(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) a study on students’ difficulties in learning listening comprehension at IQ centre, hai phong

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG

A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING
LISTENING SKILL AT IQ CENTER, HAI PHONG
(Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn của sinh viên trong viêc̣ ho ̣c ki ̃ năng
nghe ta ̣i trung tâm IQ, Hải Phòng)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2017

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG

A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING
LISTENING SKILL AT IQ CENTER, HAI PHONG

(Nghiên cứu về những khó khăn của sinh viên trong viêc̣ ho ̣c ki ̃ năng
nghe ta ̣i trung tâm IQ, Hải Phòng)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Mai Thi Loan,
PhD.
̣

HANOI – 2017

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DECLARATION
I, the undersigned, declare that this thesis is the result of my own research and
has not been submitted to any other university or institution partially or wholly. Except
where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2017
Student

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a
number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr.
Mai Thị Loan for her enthusiastic guidance, insightful comments, and valuable support
throughout my research.
I would also like to thank all of the lecturers of the Department of Post
Graduate Studies, Vietnam National University for their useful lectures and materials
which are of great value to my thesis.
A special word of thanks goes to all of my colleagues and students at IQ Center
for their useful information and support.
Last but not least, I owe my gratitude to my family for their support and
encouragement.

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ABSTRACT
Listening skill is appreciated as a key skill in real-life communication as well as
language acquisition. Therefore, there have been numerous studies of this skill in
different aspects. The study is concerned with listening comprehension problems
which the students at IQ centre have encountered. It was conducted on the basis of one
questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was designed for 45 students and the
interviews were carried out with both the teachers and the students at IQ centre. The
results of the study showed that the students dealt with various listening problems
which were categorized into two types: learners’ listening difficulties related to texts
and learners’ listening difficulties related to listeners. Furthermore, the results of the

interviews help the researcher have a clearer understanding of the difficulties and then
suggest solutions as practical as possible for the students’ better listening learning.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES .................................................................................................. vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1
1.

Rationale for the study ...............................................................................................................1

2.

Aims and objectives of the study ...............................................................................................1

3.

Research questions .....................................................................................................................1

4.

Scope of the study .......................................................................................................................2

5.

Methods of the study ..................................................................................................................2

6.

Significance of the study ............................................................................................................2

7.

Design of the study .....................................................................................................................2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................4
1.1.

Review of previous related studies ........................................................................................4

1.1.1.

Previous studies overseas ................................................................................................4

1.1.2.

In Vietnam .......................................................................................................................6

1.2.

Definitions of listening comprehension.................................................................................7

1.3. The importance of listening comprehension .............................................................................8
1.4. The process of listening comprehension ....................................................................................9
1.5. Potential problems in learning listening comprehension .......................................................11
1.5.1. Familiarity of topic ..............................................................................................................11
1.5.2. Familiarity of vocabulary ....................................................................................................11
1.5.3. Difficult grammar structures ..............................................................................................11
1.5.4.

Pause and hesitation .....................................................................................................12

1.5.5.

Redundancy ...................................................................................................................12

1.5.6.

Psychological problems .................................................................................................12

1.5.7.

Limited memory .............................................................................................................12

1.5.8.

Predicting .......................................................................................................................13

1.5.9.

Pronunciation, intonation, stress ..................................................................................13

1.5.11.

Noise ..............................................................................................................................14

1.6.

Solutions to problems in learning listening comprehension skill .....................................14

1.6.1. Using schema theory in teaching listening to EFL students .............................................14
1.6.2. Pre-teaching and activating vocabulary .............................................................................15

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1.6.3. Building up learners’ vocabulary .......................................................................................15
1.6.4. Providing authentic materials .............................................................................................15
1.6.5. Improving learners’ pronunciation ....................................................................................15
1.6.6. Encouraging prediction ......................................................................................................16
1.6.7. Using visual aids..................................................................................................................16
1.6.8. Encouraging learners to develop listening strategies ........................................................16
1.7.

