VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------------- NGUYỄN THANH HUYỀN USING MOVIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT ACADEMY OF FINANCE (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM ĐỂ TĂNG HỨNG THÚ VÀ KHẢ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 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 ------------------------------- NGUYỄN THANH HUYỀN USING MOVIES TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF THIRD-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT ACADEMY OF FINANCE (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ SỬ DỤNG PHIM ĐỂ TĂNG HỨNG THÚ VÀ KHẢ NĂNG NGHE HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3 KHÔNG CHUYÊN TẠI HỌC VIỆN TÀI CHÍNH) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Nguyễn Đức Hoạt, Ph.D Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, my greatest thanks go to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Hoat, for his guidance and helping with professional advice and kindness. Without his instructions and correction, this work would not have been accomplished. I am also thankful for the staff and lecturers of Post-Graduate Faculty, University of Languages and International Studies for giving me assistance and providing me with valuable knowledge.
My gratitude is also sent to my students at Academy of Finance, who provided me with inspiration for the research topic and who helped me with the research data. Finally, I am indebted to my family and my dear friends who constantly gave me support and encouragement during the time my study was carried out. ABSTRACT 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com For years, finding ways and materials to make the learning experiences for EFL students more inspiring and fruitful has been one of the most important tasks of English teaching. Recently, it has become very popular among EFL teachers to use movies in class to teach English.
And many researchers have reported that authentic video is motivating and beneficial. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between students‟ movie preferences and effective learning. Therefore, in the present study, the effectiveness of using films of the most popular movie genres was examined. This study aims at finding out how the use of movie in class can help increase student‟s motivation and English listening comprehension.
To reach the aim of the study, an action research was conducted on 90 2nd year non-English majored students at Academy of Finance, Hanoi. The study lasted for 2 semesters from February to June, 2013. The researcher conducted a survey to collect data which were analyzed to evaluate participants‟ opinions on using movies to teach in EFL classrooms. The findings indicate that the use of movies can significantly increase student‟s motivation and listening comprehension and make students have good attitude to the learning process.
Hopefully, the results of the survey will provide English teachers with useful information to teach EFL classrooms and add a small contribution to the ongoing process of renovation for English teaching and learning. 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .Rationale of the study .Aims of the study .Scope of the study .Significance of the study .Structure of the study. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. The importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process.
Definition of motivation. The importance of motivation in English teaching and learning process. The importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process. Previous studies on the use of movies in English teaching.
Advantages and disadvantages of movie viewing in classroom. Criteria to choose. How to exploit. 14 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Rationale for the use of action research. What is action research?. Advantages of action research. How is action research carried out in a language classroom?.
Data Collection Instruments. 26 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Findings from questionnaire. 28 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Findings from questionnaire 2. Findings from observation sheet. Findings from interviews. Findings from tests.
Research Q1: To what extent does the use of movies in class increase students‟ motivation?. Research Question 2: What are the students‟ attitudes towards using movies in EFL classroom?. Research Question 3: To what extent does the use of movies improve students‟ listening comprehension?. 38 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Summary of major findings. Suggestions for further research. 44 APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 APPENDIX 4 APPENDIX 5 7 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the Study Motivation is the key to any learning process.
If you do not have motivation, you cannot learn well. Motivation often performs two important characters in second language learning process; it firstly arouses people‟s interest and secondly helps people keep their enthusiasm. Also in English learning process, it takes time and effort to be able to master the language. The question is that, how can teachers increase motivation for students? How can students be motivated during the class? Another aspect that catches the attention of educators in Vietnam is that many students complain they can read very well, but they cannot hear anything from native speakers when they talk.
Rost (1994) appreciates the importance of listening in second and foreign language learning and states that listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for learners. Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin. Nevertheless, teaching listening is a challenging job. It takes much time and energy to make progress in this skill.
For teachers, it is difficult tasks to get students participate in listening lessons. For students, they often feel fed up with activities in listening lesson. In Vietnam, most students have taken English classes for at least 5 years before they enter college. However, most of them remain insufficient in their ability to use the language.
Many surveys conducted by language educators and scholars have revealed that films in video format should be utilized as teaching aids because movies provide exposures to the real language used in authentic settings and the culture in which the foreign language is spoken. They also have found films that draw the learners‟ interest can positively affect their motivation to learn (Sommer, 2001; Kusumarasdyati, 2004; Luo, 2004). The fact is that in Vietnam, not much attention has been paid to this way of teaching foreign languages. Most of teachers use textbook and materials as their main tools to teach in class.
With a view to making some changes, a study entitled "Using movies to increase motivation and listening comprehension of third year EFL students at Academy of Finance: An action research study" is carried out to 8 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com investigate the effects of the movies to be used in EFL class to support the students and help them feel more comfortable with the approach of learning a language through movie viewing and thus facilitate learning. Aims of the Study Firstly, the study aims to find out possible explanations for the weak competence of the students in listening comprehension skills and their passiveness when participating in listening activities. Besides, the researcher aims to figure out how the use of movies in EFL classroom increases students‟ motivation and their listening comprehension. As a result, recommendations are made to further improve the effectiveness of the use of movies in EFL classes at Academy of Finance, Hanoi.
Research Method This is an action research study, with the use of a number of data collection instruments, namely observation, questionnaires, tests and interviews. The data are then analyzed to figure out the findings for the research. Action research has proved to be the best choice for this study because the study is aimed at improving the students‟ motivation and their listening comprehension within a certain context. The combination of different instruments used in this research would help to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a close investigation into the problems that the students may find challenging.
Research Questions The research questions are posed as follows: - To what extent does the use of movies in class increase students‟ motivation? - What are the students‟ attitudes towards using movies in EFL classroom? - To what extent does the use of movies improve students‟ listening comprehension? 5. Scope of the Study The focuses of the study are levels of motivation, students‟ attitudes to the use of movies in classroom and changes in their listening comprehension. The researcher used only 1 class and two movies to carry out an action research study on the topic of 9 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com using movies as a teaching aid instrument in EFL classroom at AOF for six-week period. The research was conducted on third-year accounting students at AOF.
Regarding its scope, the research was only aimed at justifying the effect of movie viewing on the students‟ listening comprehension. Other aspects of English skills would not be investigated. Significance of the Study The study highlights the important role of using movies in English teaching and learning process at AOF. The findings of the study are believed to be useful for both teachers and students to be aware of the essential role of movies with the aim to prepare students for listening lessons and increase their motivation.
Furthermore, this study also helps teachers to upgrade their teaching activities in relation with the process of renovation for teaching. Structure of the Study The thesis is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: Literature Review, Chapter 3: Methodology, Chapter 4: Results and Discussion, Chapter 5: Conclusion Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the study such as background to the study, the aims and objectives of the study, the research questions and the outline of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter includes the importance of motivation and also the essential role of listening skill in English language learning. The researcher also states previous studies on the use of movies in English teaching and learning process.
In addition, the criteria to choose the movies and how to exploit them in the best ways are also mentioned in this chapter. Chapter 3: Methodology In this chapter the researcher points out the methodology used to collect the data including learners‟ questionnaire and observation sheet. The setting and the procedures are also stated clearly in this part. 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 4: Results and Discussion This chapter shows the results from the data collection with detailed data analysis.
All the research questions are answered in this chapter. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations 11 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. The Importance of listening skill in English teaching and learning process 2. Definition of motivation The word “motivation” might appear simple and easy, but it is in fact very difficult to define.
Because motivation cannot be seen, heard or felt, it can only be inferred from behavior. Thus, it seems to have been impossible for theorists to reach consensus on a single definition. According to Harmer (1991), the nature of motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action.