss Method Implementation Schedule.
The pre-test results of both groups. The post-test results of both groups. A test results comparison of the experimental group. A post-test results comparison between both groups.
The benefits of learning listening through dictogloss method. 36 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. Students' opinions on how interesting the dictogloss method was. Students' attention during dictogloss listening lessons.
Students' opinions on the effectiveness of dictogloss method. Students' opinions on continuing to use dictogloss in listening classes. 38 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is to present readers with a comprehensive introduction, including its rationale, aims, objectives, scope, and significance. The research questions and the study's organizational structure are also illustrated to provide clear guidance throughout the study.
Rationale The 2018 general educational curriculum mandates English as a compulsory subject for students in the early grades, providing them with long-term benefits of bilingual language exposure under well-educated conditions. The curriculum aims to develop students' linguistic abilities through the acquisition of essential knowledge and four English language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening represents a paramount language skill, with Feyten's (1991) assertion that over 45% of communication time is dedicated to listening serving as a strong testament to its integral role within language proficiency. It is evident that listening proficiency is indispensable to overall language capability.
In actuality, listening skills which appear to be a key component of both teaching and learning English provide essential knowledge to acquire a second language in general and improve speaking ability in particular. According to Rubin (1995), listening skills are critical for effective communication, as they enable learners to understand spoken language and respond appropriately. Additionally, Hinkel (2006) suggests that listening skills are especially important for academic success, as they allow learners to comprehend lectures, participate in discussions, and understand written material. Despite the importance of listening skills, it is always supposed to be the most challenging for high school students.
Long and Ross (2009) mentioned that listening is perhaps the most difficult ability for learners out of the four. The beginners need a lot of practice with the intonation, foreign accents, reduces forms and speed of speakers. Thus, the selection of the suitable listening techniques plays major role in the development of students’ entire language learning and listening abilities. Moreover, research by Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal, & Tafaghodtari (2006) shows that developing listening skills can be challenging due to factors such as the 1 complexity of spoken language, individual differences among learners, and limited exposure to authentic listening materials.
As a result, effective listening instructions needs to be implemented in official programs for language acquisition at high school with the goal to promote the development of learners' listening abilities. In order to contrive the adversity of listening, English teachers must always approach the acknowledged methodology concerning the learners’ improving listening skills. The researcher has employed dictogloss technique as an alternative methodology aimed at enhancing the listening aptitude of students. In the view of researchers, dictogloss is considered as one of effective technique for developing the listening skills of high school students.
For instance, according to Taslidere and Eryilmaz (2010), the use of different techniques can greatly increase students' motivation and promote better communication between teachers and students. By using dictogloss, students are given the chance to discuss their group's performance, allowing them to reflect on what they did well and areas where they can improve. This ultimately helps them work more effectively as a team in future tasks. Originally devised by Ruth Wajnryb (1990, as cited in Herrel & Jordan, 2004, p.
242), Dictogloss is a teaching strategy that was initially intended for high school students but can be modified to suit learners of any age. This method has shown great effectiveness when it comes to English language learners as it highlights the importance of using fluent academic language and aids in their ability to listen and recall proficient English language models (Gibbons, 1993, as cited in Herrel & Jordan, 2004). The researchers concluded that dictogloss is a valuable tool for promoting language proficiency and 21st-century skills in high school students. In my current role as an English teacher for tenth-grade students at a high school in Lang Son province, the majority of students who have studied English for a minimum of ten years since primary school are from ethnic minority backgrounds residing in remote border areas.
Consequently, these students have limited opportunities to practice English speaking and listening skills, which are crucial components of language acquisition. Following actual teaching practices, teachers have observed that students often struggle to distinguish English sounds in both 2 academic listening exercise and real-life conversations, which can limit their overall speech comprehension. Despite students' familiarity with standardized tests, such as written exams, they may encounter difficulties recognizing commonly used vocabulary when spoken aloud. Additionally, the challenge of remembering information while listening can cause another obstacle for students to improving their listening skills.
Almost students tend to quickly forget the content of previous sentences, making it challenging for them to comprehend the broader context of the conversation To response to this issue, the researcher has decided to conduct a study on “The use of dictogloss technique to develop the 10th graders’ listening skills at a high school in Lang Son” to investigate the effectiveness of using dictogloss as a teaching tool to enhance students' listening skills. Specifically, this study aims to gather the perspective of students on the application of dictogloss methodology and to examine the implementation of the technique in developing students' listening comprehension. The study includes detailed lesson plans, teacher notes, students' handouts, pretest and posttest evaluations, with the goal of contributing the knowledge on this topic. Aims and Objectives The principal objectives of the research are to find out students’ viewpoint about utilizing the dictogloss in learning English listening comprehension and evaluate the effectiveness this technique in improving listening skills for tenth-grade students at Lang Son high school.
Scope of study The study focused the utilization of dictogloss technique to increase listening skills at the tenth-grade students of a Lang Son high school. This was accomplishment with regard to the accuracy of response and overall understanding in dialogue text from listening tests. The delivered results of analyzed data tests and students’ feedback were used to analyze the effectiveness of dictogloss to enhance English listening skills. Due to the constraints of space, time and condition, the study was conducted with 60 participants in the academic year of 2022-2023.
They were divided into two groups: the control group and experimental group, consisting of 3 Class 10A and 10B. Conclusions on the use of dictogloss learning technique were drawn from the results, which were the desired outcome. Research Questions The primary objective of this study was to enhance the effectiveness of English listening skills learning for 10th graders. In order to achieve this objective, the following research questions were formulated: 1.
To what extent does the implementation of dictogloss impact the development of students’ listening skills? 2. What are the attitudes of 10th grade students towards the use of dictogloss as a means of improving their listening skills? 1. Significance of the study As a matter of fact, research gave readers a detailed insight into the importance of listening when learning a foreign language. More importantly, the study showed the current state of learning listening skills abilities and the current learning English habits of high school students.
It is expected that the study indicated positive changes of using dictogloss technique to improve listening competence of the tenth-grade students at a local high school in Lang Son province. Organization of the study The thesis contained five main chapters. Each chapter discussed the content as follows: Chapter 1: The Introduction revealed the rationale of the study, the objectives of the research, the research questions and the scope of the study. Chapter 2: The Literature Review explored the relevant literature and an attempt to develop the theoretical framework for the study.