Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning english listening skills at ho chi minh city university of foreign languages and information technology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
---------------

LE HOANG THAI THUONG

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS
MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN LEARNING
ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI
MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Major: English Language
Course code: 8220201

HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER / 2022


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
---------------

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS
MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN LEARNING
ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI
MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfilment of
the Master’s degree in English Language
(Words: 18,554)

Course code: 8220201
by
LE HOANG THAI THUONG
Supervised by
DUONG MY THAM, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER / 2022


The thesis entitled “Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning
English listening skills at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and
Information Technology” was successfully defended and approved on March 29th,
2023 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH).

Academic supervisor:

Duong My Tham, Ph.D
(full name, title, signature)

Examination Committee

1. Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D .......................................... Chair
2. Cao Thi Phuong Dung, Ph.D .......................................... Reader 1
3. Le Van Tuyen, Ph.D ........................................................ Reader 2
4. Tran Quoc Thao, Ph.D .................................................... Member
5. Nguyen Thi Thu, Ph.D .................................................... Secretary Member
On behalf of the Examination Committee
Chair
(full name, title, signature)

HCM UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE

HCM, December 2022.

MASTER’S THESIS REPORT
Student name: Le Hoang Thai Thuong .......................... Sex: Male
Date of birth: June 1st, 1992 ........................... Place of birth: Dong Thap Province
Major: English Language .............................................. Student code: 2041900026
I- Thesis title:
Students’ attitudes towards mobile applications in learning English listening skills at
Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology.
II- Objectives and contents:
This study aimed to examine second-year English majors’ attitudes towards the use of
mobile applications in learning English listening skills at Ho Chi Minh City University
of Foreign Languages and Information Technology. The researcher applied the mixed
methods, using a survey questionnaire and the semi-structured interview. The findings
from both quantitative and qualitative data indicated that most of the one hundred and
one participants had positive attitudes towards the use of mobile applications in
learning English listening skills in the classrooms. Furthermore, the study revealed that
English majors with stronger levels of English listening skills were more inclined to
use mobile applications for practicing English listening skills.
III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University)
IV- Completing date: December, 2022
V- Academic supervisor: Duong My Tham, Ph. D.

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR

FACULTY DEAN

(full name, signature)

(full name, signature)


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled:
“STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MOBILE APPLICATIONS IN
LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS AT HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY”
In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by
the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology.

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022.

Le Hoang Thai Thuong

i


RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I hereby state that I, LE HOANG THAI THUONG, being a candidate for the degree
of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University
relating to the retention and use of the Master’s These deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited
in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan and

reproduction for theses.

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022.

Signature: .................................................................................

LE HOANG THAI THUONG

ii


SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS
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HCMC, ……/……/………
Supervisor’s Signature

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Throughout the entire study process, I would like to convey my heartfelt
gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Duong My Tham, for her compassion, guidance,
insightful comments, and consistent support. This thesis would not have been finished
without her strong support and direction.
I'm thankful to Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, the Postgraduate
Institute, and the Faculty of English Language for giving me the chance to go to
college and for always being there for me when I had problems while I was studying.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Dean of the Faculty of English Language, has always
made everything useful for myself and my fellow students. During the learning
process, my classmates and I could not have completed all of our tasks on time
without her assistance.
I am thankful to Mrs. Bui Thi Thanh Truc, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign
Languages, for granting me permission to perform my research experiment. In
addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Nguyen Thu Hien, my English
lecturer who provided me with effective cooperation and assistance with data
collection and the pilot project at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages
and Information Technology.

Le Hoang Thai Thuong

iv


ABSTRACT
Technology continues to create new avenues for inspiring language learners.
Collaboration among institutions, teachers, students and communities is crucial to
unlock technology’s potential in a particular setting. English learners should also
learn to use technology to develop their listening skills, which are essential in learning
English language. In English as a foreign language classes, this ability is likely to be

