A study on the use of listening test-taking strategies and their relationship with students' performance at Que Vo I Upper Secondary School in Bacninh

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of contents
List of charts and tables
Part one: Introduction………………………………………………………
1. Rationale……………………………………………………………………
2. The aims of the study……………………………………………………
3. Scope of the study………………………………………………………….
4. Research questions…………………………………………………………
5. Research methodology……………………………………………………
6. The design of the study……………………………………………………
Part two: Development……………………………………………………
Chapter one: Literature review……………………………………………
1.Introduction………………………………………………………………
1.1. Listening strategies……………………………………………………
1.2. Listening test/task……………………………………………………….
2. Listening Strategies in Second Language Learning
3. Listening Task in Relation to Task Performance and Strategy Use
Chapter two: Methodology………………………………………………….
II.1.The setting of the study…………………………………………………
II.1.1.Overview of the new ―Tiếng Anh 12‖ textbook…………………………
II.1.1.1.General description………………………………………………
II.1.1.2.Listening skill in the textbook………………………………….…
II.1.1.2.1. Stages of teaching listening ………………………
II.1.1.2.2. Listening skills, tasks and activities………………………

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II.1.2.The context of teaching and learning listening skill at upper-secondary school
II.1.2.1.In Vietnam
II.1.2.2.At Que Vo I upper-secondary school………………………………
II.2. Research methodology
II.2.1. Research questions
II.2.2. Subject of the study
II.2.3.The data collection Instruments
II.2.4.Procedure
II.2.5.Data Analysis
Chapter three: Results and Discussions………………………………………………
III.1.Questionnaire Results
III.2.The Listening Test Results and researcher‘s observations
III.2.1.The Listening Test Results
III.2.2.Researcher‘s observation
III.3.Students‘ Strategy Use Under Different Test Tasks
Part three: Conclusions, Recommendations and implications on listening teaching…
I. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………
II. Recommendations…………………………………………………………………….
III. Limitations and suggestions for further studies……………………………………
Reference……………………………………………………………………
Appendix 1…………………………………………………………………
Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………
Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………
Appendix 4…………………………………………………………………

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LIST OF ABBRIVIATIONS

LP: language proficiency
HLP: High language proficiency
MLP: Medium language proficiency
LLP: Low language proficiency
* Strategy likely stimulated by the treatment.
◊ Strategies reported by students.


















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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Summary of the Test Procedure

Table 2: Statistics for Participants Responding to Listening Test-taking Strategy
Questionnaire
Table 3: Student Performance for Four Forms of Listening Support
Table 4: Students’ Reported Strategy Use with Repeated Input

Table 5: Students’ Reported Strategy Use with Vocabulary Support
Table 6. Students’ Reported Strategy Use with Previewing Test Questions
Table 7. Students’ Reported Strategy Use with Topical Knowledge Stimulus





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PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
Second language listening comprehension is a complex process and crucial in the development
of second language competence; yet, the importance of listening in language learning has only
been recognized relatively recently (Nunan,1998;Celce-Murcia, 2001). Since the role of
listening comprehension in language learning was either overlooked or undervalued, it merited
little research and pedagogical attention in the past. But at present, some researchers have
devoted some time to listening and believe it to be an important skill in teaching and learning.
For instance, Nunan (1998) believes that: ―… listening is the basic skill in language learning.
Without listening skill, learners will never learn to communicate effectively. In fact over 50%
of the time that students spend functioning in a foreign language will be devoted to
listening….‖ (p. 1)
As listening is assuming greater importance in foreign language classrooms and in
language acquisition (see, e.g., Nord , 1978; Byrnes, 1984; Long, 1989; Feyten, 1991; Dunkel,
1991),the new textbook which is designed based on communicative approach driving at

developing and consolidating communicative skills like speaking ,reading , writing and
listening was introduced to schools over our country for several years.
For several years of the application of the new textbook at my upper-secondary school, there
are many listening problems emerge .One of the most serious problem is that students find
listening difficult and touch to listen to and they are anxious, not confident enough to do
listening tasks or listening tests successfully. For more than ten- year- teaching English
experience and through the observation and talking with students, I find that what make them
anxious and fail in listening tasks or listening tests is the strategies they use. Therefore, my
minor thesis here studies the use of listening test-taking strategies and their relationship with
Students‘ performance.
2.The aims of the study
The study aims to reach the following targets:

