Khóa luận tốt nghiệp a study on the factors affecting the listening skills of 10 graders at phuc tho high school, phuc tho district in ha noi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE
LISTENING SKILLS OF 10th GRADERS AT PHUC THO
HIGH SCHOOL, PHUC THO DISTRICT IN HA NOI
NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN KỸ
NĂNG NGHE CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT
PHÚC THỌ, HUYỆN PHÚC THỌ TẠI HÀ NỘI

Student

: NGUYEN THUY HIEN

Student code

: 621241

Major

: ENGLISH

Supervisor 1

: NGUYEN THI KIM QUE, M.Ed

Supervisor 2

: LE THI HONG LAM, MA

Hanoi – 2021


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
A STUDY ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE
LISTENING SKILLS OF 10th GRADERS AT PHUC THO
HIGH SCHOOL, PHUC THO DISTRICT IN HA NOI
NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN KỸ
NĂNG NGHE CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT
PHÚC THỌ, HUYỆN PHÚC THỌ TẠI HÀ NỘI

Student

: NGUYEN THUY HIEN

Student code

: 621241

Major

: ENGLISH

Supervisor 1

: NGUYEN THI KIM QUE, M.Ed

Supervisor 2

: LE THI HONG LAM, MA

Hanoi – 2021


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled A STUDY ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE LISTENING
SKILLS OF 10th GRADERS AT PHUC THO HIGH SCHOOL, PHUC THO
DISTRICT IN HA NOI submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is
indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement
in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2021

Nguyen Thuy Hien

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)
Date:……………………

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
During the process of doing this graduation thesis, I have received many
necessary assistances, precious ideas and timely encouragements from my
teachers, family and friends. This thesis could not have been completed without
the help, encouragement and support from a number of people who all deserve
my sincerest gratitude and appreciation.
First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor –
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Que and Ms. Le Thi Hong Lam, the English teacher of
Faculty of Foreign Language, who has always been willing to give me valuable
advices and suggestions in order that I can complete successfully this study.
I am so thankful to students of 10th graders at Phuc Tho High School for
their whole – heart participation in the study.
I am equally indebted to my classmates for their suggestions and
encouragements in the process of my study.
Last but not least, my particular thanks are given to my parents for their
encouragement and support which played an important role in my graduation
thesis.

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ..................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... v
LIST OF ABBREVIATION ................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. vii
PART 1: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 1

1.1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY ................................................................. 1
1.2. AIMS AND OBJCTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................. 2
1.2.1. Aims of the study ........................................................................................ 2
1.2.2. Objectives of the study ................................................................................ 2
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS............................................................................ 2
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 3
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................... 3
1.6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 3
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 5
1.1. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME AND ABOARD) .......... 5
1.1.1. Related research studies at home ................................................................ 5
1.1.2. Related research studies abroad .................................................................. 5
1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................ 6
1.2.1. Definition of listening ................................................................................. 6
1.2.2. The importance of listening skills ............................................................... 8
1.2.3. Types of listening ........................................................................................ 9
1.2.4. Factors affecting listening comprehension ............................................... 10
1.3. SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 12
2.1. RESEARCH GOVERNING PRINCIPLES................................................. 12

iii


2.1.1. Research questions .................................................................................... 12
2.1.2. Research hypothesis .................................................................................. 12
2.1.3. Research types ........................................................................................... 13
2.1.4. Research approaches ................................................................................. 13
2.1.5. Principles/ criteria for data collection and data analysis ........................... 13

2.2. RESEARCH METHODS............................................................................. 15
2.2.1. Major methods........................................................................................... 15
2.3. SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 16
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 17
3.1. FACTORS RELATED TO LISTENING TEXTS ....................................... 17
3.2. FACTORS RELATED TO LINGUISTIC FEATURES ............................. 19
3.3. FACTORS RELATED TO THE SPEAKERS ............................................ 21
3.4. FACTORS RELATED TO LISTENERS .................................................... 22
3.5. FACTORS RELATED TO THE FAILURE TO CONCENTRATE........... 23
3.6. FACTORS RELATED TO THE PHYSICAL SETTINGS ......................... 24
3.7. RESULTS FROM INTERVIEWS............................................................... 25
3.8. SUGGESTIONS ON IMPROVING THE STUDENTS LISTENING
SKILLS ............................................................................................................... 26
3.9. SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 27
PART 3: CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 28
1. RECAPITULATION ...................................................................................... 28
2. CONCLUDING REMARKS .......................................................................... 28
2.1. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 28
2.2. THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE LISTENING SKILLS OF 10 th
GRADERS AT PHUC THO HIGH SCHOOL, PHUC THO DISTRICT IN HA
NOI ...................................................................................................................... 28
3. LIMITATIONS OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH ...................................... 29
4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ........................................... 29
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 30
APPENDIX 1: .................................................................................................... 33
APPENDIX 2: .................................................................................................... 44