Summary ...............................................................................................................................16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................17
2.1. Restatement of the research questions ....................................................................................17
2.2. The setting of the study .............................................................................................................17

2.3. Participants ................................................................................................................................17
2.3.1. Students................................................................................................................................17
2.3.2. Teachers ...............................................................................................................................18
2.4. Research types ...........................................................................................................................18
2.5. Data collection instruments ......................................................................................................18
2.5.1. Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................18
2.5.2. Interviews .............................................................................................................................19
2.6. Data collection procedures .......................................................................................................19
2.6.1. Questionnaires .....................................................................................................................19
2.6.2. Interviews .............................................................................................................................20
2.7. Data analysis methods ...............................................................................................................20
2.8. Summary ....................................................................................................................................20
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ........................................................................21
3.1. Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................21
3.1.1. Learners’ perceptions of listening difficulties related to texts ...........................................21
3.1.2. Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to speakers ...................................................21
3.1.3. Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to listeners ....................................................22
3.1.4. Learners’ perceptions of difficulties related to physical setting ........................................25
3.1.5. Learners’ opinions of solutions to listening difficulties.....................................................26
3.2. Interviews ...................................................................................................................................27
3.2.1. The teachers’ answers about teaching listening ................................................................27
3.2.2. The teachers’ and the students’ answers about the listening problems ............................28
3.2.3. The teachers’ and the students’ suggestions about solutions ............................................31
3.3. Summary ....................................................................................................................................31
CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................32
4.1. Difficulties in learning listening comprehension encountered by the students at IQ centre,
Hai Phong..........................................................................................................................................32

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4.2. Recommendations to help the students overcome difficulties in learning listening
comprehension ..................................................................................................................................33
4.2.1. Improving teachers’ performance in their listening lessons .............................................33
4.2.2. Assisting students to build up rich vocabulary ...................................................................35
4.2.3. Teaching pronunciation with spoken features ...................................................................35
4.2.4. Developing listening materials ............................................................................................36
4.2.5. Using different kinds of input .............................................................................................37
4.2.6. Training students to become active listeners ......................................................................37
4.2.7. Encouraging self-study .......................................................................................................38
4.3. Summary ....................................................................................................................................38
PART C: CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................39
1.

Recapitulation ...........................................................................................................................39

2.

Conclusions ...............................................................................................................................39

3.

Limitations of the study ...........................................................................................................40

4.

Suggestions for further study ..................................................................................................40

REFERENCES .....................................................................................................................................41
APPENDIX 1 .......................................................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 2 ......................................................................................................................................... V
APPENDIX 3 ..................................................................................................................................... VIII
APPENDIX 4 ....................................................................................................................................... IX
APPENDIX 5 ......................................................................................................................................... X
APPENDIX 6 ...................................................................................................................................... XII

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to texts
Figure 2: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to speakers
Figure 3: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to listeners’
listening competence
Figure 4: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to listeners’
psychology
Figure 5: Learners’ perceptions of their listening difficulties related to physical setting
Table: Learners’ opinions about solutions to difficulties in learning listening
comprehension

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale for the study
It is undeniable that listening plays a vital role in human being’s communication.
Communication will not take place unless people understand the language to which
they are exposed. Listening is also the skill which is used most frequently in verbal
communication. Furthermore, listening skill is of primary importance in foreign
language learning and acquisition. The development of other language skills can be
enhanced through this receptive skill. Nevertheless, English teaching in Vietnam has
put emphasis on boosting vocabulary and grammar through reading texts for many
years. This leads to the fact that a great number of English learners cannot listen to
native speakers as well as communicate in English. The students who join English
communication courses at IQ center are no exception. Most of them have a great
desire to master listening skill for the general purpose of proficiency in
communication. However, from my own teaching experience as well as my
observation of English communication classes at IQ center, it can be found that many
students had difficulty in learning listening skill. It is my responsibility to help the
students at IQ center to overcome those difficulties. In addition, the researchers of
previous related studies suggest that more listening difficulties should be found out.
Therefore, it is necessary for me to carry out a study on “The students’ difficulties in
learning listening comprehension at IQ Center”.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The aim of the study is to help the students to overcome the difficulties which they
have encountered in learning listening comprehension at IQ centre.
The objectives of the study are:
- To investigate the difficulties that the students have encountered in learning
listening comprehension;
- To suggest some solutions to help the students overcome the difficulties.
3. Research questions
The study is intended to explore the difficulties which the students have encountered
in learning listening comprehension and then suggest solutions to these difficulties.