underemphasized. This can lead to misunderstandings and make it difficult to
interpret what speakers intend to say. This study aimed to investigate how
sophomores majoring in English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign
Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) thought about using mobile
devices to improve their English listening skills. One hundred and one English majors
at HUFLIT participated in the mixed-methods study. Using the mixed-methods
research design with a survey questionnaire as the primary data collecting instrument
and the semi-structured interview, the study obtained significant findings and
accomplished its objectives. The quantitative data collected from the questionnaire
were processed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0 (SPSS 20.0). The
findings from the quantitative and qualitative data indicated that the majority of
participants had positive sentiments regarding the use of mobile applications inside
classroom. Moreover, the study also found out there was a positive correlation
between the English majors’ attitudes towards the intention to use mobile applications
in learning English listening skills and their levels of English listening skills. The
result indicated that the higher scores of English listening skills the participants have,
the more they consider using mobile applications to practice English listening skills.
(257 words)
Keywords: attitude; English listening skills; English major; mobile application;
mobile learning

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY................................................................... i
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ........................................................ ii
SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS ........................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. x
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATION .................................................................................. xii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the study .................................................................................. 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ................................................................................. 5
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study ..................................................................... 7
1.4 Research questions ........................................................................................... 7
1.5 Scope of the study ............................................................................................ 8
1.6 Significance of the study.................................................................................. 8
1.7 Definition of key terms .................................................................................... 9
1.8 Organization of the study ................................................................................. 9
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 11
2.1 Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) .................................................... 11
2.1.1 Definition of MALL ............................................................................... 11
2.1.2 The impacts of MALL on language skills ............................................... 13
2.1.3 The application of mobile applications in language education ............... 16
2.2 Listening skill .................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1 Definition of listening skill ..................................................................... 19
2.2.2 Approaches to learning and teaching listening skill ............................... 20
2.2.3 Difficulties during teaching and learning listening skill ........................ 20
2.3 Attitudes ........................................................................................................... 21

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2.3.1 Definition of attitudes ............................................................................. 21
2.3.2 Components of attitudes ......................................................................... 22
2.4 Previous studies ............................................................................................... 22

2.4.1 Applying mobile applications for learning listening skills ..................... 22
2.4.2 Attitudes towards mobile applications ................................................... 24
2.5 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................... 25
2.6 Summary .......................................................................................................... 26
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 27
3.1 Research design .............................................................................................. 27
3.2 Research site ................................................................................................... 28
3.3 Sample and sampling procedure..................................................................... 29
3.4 Research instruments ....................................................................................... 30
3.4.1 Questionnaire ....................................................................................... 30
3.4.2 Semi-structured interview .................................................................... 31
3.5 Data collection procedure ................................................................................. 32
3.5.1 Questionnaire ....................................................................................... 32
3.5.2 Semi-structure interview ...................................................................... 32
3.6 Data analysis procedure ................................................................................... 33
3.7 Validity and Reliability.................................................................................... 34
3.8 Ethical Issues ................................................................................................... 36
3.9 Summary .......................................................................................................... 37
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................... 38
4.1 Results .............................................................................................................. 38
4.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards the application of mobile applications ... 38
4.1.1.1 Overall Results ............................................................................ 39
4.1.1.2 Detailed results ........................................................................... 40
4.1.1.2.1 English major’s attitudes towards perceived
usefulness of MALL in learning English listening skills .................. 41

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4.1.1.2.2 English majors’ attitudes towards perceived ease of

use of MALL in learning English listening skills. ............................. 42
4.1.1.2.3 English majors’ affective attitudes towards the use of
MALL in learning English listening skills. ....................................... 44
4.1.1.2.4 English majors’ attitudes towards perceived difficulty of Use
of MALL in learning English listening skills. ................................... 46
4.1.1.2.5 English majors’ attitudes towards the intention to use
MALL in learning English listening skills. ....................................... 47
4.1.2 The Correlation between English Students’ Attitudes towards
mobile applications and their levels of English listening skills. .......... 49
4.2 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 52
4.2.1 The English majors’ positive attitude .................................................. 52
4.2.2 The positive correlation between the English majors’ attitudes towards
mobile applications and their English listening proficiency ......................... 55
4.3 Summary ....................................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ...................... 57
5.1 Summary of the findings .............................................................................. 57
5.2 Pedagogical implications .............................................................................. 59
5.3 Limitations .................................................................................................... 62
5.4 Recommendations for further research ........................................................ 62
5.5 Summary ....................................................................................................... 62
REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 63
APPENDIXES ................................................................................................... 78
STUDENTS’ QUESIONNAIRE ........................................................................ 78
INTERVIEW QUESTION ................................................................................. 85
INTERVIEW RESPONSES ............................................................................... 87
PLAGIRSM CHECK ......................................................................................... 89

viii

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Total:

3273 words
4791 words
2817 words
5674 words
1999 words
18554 words

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Demographic Information of the Participants........................................ 29
Table 3.2: Reliability Statistics on the five dimensions .......................................... 34
Table 4. 1: The Overall Statistics Results of English majors’ attitudes towards the
use of MALL in learning English listening skills. ................................................... 37
Table 4.2: Results of perceived usefulness of MALL in learning English listening
skills ......................................................................................................................... 39
Table 4.3: Results of perceived ease of use of MALL in learning English listening
skills. ....................................................................................................................... 40
Table 4.4: Results of English majors’ affective attitudes towards the use of MALL
in learning English listening skills ........................................................................... 42
Table 4.5: Results of perceived difficulty of use of MALL in learning English
listening skills........................................................................................................... 44

Table 4.6: Results of English majors’ attitudes towards the intention to use MALL
in learning English listening skills ........................................................................... 45
Table 4.8: The Correlation between English majors’ attitudes towards mobile
applications and their levels of English listening skills ........................................... 47
Table 4.7: The Correlation between English majors’ levels of English listening skills
and the Intention to use MALL in learning English listening skills ........................ 49

x


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Features of mobile devices ................................................................... 14
Figure 2.2: Conceptual framework for attitudes towards MALL ........................... 26
Figure 3.1: Data collection and analysis procedures .............................................. 34

xi


LIST OF ABBREVIATION
AUM

Affective Attitudes towards the use of mobile applications

EFL

English as a Foreign Language

HUFLIT

Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and

Information Technology

L2

Second Language

MALL

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning

M-learning

Mobile Learning

PD

Perceived Difficulty of Use of mobile applications

IU

Intention to use mobile applications

PDAs

Personal Digital Assistants

PE

Perceived Ease of Use of mobile applications

PU

Perceived Usefulness of mobile applications

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

xii


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
It is well-known that mobile phones or smartphones are the essential devices
which everyone keeps beside them because they are very convenient tools for many
aspects of life. Obviously, people nowadays depend on their mobile phones. Using
mobile phones is popular in Vietnam and people love to use them in many different
aspects of life such as contacting friends and family, working, playing games,
watching movies and learning. And to English learners, mobile phones can be great
tools for them in improving the English skills. There are many studies of language
learning and teaching using mobile devices and mobile applications. For instance,
using mobile phone to improve the knowledge of vocabulary (StockWell, 2010;
Zhang, Song, & Burston, 2011) or grammar, speaking and listening (Rueckert, Kiser,
& Cho, 2012). Brown (2015) stated that of all four language skills, listening is more
frequently used than speaking. However, he also stated that listening comprehension
received less attention of teachers and less time in English learning than speaking,
writing and reading.
Additionally, one of the most difficult language skills is listening (Artyushina
& Sheypak, 2018; Tran Quoc Thao & Duong My Tham, 2020). In the Vietnamese

EFL context, there are many obstacles for students when they try to train and perfect
their listening skills. For instance, teaching and learning listening skill at high school
have been discussed for a long time, but this skill has not received much attention.
There is probably a reason that high school examinations do not include listening
tests, teachers would rather spend more time on other skills which help their students
pass the examinations and get high scores. Due to lack of investment, students in high
schools always have many problems with listening comprehension. Tran Quoc Thao
and Duong My Tham (2020) found numerous problems which students at a high
school in Ho Chi Minh city faced while they learn English listening skills such as
phonetic barrier, vocabulary obstacle, materials. Furthermore, at the university level,
1