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-Studying the listening strategies used by students when taking a listening test: the frequency
and vary in listening proficiency in using strategies at three diffirent phases through survey
questionaire and students‘written report
-Investigating their use of test-taking strategies correlate with their listening performance
-Suggesting recommendations to improve listening teaching and learning at Que Vo I upper-
secondary school.
3.Scope of the study
This minor thesis conducted at Que Vo I upper-secondary school used a listening test-taking
strategy questionnaire to explore listeners‘ general picture of test-taking strategies at three
different stages—before, during, and after a test, then further investigated any correlation with
listening test performances, and finally a student report was used to examine how HLP and
LLP students adjusted their strategy use under different test task conditions. There are a
number of reasons for this choice:
- Listening is still a rather new skill to the students and teachers at Que Vo I upper-secondary
school
-It is difficult and a nightmare to the students

-Students always get bad marks and they are always lack of confidence
for the listening tests
Besides, at the present pedagogical context ,out of the three grades: grade 10,grade 11, grade
12, grade 12 is the most reliable to classify into different language proficiency and they are
experienced and armed with most listening strategies .Therefore, students of grade 12 were
chosen .
4. Research questions
In order to achieve the aims mentioned in the section two, the present study focused on
answering the following question:
1. How does the use of test-taking strategies correlate with learners‘listening
performance?
Beside that answer the two sub-questions to help the teachers to find out good way to
improve students‘ listening competence and performance

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1. What strategies are the most and the least frequently used by the learners when taking a
test? How are students of varying listening proficiencies similar or different in their
strategy use at the three different phases?
2 .Do students of different levels of listening proficiency use different strategies for
different test tasks? If so, what are the strategies?
5. Research methodology
The research is done by both qualitative and quantitative methods: It is carried out on the
basic of the situation analysis, material collection, survey questionnaires , class observations ,
and students‘ written reports.
In the first place, situation analysis, has a low at the background to the study including the
description of the current context at Que Vo I upper-secondary school and listening skill in the
new textbook― Tiếng Anh 12‖.Secondly, for the theoretical basis ,a lot of reference materials
on listening methodology and problems have been gathered, analyzed and synthetized
thoroughly with the due consideration for teachers‘ teaching and students‘ learning situations.
Eventually, for the practical basis, questionnaires, class observations, reports were carried

out with the students to gather the most reliable data for analysis to find the answers to the
research questions as mentioned above.
6. Design of the study
The study consists of three parts: Introduction, development and conclusion
The first part is the introduction, which provides information about rationale, purposes,
scope and significance of the topic as well as research questions, method and design of the
study
The development part consists of four chapters: literature review, research methodology,
results and discussion, and recommendations. Chapter one, literature review of listening
comprehension problems, listening comprehension strategies and Listening Task in Relation
to Task Performance and Strategy Use. Chapter two, methodology, presents in details the
setting, and procedures as well. Chapter three, results and discussion concerns the findings,
discussions and implications of the study. Chapter four, recommendations, concerns the

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researcher‘s recommendations and suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of teaching and
learning listening skill.
The last part, conclusion, summarizes the main issues touched upon so far in the study.
Apart from that, the research addresses some limitations of the study and gives suggestion for
further studies.

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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Introduction
Over the last thirty years, one popular topic in second language (L2) research has been the
use and development of language learning strategies. Researchers have examined various
strategies used by language learners of different levels, skills, cultures, fields of study, and
different genders. Despite the large body of research that has been produced, Vann and
Abraham (1990) argue that the way strategies are utilized by learners in actual tasks remains
neglected. As a result, a new direction for task-based strategy assessment was suggested by
Cohen (1998), and Hsiao and Oxford (2002). However, in 2004 Oxford et al. again made a
similar comment, stating that, ―a significant dearth of research exists concerning the
relationship between tasks and strategy use‖ (p. 3). Macaro et al. (2007) claim that strategic
behaviour has not been explored in listening tasks and suggests this as a direction for future
research. Obviously, the strategies used for specific assessment tasks represent a gap in our
understanding that needs to be filled.

