VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ----- ----- NGUYỄN THỊ BƯỞI DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN LISTENING LESSONS OF THE SECOND YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Nghiên cứu về các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú trong các bài học nghe của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ hai trường đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội ) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----- ----- NGUYỄN THỊ BƯỞI DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN LISTENING LESSONS OF THE SECOND YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Nghiên cứu về các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú trong các bài học nghe của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ hai trường đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội ) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr.
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha HA NOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I, hereby, certify the thesis entitled “Demotivating factors in listening lessons of the second year non-English major students at Hanoi University of Industry” is the result of my own research for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and that this thesis has not, wholly or partially, been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. Hanoi, October 2nd, 2015 Nguyen Thi Buoi 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha for her inspiring me to do this research. If it had not been for her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and kind support, my thesis would not have been accomplished.
My special thanks also go to all the professors and lecturers of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures, which have laid the foundation for this thesis. I am indebted to my friends and my colleagues for their suggestions and encouragement to fulfill the study. Finally, I owe the completion of this study to my family, especially my husband who gave me encouragement throughout the study. Hanoi, October 2015 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate factors demotivating the second year non English major students in listening lessons at Hanoi university of Industry.
The main purposes of the study are to find out: the main demotivating factor affecting students‟ motivation in listening lessons and some suggested solutions by teachers to stimulate students to arouse their interest in listening lessons. The study data were collected by means of questionnaire for students and teachers, informal interviews with teachers and class observation. The results indicated that four demotivating factors were found in this study: (1) unfavorable teaching and learning condition, (2) the difficulty of listening section in the coursebook,(3) learner‟s lack of background knowledge and reduced interest, and (4) teachers‟ teaching styles. However, there still existed the gap between teachers‟ perception and students‟ perception as a source of demotivation.
The students mostly blamed on unfavorable teaching and learning condition; whereas, teachers thought that it was the students‟ low English proficiency and laziness in learning. Some suggestions were provided by the teachers to motivate students in listening lessons. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration. iii Table of contents.
iv List of abbreviations……………………………………………………………vii List of tables and charts………………………………………….……………viii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION. Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Organization of the study. 3 PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT. 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Theoretical background of listening 1. Definitions of listening.
Definition of listening comprehension. Teaching listening skill .2 Theoretical background of motivation and demotivation. 7 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1Definition of motivation .2 Definition of demotivation .3 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam of demotivation .4 Studies of demotivating factors in listening .2 Participants of the study .3 Methods of the study. Data collection and data analysis.
15 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Data analysis of discussion of students‟ survey questionnaire .2 Student- related demotivating factors .3 Teacher- related demotivating factors .4 Teaching and learning conditions .5The demotivating items in rank order.2 Data analysis and discussion of teachers‟ survey questionnaire and interview. Teachers‟ opinion on the role of listening comprehension, tasks, students‟ proficiency in listening and students‟ motivation in listening. Teachers‟ opinion on demotivating factors in listening lessons.
27 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. The frequency of teaching techniques and activities used by teachers in listening lessons. Teachers‟ opinion on solutions helping students to revive their motivation in listening lessons .3 Major findings and discussion .1 Demotivating factors from students‟ perceptions.2 Demotivating factors from teachers‟ perceptions.3 Solutions suggested by teachers .4 Summary of the chapter. 37 PART THREE: CONCLUSION.
Limitation of the study. Suggestion for further study. IX 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry LC : Listening comprehension 7 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table: Table 1: Students‟ opinions on listening comprehension section in the course book Table 2: Students‟ opinions on student- related demotivating factors Table 3: Students‟ opinions on teacher- related demotivating factors Table 4: Students‟ opinions on teaching and learning conditions Table 5: The rank order of 30 items of 4groups of demotivating factors Table 6: Teachers‟ opinions on students‟ demotivation in listening lesson Table 7:Frequency of teaching techniques and activities used by the teachers Chart: Chart 1: Teachers‟ opinions on the importance of listening skill Chart 2: Teachers‟ opinions on the tasks in the coursebook Chart 3: Teachers‟ opinions on students‟ proficiency in listening. Chart 4: Teachers‟ opinions on students‟ motivation in listening lessons 8 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.
