Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng công cụ Internet để bổ trợ quá trình tự học tiếng Anh cơ bản của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ nhất trường Đại học Sư phạm Kỹ thuật Nam

1

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

***********
NGÔ THỊ THƠM

THE USE OF THE INTERNET TOOL AS AN ASSISTANCE FOR FIRSTYEAR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS AT NAMDINH UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN BASIC ENGLISH SELF-STUDY
(Using web-based listening activities to develop the skill of
listening for details)

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng cơng cụ Internet để bổ trợ q trình tự học tiếng
Anh cơ bản của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ nhất trường Đại học Sư
phạm Kỹ thuật Nam Định- Sử dụng hoạt động nghe dựa trên nền mạng
Internet để phát triển kỹ năng nghe lấy thông tin chi tiết)

M.A. THESIS
(Minor Programme)
Field: Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi - 2012


2

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

***********
NGÔ THỊ THƠM

THE USE OF THE INTERNET TOOL AS AN ASSISTANCE FOR FIRSTYEAR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS AT NAMDINH UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN BASIC ENGLISH SELF-STUDY
(Using web-based listening activities to develop the skill of
listening for details)

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng cơng cụ Internet để bổ trợ q trình tự học tiếng
Anh cơ bản của sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ nhất trường Đại học Sư
phạm Kỹ thuật Nam Định- Sử dụng hoạt động nghe dựa trên nền mạng
Internet để phát triển kỹ năng nghe lấy thông tin chi tiết)

M.A. THESIS
(Minor Programme)
Field: Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Dr Do Tuan Minh

Hanoi - 2012


6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Abstract
PART ONE – INTRODUCTION

Page

1. Rationale....................................................................................................................

1

2. Aims of the study......................................................................................................

2

3. Research questions ...................................................................................................

2

4. Scope of the study.....................................................................................................

2

5. Method of the study...................................................................................................

3

6. Significance of the study..........................................................................................

3

7. Design of the study....................................................................................................

3

PART TWO – DEVELOPMENT................................................................................

5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................

5

1.1. The Internet as a language teaching and learning tool.............................................

5

1.2. Drawbacks of the Internet in language teaching and learning ................................

7

1.3. Web-based language learning activities......................................................................

7

1.4. Listening comprehension- a brief theoretical overview............................................

9

1.4.1. Definition of listening.....................................................................................

9

1.4.2. Strategies of listening comprehension.............................................................

9

1.4.3. Process of comprehension in listening...........................................................

11

1.4.4. Types of listening activities.............................................................................

12

1.5. Listening practice in relation to the web. ...................................................................
1.5.1. Reasons for using the web for developing and improving listening

13
14

comprehension ..............................................................................................................
1.5.2. An example of free listening materials sources and web-based listening

14

techniques and activities................................................................................................
CHAPTER 2: METHOD OF THE STUDY...............................................................

16

2.1. Quasi-experimental research....................................................................................

16

2.2. The setting of the study............................................................................................

17

2.3. Participants..............................................................................................................

18


7

2.4. Instruments..............................................................................................................

19

2.4.1. Pretest and postest.........................................................................................

19

2.4.2. Survey questionnaire......................................................................................

19

2.5. Procedure of the study..............................................................................................

21

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS.....................................................

22

3.1. Findings.....................................................................................................................

22

3.1.1. Research question 1........................................................................................

22

3.1.2. Research question 2........................................................................................

27

3.1.3. Research question 3........................................................................................

32

3.2. Implications.............................................................................................................

37

PART THREE – CONCLUSION...............................................................................

39

1. Conclusion.................................................................................................................

39

2. Limitations of the study.............................................................................................

40

3. Suggestions for further study...................................................................................

41

References....................................................................................................................