iv

ABSTRACT
Listening skill is one of the most necessary skills to communicate in the
real life. In learning a foreign language, it is more and more important to learn
this skill. Everybody knows that in order to listen to a message is not as simple
as hearing it, so the listener has to understand the message and respond in the
right manner. The thesis will study the factors affecting the listening skills of
10th graders at Phuc Tho High School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi. Then, it
would like to give some suggestions to help students enhance listening skills.
Therefore, I applied the qualitative and quantitative methods to do the research.
So the collecting data instruments like questionnaires, interviews were used to
do the study.

v


LIST OF ABBREVIATION

EFL: English as a Foreign Language
HUFI: Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Criteria for judging the degree of problems ...................................... 15
Table 3.1: Factors related to listening texts ........................................................ 17
Table 3.2: Factors related to linguistic features .................................................. 19
Table 3.3: Factors related to the speakers ........................................................... 21
Table 3.4: Factors related to listeners ................................................................. 22
Table 3.5: Factors related to the failure to concentrate ....................................... 23

Table 3.6: Factors related to the physical settings .............................................. 24

vii


PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
It is undeniable that listening is a vital skill in the mastery of any
language. According to Nunan(1998), listening is the basic skill in language
learning and without listening skill, learners will never learn to communicate
effectively. In fact, more than 50% of the time students spend functioning in a
foreign language should be devoted in listening. The same claim is supported by
Hamouda (2013) who confirms that listening is a fundamental language
skill in foreign language
Because the key to acquire a language is to receive understandable
language input. Without understanding inputs at a right level, any kind of
learning cannot occur. Rost (2002) also indicates that developing listening
proficiency is the key to achieving proficiency in speaking.
As a researcher, I would like to present the thesis title “A study on the
factors affecting the listening skills of 10th graders at Phuc Tho High School,
Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi” for several reasons.
First of all, listening is the most important skill in communication in the
real life. Listening and speaking are two major parts of communication. They
are closely interdependent. We are able to talk sensibly when we understand
what is said to us. If we fail to understand spoken language, we may miss
important information and respond in a funny way. Moreover, in learning a
language, listening is a useful means of providing students with comprehensible
input, which is an essential component of the whole language learning process.
And teaching listening skill in classroom helps students make transition from
classroom English to real-life English more easily and effectively. Therefore, I

would like to do this research to help the students and teachers pay more
attention to listening skill.

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Secondly, learning listening skill is the most difficult in learning a foreign
language. Listening, like reading, is a receptive skill but it is often the most
daunting for students. When reading, a reader usually has more opportunities to
refer back to the text to clarify understanding, which a listener can not do in
most listening contexts such as TV programs, meetings, discussion, lectures or
conversations.
Last but not least, the reason for choosing this thesis title is that many
students are not interested in learning listening skills. They find listening classes
boring. On the other hand, practicing listening skill is difficult and it takes long
time. That is the reason I would like to identify the factors affecting listening
skills and suggest some strategies to help students to study listening skill more
excited and better.
1.2. AIMS AND OBJCTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.2.1. Aims of the study
The study is carried out in order to investigate the current state of learning
the listening skills in Phuc Tho High School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi so that
I could work out the factors affecting listening skill.
1.2.2. Objectives of the study
In the light of that general aim, some specific objectives are drawn up to
outline of the study as follows:
• To investigate the current state of learning listening skills in Phuc Tho
High School, Phuc Tho District to find out the factors affecting listening skills.
• To propose some recommendations to help the students in Phuc Tho
High School, Phuc Tho District enhance their listening skills.

