VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** LÊ THỊ MÙI A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN BẮC NINH) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************** LÊ THỊ MÙI A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF GRADE 10 AT BAC NINH GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL (NGHIÊN CỨU TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA NHỮNG HOẠT ĐỘNG TRƢỚC KHI NGHE TỚI CÁC BÀI TẬP NGHE HIỂU TRONG CHƢƠNG TRÌNH ĐÀO TẠO DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN BẮC NINH) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyễn Xuân Thơm Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I, Lê Thi Mu ̣ ̀ i, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A Study on the Effects of Pre-listening Activities on Listening Comprehension Tasks in the Training Program to Non-English Major Students of Grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at VNU University of Languages and International Studies.
Hanoi, September, 2014 Lê Thi ̣Mùi i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this thesis, I am indebted to many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Assoc. Nguyen Xuan Thom for his valuable and prompt advice and helps, without which, this thesis could not come into being. My thanks also go to all my lecturers and officers from Post Graduate Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, who have facilitated me with the best possible conditions during my whole course of studying.
Last but not least, let my gratitude go to my family and friends, whose encouragement and assistance are of extreme importance during the course of my writing this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The present study attempted to find out the effects of pre-listening activities on listening comprehension tasks in the training program to non-English major students of grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school. The survey was randomly conducted with 7 teachers of English and 105 tenth form students in 5 classes whose major subject is not English. The data used to analyze in this study were the participants’ answers to questionnaires, to some interview questions and the researcher’s observation in four listening lessons.
The results of the study show that both teachers and students at the school highly appreciate the importance of pre-listening activities. Besides, some activities that are the most frequently used by the teachers are also considered the most effective on listening comprehension tasks in the training program by students. They are pre-teaching vocabulary and structures; guessing the topic of the listening text and questioning. Moreover, some effective techniques teachers often use to implement these activities are really helpful.
After taking part in pre-listening activities, students get better results of listening comprehension tasks. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION. Objectives of the study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Design of the study. 4 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW. The concept of listening.
What is listening?. Component skills for listening. The concept of listening comprehension tasks. Types of listening comprehension tasks.
The concept of pre-listening activities. Stages of teaching listening. Pre-listening stage. While-listening stage.
Post-listening stage. Definitions of pre-listening activities. Types of pre-listening activities. 10 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Factors affecting the choice of pre-listening activities. Prior studies related to pre-listening activities. 12 CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Background of the study.
The context of English teaching and learning at Bac Ninh Gifted High School. Limitations of a listening lesson in the classroom at Bac Ninh gifted high school. Data collection instrumentations. 16 CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION, MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
The questionnaire for the teachers. Teachers’ opinions about the importance of pre-listening activities. Teachers’ opinions about the purposes of pre-listening activities. Teachers’ frequency of using pre-listening activities.
Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for pre-teaching vocabulary and grammar structures. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for working in pairs/ groups……………………………………………………………………… 20 I. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for brainstorming for the details of the text. 20 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for introducing the topic. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for questioning. Teachers’ frequency of using techniques for previewing tasks. Teachers’ frequency of using pre-listening activities in the textbook “English 10”.
The questionnaire for the students .1 Students’ opinions about the importance of pre-listening activities. Students’ opinions about the factors that make listening lessons more difficult. Students’ opinions about the purposes of pre-listening activities. Students’ preferences for pre-listening activities.
Students’ opinions about the effects of pre-listening activities on listening tasks. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to pre-teach vocabulary and grammar structures. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to raise questions. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to work in pairs/ groups.
Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to guess the topic. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to brainstorm for the content. Students’ opinions about the most effective technique to pre-view tasks. Students’ opinions about the pre-listening activities in the textbook “English 10”.
31 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Interviews for students. Interviews for teachers. Recommendations for implementing pre-listening activities.
Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. I Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires. I Appendix 2: Interview questions. IX Appendix 3: Class observation.
X vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Rationale In our modern society, English plays an essential role because it is a very effective means of communication and of course it is a factor that decides the success of a person as well as a nation. As second language learners, it is not easy at all to acquire English. This requires good combination of four skills.
While reading and writing are important ways of gaining and consolidating information, vocabulary and structures in language learning, listening and speaking are the means of language communication. Therefore, these four skills cannot be separated and they can be improved only by training and practicing. Among four skills, listening is considered the most difficult. Like other skills, listening is closely related to store of vocabulary that carries most meanings of the passage but learners have to get it aurally, which is very difficult because of the speed, the accent, the intonation of the speakers and even the external factors that interrupt the sound.
Moreover, Vietnamese learners do not have many opportunities to communicate or speak to native speakers, especially high school students. They only learn language through materials or Vietnamese teachers that do not provide them so good pronunciation as native speakers. Last but not least, learners’ motivation, one of the most important factors to study language well, is discouraged by all of the factors mentioned above. If they cannot hear anything or little, they cannot communicate in the language they are listening to.
As a result, to help students improve listening skills, teachers first have to find out teaching techniques to attract them to the listening lesson, then to help them enlarge store of vocabulary, be familiar with the pronunciation of native speakers. As a teacher of English, I think interesting and suitable pre-listening activities can raise students’ motivation and have other positive effects on learning procedures. Hence, I choose the topic “A Study on the Effects of Pre-listening Activities on Listening Comprehension Tasks in the Training Program to Non-English Major Students of Grade 10 at Bac Ninh Gifted high school” with the hope, to some extent, to discover the real effects of pre-listening activities on the students’ participation in listening comprehension tasks as well as their studying results. 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Objectives of the study The study aims at: - investigating the teachers and students’ opinions about pre-listening activities of a listening lesson in the classroom at Bac Ninh gifted high school. - discovering the frequency the teachers use pre-listening activities; the pre-listening activities students like best; the most effective ways to carry out these activities and their effects on listening comprehension tasks in the training program. - recommending some useful techniques in order to make pre-listening activities more effective on listening comprehension tasks. Above all, the purpose of the study is to encourage non-English major students at Bac Ninh gifted high school to eagerly take part in the lesson and listen effectively through interesting and suitable pre-listening activities.
In order to achieve these objectives, four research questions are raised: 1. What are the teachers and students’ opinions about pre-listening activities? 2. Which pre-listening activities are the most frequently used by the teachers and which activity do students like best? 3. What are the most effective techniques to carry out pre-listening activities? 4.
What are the effects of pre-listening activities on listening comprehension tasks in the textbook English10? III. Scope of the study This study is carried out at Bac Ninh gifted high school in order to find out the effects of pre-listening activities on listening comprehension tasks in the Training Program to non-English major students of grade 10. Methods of the study In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher uses qualitative method with some data collection instruments: interviews, survey questionnaires, and class observation. The survey is carried out with the participation of 105 non-English major students of grade 10 and 7 teachers who have been teaching non-English major students for years at Bac Ninh Gifted High School.
They are asked to give their responses by completing the questionnaires. Then the collected data are analyzed and interpreted. In addition to the questionnaires, some interviews with students and teachers and class observation during listening lessons are also carried out to support 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com the findings. Design of the study The study includes three parts: Part A: Introduction This part presents the basic information of the study such as the rationale, the objectives, the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
Part B: Development This part is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review In this chapter, the researcher discusses theoretical background of listening, pre- listening activities and related prior studies. Chapter 2: Research Methodology The researcher presents the setting of the study and research methods including research questions, participants and data collection instruments. Chapter 3: Data analysis, discussion, major findings and recommendations The researcher shows the detailed results of the survey, analyzes the data collected from questionnaires, interviews and class observation and then presents major findings for the study and some suggestions for implementing pre-listening activities. Part C: Conclusion This part includes a review of the study, suggestions for further study and limitations of the study.
3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW I. The concept of listening I. What is listening? Basically, listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing refers to the sounds that you hear, whereas listening requires more than that.