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The study will find the answers to the following questions:
1.

What

difficulties

have

students

encountered

in

learning

listening

comprehension at IQ centre?
2. What are the possible solutions to help the students overcome the difficulties in
learning listening comprehension?
4. Scope of the study
The study is concerned with students’ difficulties in learning listening
comprehension. It is conducted at IQ centre, Hai Phong. The students participating in

the study are at pre-intermediate level.
5.

Methods of the study
The study was carried out by some steps as follows:
First, the survey questionnaire for students was employed to find out their

difficulties in learning listening comprehension. Besides, the students’ opinions of the
solutions that they and their teachers can do to overcome the listening problems was
revealed through the questionnaire.
Second, personal interviews with both the teachers and the students were
conducted to help the researcher gain deep insight into the listening problems and
realize the reasons behind them.
After that, the data was collected, sorted, and analyzed quantitatively and
qualitatively to obtain realistic results.
To end with, recommendations for the solutions to the students’ listening
problems were proposed based on the results found from all data collection
instruments.
6. Significance of the study
This study contributed to list out the difficulties encountered by the students at IQ
centre in learning listening comprehension. The results of the research are believed to
assist the students to progress in listening skill and improve the quality of teaching
listening at IQ centre.
7. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts:

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Part I - The Introduction presents the rationale for the study, the aims and
objectives, the research questions, the scope, the methods, the significance, and the
design of the study
Part II – The Development consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 is the literature
review which provides an overview of the theoretical background and the previous
researches related to the study. Chapter 2, the methodology restates the research
questions and describes the setting, the participants, and the research methods of the
study. Chapter 3, data analysis and the findings are shown. In chapter 4, the findings
are discussed and the recommendations are proposed.
Part III – The Conclusion briefly summarizes the study and makes some suggestions
for further studies.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Review of previous related studies
The topic “difficulties in learning listening comprehension skill” is always the
centre of many researchers’ attention. The following are some most recent studies of
the topic in both Vietnam and overseas. All of these studies share a common purpose in
discovering the difficulties learners encounter in learning listening comprehension skill
and suggesting solutions.
1.1.1. Previous studies overseas
In this part, the researcher presents the studies conducted in the countries where
English is taught and learnt as a foreign language. They are the studies by Tilahun
(2008), Hasan (2015), and Nowrouzi et al (2015).

The study by Tilahun (2008) explored the factors that contribute to the
problems EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners face in listening skill
classrooms at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. The instruments used in the study
were a questionnaire for the students, a semi-structured interview with the students, a
structured interview with the listening instructors, observation of listening
environment, material analysis, and document analysis. The study identified thirty six
difficulties which interfered with the learners’ listening comprehension. They were
related to text, listener, speaker, and environment. The study also discovered that the
learners’ listening difficulties were due to the defects of the listening materials used in
the course and the learners’ lack of exposure to English spoken by native speakers.
Tilahun (2008) proposed many solutions to help the learners improve their listening
comprehension skill. In particular, the teachers should provide the learners with
pronunciation exercises, activate the learners’ schemata before listening, and
encourage them to listen to authentic materials. Also, there should be a regular
maintenance and a timely repairing of equipments. Besides, tasks should be designed
to focus on training not on testing listening comprehension. Tilahun (2008) also
suggested that more listening difficulties and strategies need to be discovered.