It goes without saying that English is an international language and has become an useful tool for people in many fields of life. There is an increasing number of learners trying to master English which is necessary for their jobs later. In Vietnam, English is a foreign language that has been compulsory in schools and universities. Learners are being trained to master the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Learners are expected to use English successfully. However, there is a large number of students who fail to fulfill that purpose. As a teacher of English at Hanoi University of Industry, I found that my learners have faced many problems in their learning process. Although the course‟s objective is designed with a communicative orientation, non- English major students find it hard to use English for daily communication.
At Hanoi University of Industry, the second- year non major English students are required to learn the course book “New Headway- pre intermediate”; however, many students feel bored and uninterested in listening lessons because of some underlying reasons that need to be investigated. A large amount of research on second language learning has mainly concentrated on motivating factors with the aim of developing a positive attitude toward English language learning. On the contrary, demotivation is considered to be a relatively new term in this field. There have been so few studies conducted on demotivating factors in learning second language in general, and in listening in particular.
That is one of the reasons why we carry out more research on this problem. All the aforementioned reasons have encouraged me to carry out a study entitled “Demotivating factors in listening lessons of the second year non- English major students at Hanoi University of Industry”. I do this study with the hope that it will be a useful reference for teachers and learners at HAUI to find a better way to teach and learn listening skills. 9 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Aims and Objectives of the Study The study aims at exploring factors of demotivation in listening lessons of the second year non- English major at Hanoi University of Industry. The paper is intended to aim at the following objectives: (+) To investigate main demotivating factors that reduce students‟ interest in listening lessons. (+)To suggest some solutions to eliminate these factors in order to help students recover their interest in listening lesson. Research questions This study aims to answer the following question: What are the dominant demotivating factors affecting students’ listening lessons from students’ perception and from teachers’ perception? 4.
Scope of the study The study only focuses on the demotivation that the second year non-English major students at HaUI have in their listening lessons. Then, the study is carried out to investigate main demotivating factors in listening lessons, and to suggest some solutions to help students overcome the current situation. Research methodology The study was a quantitative study, in which I used mainly quantifying techniques. A little amount of qualitative analysis is added to offer deeper insight to the quantifying results.
Survey questionnaires were used to collect the data that show the students' opinions and attitudes on the factors that demotivate them in listening lessons. Informal interviews were applied to teachers to get information on their opinions and their solutions to recover students‟ interest in listening lesson. Lastly, data from observation in some listening classes were used for further analysis. 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 Significance of the study Theoretical significance: As I have mentioned above, most of earlier studies in second language acquisition mainly focused on motivation rather than on demotivation.
Moreover, there have been few studies on demotivating factors that prevent students from learning English in a particular skill, especially listening skill. Therefore, this study is hoped to offer new insight in this research area. Practical significance: Findings of this study will provide information that can help teachers and learners at HaUI find a better way to teach and learn listening skills. In detail, the teachers are able to find appropriate teaching methods to motivate students learning listening skill and students are aware of the factors that can help them revive their interest in learning lessons.
Organization of the study The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. The first part presents rationale, aims, scope, method, and design of the study. The second part is the main content including 3 chapters. Chapter one is the literature review which deals with the concepts of listening, listening comprehension, demotivation and reviewing studies of demotivation in second language acquisition as well as demotivating factors.
Chapter two is about the methodology of the study which presents research questions, participants, methods of the study, instruments, data collection. Chapter three is about the data analysis, discussion and major findings. The last part is conclusion which presents the summary of the study, limitations and the suggestions for further study. 11 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT This part consists of three chapters.
The first chapter presents the basic theories related to listening, listening comprehension, demotivation. The next chapter is about methodology which the author applies to conduct the research. In chapter three, data analysis and discussion of the major findings are presented. Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of listening: 1.1Definition of Listening According to Thomlison‟s (1984) listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying.
This process involves understanding a speaker‟s accent or pronunciation, the speaker‟s grammar and vocabulary, and comprehension of meaning. An able listener is capable of doing these four things simultaneously.2 Definition of Listening comprehension According to O‟malley, J.