1.1. Listening strategies
In the realm of L2 learning and instruction, language strategy has been defined in a number of
different ways (see Chamot, 1987; Oxford, 1990, Cohen, 1998; Macaro, 2006), as has
language task (Breen, 1987; Nunan, 1989; Skehan, 1996; Richards & Rodgers, 2001);
therefore, I will not elaborate on these definitions here. However, to limit the scope of this
study, listening strategy will refer to ―conscious plans to manage incoming speech,
particularly when the listener knows that he or she must compensate for incomplete input or
partial understanding‖ (Rost, 2002, p. 236),
1.2. Listening test/task
Task will be defined as ―an activity that requires learners to arrive at an outcome from
given information through some processes of thought, and which allows teachers to control
and regulate that process‖ (Prabhu, 1987, p. 17). In many cases, including the case here, a
task often means a test, and the terms are often used interchangeably. Due to there being so
many language strategies, for example, strategies for vocabulary learning, the four-skill
learning strategies, and many task types as well (see Bygate et al., 2001), the scope of this

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study will be limited to listening test-taking strategies under varying task characteristics. A
brief review of L2 listening strategies will be undertaken before focusing on a more
contextualized situation, specifically testing.
2. Listening Strategies in Second Language Learning
Over the past two decades, listening comprehension skills have become an essential
component of learning an additional language, and listening strategy use has been studied
extensively (see Berne, 2004, for a comprehensive review).Rubin (1994) classifies research
topics on listening strategies in the L2/FL field. These topics parallel those of general learning
strategies. They include the types of the strategies used, contrasting strategy use at several
proficiency levels, the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, the relation of the
strategy use to text, task, and setting, etc. These topics concern the types and applications of
listening strategies and the relationship to other learning factors. There has been little research
on the barriers that listeners face in acquiring listening strategies. Nevertheless, some of the

existing studies do offer an understanding to the general application of listening
comprehension strategies (e.g., Bacon, 1992a, b, c; Goh, 2002; Murphy, 1985, 1987;
O'Malley, Chamot, & Kupper, 1989; Rost & Ross, 1991; Teng, 1998; Thompson & Rubin,
1996; Vandergrift, 1992, 1996, 2003; Wu, 2003).
In the 1980s, the research by Murphy (1985, 1987) explored the types of strategies used and
the contrast of strategy usage at different proficiency levels. Murphy (1985) investigated
college students by analyzing their oral and written responses to listening selections.
Seventeen specific strategies were identified and categorized. The results show that both more
and less proficient listeners could be distinguished by the frequency of the strategies they
used. For instance, more proficient listeners used the strategies of elaborating, inferencing,
anticipating, conclusion drawing, self-description, etc., more frequently than less-proficient
learners. Murphy (1985) also explores the sequential patterns of the strategies that both more
proficient listeners and less proficient listeners followed. For example, more proficient
listeners tended to apply "wide distribution" strategies (i.e., in relation to an open and flexible
use of strategies) while less proficient listeners were found in use of "text heavy" strategies
(i.e., in relation to reliance on the text and paraphrasing). [-4-]

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In the 1990s, Rost and Ross (1991) examined the use of certain strategies correlated with
language proficiency, and, with training, whether the use of listening strategies increased and
listening comprehension improved. They focused on EFL listeners' feedback on paused texts.
The use of clarification questions in native speaker vs. nonnative speaker discourse was also
investigated. The results show that more proficient listeners resorted to "hypothesis testing"
(asking about specific information in the story), "forward inference" (inquiring by using
information already given in the story), and continuation signals or backchannel
communication more frequently than "lexical pushdowns" (asking about word meanings), and
"global reprises" (asking for general repetition, rephrasing, or simplification). After training,
listeners at elementary as well as intermediate/advanced levels showed improvement on
listening comprehension tasks and were able to ask more hypothesis-testing questions.
Bacon (1992a, 1992b, 1992c) conducted a series of experiments in foreign language listening.

The comprehension processes of learners were examined across different factors. The results
show that there are significant differences between male and female listeners in strategies,
confidence, and affective response (1992a). And, significant differences could also be found
between effective and less effective listeners in both their level of comprehension and learning
(1992b). Positive views were expressed regarding the use of authentic input for listening
(1992c).
Goh (2002) looked into the mental tactics or specific techniques through which a general
strategy is operationalized. The subjects were Chinese learners of ESL in Singapore.
Immediate retrospective verbalizations were conducted to collect data. It was found that, for
instance, in order to operate the contextualization strategy, learners related new information to
a wider familiar context by using tactics such as placing input in a social or linguistic context,
finding related information on hearing a key word, or relating one part of text to another.
Similarly, to operate monitoring strategy, the learners might use tactics such as identifying
words or ideas not understood, checking current interpretation within the context of the
message or prior knowledge, or confirming that comprehension has taken place.
These studies have focused on identifying the relationship between strategy use and other
variables, such as higher versus lower proficiency learners, quality and quantity, the effect of
strategy instruction on listening performance, and most recently, strategy development over
time. Research in this area has generally shown:

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1. More advanced listeners use more and varying strategies than less advanced ones
(Murphy, 1987; Chien & Li, 1998; Goh, 2002; Chao & Chien, 2005). [1]
2. The better a listener‘s proficiency, the more metacognitive strategies he/she uses
(Vandergrift, 1997a, 1997b).
3. When encountering more difficult texts, listeners tend to use bottom-up strategies
(Bacon, 1992; Vogely, 1995).
4. Successful learners are able to use both linguistic and background knowledge at the
same time, however, poor learners may over rely on one kind of knowledge (Rost &
Ross, 1991; Vandergrift, 1997b).

5. In the area of strategy instruction, no immediate effect on enhancement of listening
comprehension was found in most studies (O‘Malley et al., 1985; O‘Malley, 1987;
Thompson & Rubin, 1996; McGruddy, 1999; Ozeki, 2000) except for Goh and Taib
(2006) where higher listening proficiency was assumed to be needed to make the
instruction effective.
While these studies show a strong relationship between differences in strategy use and L2
listening proficiency, as Anderson (2005, p. 762) states, ―there are no good or bad strategies;
there is good or bad application of strategies.‖ This means that the differences in strategy use
between a more successful or less successful listener lies in how the strategies are executed
not the strategies themselves. Therefore, to look into differences in strategy use amongst
different levels of learners, it is important to use various methods–interviews, diaries,
checklists, actual tasks, and so forth–to examine how students apply their strategies in specific
situations and whether they change them in another context. Such an examination is one of the
purposes of this study.
3. Listening Task in Relation to Task Performance and Strategy Use
Understanding the spoken form of a second language without difficulty is not easy;
consequently, L2 instructors often include support in listening tasks in the hope that students
will be able to perform better and not lose confidence in their listening skills. Some listening
support may be embedded in the task design, such as multiple listening options or question
preview, others may occur before a task begins with pre-listening activities. Some popular
forms of pre-listening activities are pre-teaching vocabulary, providing topical knowledge, and

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contextual support. Although these types of support come in different forms, they all fall
within three interrelated domains—teaching, consciousness-raising, and planning (Skehan,
1998). For example, pre-teaching vocabulary may not only provide learners with linguistic
knowledge but also raise their consciousness regarding what they may hear, and thus, learners
may plan how to cope with a task based on the vocabulary learned. However, the effects of
these forms of listening support have not yet been conclusively reported on (see Berne, 1995;
Teichert, 1996; Ruhe, 1996; Chung; 1999; Herron et al., 1998; Elkhafaifi, 2005; Chang, 2005;

Chang & Read, 2006, 2007). Although its effectiveness varies according to learners‘ listening
proficiency, text types, task types, and many other factors, few studies investigate how
students utilize the information provided by their L2 instructors or test developers, through
which it is anticipated that their comprehension is enhanced.
As mentioned, research into listening task-based strategy use is limited. A study by Ikeda and
Takeuchi (2000) reports that reading task difficulty had some impact on the types and
frequencies of strategy use. Students reported using more strategies when doing a difficult
task, and high-proficiency students also reported using a wider range of strategies and more
analytic types of strategy for difficult tasks. Another study by Oxford et al. (2004) using tests
to elicit students‘ reading strategy use, found that reported reading strategies were not
significantly influenced by task difficulty or proficiency alone, but when specific items were
examined, it was found that high proficiency learners used top-down and holistic strategies,
whereas low proficiency ones used more mechanical and bottom-up strategies.
Vogely (1995) studied listening comprehension strategies used and perceived by learners of
Spanish on an authentic task. Vogely‘s students report using the following strategies (in order
of importance): getting the overall meaning of the text, relating the background knowledge
with the information in the text, understanding the meaning of each word, focusing on the
details, and mentally sounding out the words and phrases. However, it is of interest that
strategies considered effective by listeners were not actually used because they did not know
either when or how to use them. Another aspect of listening strategy use that has received little
attention is the effect of text difficulty (topic familiarity) on strategy use. Bacon‘s (1992)
research shows that university Spanish learners utilized more bottom-up strategies when
encountering difficult input, such as faster speech and unfamiliar topics. This finding seems to
confirm Vogely‘s results. The study also reveals that less successful listeners usually followed