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The study by Hasan (2015) investigated the difficulties EFL (English as a
Foreign Language) students encounter in listening comprehension as perceived by
ELC (English Language Centre) students at Arab American University- Jenin. The
instruments used in this study were a questionnaire for the students and a semistructure interview with the students. The study found six factors that posed
difficulties to learners’ listening comprehension. They were unfamiliarity of topics,
noises, quality of equipment, fast rate of speech, and limited vocabulary. Hasan (2015)
suggested a lot of recommendations for the teachers, the ministry of education, and

future researchers. The teachers should give the learners more instructions on how to
listen, use English inside classrooms, get the learners get acquainted with the prosody
of English, and give the learners opportunities to use English in authentic situations.
The ministry of education can include listening skill into governmental exams and
more listening exercises need to be designed in curriculum. He also recommended that
more researches on how to improve listening skill have to be conducted with large
samples.
The study by Nowrouzi et al (2015) discovered Iranian EFL (English as a
Foreign Language) students’ listening comprehension problems. The instruments used
in this study was a questionnaire for the students. The results of the study indicated
that the students experienced the listening problems which could be categorized into
three types in relation to the three phases of listening process: perception, parsing, and
utilization. There were three most dominant problems. The first one was missing or
misperceiving sounds and words related to perception, chunking sentence. The second
one was forgetting concerned with parsing. The last one was confusion about the main
idea pertaining to utilization. Nowrouzi et al (2015) also recommended that material
developers, syllabus designers and the teachers should pay particular attention to
learners’ utilization problems because learners may fail to recognize their own
pragmatic and discourse problems. Further researches were hoped to explore the
strategies that learners employ in dealing with their listening problems.
In spite of the researchers’ various solutions contributed to the area of listening
comprehension, they hoped that more listening problems and strategies would be

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discovered by future researchers. My study aims to seek more listening problems
learners face and solutions.

1.1.2. In Vietnam
Recently, in our country, the area of listening comprehension have received the
attention of a number of researchers. Some most recent studies which are presented in
this part are the studies by Lê Thị Hồng Loan (2012), Trịnh Vinh Hiển (2013), and
Phạm Thị Phượng (2014).
The study by Lê Thị Hồng Loan (2012) is concerned with the difficulties in
learning listening skill experienced by the first-year students at Vietnam Maritime
University in Hai Phong city. The instruments used in this study were a questionnaire
for the students and a questionnaire for the teachers. The results of the study identified
various kinds of listening problems which were divided into four categories: students’
difficulties related to linguistic features, ones related to listening texts, ones related to
speakers, and ones related to listeners. The causes of these difficulties are the students’
poor pronunciation, lack of knowledge of characteristics of spoken language,
inexperience in listening, and bad habit in learning listening. From the findings of the
study, some suggestions were proposed. In particular, the teachers should improve
their teaching method and help the students improve their English proficiency.
Besides, the students should study by themselves outside class. She also recommended
that further studies should be carried out to find out the difficulties experienced by
teachers.
The study by Trịnh Vinh Hiển (2013) explored the difficulties encountered by
the first year- English major students at Lac Hong University. The instruments used in
this study was a questionnaire for the students. The problems in learning listening
comprehension revealed from the results of the study are limited amount of time spent
on self-study, the inappropriate strategies of the students, the listening material and the
physical settings. He suggested that the students should be exposed to a variety of
listening and learn tips or strategies through each of their learning themselves. The
teachers should teach the learners the strategies and how to apply them to listening