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The objectives of the research could be specified briefly into these
research questions:

2


• What are some possible factors influencing 10th graders’ listening skills
in Phuc Tho High School?
• What should the students do to improve their English listening skills?
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Research subject: The factors affecting listening skill of 10th graders at
Phuc Tho High School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi.
Research Object: Learning listening skills of 10th graders at Phuc Tho
High School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi.
Research scope: 80 students of 10th graders with B1.1 level according to
the new textbook program of the Ministry of Education and Training at Phuc
Tho High School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi. They have 3 periods of English
per week.
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is of great importance to 10th graders at Phuc Tho High School
in Ha Noi. After the factors affecting their listening skills have been found out,
they can focus on those factors to improve their listening skills. In other words,
teachers and students at Phuc Tho High School may be able to implement proper
methods with an aim to raise students’ listening levels.
Other learners of English may also find this study beneficial.
1.6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
Apart from the acknowledgement, the abstract, references and appendices,
this study consists of three main parts:
PART 1 - INTRODUCTION presents the rationale of the study, aims and

objectives of the study, research questions, the scope and the significance of the
study.
PART 2 - DEVELOPMENT is composed of 3 chapters:

3


Chapter 1 - LITERATURE REVIEW - provides theoretical background
for the study including The definition of listening, The importance of listening
skills, Types of listening, and factors affecting listening comprehension
Chapter 2 – METHODOLOGY describes the methodology used in the
research including the research methods, research setting/ context, data
collection, and data analysis.
Chapter 3 - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS - reports and discusses the
findings of the study.
PART 3 - CONCLUSION summarizes the main issues that have been
addressed in the study, points out the limitations, draws pedagogical
implications concerning the research topic and makes some recommendations to
help the students improve their listening skills.

4


PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME AND ABOARD)
1.1.1. Related research studies at home
Duong and Chau (2018) conducted a study in Vietnam in which listening
comprehension problems were addressed. The data collected from a
questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were analyzed statistically and

qualitatively. The results showed that the 115 English majors found listening
texts (i.e. unfamiliar words, slangs, idioms, colloquial words, and complex
sentence structures) the most dominant cause for their low listening
comprehension. Furthermore, speedy delivery, unclear pronunciation, different
accents, anxiety, invisibility for speakers’ facial expression, and noise affected
their listening comprehension.
Quyen and Dan (2018) investigate first-year English major students at
some universities in Mekong Delta and they state that students have to face lots
of difficulties while learning listening comprehension. These main problems are
related to listening materials, linguistic features, listening process, speakers,
listeners, psychological characteristics and lack of concentration. They also
claim that unfamiliar vocabularies, pronunciation and accent of speakers, the
effect of tape recorder, lack of concentration and lack of practice are main
causes of the problems.
1.1.2. Related research studies abroad
Díaz (2012), carried out a research investigation in order to identify the
factors that interfere with EFL learners‟ listening comprehension at a public
university. Data was gathered through non participant observations and semistructured interviews. Findings revealed that factors interfering with EFL learners
listening comprehension are: speaker’s accent and rate of delivery; student’s limited
vocabulary, concentration, discussion of unknown topics and noise.

5


Kutlu and Aslanolub (2009), conducted research on the factors affecting
listening skills by using a listening comprehension test for 265 fifth grade
students from 4 private schools in Ankara. They found that “number of juvenile
books at home”, “number of books at home”, “time spent reading books”, “time
spent reading newspaper” and “time spent listening to radio” have significant
effect on fifth grade students‟ success in their listening performance .

Reina (2010) examined the listening performance of students in a second
level EFL course at the University Foundation Juan de Castellanos in Tunja
(Colombia). The author researched this topic through the development of six
workshops based on English songs. Findings of this study indicate that this type
of material can foster listening skills and engage students in discussion about
cultural and social issues. Otherwise, results show that practicing listening with
songs can become a good way to train students in the development of higher
levels of comprehension.
1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.2.1. Definition of listening
Howatt and Dakin (1974) defined listening as the ability to identify and
understand what others are saying. This involves understanding a speaker’s
accent or pronunciation, his grammar and his vocabulary, and grasping his
meaning.
Wolvin and Coakley (1982) regarded listening: “the process of receiving,
attending to and assigning meaning to aural stimuli”.
Pearson (1983) stated “Listening involves the simultaneous organization
and combination of skills in Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, and knowledge of
the text structure, all of which seem to be controlled by the cognitive process.
Thus it can be said that though not fully realized, the listening skill is essential in
acquiring language proficiency”.

