VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG USING PORTFOLIOS IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, ACADEMY OF FINANCE (SỬ DỤNG HỒ SƠ BÀI TẬP ĐỂ DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHOA KẾ TOÁN HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG USING PORTFOLIOS IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO THE FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT, ACADEMY OF FINANCE (SỬ DỤNG HỒ SƠ BÀI TẬP ĐỂ DẠY KỸ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHOA KẾ TOÁN HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Lâm Thị Phúc Hân, M.A Hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ……………………………………………………………………………. i Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………. iii Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………. iv List of abbreviations ………………………………………………………………….
vii List of figures, tables and charts ……………………………………………………… viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………. Rationale of the study…………………………………………………………… 1 1. Aims and research questions of the study ……………………………………… 2 1. Scope of the study ……………………………………………………………….
Methods of the study ……………………………………………………………. Design of the study ……………………………………………………………. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………………… 4 2. Theoretical background of listening comprehension …………………………… 4 2.
Definitions of listening comprehension ………………………………………. Listening comprehension process ……………………………………………. The importance of listening …………………………………………………. Theoretical background of teaching and learning listening skill ……………….
Components skills for listening ………………………………………………. Potential problems in learning to listen to English …………………………… 9 2. Stages of a listening lesson …………………………………………………… 10 2. The roles of teachers in a listening lesson …………………………………….
Encouraging students' self-learning …………………………………………. Theoretical background of portfolio ……………………………………………. Definitions of portfolio ………………………………………………………. The contents of portfolio ……………………………………………………… 16 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Phases of portfolio development ……………………………………………… 18 2. Benefits of using portfolios …………………………………………………… 19 2. Weakness associated with using portfolios …………………………………… 19 2. 20 CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY ……………………………………………………….
Context of the study ……………………………………………………………. Introduction to the coursebook ………………………………………………. Data collection procedure ……………………………………………………. Data collection instruments …………………………………………………… 27 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ………………………… 27 4.
Data analysis of the students' survey questionnaire before the portfolio process 28 4. Students' motivation in learning listening skill ………………………………. Students' past learning experience ……………………………………………. Students' knowledge of portfolios …………………………………………….
Data analysis of the students' survey questionnaire after the portfolio process 30 4. Students' feelings and awareness of the portfolio process ……………………. Students' attitudes towards the effects of portfolio listening activities ………. Students' opinion related to portfolio sharing activities ……………………….
Students' difficulties in implementing the portfolio ………………………… 35 4. Students' opinion to improve the self-learning portfolio ……………………. 36 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR USING PORTFOLIOS 37 5. Major findings and discussions ………………………………………………….
Students' previous motivations and learning experiences in listening as well as in the use of portfolios ……………………………………………………………. 37 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Students' attitudes towards the effects of the portfolio listening activity ……. Students' difficulties in implementing the portfolio ………………………….
Students' suggestions to improve the self-learning portfolio …………………. Suggestions for using portfolios ………………………………………………. Suggestion for the teachers …………………………………………………. Suggestions for the students ………………………………………………….
Summary of the study …………………………………………………………. Limitations of the study ………………………………………………………… 43 6. Suggestions for further researches ……………………………………………… 43 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………. 44 APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………… I Appendix 1: Portfolio guidelines for students ……………………………………….
I Appendix 2: Listening portfolios ……………………………………………………. II Appendix 3: Description of portfolio assessment and evaluation …………………. III Appendix 4: Learning log …………………………………………………………… IV Appendix 5: Questionnaire (N01) for students ……………………………………… V Appendix 6: Questionnaire (N02) for students ……………………………………… VI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AOF: Academy of Finance L2: Second Language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS TABLES Table 1: Students' feelings and awareness of the portfolio process Table 2: Students' attitudes towards the effects of listening portfolio activities Table 3: Students' opinion related to portfolio sharing activities CHARTS Chart 1: Students' reasons for learning listening skill Chart 2: Students' frequency of listening to English outside the class Chart 3: Students' knowledge of portfolios Chart 4: Students' difficulties in implementing the portfolio Chart 5: Students' opinion to improve the self-learning portfolio LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale English is thought to be one of the decisive factors for people's success at the period of globalization.
Therefore, it leads to the increasing number of users of English in many parts of the world. Since the open-door policy was introduced in Vietnam, English has become increasingly important not only as a means of global communication but also as bridge to mankind's knowledge. To students, nowadays, English is not only a subject in the curriculum at university but also a key to gain access to the information world that proves of great value to all people in general and to students of Academy of Finance in particular. However, obtaining a good language competence is not easy for all students; it requires a huge effort from them, especially self-study.