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tasks. He also recommended that further studies should be conducted to find out more
difficulties and listening strategies.
The study by Phạm Thị Phượng (2014) investigated the problems experienced
by non- major students of English at Hai Phong Foreign Language Center. The
instruments used in the study were a questionnaire for the students and a semistructured interview with the teachers. The results of the study showed that the
students’ limited vocabulary, poor pronunciation, anxiety, and speakers’ fast speech
rate were the listening problems the students encountered. She suggested solutions in
the order of the stages of teaching listening skill. According to her, the teachers should
motivate the learners flexibly. She also expected other researchers to discover more
listening problems as well as realistic solutions.
The studies by Lê Thị Hồng Loan (2012), Trịnh Vinh Hiển (2013), and Phạm
Thị Phượng (2014) identified a number of listening problems which students in our
country have encountered. Also, a lot of solutions were proposed. Nevertheless, the
researchers believed that there would be more listening problems which needed to be
discovered by future researchers. This is the purpose of my study.
In summary, the studies both in Vietnam and overseas mentioned above
showed students’ listening problems which are related to texts, speakers, listeners, and
physical settings. As expected by the researchers of these studies, my thesis was
conducted for the purpose of exploring more listening difficulties and practical
solutions.
1.2. Definitions of listening comprehension
There have been a number of definitions of listening comprehension skill and each
of which reflects its author’s own point of view. The following are some representative
definitions of listening comprehension.
Buck (2001: 31) defined listening comprehension as an active process in which
listeners are involved in constructing meaning. He emphasizes that both linguistic
knowledge and non-linguistic knowledge are used to understand incoming speech by

listeners. It can be realized from this definition that listening comprehension is more

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than hearing because listeners actively interpret what speakers say basing on their
linguistic and non- linguistic knowledge.
Rost (2002: 3) considered listening comprehension as a cognitive process to
represent and form meaning from what speakers say. According to him, meaning
construction is assisted by contextual factors. Moreover, listening comprehension
involves establishing a negotiation in meaning (with the speaker), and giving
responses. Thus, listening comprehension is one integral part of communication skill
in which context plays an important role in identifying speakers’ intention.
Jeon (2007: 50) stated that listening comprehension requires listeners’ capacity to
“apprehend, recognize, discriminate, or even ignore certain information”. He also
pointed out the factors which are necessary for listening comprehension: linguistic
knowledge, personal expectation, cognitive processing skills, world knowledge and
prior experience which listeners have. Thus, listening comprehension depends on a
variety of listeners’ sub-skills, knowledge, and experience.
Nadig (2013: 1743) simply defined listening comprehension as the various
processes of interpreting spoken language. According to him, the processes are based
on listeners’ perception of speech sounds, comprehension of the meaning of individual
words and the syntax of sentences.
It can be concluded from the definitions mentioned above that listening
comprehension is an active and purposeful process in which listeners try to interpret
speakers’ intention and respond. In other words, listening is an important skill in
communication. It may include interrelated activities such as receiving aural stimuli,
attaching meaning to aural symbols, remembering and responding to oral

communication. The factors which are necessary for listening comprehension are
linguistic knowledge, personal expectation, cognitive processing skills, and world
knowledge.
1.3. The importance of listening comprehension
Before 1960s, the role of listening comprehension in language learning was taken
for granted, so teaching of listening comprehension was completely neglected.
Nevertheless, with a new wave of interest in the development of communicative

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competence in language teaching, there came an increasing awareness of the
significant role of listening. Through a great number of researches, listening
comprehension has been proved to play a very crucial role in human being’s
communication, language learning, and second language acquisition.
According to Devine (1982: 7), listening is “the primary means by which
incoming ideas and information are taken in”. Thus, it is obvious that listening is a
receptive skill and an integral part of human being’s communication. Furthermore,
listening is the skill used most frequently in verbal communication. In general,
successful listening may involve successful communication.
Hasan (2000: 138) pointed out that listening comprehension provides the right
conditions for language acquisition and the development of other language skills. The
proficiency in speaking and pronunciation can only be perfectly achieved through
listening skill.
All in all, the significant role of listening comprehension skill in human being’s
communication, language learning, and second language acquisition is undeniable.
This is the reason why teaching and learning listening comprehension skill have
received more and more attention of researchers, teachers, and learners over the world.