42

Appendices


8

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS
Figures
Figure 1

Screen shot from the WBLL Website with a session planner

8

Figure 2

Screen shot from Randall‟s Cyber Listening Lab Website

15

Result of t-test for comparison between pretest scores of experimental

22

Tables
Table 1

group and control group
Table 2

Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest scores of Experimental

23

group
Table 3

Descriptive Statistics for Pretest and Posttest scores of Control group

Table 4

24

Result of t-test for comparison between posttest scores of experimental
group and control group

25

Chart 1

Students‟ gender

18

Chart 2

Pretest and Posttest Mean Increase

26

Chart 3

The importance of the web-based listening activities

27

Chart 4

Frequency of using the web-based listening activities

28

Chart 5

Efficiency of using the web-based listening activities

29

Chart 6

Listening section‟s level of difficulty

36

Charts


9

PART ONE – INTRODUCTION
8. Rationale
The Internet is a global network of computer networks. It provides language teachers with
network-based teaching environments in which they can create meaningful tasks and use
various materials for language learners. The hypermedia nature of the World Wide Web, in
particular, has greatly expanded the power of computer-assisted language learning by
allowing learners to explore and discover their learning paths themselves and offering them
easy access to an on-line database of resources (Son, 2008). With a variety of hyperlinked
multimedia documents and computer-mediated communication tools, the web can support to
integrate web resources into either language teaching and learning activities or into language
classroom in next few years. It can be also a virtual library that has a huge amount of
information valuable to English as a second language teaching (Allodi,1998; Bell, 1998;
Murray & McPherson, 2004; Son, 2005; Warschauer & Healey, 1998). In addition, Webbased Language Learning (WBLL) has the potential to increase learner motivation and
engage learners in culturally authentic and highly interactive language experience (Chun &
Plass, 2000; Kung & Chuo, 2002; Mosquera, 2001). WBLL is language learning that involves
the use of the web and exploits web materials, resources, applications or tools (Son, 2007).
Given that WBLL occurs with web activities on the web, it is important to use well-designed
WBLL activities to maximize language learning.
Of the four English language skills that are often taught separately, listening requires more
efforts from both course developers and learners. Unlike courses for other skills, which are

mostly paper-based, listening courses are a combination of paper-based materials in the form
of a course book, and sound-based materials in the form of audio on tapes/compact discs
(Wong, 2005). However, learners get to keep only the course book, and can access the course
audio only in class, which essentially prescribes teacher-centered lessons. Learner autonomy,
if it is to take place at all, necessitates a different delivery mode. To some extent, the web
seems to be a new tool contributing to the formation of that alternativemode.
This paper studies the use of the Internet tool as an assistance for first-year non-major
students at Namdinh University of Technology Education (NUTE) in basic English self-study.
More specifically, it is the students‟use of web-based listening activities to develop the skill


10

of listening for details. While reporting the results of listening activities trial that explored,
selected and developed web activities for students, it investigates the usefulness of the web
activities in their listening comprehension practice and the difficulties as well.
The author hopes that this research would make a small but helpful contribution to the
effective use of the Internet with web- based activities for the development of non-major
students‟ listening self-study at Vietnamese universtities in general and at NUTE in particular.
Also, this would be one of the foundation for further researches into the area in the near
future.
9. Aims of the study
The ultimate purpose of this study is to effectively apply the use of web-based listening
activities to develop the skill of listening for details at NUTE. The following aims are wished
to achieve:
(i) To investigate the influence of utilizing web-based listening activities on the listening
for details outcomes of the first-year non-major students at NUTE .
(ii) To find out the students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the application of web-based
listening activities in their listening self-study.
(iii) To find out the difficulties students have during the process of self-study.

10. Research questions
In order to achieve the aims above, the following research questions will be raised in the
study:
(i) To what extent does the utilization of web-based listening activities affect the
effectiveness of teaching and learning the skill of listening for details for first-year non-major
students at NUTE?
(ii) What are students‟ opinions and attitudes towards the use of web-based listening
activities in the suggested websites in their listening self-study?
(iii)What are the problems that students have during the self- study process of using webbased activities to improve their listening comprehension skill?
11. Scope of the study
The study operates within the following scopes:
(i) The use of the Internet with web-based activities in listening comprehension self-study
is a wide topic so it is impossible to discuss every aspect of it in this research. As such, only
the use of two activities: listening to the songs and ticking off items in the website