Of four language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing, listening is believed to be the most difficult skill to students. They encounter difficulties in comprehending the information due to unfamiliarity with the pronunciation, stress, intonation and a lack of listening skill, etc. To overcome such difficulties, it is necessary for students to spend much more time practicing listening skill at home. The time to practice listening in class is not enough because every week students have only two periods lasting 90 minutes to learn this skill.
The question posed for English teachers is how to help students overcome difficulties and improve their listening skill. One of the ways to help students deal with difficulties is using portfolios to learn at home. Surely, portfolios which reflect what students have done at home are a useful additional learning tool. On one hand, portfolios help teachers to assess what students have done at home.
On the other hand, portfolios keep students continuously learning. It is obvious that portfolios can improve students' listening skill and encourage their self-learning, which is the decisive factor for their success in learning English. For the above reasons, the author decided to choose the study entitled "Using portfolios in teaching listening skill to first-year non-English major students of Accounting Department, Academy of Finance". LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Aims and research questions of the study The major aims of the study are: - To investigate students' motivation and learning experiences in listening skill. - To examine students' attitudes towards the effects of the portfolio listening activity. - To give some suggestions for using the portfolio to enhance students' autonomy in learning listening skill. In order to implement the study, the following research questions were formulated: 1.
Were first-year students autonomous learners in terms of motivations and learning experiences in listening skill? 2. What are students' attitudes towards the effects of the portfolio listening activity? 3. What should teachers do to help students to develop their autonomy in learning listening skill? 1. Scope of the study The study is concerned with using portfolios in teaching listening skill to the first- year non-English major students of Accounting Department, Academy of Finance.
Other approaches to teach listening skill intended for students at other levels of English language proficiency would be beyond the scope. Methods of the study 54 first-year non-English major students were chosen randomly to take part in the research of applying portfolio listening activity to develop learner self-study. They came from two classes of Accounting Department, AOF. They are both male and female, at the age from 19 to 20 and have learnt English for at least three years at high school.
Questionnaires were delivered to first-year students at AOF before and after the portfolio process to collect the most reliable data for this study. This research also based itself on some previous studies in listening skill and portfolios. Design of the study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 11 The study is comprised of five chapters: Chapter I: Introduction; Chapter II: Literature review; Chapter III: The study; Chapter IV: Major findings and discussions and Chapter V: Conclusion. Chapter I: Introduction This chapter introduces the rationale, the aims, research questions, the scope, the methodology and the design of the study.
Chapter II: Literature review This chapter reviews the literature related to the nature of listening comprehension, the importance of listening, components skills for listening, potential problems in learning to listen to English, stages of a listening lesson, the roles of teachers in a listening lesson, ways of encouraging students' self-learning, definitions of portfolio, the contents of portfolio, phases of portfolio development, benefits of using portfolios and weakness associated with using portfolios. Chapter III: The study This chapter presents the methodology used in the study including the context, participants, data collection procedure, data collection instruments and data analysis. Chapter IV: Major findings and discussions This chapter shows some major findings which lead to some suggestions for using the portfolio. Chapter V: Conclusion This chapter summarizes the main points discussed in the paper and some limitations of the study.
Future researches will also be presented in the chapter. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction This chapter discusses a variety of issues in the theories of listening skills and portfolios. Three main features will be presented: theoretical background of listening comprehension, theoretical background of teaching and learning listening skill and theoretical background of portfolios. Theoretical background of listening comprehension 2.
Definitions of listening comprehension In the globalized information age in which we live, technological advances make global communication become much easier. It is believed that to be part of global community, listening has taken on increased importance in a native language as well as in a second or foreign language. Thus, there have been numerous definitions of listening which present different views towards the concept. Mary Underwood (1989: 1) states that "Listening is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something we hear".
The author also emphasizes: "To listen successfully to spoken language, we need to be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular way on particular occasions, not simple to understand the words themselves". Gary Buck (2001: 31) states that "listening comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning and this is done by applying knowledge to the incoming sound" in which "a number of different types if knowledge are involved: both linguistic knowledge and non-linguistic knowledge". Sharing the same view, listening is viewed as "an active, purposeful processing of making sense of what we hear" (Helgesen, 2003: 24). Rost (2002: 279) defines listening as "the mental process of constructing meaning from spoken input".
Richards and Schmidt (2002: 313) point out that "listening comprehension is the process of understanding speech in a first or second language. The study of listening comprehension in second language learning focuses on the role of individual linguistic LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. phonemes, words, grammatical structures) as well as the role of listener's expectations, the situation and context, background knowledge and topic". All in all, listening has been conceptualized in different ways.
However, the words like "active" and "construct" have been found and highlighted. Listeners are considered as an "active model builder" (Anderson & Lynch, 1988: 11), who goes through a complex process, drawing upon knowledge of linguistic code, cognitive processing skill, scheme- based understanding, and contextual clues to reach the essence of spoken message.