1.4. The process of listening comprehension
Prior to 1960s, listening comprehension is labeled as a passive skill. However, this
opinion has changed since 1980s. Listening comprehension is considered as an active
and complex process which is illustrated by Anderson’s model.
Anderson (1995) divided listening comprehension into three interrelated
cognitive processes: perception, parsing and utilization. Perceptual processing is the
encoding of the acoustic or written message. In particular, a person pays close
attention to input and the sounds are stored in echoic memory. Simultaneously, some
initial analysis of the language code may start, and encoding processes may transform
some of the input into meaningful representations. In the second process - parsing,
words are converted into a mental representation of the combined meaning of these
words which can be stored in short- term memory. The basic unit of the process is a
proposition. The third process, utilization, is composed of associating a mental

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representation of the auditory meaning with existing knowledge to form schemata
whose role is guiding the comprehension process. If the incoming information is
compatible with the schema, then the listener have succeeded in comprehending the
text. By contrast, either the information or the schema will be discarded or modified.
In the model of Anderson (1995), the first two steps belong to bottom-up process
while the third step is of top-down process.
Bottom-up processing which is suitable to the way of thinking of almost people
takes place in a definite order from the lowest level to the highest level. In particular,
phonemic units are first decoded and connected together to complete words, words are
connected together to construct phrases, phrases are connected together to construct
utterances, and utterances are connected together to construct a complete, meaningful

text. This process is closely associated with the listeners’ linguistic knowledge. In fact,
the processing of different types of knowledge does not occur in a fixed sequence. It is
quite possible to understand the meaning of a word before decoding its sounds thanks
to the knowledge of the world around us and our expectation to incoming information.
Top-down processing is defined as using background knowledge in
comprehending the meaning of a message. The listener employs prior knowledge of
the context and situation within which the listening occurs to understand what he/she
hears. Context and situation involve things such as knowledge of the topic at hand, the
speakers, and their correlation with the situation, as well as with each other and
previous events. However, if the information the listener hears is unfamiliar to him, it
cannot evoke his schemata and he can only depend heavily on his linguistic
knowledge. Besides, even though the listener can trigger a schema, he might not have
the suitable schema expected by the speaker. Thus, only relying on top-down
processing may result in the failure of comprehension.
It is clear that both bottom-up process and top-down process have downsides.
This is the reason why another model which is interactive process is proposed. When
the content of the material is familiar to the listener, he will employ his background
knowledge to make predictions which will be proved by the new input. By contrast, if
the listener is unfamiliar with the content of the listening text, he can only depend on

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his linguistic knowledge, especially the lexical and syntactical knowledge to make
sense of the information.
In summary, listening comprehension is a very complex process in which both
bottom-up and top-down process play a crucial part. The researcher is quite in favor of
the opinion that listening comprehension is an interactive process.

1.5. Potential problems in learning listening comprehension
Listening comprehension is a challenging skill, but most foreign language learners
want to acquire it. Therefore, a great number of studies have been conducted to
discover potential problems in learning listening comprehension. This part presents
some outstanding problems drawn from the researches of Ur (1984), Underwood
(1989), Hung (1998), Goh (1999), Hasan (2000), Anderson and Lynch (2003), Field
(2003), Vandergrift (2007), Bloomfield et al. (2010), and Walker (2014).
1.5.1. Familiarity of topic
A listening text whose topic is unfamiliar to learners contains knowledge or
cultural aspects which learners do not have. According to Anderson and Lynch (2003),
if learners lack background knowledge or cultural aspects contained in a text, their
comprehension of the text will be interfered. Therefore, numerous studies show that
providing listeners with background information before asking them to listen to a text
is quite necessary.
1.5.2. Familiarity of vocabulary
The research by Goh (1999) indicates that new words can interrupt learners’
listening comprehension. Hung (1998) also stresses that texts with familiar words are
easier for students to comprehend, even if the content is unfamiliar to them. According
to him, the using of words familiar to listeners might enhance their learning interest
and result in a positive effect in teaching listening.
1.5.3. Difficult grammar structures
The research by Hasan (2000) reveals that difficult grammar structures cause
problems for learners’ listening comprehension. Listeners have difficulty in forming a
mental representation from words heard. Therefore, providing listeners with difficult
grammar structures before listening is quite necessary.