listening skills also cause many difficulties for students. Nguyen Ngoc Quyen and
Thai Cong Dan (2018) concluded that first year English majors at some universities
in Mekong Delta also faced similar difficulties like high school students and other
factors including speakers’ accents, students’ concentration ability and negative
emotions in learning listening comprehension.
Generally, learners may face huge numbers of problems in listening skills
which stop them from understanding speakers’ ideas, and affect their concentration
ability while listening. Artyushina and Sheypak (2018) divided listening difficulties
into four groups including difficulties with strange topics; difficulties with native
speakers’ speech; difficulties with the culture of a foreign language; difficulties with
introductions of the contexts. For example, a listener may have to follow and get the
information from his or her speaker passively when the speaker raises a topic. This
may be a problem to the listener if this topic is not familiar to him or her. In addition,
listeners do not have a chance like readers to look at the unusual information the
second time, so they have to listen carefully and follow the speakers. Listening is
even more difficult to listeners because listeners will not be able to repeat the message
if the speakers go too quickly in his speech. As an English teacher at a language

school, the researcher also witnesses a common problem among English learners
when they learn listening that is learners seem understand their teachers and
classmates, but they barely understand English native speakers. The reasons of this
problem may be the speakers’ styles of communicating which are more informal and
different from their teachers and classmates inside classrooms. Goh (2000) also stated
that the speakers’ pronunciation, the high speech rates and strange vocabulary could
influence leaners’ listening comprehension. Not knowing the culture of a foreign
language is also an obstacle to learners. Therefore, to understand English native and
non-native speakers and master listening skill, learners should be aware of the oral
message from the position of cross-cultural communication. In addition, according to
Brown (2015), the second or foreign language (L2) culture is one of many factors
which affect aspects of lessons or curriculum. He also stated that learning culture

2


would help learners realize what people expect of them and what would happen if
they did not follow the expectations while communicating.
Thanks to the advance of mobile technology, mobile learning (m-learning)
which was defined as learning by using mobile devices such as mobile phones,
tablets, laptops or smart phones (Traxler, 2009) has received a lot of attention in
teaching and learning L2 (second language). Especially, mobile applications which
are functions of smart phones can help learners develop their listening
comprehension. Moreover, using mobile phones for learning and teaching is a fruitful
trend which can simplify the ways learners and teachers work inside and outside of
classroom, particularly mobile applications. In order to serve the purpose of studying
English, many applications have been created and they are very excellent tools for
learning English (Hockly, 2012). M-learning has offered numerous opportunities to
support teachers and learners in and outside the classroom (Martin & Ertzberger,
2013). Although there are some disadvantages which stop learners from using mlearning to improve their language skills such as cost, accessibility, and technical

considerations, many mobile applications still have been used widely for the purpose
of learning L2. For instance, according to Wang and Smith (2013), Japanese learners
mostly have a mobile phone, and smart phone users are well-known. Thornton and
Houser (2005) presented in their study that in Japan learners would like to have more
learning materials which could be used on smart phones than on personal computers.
And this type of learning can bring numerous of advantages. Nowadays,
people are sharing and accessing information quickly on the internet through Wi-fi.
However, with smart phones teachers and learners can access internet for learning
and teaching not only through wi-fi but also through cellular data networks such as
3G, 4G or 5G. Brown (2015) added when accessing to the Internet, smart phone users
can reach numerous applications that for language learning with various and
attractive learning structures such as playing game, watching movie or listening in
L2. First appeared around 2005 in the United States, many universities tried to apply

3


mobile assisted language learning (MALL) into the class by offering their learners
free mobile devices (Chinnery, 2006).
Then around 2009, mobile applications were sponsored and developed by the British
Council to support language learning (Hockly, 2013). Nevertheless, basing on the
time m-learning appeared in academic environment, it is still a new type of learning
model. Teachers and learners still have to deal with MALL limitations such as small
screen size, battery lives, virtual keyboard, and one-touch data-entry. However,
depending on teachers’ and learners’ contexts, attitudes, and intention, integrating
mobile applications into L2 instruction can be successful in learning an L2.
According to the data of Vnetwork (2019), in Vietnam 96% of 64 million
internet users accessed the internet via their mobile phones. In addition, the data also
showed that from 2018 to 2019, the smartphone users had touched their phones at an
average of one-hundred and fifty times per day. Therefore, most students at university