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the same plan of attack for each task, and suggests that learners must adjust their strategies
according to different tasks.
More recently, Chang (2008) investigated the test-taking strategies of Chinese college students
with high and low levels of anxiety under four different task conditions—previewing test

questions, repeated input, vocabulary instruction, and topical knowledge preparation. The data
was gathered by immediate post-test interviews with 22 students. The results showed that
different test tasks influenced test takers‘ listening strategies to varying degrees, with
previewing test questions tending to have a greater impact on strategy use than other types of
support. Previewing questions made some students more selective and helped learners focus
on information necessary only for the answers. Repeated input gave students the chance to
revise their comprehension, assisted the learners‘ strategy use, and allowed them time to
reduce nervousness. With the provision of topical information, students tended to focus on the
details because they had been exposed to the global background of the topics. Finally, with
vocabulary instruction before the test, students tried to predict the topic or content by using the
words in the vocabulary lists.
The types of listening support used in Chang‘s study apparently show an effect on listeners‘
strategy use. However, one limitation of the study was that the global differences in test-taking
strategies between different levels of LP (language proficiency) was not examined since
students were divided into four groups, each receiving different support. This meant that the
reported differences could not be detected by the variation of tasks. If students experience four
different forms of a test task, it may be possible to detect whether they use different strategies
to cope with different task conditions. Consequently, this study seeks answers to the following
question:
1. How does the use of test-taking strategies correlate with learners‘ listening
performance?
Beside that answer the two sub-questions to help the teachers to find out good way to
improve students‘ listening competence and performance
1. What strategies are the most and the least frequently used by the learners when
taking a test? How are students of varying listening proficiencies similar or different in
their strategy use at the three different phases?

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2 .Do students of different levels of listening proficiency use different strategies for
different test tasks? If so, what are the strategies?

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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY
II.1.The setting of the study

II.1.1.Overview of the new “Tiếng Anh 12‖ textbook
II.1.1.1.General description
The new “Tiếng Anh 12‖ textbook is the sixth volume which succeeds a new series of English
textbook for grade 6 to 11.Unlike the old one where language input was presented in terms of
linguistic structures which were then mechanically practiced through a series of rule-focus
exercises, the new one is underpinned by a theme-based approach to the introduction of
language input. Lessons are arranged according to topics which are true to life, and familiar
with upper-secondary school students. This is an important advantage of the textbook as it is
relevant to the students‘ needs and thereby arousing their interests. The purpose underlying in
the textbook is to develop students‘ communicative language skills including listening,
speaking, reading, writing vie different interesting and well-designed units. The innovation of
the new textbook is supported by what Cunningworth (1995:86) says about a good textbook:
―a study of a language abstract system would not equip learners to use it in the real world.
Textbook must and do represent language as it is actually used and they contain subject
matters and deal with topics of various kinds‖
The new “Tiếng Anh 12‖ textbook consists of sixteen units; each unit present a theme
which is updated and relevant to many aspects of life : home life, future job, life in the future
…These theme are represented via five sections :reading, speaking, writing, listening and
language focus respectively. Such division aims to improve students‘ communicative skills
and systematize important linguistic components.
Reading is selected as the first section in every unit on purpose. Via the reading text and tasks
which focus on developing different reading skills, it is useful to stimulate and help students
get familiar with the theme and relevant information and language items. Teaching procedure
of reading, speaking, listening and writing sections is divided into three stages to achieve
different language skills or knowledge on purpose. This refers to the domination of
communicative approach and characterized features of the new textbook.
II.1.1.2.Listening skill in the textbook