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1.5.4. Pause and hesitation
Goh (1999) claims that pause is one of the features of spoken language which
may pose serious problems to EFL (English as a foreign language) listeners.
According to Underwood (1989: 13), pauses give listeners time to think about what
has been just said and to relate it to what has gone before. However, long pauses which
are often filled with sounds or expressions such as “Er”, “Erm” can embarrass
learners.
1.5.5. Redundancy
Redundancy may take the form of repititions, false starts, re-phrasings, self
corrections and apparently meaningless additions such as “I mean”, “you know”. Ur
(1984) states that redundant phrases help listeners have extra information and time to
think, so they can follow speakers. Therefore, learners may have troubles with
listening comprehension if speakers do not use redundant phrases.
1.5.6. Psychological problems
It is undeniable that psychological factors may either facilitate or interfere with
learners’ listening comprehension. Some popular psychological problems in listening
are: fatigue, anxiety, focus loss, uninterestedness. All of these problems make listeners
lose their attention which can seriously impede their comprehension (Underwood,
1989: 19).
There is a fact that learners can not concentrate when they feel tired or
exhausted. Some learners feel unconfident in their listening ability, thus, they become
so anxious before listening and this often makes them miss the beginning part of the
text. Learners also lose their concentration when they have a problem while listening.
It is because they often try to understand everything they listen and feel discouraged
by their lack of success. Uninteresting topics are difficult to attract listeners’ attention.
1.5.7. Limited memory
Fodor, Bever, and Garette (1974) claims that listeners can hold foreign
language input or words in short-term memory only long enough to organize them into
clauses and to infer the meaning that they convey. As a result of this, as soon as

listeners have interpreted the clauses, the elements that made them up are purged from

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memory to make room for incoming sounds. This shows that although students are
able to recognize the words, they are not able to hold them long enough in their
memory and subsequently write them down.
Moreover, in regard to aural process, “the sounds first go into and remain in a
sensory store for a very short time” (Underwood, 1989: 2). However, because learners’
pronunciation is different from recording, it takes a lot of time for them to recognize a
word while another word is arriving. Therefore, they quickly forget the words or the
phrases they have just heard.
1.5.8. Predicting
According to Hasan (2000), the difficulty in predicting what will come next is
believed to be caused by the habit of listening to word by word. Learners do not focus
on any particular cues which help them predict what is going to be talked about.
Besides, on facing a new word, they tend to find out the meaning rather than infer it
from the context.
1.5.9. Pronunciation, intonation, stress
Bloomfield et al (2010) and Walker (2014) expressed that learners have
difficulty in recognizing familiar words because the pronunciation of words in spoken
language is different from one in written language.
According to Vandergrift (2007) and Walker (2014), prosodic features of
spoken language like weak forms and strong forms of words, stress, and intonation
also impede the comprehension of oral texts.
Field (2003: 329) suggests various problems in word recognition such as
"reduction, assimilation, elision, resyllabification, and cliticisation".

It can be concluded that if learners’ pronunciation, stress, and intonation are
limited, it is difficult for them to recognize a familiar word.
1.5.10. Failure to recognize the signals
Listeners may fail to recognize the signals, which indicate that the speaker is
moving from one point to another, giving an example, or repeating a point.
Underwood (1989) points out the signals in both formal and informal situations.

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In formal situations or lectures, the signals are discourse markers such as
“secondly”, or “then” which are comparatively evident to listeners.
In informal situations or spontaneous conversations, the signals are more vague
such as pauses, gestures, increased loudness, a clear change of pitch, or different
intonation patterns. These signals can easily be missed especially by less proficient
listeners.
1.5.11.Noise
Noise may be caused not only by some outside disturbance, but also by a
temporary lack of attention on the part of the listener, or by the fact that a word or
phrase was not understood because it was mispronounced or misused or because the
listener simply do not know it. (Underwood, 1989)
1.5.12. Visual clues
Over many years, the scholars commented that visual aids are informative and
enhance listening comprehension. They are extremely good for enhancing listeners'
motivation and listeners' interests, attracting listeners' attention, organizing the input
and providing predictions.
1.6. Solutions to problems in learning listening comprehension skill
This part presents some solutions to potential problems in learning listening