11

and listening to a short conversation and filling the gaps in the website
will be investigated.
(ii) By the time constraint, doing a research with a large number of the participants is out
of the author‟s research. The technical students at NUTE have to attend three semesters of
English, of which the two first ones are basic English One and Two. The subjects chosen for
this research are 40 students from 2 selected groups: ĐK6C and CK14D; these students are
studying basic English One-. Headway Elementary- Liz and John Soars- Oxford University
Press.
12. Method of the study
The method used in this study is quasi-experimental research design which utilizes a
survey questionnaire for students. The writer suggests two websites for students to practice
listening comprehension on their own. In addition, two tests: one pre-test and one post-test are

also used. The data collected for the study is from the survey questionnaire and the two tests‟
scores.
13. Significance of the study
The first significance of the study is for the author herself and the other English teachers at
the Faculty of Foreign Languages- NUTE since the data collected from the study can be
analyzed and interpreted in terms of using websites and web-based activities with songs and
short conversations to promote the effectiveness of teaching Elementary English listening
comprehension in general and listening to do ticking off items and gap filling in particular at
this university.
The result of the study may also be expected to English teachers who have interest in
applying new technology in their teaching for higher teaching quality. Especially, the teachers
who are teaching Elementary English in colleges or universities can try suggesting the
websites for their students.
The last but not least significance of the study is that it can lay grounds for further
researches on the employment of web-based activities in self-study listening comprehension
skill as well as other skills.
14. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts:
Part One „Introduction‟ presents the rationale, purposes, research questions, scope, method,
significance and design of the study.


12

Part Two „Development‟ consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1 provides the Literature review including the Internet as a language teaching and
learning tool, drawbacks of the Internet in language teaching and learning, web-based
language learning activities, theoretical overview of listening comprehension and listening
practice in relation to the web.
Chapter 2 details the a quasi-experemental research as the method of the study, the setting of

the study, the participants, the instruments to collect data and the procedure of the study.
Chapter 3 presents results of the study, the findings in which research question are addressed
and implications are also presented in this chapter.
Part Three „Conclusion‟ summarizes the main issues of the study and proposes limitations and
suggestions for further studies.


13

PART TWO – DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter introduces a brief review of the literature relevant to the study and is divided into
five sections. The first section discusses the Internet as a language teaching and learning tool,
the second section presents some drawbacks of the Internet in language teaching and learning,
it continues by discussing the web-based language learning activities, the fourth one is a brief
theoretical overview of listening comprehension, the last one looks at listening practice in
relation to the web.
1.1. The Internet as a language teaching and learning tool
While the computer is now used in some forms or another in most language classrooms,
and is considered standard equipment, the Internet is also gradually being introduced in the
second language classroom as teachers become more familiar with it. The Internet is a
confederation of thousands of computers from various sectors of society such as education,
business, government and the military. It is a network of thousands of computer networks
(Lewis, 1994). Each individual system brings something different to the whole (databases,
library services, electronic journals...), and the end result is a vast accumulation of
information. It is a worldwide network of computers that interacts on a standardized set of
protocols which act independently of particular computer operating systems, allowing for a
variety of access methods to the Internet. So it can be conceived of as the equivalent of a
telephone system for computers. It can be used to both exchange information through
electronic mail, newsgroups, on-line discussion groups as well as to retrieve information on a

variety of topics through the World Wide Web – WWW (Singhal, 1997). The WWW is
therefore a virtual library at one's fingertips; it is a readily available world of information for
the language learner. While the Internet offers numerous benefits to the language learner, a
few such possibilities are examined here, in the context of language learning.
Perhaps one of the most essential pedagogical principles of language teaching is one that
emphasizes the study of language in a cultural context. Many language instructors believe that
language and culture are interdependent; understanding the culture of the target language
enhances understanding of the language. To this end, the Internet is a valuable resource to
both language teachers and learners. The Internet allows language learners to communicate
with native speakers. In this manner, the Internet facilitates the use of the specific language in


14

an authentic setting. The Internet can also be used to acquire information from language
resources for a variety of purposes. For example, students can access current information from
countries around the world. They can obtain geographical, historical, social/cultural,
economic, and political information from the countries in which the target language is spoken.
Students can read web versions of daily newspapers and same-day news reports from sources.
Such experiences can allow learners to participate in the culture of the target language, which
in turn can enable them to further learn how cultural background influences one's view of the
world (Singhal, 1997).
The Internet also serves as a medium for experiencing and presenting creative works.
While students can peruse the information on the net, they can also use it as a platform for
their own work such as essays or stories. Numerous public schools, for example, are making
use of the WWW for publishing student work which can be accessed by other web users.
Students therefore become not only consumers of content, but also generate the content.
The use of the Internet has also been shown to promote higher order thinking skills (Mike,
1996). A language teacher, for example, may instruct learners to search for specific
information. Searching the web requires logic skills. Once information has been obtained, the