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Listening is the abilities 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 (Goh, 2002).An able listener is capable of doing these four things
simultaneously. Hence, listening is an important skill and probably the most difficult one.
Traditionally, listening passages and methodology was not the matter of universal interest
in English curriculum at upper-secondary school. Listening did not make up any part of the
unit procedure and testing as well. The only means of listening was that the teacher or students
read the texts, questions and answered. Even though this language skill was mentioned and
teachers seemed to ignore and made no effort to improve it.
In contrast, the new “Tiếng Anh 12‖ fosters to develop language skills, including listening
comprehension. Indeed, listening lessons make up 20% of 86 periods of English syllabus.
Noticeably, each lesson is divided into stages: pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening
in order to obtain certain language comprehension or skills.
II.1.1.2.1. Stages of teaching listening
Listening lessons attempt to develop students‘ listening skills such as intensive and
extensive listening. Procedure of a listening lesson consists of three stages: pre-listening,
while-listening, and post-listening.
Pre-listening stage prepares students by getting them to think about the topic or situation
before they listen to the texts. In other words, it gives students a purpose to listen .It also gets
students to relate to what they already know about the topic and not least important arouse
their interests in listening. There are certain goals that should be achieved before students
attempt to listen to any text. They are motivation, contextualization, and preparation
.Regarding students‘ motivation, the teachers should select a text or task arousing students‘
interest and curiosity. Contextualization, in addition, is concerned with natural environment
that gives us a huge amount of information about the linguistic content we are likely to hear.
Listening to a tape recording in a classroom is very unnatural process. Therefore, the teachers
need to design tasks that will help students to contextualization the listening and access their
existing knowledge and expectations to help them understand the text which has been taken
from its original environment. Moreover, preparation is one of necessary process in pre-
listening stage. It is vital to cover specific vocabulary or expression that student will need

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before they start listening as we challenge within the lesson to be act of listening not of
understanding what they have to do.
While-listening stage gives students a guide or framework to practice listening. In other
words, it helps students to listen better, more accurately, thoroughly through carefully
designed comprehension tasks. When we listen to something in our every day lives we do so
for a reason. Students too need a reason to listen, that will focus their attention .Ideally, the
listening tasks that are designed should guide them through the text. It is a must that teachers
provide useful techniques to facilitate students‘ comprehension. The following techniques
include giving clear instructions, playing tapes on purposes, classifying levels of difficulty of
task form easier to more complicated, and so on.
For each listening lesson the tape is played twice, each for every task .Therefore, students
can listen twice and have a chance to understand more and catch the information they miss on
the first listening
Post-listening stage is like the follow-up stage. After students have practiced the target
skill in the while-listening stage, they do an extension. This helps them to take the information
or whatever they have produced in the previous stage, and do other meaningful activities.
There are two common forms that post-listening tasks can take. They are reactions to the
content of the text, and analysis of the linguistic features. Therefore, the students can use
language naturally in target situations. Also, they acquire more deeply the language
knowledge (words, forms and structures) and develop an understanding of the text much
easier.
In short, the new textbook applies the effectiveness of four forms of listening support,
which we label topic preparation (TP), vocabulary instruction (VI), repetition of the input (RI),
and preview of questions (PQ) to reduce the negative effects of listening anxiety and provide
the basis for a more valid assessment of the students‘ listening comprehension ability. This is
proved in the ―Reducing Listening Test Anxiety Through Various Forms of Listening
Support‖ by Anna Ching-Shyang Chang Hsing-Wu College,Taipei, Taiwan and John Read
University of Auckland, New Zealand
I.1.1.2.2. Listening skills, tasks and activities

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In an analytic approach to teaching, the teacher systematically spends time on the
component skill that makes up overall ability. In teaching listening, the teacher will identify
component skills of discriminating sounds, recognizing words and so on, and design specific
tasks and activities that include the use of such skills.
The new “Tiếng Anh 12‖ textbook, different listening skills are utilized depending on
what to listen for. Listening for general understanding, listening for specific or detailed
information, predicting, guessing, and interpreting are several typical examples. Listening
tasks are various and flexible based on linguistic difficulty level, topics and students‘ interest.
Students do not have to concentrate on every word or sound but general information to
develop their listening comprehension via true or false sentences, multiple-choice questions,
short answers…
II.1.2.The context of teaching and learning listening skill at upper-secondary school
II.1.2.1.In Vietnam
It is clear that English has been taught in Vietnam as an important language for a long time.
However, the teaching and learning of this foreign language have merely centered upon
reading and grammar. Due to grammar- translation method of teaching, Vietnamese students
of English are relatively good at grammar but not good at communicatively competence.
According to a large project to investigate the English teaching method reform in northern
parts of Vietnam, only 5% of students are able to communicate in English after graduation
(Hoang et al, 2005). This fact gives the rises to the need for nationwide innovation in the
teaching methodology. As a result, The Ministry of Education, in 2006, made a great effort to
implement Communicative Language Teaching at all secondary schools. A set of the new
textbook was compiled and officially used in the light of communicative approach, in which
four skills of English are highly prioritized.
Concerning the teaching of listening skill, sixteen out of 86 periods in the syllabus are
spent on listening, accounting for 20% (Hoang et al, 2005). Moreover, like the other skills,
listening is designed as an independent part of the lessons with three different phases: pre-
listening, while-listening, post-listening. Furthermore, the theme of listening coincide with

topic of the less on, and are up-to- date, equip the students with necessary knowledge of