comprehension indicated in the last part. The solutions are suggested by the
researchers: Van Duzer (1997: 5), Hamouda (2013: 147-150), and Pourhosein &
Sabouri (2016: 128-129).
1.6.1. Using schema theory in teaching listening to EFL students
Schema is a data structure for showing the general concepts stored in memory
(Richards, 1990). Activating schema before listening arises learners’ expectation and
specifically helps them familiarize with unfamiliar topics. In order to activate learners’
schemata, teachers should provide students with the knowledge of content, situation,
and speakers of the listening text. Besides, learners should be told what they are going
to do based on the listening text and required to discuss what is going to be heard. This
not only activates learners’ schemata but also creates purpose for their listening
comprehension. Also, activating schemata helps our learners predict what speakers are

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going to say. Preliminary elicitations such as “What do you know about this topic?”,
“What could the passage be about?” are helpful for learners to make predictions.
1.6.2. Pre-teaching and activating vocabulary
Pre-teaching vocabulary before listening and working on the skill of guessing
vocabulary from context can help learners overcome the difficulty caused by
unfamiliar words. It is noticeable that learners should practice guessing meaning with
the words that can actually be guessed from context. Moreover, learners should work
on this skill with reading texts to achieve the much more difficult skill of guessing
vocabulary and listening at the same time. Pre-teaching vocabulary and guessing
vocabulary from context are actually useful because whenever learners are able to
relate what they have already known to what they are supposed to listen to, they are
likely to listen more effectively.

1.6.3. Building up learners’ vocabulary
The research by Hamouda (2013) showed that most of the students reported not
to have sufficient vocabulary in listening comprehension and some of them
complained that their vocabulary was too poor to understand. In addition to preteaching and activating vocabulary, teachers should assist learners to build up their
vocabulary. Moreover, teaching them how they can do the same in their own time with
vocabulary lists, graded readers, monolingual dictionary use is quite necessary. This
solution helps learners overcome the difficulty caused by unfamiliar words.
1.6.4. Providing authentic materials
Teachers should provide learners with authentic listening materials that help
them understand better the natural speech spoken by native speakers. Authenticity
should be evident both in language and in task. The language should reflect the
features of spoken language such as hesitations, rephrasing, and a variety of accents.
This is quite difficult for listeners. However, level of difficulty can be controlled by
the selection of the task. The difficulties caused by pauses and hesitations can be
solved thanks to this solution.
1.6.5. Improving learners’ pronunciation
Teachers should expose learners to the recordings which provide learners with

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practices of word level exercises that deal with the practice of different sounds and
sound combination which occur within single words. Besides, teachers should provide
sentence level exercises such as assimilation or elision, contraction, distortion of
sounds within common collocations. Good pronunciation ensures that learners can
recognize the words which they already know.
1.6.6. Encouraging prediction
Learners are required to predict what the text is about before listening or what

the speaker is going to say. In order to encourage learners to imagine and predict what
they are going to hear, teachers should tell something about the topic of the listening
text or something about the speakers. Besides, the signals which indicate that the
speaker moves from one point to another need to be taught to assist learners to guess
what is coming next. Moreover, learners can be asked to predict the grammar
structures or the words that may appear in the listening text. Prediction not only
supports learners’ listening comprehension effectively but also helps them more selfconfident and thus listen better.
1.6.7. Using visual aids
Visual aids or drawn pictures and diagrams related to the listening topic should
be exploited to assist learners to guess and imagine actively. Visual aids are actually
effective in drawing learners’ attentions, increasing their motivation on the topic and
helping them relate to the content of the text easily.
1.6.8. Encouraging learners to develop listening strategies
Teachers should encourage their students to develop listening strategies.
Predicting, asking for clarification, and using non-verbal cues are some examples of
the strategies that improve learners’ listening comprehension ability.
1.7. Summary
In this part, previous related studies and the theoretical framework for the study
are presented. They were the basis for the researcher to design the questionnaire and
the interview questions with which the investigation of the students’ difficulties in
learning listening comprehension at IQ centre was carried out.

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