levels in big cities like Ho Chi Minh city often possess smartphones. M-learning also
creates a more flexible learning environment at universities, and encourage students
learning anywhere, anytime. Then the researcher believes that m-learning will
contribute and give students a chance to improve their habits of autonomous learning.
Obari et al. (2008) did some projects to investigate the promise of mobile devices for
English education and they stated that mobile phones had more convenient functions
than computers’ and could be carried out and used anywhere, anytime. Teachers and
students are able to use mobile phone for multiple purposes such as planning a lesson,
practicing language skills, or even performing tasks. Moreover, mobile learning can
also improve their learning autonomy, which is very important for improving
language skills, especially listening skills, because mobile learning can help learners
access their learning materials whenever they want to learn and study at their own
pace. Many studies have been conducted to prove the potential of mobile phones in
developing listening skills. For instance, students improved their listening skills with
their own portable devices for additional listening (Chen & Chang, 2011). Students
showed positive attitudes towards using wireless application protocol sties for

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learning listening skills on mobile phones (Nan, White & Sussex, 2008). Using
podcasts on mobile phones enhanced students’ L2 listening comprehension outside
the class (Reinders & Cho, 2010). Cakmak and Ercetin (2017) conducted a study
which showed the effects of multimedia glosses on L2 listening comprehension and
incidental vocabulary learning by listening to a story through mobile phones.
Learners will be able to receive a lot of benefits when they possess mobile phones or
smart phones for learning listening skills. They can easily access hundreds of learning
applications with videos, podcasts, games, and special language programs. Besides,
smart phones are more accessible than computers or mp3 devices while learning
listening. Nowadays, with advances in technology, students do not have to wait until

they get home to practice listening skills. They just simply turn on their phone and
access learning applications and plug in the head phones then they can practice
listening. This makes mobile learning convenient because students can use their small
portable smart phones to listen wherever and whenever they want. If teachers know
how to motivate their students to listen regularly on their mobile phones, it will help
them improve their good listening skills. Entertainment may be another reason for
students to use mobile phone applications to learn L2. Application developers have
built and set up their applications for both learning and entertaining with a lot of
interesting and various contents, students can choose their favorite programs, songs
or listening tasks to practice listening skills. In higher education, students need to
balance between studying and relaxing. Therefore, it is wonderful when learning with
mobile applications can help them enjoy learning listening skills which are difficult
but very important for communicative purposes.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Many studies revealed that using mobile phones in learning was effective to a
great extent. In addition, Alsied (2019) stated that using mobile phones to check new
words, listening to English songs offered learners great benefits in improving their
language skills. From the researcher’s observation, however, in most of the
Vietnamese universities, especially in Ho Chi Minh city university of Foreign

5


Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT), few teachers and learners have
tried applying mobile applications in learning and teaching English listening skills.
Although some of articles published in HUFLIT Journal of Science mentioned the
modernization, globalization and the fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0) in teaching,
learning and managing English classes, yet mobile applications have not been applied
officially. Additionally, the world has been suffered an enormous pandemic, COVID19, which affected the educational field severely. Mobile learning continues to create
fluctuations that affect teaching and learning styles during the pandemic.

Listening is a challenging skill to develop while learning English language.
Nowadays, Technology has made it easier for teachers and students to teach and learn
a foreign language, and mobile applications have offered students opportunities to
learning anywhere and anytime. Especially, in Vietnam context where English major
students study English as a Foreign Language, there are fewer chances for them to
practice listening skills outside of the class. But the idea of integrating mobile
applications in and outside of the class may help students develop their listening
competence. They will be happy to decide by themselves which subjects, topics,
materials, methods, and techniques to study when working on the mobile applications
which are recommended by their teachers. Therefore, it is better if teachers can
provide guidance on appropriate mobile applications since some students may not be
good at technology.
However, although more students have been using mobile phones for learning,
especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, at HUFLIT the use of mobile phones
have not been integrated into the teaching and learning listening process.
Additionally, with limited in-class listening practice, English majors may have
difficulties when practicing listening skills through homework or materials. As a
result, they would like to try other sources online. Nevertheless, it is quite expensive
if students need a laptop or a computer just for finding extra sources outside of the
class. Therefore, it would be beneficial for most university students, particularly
English majors at HUFLIT to use smartphones as learning resources.