6


Hirsch (1986) gave another definition: “Listening as an aspect of skills:
involves neurological response and interpretations of sounds to understand and
to give meaning by reacting, selecting meaning, remembering, attending,
analyzing and including previous experience”.
Bentley and Bacon (1996) stated that listening, an important part of the

second language learning process has also been defined as an active process
during which the listener constructs meaning from oral input.
According to Brown (2001), listening is “not merely the process of
unidirectional receiving of audible symbols”. He supposed that one aspect of
listening comprehension which is “the psychomotor process of receiving sound
waves through the ear and transmitting nerve impulses to the brain”. Hence,
listening comprises of three elements: the sender, the message and the listener.
Gary Buck (2001), for example, points out 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 of
knowledge are involved: both linguistic knowledge and non-linguistic
knowledge”.
Scott Shelton (2008) thinks that listening effectively is a demanding and
involving process. One must be able to deal with different accents or
pronunciation, unfamiliar lexical items and syntactic structures, competing
background noise, and also make a conscious effort to not switch off or become
distracted while listening. All of this must be achieved and dealt with more or
less simultaneously in order to identify and understand the meaning in any given
message.
According to Lorena Manaj listening is yet another necessitate in
language. The more efficient a listener you are the more successful and satisfied
you will be. Listening is not merely hearing: it is a state of receptivity that

7


permits an understanding of what is heard and grants the listener full partnership
in the communication process.
1.2.2. The importance of listening skills
According to Coakley & Wolvin (1997), listening is the fundamental

language skill which is central to the lives of students throughout all levels of
educational development. Listening is the medium through which people gain a
large portion of their education, their information, their understanding of the
world and of human affairs, their ideals, sense of values, and their appreciation.
In this day of mass communication, it is of vital importance that students are
taught to listen effectively and critically.
According to Oxford (1990), reading, listening, speaking and writing are
four major skills in English study which are closely connected and interact with
each other. It is impossible to communicate if you do not listen well and people
seldom write well without reading. Very often a language user involves in using
a combination of skills. Our ultimate aim is to foster the students’ ability to
communicate. If their listening is poor, it will have a negative effect on the
fulfillment of the other requirements for reading, speaking and writing.
Therefore, it is important for teachers to help students to improve their listening
skill.
Brown (2004: 119) also stated that listening is often implied as a
component of speaking. “How could you speak a language without also
listening?”, he asked. However, through this question, he confirmed the
importance of listening. He added that every teacher of language knows that
one’s oral production ability - other than monologues, speeches, 17 reading
aloud, and the like – is only as good as one’s listening comprehension ability
(Brown, 2004: 119).
Jafari and Hashim (2015) in Gileakjani & Sabouri (2116: 124)
emphasized that listening is a channel for comprehensible input and more than

8


50 percent of the time learners spend in learning a foreign language is devoted to
listening. Supporting the opinion that listening is fundamental in language

learning, Meiliana states that listening is the first step in learning oral language.
It is considered as receptive skill which is needed to be mastered before one is
able to produce a speech (Meiliana, 2013: 7). It means that in order to be able to
master, or at least speak, a certain language, listening is one basic skill to be
learned and posessed. With good listening skill, one can hope to have good
speaking skill.
1.2.3. Types of listening
According to some authors, namely Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh
Phuong (2006), there are two ways of listening in the real life. They are casual
listening and focused listening depending on the purpose of listening. One type
of listening, casual listening, means listening without a particular purpose.
When we listen, we do not pay much or even any attention to the
information unless there is something that interests us. Therefore, we hardly
remember the content of what we hear. Normally, we do this kind of listening
when we listen to music, or listen to news on the radio or TV while doing some
housework or chatting to a friend.
Another type of listening is focused listening. That is when we listen for a
particular purpose to find out information we need to know. It happens quite
popularly in the real life. In here, we listen with much more concentration and
try to get as much information as possible. However, we do not listen to every
word. We know beforehand what we are going to listen so we only catch the
most important information from the speech or the lecture. In classroom,
learners also use this type of listening.