results must be reviewed which requires scanning, discarding, and evaluative judgment on
part of the learner. Such an endeavor permits students to practice reading skills and strategies.
The Internet also promotes literacy for authentic purposes. When exploring the net, students
are essentially exploring the real world. Such browsing or exploration can also lead to
incidental learning as they encounter a variety of information in this way. Communication
with native speakers furthers literacy development for authentic purposes, enables language
learners to compare student perspectives on an issue, and allows them to practice specific
skills such as negotiating, persuading, clarifying meaning, requesting information, and
authentic discussion. Promotion of literacy also occurs within a social context. The interaction
that results from the above situations can lead to cooperative projects and increased
communication between students from all over the world, in turn leading to the development
of social skills. Finally, the use of the Internet can promote computer skills and the technical
experiences of using a computer.
Lastly, the Internet provides supplemental language activities which can provide students
with additional practice in specific areas of language learning. These include reading tests and


15

comprehension questions, grammar exercises, cloze tests.... Students can search the web for
such sites, or teachers may recommend specific sites on the web.
1.2. Drawbacks of the Internet in language teaching and learning
Up to this point in time, the above discussion has described some of the potential benefits
of the Internet and how it can be used in the second or foreign language teaching and learning.
However, it would be incomplete without addressing the disadvantages or obstacles related to
the use of the Internet in the language teaching and learning .
While the Internet and its various facets offer a great deal to the language learner, it is not
without its problems. The nature of the Internet itself can be a disadvantage at times. When
lines are busy due to many users, it may take time to access information or browse the net and
technical glitches themselves can lead to frustration. Lack of training and familiarity on part

of the teachers can make it difficult to implement the Internet in the language teaching and
learning. This requires that school administrators budget for training in this area. Foreign
language teachers are anxious abour computers since they often have little experience with it.
For the most part, computers in schools are used for business or computer science courses.
Costs related to training, as well as on-line costs of using a provider are issues that may
interfere with implementing such a technology in schools, especially in schools that have little
funding. The Internet offers access to all types of issues and topics, some of which are
unsuitable for children, and this in itself may result in various problems. While some
precautions can be taken at the present time, they are not full proof by any means. Equity
issues may also present difficulties when attempting to implement such technology in the
language teaching and learning. As the commercial sector begins to assume a more prominent
role in the Internet's infrastructure, rural and inner-city schools, already hard-pressed to
provide Internet access, may find it less affordable. This is certainly discouraging for both
language teachers and students in such educational settings (Mike, 1996). Many institutions
such as these may also not have the computers or computing facilities necessary to implement
such type of technology.
1.3. Web-based language learning (WBLL) activities
WBLL is language learning that involves the use of the web and exploits web materials,
resources, applications or tools (Son, 2007).
Based on the way of creating, presenting and using materials on the web, the following
types of WBLL activities are proposed: pre-created web activities-adopting interactive


16

language exercises that have been already created by others and are easily accessible on the
web; task-based web activities-making use of a variety of authentic web resources for
communications, information collections, problem-solving tasks, etc; and teacher-made web
activities-employing tailor-made language exercises modified by classroom teachers
themselves for their own students (Son, 2008).

Figure 1 Screen shot from the WBLL Website with a session planner

However, it often takes English teachers much time and efforts to create their own class
websites to support their teaching while their knowledge of information technology is not
professional. But it is no need to be worried if one knows very little or even nothing about
how to create class websites as there are various websites available on the Internet. What one
has to do is to register to be a member and follows the guidelines to freely use activities the
websites provide. One thing should be paid much attention is to select appropriate ones for
certain uses. Here are some popular English listening websites like that:
/> /> />
/>With these websites, what teachers as well as students have to do is very simple, they just
let the author know their personal information and needs by finishing the registration then
follow the instructions to take part in various online activities and exploit or download for
offline use.
1.4. Listening comprehension- a brief theoretical overview