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Many researchers conducted their studies with mobile learning helping students
develop their English skills. Most of them agreed that mobile learning had positive
effects on the language skills (Al-Shamsi, Al-Mekhlafi, Busaidi & Hilal, 2020;
Artyushina & Sheypak, 2018; Jati, 2018; Kim, 2013; Utami, 2020; Zhu, 2018). In
Vietnam, applying mobile applications in teaching and learning English in higher

education probably faces a lot of difficulties such as school policy, educational
quality, and budgets, etc. However, in recent years more and more studies have paid
attention on mobile learning for English major students. Thus, it is necessary to
investigate teachers’ and English majors’ attitudes towards using mobile applications
to learn listening skills. Besides, there has been no research conducted at Ho Chi
Minh university of Foreign Languages and Information Technology. Therefore, this
thesis is about to examine students’ perspective towards the employment of mobile
application in learning English listening skills at HUFLIT.
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study
The purpose of this research is to investigate the attitudes of students by using
the mixed method for the employment of mobile applications inside the classroom in
order to improve students’ listening skills at HUFLIT. The objectives of this study
are as follows:
To explore the English majors’ attitudes towards the use of mobile
applications in learning English listening at HUFLIT.
To examine if there are correlations between the students’ attitudes towards
mobile applications and their English listening proficiency.
1.4 Research questions
To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the research questions driving this
study are:
1.

What are the English majors’ attitudes towards the application of

mobile applications in learning English listening skills at HUFLIT?
2.

Are there any correlations between the students’ attitudes towards

mobile applications and their English listening proficiency? If so, how?

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1.5 Scope of the study
This study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh university of Foreign Languages
and Information Technology, located at 828 Su Van Hanh street, Ward 13, District
10, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. The participants of this study were 101 second-year
English majors. The study was limited to the investigation of English majors’
attitudes towards the use of mobile applications in learning English listening skills,
and the correlation between their attitudes and their English listening level. Other
language skills, such as reading, writing or speaking were not involved in the study.
Besides, only the affective component of the students’ attitudes was examined. With
the mixed method, the researcher used a closed-ended questionnaire to collect
quantitative data from the students at HUFLIT first and then compare with qualitative
quotes which was gathered by interviewing randomly 10 students from different
levels with open-ended questions. EFL students who took part in this study were
given questionnaires, 10 randomly chosen students were interviewed to get their
opinions on this topic.
1.6 Significance of the study
The present study is significant because of the following reasons. Firstly, this
study may make theoretical and practical contributions in the area of applying mobile
applications in learning and teaching listening skills. Theoretically, the researcher
tries to contribute to the field of mobile learning in terms of improving the quality of
teaching and learning listening skills in higher education, especially at HUFLIT.
Secondly, in practice, this study may provide some useful recommendations and
findings which help EFL learners have more effective periods learning listening skills
with mobile applications inside and outside the class. In addition, there are only few
studies of applying mobile learning on listening skills at HUFLIT. Additionally, the
study may also raise the awareness of universities, education organizations, teachers

and students relating to mobile applications in learning language skills, especially,
for the upcoming time when the world in general and Vietnam in particular are
struggling to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to digitalize many

8


fields and education is one of them. Last but not least, other researchers may make
use of this thesis’ the results and discussions for their future research in other similar
contexts.
1.7 Definition of key terms
Whenever any of the following terms are used anywhere in the current study,
the meaning that they express is as follows:
- Attitudes are defined as an individuals' tendency to react to a particular
object, activity, person, institution, event.
- Correlation refers to the relationship between English majors’ attitudes
towards the Intention of using mobile applications in learning English listening skill
and their English listening proficiency.
- English majors refer to second year students majoring in English at Ho Chi
Minh city University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology.
- Listening proficiency is defined as students’ scores of English listening test
on the English listening tests.
- Listening skills refer to the abilities of receiving information by hearing what
is being said.
- Mobile applications refer to a type of software designed to run on a mobile
device such laptops, tablets or smartphones.
- Mobile learning refers to a way to access learning content using mobile
devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones.
1.8 Organization of the study
There are five chapters composed in the current thesis, including: an

introduction chapter, a literature review chapter, a methodology chapter, a results and
discussion chapter, and a conclusion and recommendations chapter.
In Chapter 1, Introduction, a discussion of the study's context is presented
initially. Then, a statement of the problem, the aims and objectives of the study,
research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, and
definitions of key terms are presented.
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