9


1.2.4. Factors affecting listening comprehension
Boyle

(1984)

classifies

the

factors

influencing

EFL

listening

comprehension in three categories based on a survey of EFL teachers and
learners in China. The first category is speaker factors which include the
linguistic ability of the speaker, the quality of the speech signals, the personality
of the speaker and the rate of speech. The second category is related to the oral
text including the complexity of lexis and syntax, the degree of cohesion, etc.
The third one is related to the listener, such as memory, motivation, background
knowledge, experience in listening to the target language and so on.
Underwood (1989) states that there are seven factors affecting listening
comprehension among EFL learners. First, listeners cannot control the speed of
delivery. Second, listeners cannot always have words repeated. Third, listeners
have limited vocabulary. Fourth, listeners may fail to recognize the signals
which indicate the speaker is moving from one point to another. Fifth, listeners
may lack contextual knowledge. Nonverbal clues such as facial expressions,
nods or tones of voices can be easily misinterpreted by listeners from different
cultures. Sixth, it can be difficult for listeners to concentrate in a foreign
language; even the shortest break in attention can seriously impair

comprehension. Lastly, students may have established certain learning habits
such as a wish to understand every word, which may make them worried if they
fail to understand a particular word or phrase.
Hamoda

(2013)

studies

Saudi

students’

problems

in

listening

comprehension and finds out seven factors, some of which are similar to
Underwood (1989). Besides, he indicates that unclear pronunciation, inability to
apply listening strategies, poor knowledge of grammar, lack of 292 familiarity
with the topic, and the length and difficulty of listening materials are among the
factors that hinder listening comprehension most.

10


Teng (2002) identifies four listening factors: listener factor, speaker
factor, stimulus factor and context factor. However, Goh (2000) states that the

most common problem is “quickly forget what is heard”.
1.3. SUMMARY
In short, different researchers have different views about listening
comprehension, but their definitions of listening comprehension have some
things in common. It is clearly that listening comprehension is a complex
process in which listeners have a crucial role by activating various types of
knowledge such as culture, vocabulary and structure of sentences, and by
applying what they know to what they hear, and trying to get the message of the
talk. In addition, different authors have identified different factors affecting
listening comprehension; however, a large number of researchers indicate that
most of listening comprehension problems are related to the listening materials,
the linguistic features, the speaker from the listening material, the listener, the
psychological characteristics and the concentration of the listener.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. RESEARCH GOVERNING PRINCIPLES
2.1.1. Research questions
This study was carried out to find out the possible factors that the 10th
graders at Phuc Tho High School have encountered when practicing English
listening skills. Besides, the researcher also aimed to give some suggestions to
improve the students’ listening skills. To achieve these aims, the following
questions were drawn:
• What are some possible factors influencing 10th graders’ listening
skills in Phuc Tho High School?
• What should the students do to improve their English listening
skills?
2.1.2. Research hypothesis

The 10th graders with B1.1 level according to the new textbook program
of the Ministry of Education and Training at Phuc Tho High School, Phuc Tho
District in Ha Noi is an intermediate skill level of the Common European
Framework for Reference. When this level is reached, learners can use the
English language to communicate with native speakers in life, read textbooks magazines with simple content, or take notes in a journal or meeting but most of
students do difficulties with a lot of factors affecting in English listening skills.
This level requires learners have to master grammars and structures, vocabulary,
and also pronunciation. Thereby, finding out the factors affecting students’ in
English listening skills is important thence give some suggestions to improve
their listening skills.

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2.1.3. Research types
2.1.3.1. Quantitative method (Questionnaires)
Questionnaire: The first instrument which is employed in this study is a
questionnaire. The questionnaire is used to get information about the perception
of the factors affecting the listening skills that the students face when studying
listening of the 10th graders at Phuc Tho High School. The questionnaire is
designed after a review of literature about the factors affecting listening skills.
Firstly, an online survey questionnaire was conducted at Phuc Tho High
School about the factors affecting the listening skills of 10 th graders. Secondly,
the questionnaire includes 26 questions grouped into 6 categories: Listening
materials (4 items), linguistic characteristics (5 items), speakers (4 items),
listener (5 items), lack of concentration (4 items) and physical setting (4 items).
The questionnaire uses the Likert have five response alternatives: Strong
Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strong Agree (Adapted from the
original survey questionnaire of Nguyen Thi Xuyen, 2018). Because of Covid19 pandemic, the researcher used Google Forms to survey.
2.1.3.2. Qualitative method (Interviews)