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modern world. This is the first step to prepare students for integrating themselves into a
dynamic or active cycle of global development.
Together with the innovation concerning the textbook, teacher- training program and
workshops are held annually by Ministry of Education and Training and British Council as
assist teachers with specific guidance in teaching methods.
To sum up, the above mentioned features reflect very well the great endeavor of Vietnam
educators to blow a new wind into the method of teaching and learning listening skill in
particular and teaching and learning foreign language in general, which has been sleeping in
backwardness and poor quality for such a long time.
II.1.2.2.At Que Vo I upper-secondary school
12th form Students at Que Vo I upper-secondary school are eighteen years old and have
experience in English, including listening skill for four years at lower-upper schools and two
years at upper-secondary school. Nevertheless, they basically are beginners of English.
Moreover, they do not have clear determination on English learning goals. Thus, they are
likely to be motivated or demotivated easily. This matter of fact should be taken into account
in using teaching methods and approaches in order to foster and develop their listening skills
efficiently.
The class is now equipped with many necessary facilities such as tapes, cassette players,
televisions, CDs, and overhead projectors and other aids designed by teachers themselves.
The teachers are all graduated from Vietnam National University, college of foreign
language, English department. A majority of them are young and novice teachers. In general,
these teachers are well-qualified in terms of their proficiency in English and knowledge. They
all attended the teacher- training program and workshops are held annually by Ministry of
Education and Training and British Council as assist teachers with specific guidance in
teaching methods. They are still in early stage of communicative language teaching
experience.
Regarding teaching and learning listening skill to 12

th
form students, the implementation of
the new textbook has created a dynamic change. Students from that on had a chance to inquire
listening skill formally. The teachers made effort to apply communicative approach in order to
realize the objectives set out for teaching listening skill. It can be figured out that teachers and

17
students may face some difficulties in the listening lessons because this is still the early stage
listening skill is taught at secondary schools.
II.2. Research methodology
II.2.1. Research questions
Given the purposes stated in the chapter 1, the thesis is intended to seek out information on the
three research questions as following:
1. What strategies are the most and the least frequently used by the learners when taking a
test? How are students of varying listening proficiencies similar or different in their strategy
use at the three different phases?
2. How does the use of test-taking strategies correlate with learners‘ listening performance?
3. Do students of different levels of listening proficiency use different strategies for different
test tasks? If so, what are the strategies?
II.2.2. Subject of the study
The study was conducted on 180 students aged 18, 19 in classes 12 A1, 12A3, 12A4,
12A8 at Que Vo I upper-secondary school will participate in the study. They are all non-
English major students. These students have studied English formally in school for six years.
They are taking a required English listening section in the new English textbook by Tư Anh,
Mai Phương Vi (for English -major students) and Hoàng Văn Vân (For non-English major
students) as mentioned above, and are in the final year of the course of the set of the new
English textbook used all over the country when this research was undertaken.
Since this study will take listening proficiency into account, the participants will be
classified into three different levels of proficiency: low, intermediate, and high, based on
scores gained from a listening comprehension tests of their first term and their teachers‘

evaluation. Those who obtained scores of 8 or above will be grouped in the high proficiency
level, those who scored from 5.0 to 7.9 will be in the intermediate level, and the rest will be in
the low level. Excluding those who do not complete the questionnaire and one who do not
take the test seriously, there are a total of about 150 students–50 students in each level
II.2.3.The data collection Instruments
Listening Test-Taking Strategy Questionnaire

18
The listening test-taking strategy questionnaire was delivered to 180 students. All the
questions were written in Vietnamese to enable the students to fully understand and to allow
their full expression of ideas. The questionnaire contained three subcategories (before, during,
and after taking a test) with a total of 30 items rated on a five-point scale—always, usually,
often, sometimes, and never.