In this study, there were face to face interviews between 10 random
students through Facebook or Zalo to find out more in-depth problems and to
seek for the students’ suggestions to help them improve English listening skills.
2.1.4. Research approaches
Inductive & Deductive combined: The results of the survey will be
analyzed and comments. Finally, the researcher aggregates the appropriate
inference results to arrive at the final result.
2.1.5. Principles/ criteria for data collection and data analysis
The data collected is qualitative and quantitative data that are digitized for
analysis. The study will be conducted in the second semester of the 2020-2021
school year, from March to May 2021 at Phuc Tho High School. The study is

13


conducted with 80 students of 10th graders with B1.1 level according to the new
textbook program of the Ministry of Education and Training at Phuc Tho High
School, Phuc Tho District in Ha Noi. They have 3 periods of English per week.
The answers were filled in by 100% of the students on the questionnaire and
moreover the interviews will be recorded for further analysis so the reliability is
very high. The received data will be processed through SPSS software for
selection and detection. Reasons for the use of the chosen data analysis
techniques because the use of a questionnaire can survey a large number of
people from which to give similar and different opinions, increasing the
diversity of answers and the researcher use in-depth interview method between
10 random students to find out more in-depth problems. Besides, the analysis by
SPSS software will make it easier and more convenient to represent and analyze
factors.
• The analyzing of the data (questionnaires) divided into 4 stages:
Stage 1: Establishes an initial questionnaires

Stage 2: Survey randomly 10 participants to collect data from which
editing and finalizing
Stage 3: Survey 80 students who are studying at the Phuc Tho High
School and collect the data. Due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, the
researcher send the completed questionnaires for monitors and then monitors
send to each other members in class.
Stage 4: Analyze the received data and discuss them in the form of tables
for better exemplification
• Procedure of analyzing the data (Interviews)
Stage 1: The researcher interviewed face to face with 10 random students
through Facebook or Zalo and then check note-taking with the recordings that
were taken during the interviews to make sure that the researcher did not miss
any information that the interviewees provided.
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Stage 2: Summarize the conducted data and analyze it basing on the two
research questions
2.2. RESEARCH METHODS
Major Tool: SPSS Software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
S.P.S.S. is statistical software commonly used for sociological and
econometric investigations. S.P.S.S. has a user-friendly interface that is easy to
use because it uses mainly mouse clicks based on tools, but very few commands
are used. After fulfilling the data, the researcher uses this software to descriptive
statistics, test the scale's reliability by using Cronbach Alpha, exploratory factor
analysis (EFA.), create a representative variable and test the difference between
categorical variables by analysis of variance (ANOVA).
2.2.1. Major methods
The data from the questionnaire are collected and then analyzed by using
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The questionnaires

are computed for number, means, standard deviation (SD) and Corrected ItemTotal Correlation in order to reveal the problems in listening perceived by 80
students of 10th graders at Phuc Tho High School. The criteria for judging the
degree of the problems are shown in the following table.
Table 2.1: Criteria for judging the degree of problems
Degree of problems

Mean

Very high

4.21-5.00

High

3.41-4.20

Moderate

2.61-3.40

Low

1.81-2.60

Very low

1.00-1.80

- Cronbach Alpha: The scale is eligible if the index is >= 0.6 and If
Corrected Item – Total Correlation is 0.3 so the variable is satisfactory

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The respondents’ opinions and suggestions collected through interviews
are analyzed by using content analysis.
2.3. SUMMARY
This study was designed to answer two main issues: find out possible
factors affecting 10th listening skills at Phuc Tho High School and give some
suggestions to improve their English listening skills. The study will be
conducted in the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year, from March to
May 2021 at Phuc Tho High School. The study is conducted with 80 random
students of 10th graders with B1.1 level according to the new textbook program
of the Ministry of Education and Training at Phuc Tho High School, Phuc Tho
District in Ha Noi. There are two main research types used in this study:
questionnaire survey and in-depth interview. After collecting data, the software
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences will be used for descriptive statistics
such as mean, SD, Corrected Item-Total Correlation,… in order to reveal the
problems in listening skills perceived by 10th graders’ at Phuc Tho High School.

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