Stimulated Written Report: Immediate Retrospective Account of Strategy Use
To uncover whether students knew how to adjust their listening strategies when test
tasks were different, after each subtest every student had to choose the strategies used from a
list (items taken from the questionnaire of listening test-taking strategy). Further, they were
strongly encouraged to ―write in‖ (Oxford et al., 2004, p. 34) any of their own strategies not
shown on the list. They also explained the reasons why or how they used the listening support
in their test.
Class observation
Class observation is specifically constituted to bring about learning , hence , ―it is not
unreasonable to collect data about what goes on there‖ (Nunan,1992:91) .In addition to survey
questionnaires and written reports , class observation was also applied to clarify and test the
validity of information about actual teaching and learning listening context ; the challenges in
presenting and acquiring English knowledge and skills and communicative activities in
listening lessons. The observation was carried out in four listening lessons in different classes
at Que Vo I upper-secondary school.
Listening Test

A 40-item listening test comprising four subtests was constructed based on four comparable
levels of difficulty of different stories (The talks were limited to no more than three minutes
each and each subtest had 10 questions spread evenly over the three test formats: 4 multiple-
choice questions, 3 short answer questions, and 3 true-or-false questions.
Study Materials

19
A vocabulary list: For the subtest involving vocabulary support, four key words and four key
phrases were chosen to be taught before the test Apart from the equivalent Vietnamese
meaning, pronunciation of these words and phrases was also demonstrated by their instructor.
Topical material: For the subtest involving topical knowledge support, an approximately 500-
word handout in Vietnamese story relating to the topic was prepared for the students. To
ensure every student obtained the topical knowledge necessary for the subtest, the instructor
led the whole class in reading through the material.

II.2.4.Procedure
I conducted my study within 6 weeks at the end of the second term at classes 12 A1,
12A3, 12A4, 12A8 at Que Vo I upper-secondary school , Bacninh province where I have been
teaching English for more than nine years. Firstly, The listening test-taking strategies
questionnaire was administered to the participants a week before the listening test. Before
filling in the questionnaire, all students were informed of the purpose of the study. If they
consented to participate, they signed a consent form and returned the questionnaire to the
researcher. To elicit students‘ best performance, the test results counted for part of their course
grade, as without this, student motivation and effort in the test could have been profoundly
affected (Young, 1990; In‘nama, 2006).
To decide which support type should come first was a difficult decision; however,
according to previous research (Chang & Read, 2007, 2008), students showed a higher level of
confidence with vocabulary support and repeated input than with background knowledge.
Accordingly, students took the test with repeated input first, followed by vocabulary
instruction, question preview only, and topical knowledge. Since repeated input and

previewing question subtests involved no pre-listening activities, students first listened to the
stories included in their regular listening schedule.
Before the test began, students were instructed how to take the tests and how to write
down the strategies they used. They were also advised that there were no good or bad
strategies, as long as they felt comfortable with them. When the students finished each subtest,
they spent 10 minutes writing down the strategies they used and if possible, the reasons why

20
they used these strategies. Those who wrote down their strategy used in great detail were
rewarded by the researcher with a small gift.
The total running time for each subtest was around 45 minutes, for a total of 180
minutes. The procedure is summarized below.
Table 1. Summary of the Test Procedure
Week 1 Session 1
Week 1 Session 2
Week 2 Session 1
Week 2 Session2
Repeated Input
(School leaving
age set to rise
to18)
Vocabulary
Instruction
(Kuwaiti women get
the vote)
Question Preview
(Paul McCartney
fights for kangaroos)
Topical Inducement
(Jogging)

Listening to stories
Vocabulary
instruction
Listening to stories
Topical knowledge
inducement
↓
↓
↓
↓
Preview questions
Preview questions
Preview questions
Preview questions
↓
↓
↓
↓
Take the test with 2
hearings
Take the test with 1
hearing
Take the test with 1
hearing
Take the test with 1
hearing
↓
↓
↓
↓

Record strategy use
Record strategy use
Record strategy use
Record strategy use
Finally, class observations were employed to reflect the current context at Que Vo I upper-
secondary school. The data were tape-recorded and transcripted.
II.2.5.Data Analysis
The data used in this study were 150 students‘ responses on the questionnaire regarding
listening test-taking strategy use and their listening test scores under four different test tasks,
as well as 30 students‘ written reports regarding task-based listening strategy and the class

21
observations. The answers in response to the questionnaire by the students were consolidated
and categorized by the researcher. The results were subsequently tabulated and converted to
percentages for the convenience of analysis. The data from students‘ written reports regarding
strategies used for four forms of listening support was analyzed manually because students
answered specifically about their strategy use. Information gained via the class observation
also helped to assist interpretation.