17

1.4.1. Definition of listening
Beginning in the early 70's, work by Asher, Postovsky, Winitz and, later, Krashen, brought
attention to the role of listening as a tool for understanding and a key factor in facilitating
language learning. Listening has emerged as an important component in the process of second
language acquisition (Feyten, 1991).
Listening is an invisible mental process, making it difficult to describe. Listeners must
discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammatical structures, interpret
stress and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the larger sociocultural context of the utterance (Wipf, 1984). Rost (2002) defines listening, in its broadest
sense, as a process of receiving what the speaker actually says (receptive orientation);
constructing and representing meaning (constructive orientation); negotiating meaning with
the speaker and responding (collaborative orientation); and, creating meaning through

involvement, imagination and empathy (transformative orientation). Listening is a complex,
active process of interpretation in which listeners match what they hear with what they
already know.
1.4.2. Strategies of listening comprehension
Research into speech perception has shown that listening comprehension involves
far more than mere decoding of the sounds.
Rivers (1983b) in her discussion of speech perception identifies three stages. First, the
listener must recognize that the sounds are an actual message and not just noise. This
recognition means to the listener that the sounds are elements of the language system. In the
second stage, the listener identifies sounds along with lexical and syntactic forms by
segmenting and grouping them. The third stage involves recoding in order to retain the
auditory message in long-term storage. These stages are necessarily rapid and overlapping.
Whether the process of listening comprehension is as described above or in some other forms,
it is certainly an active process involving cognitive processing.
Among all the strategies for listening, O„Malley and Chamot (1990) claimed three main
types of strategies: meta-cognitive, cognitive and social strategies.
The meta-cognitive strategy was a kind of self-regulated learning. It included the attempt
to plan, check, monitor, select, revise, and evaluate, etc. For example, for meta-cognitive
planning strategies, learners would clarify the objectives of an anticipated listening task, and
attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details that assisted in understanding


18

the task (Vandergrift, 1999). Generally, it can be discussed through pre-listening planning
strategies, while-listening monitoring strategies, and post-listening evaluation strategies.
The cognitive strategies are related to comprehending and storing input in working
memory or long-term memory for later retrieval. They are investigated from the aspects of
bottom-up strategies, top-down strategies. For bottom-up processing, it refers to using the
incoming input as the basis for understanding the message. Comprehension begins with the

received data that is analyzed as successive levels of organization-sounds, words, as a
process of decoding. For bottom up strategies, Henner-Stanchina (1987) pointed out that
effective listeners were good at using their previous knowledge and experience to raise
hypotheses about a text, integrating new information into their ongoing interpretations,
making influences to bridge gaps, assessing their interpretations, and modifying their
hypotheses, if necessary. On the other hand, top-down processing went from meaning to
language (Richards,

2008). Learners can try to predict what will utter by the signal.

However, Chiu (2006) claimed that listening comprehension was neither only top-down nor
bottom-up processing. Simultaneously, Lu (2008) summed up that the scholars believed the
listeners not only utilized bottom-up but also top-down processing models.

In

sum,

Thompson & Rubin (1996) found that the students who received strategy instruction in
listening to video-recorded texts improved significantly over those who had received no
instruction.
For social strategies, Vandergrift (2003) defined the strategies as the techniques listeners
used to collaborate with others, to verify understanding or to lower anxiety. Habte-Gabr
(2006) stated that socio-affective strategies were those which were non-academic in nature
and involve stimulating learning through establishing a level of

empathy between the

instructor and student. They included considering factors such as emotions and attitudes
(Oxford, 1990). It was essential for listeners to know how to reduce the anxiety, feel confident

in doing listening tasks, and promote personal motivation in improving listening competence
(Vandergrift, 1997).
A great deal has been written about language strategies. These strategies have been
categorized as learning strategies and communication strategies. Ellis (1985) has stated that
„Communication strategies are problem-oriented‟. That is they are employed by the learner
because he lacks or cannot gain access to the linguistic resources required to express an


19

intended meaning. They are short-term answers, while learning strategies- Ellis points- are
long-term solutions.
1.4.3. Process of comprehension in listening
Understanding a listening passage is quite a complicated process happening in the learner‟s
mind. It may probably be something like this:
I.4.3.1. Perception cracking the code
First the listener has to be able to recognize and discriminate between contrasting sound,
stresses, intonations and word shapes. This is called “code-cracking”
I.4.3.2. Decoding- making sense of the message
Each short stretch of meaningful listening material has to be
(i) recognized as meaningful and understood on reception
(ii) held in the short-term memory long enough
(iii) for it to be related to what has gone before and what follows
Out of this process come pieces of information which can be stored in the long-term memory
for later recall. What is remembered later and presumably what is stored in the long-term
memory are the more general information- the gist of the message, not a whole sequences of
short stretches of material held briefly in the short-term memory, we can show the whole
process of listening comprehension in the following model:

20

1

2

3

Perception of

Initial recognition of

Material held in

sounds, word

meaning of short-

short-term

shapes

term memory

memory

4

5

Related to materials

Related to materials

already held in short-

arriving in short-

term memory

term memory

6
Meaning extracted from message and retained in
long-term memory

7
Gist recalled later
It must be remembered that the stages 1 to 6 follow each other very quickly and that the
processing time available within short-term memory may be very short indeed. Stages 2,3,4
and 5 involved not only the recogniton of lexical meaning but also the perception of
grammartical relationships as signaled by such things as word orders, tense markers,
intonations and so on.
1.4.3.3. Prediction and selection
Although the above-outlined process is complex, the listener has the ability to predict what
is likely to come next and the ability to select which stretches of material he will pay
maximum attention to and which he needs not to bother too much about. His prediction and
selection come from the logic of details in the passage, his knowledge of the language, his life
experience, etc. They are invaluable in listening, helping to understand the listening passage
and do the given listening tasks as well.

I.4.4. Types of listening activities


21

There are a lot of listening activities with various ways of classifying such as by listening
skill, by level of difficulty, by amount and complexity of response... The following are four
types of listening activities classified by the amount and complexity of response demanded of
the learner.
(i) No overt response
Learner do not have to do anything in response to the listening, only understand its main idea
or enjoy it silently themselves.


Stories: teachers tell a joke, retell a well-known story, read a story from a book, play a

recording of funny stories.


Songs: teachers can play a recording of structure-teaching songs, sing English songs

themselves, learners listen and enjoy their rhythm, content, music.


Entertainment- films, video, radio, theater: learners can watch and listen to these with high

motivation to understand for full enjoyment.
(ii) Short response


Obeying instructions: learners perform actions, draw shapes or pictures or make

something in response to heard instrucion.


Ticking off items: a list, text, picture or map is provided. Learners mark/tick off

words/components as they hear them with a spoken description, story or list of items.


True/ False- Right/ Wrong: the listening passage consists of a number of statements, some

of which are true and some false. Learners tick or cross to indicate whether the statements are
right or wrong, or make brief responses.


Dectecting mistakes: the teacher tells a story or describe something the class knows but

with some deliberate mistakes or inconsistencies Learners raise their hands or call out when
they hear something wrong.


Blank-filling/cloze: the listening text has occasional brief gaps, represented by silence or

some kind of buzz. Learners write down what they think might be the right missing word.


Guessing definitions: teacher provides brief oral definitions of a person, place, thing,

action... learners write down what they think it is.



Skimming and scanning: a not-too-long listening text is given, learners are asked to

identify some general topic, information (skimming) or certain information (scanning) and
note the answers. Written questions inviting brief answers may be provided in advance or a


22

grid with certain missing entries, or a picture, a map or a diagram/ chart to be completed or
altered.


Multiple choice items: a list of multiple choice questions or items is provided, learners

listen to the passage, news, dialogue, story then tick the suitable choice.
(iii) Longer responses


Answering open-ended questions: some questions demanding fairly full responses are

given in advance to which the listening text provides the answers. Learners are free to answer
them in any way depending on their understanding.


Note taking: learners listen to the listening text and take brief notes from it.



Dictation: this is the good combination of listening comprehension and controlled writing.

Learners have to exactly understand what they hear when they write it down


Paraphrasing and translating: learners rewrite the listening text in different words either in

the same language (paraphrase) or in another (translation)


Summarizing: learners write a brief summary of the content of the listening text .



Long gap-filling: long gaps are left at the beginning, middle or end of a text, learners

listen to the text, guess, write down or say what they think might be missing
(iv) Extended responses
Here, the listening is only a “jump- off point” for extended speaking, reading or writing, i.e
these are “combined skill” activities.


Problem solving: a problem is described orally, learners discuss how to deal with it then

give suggested solution orally or in writing.


Information transfer: this involves receiving information in one form, e.g verbal, then

transfering the information to another form e.g diagrams, graphs, charts....



Interpretation: learners listen to speakers, interpret his ideas into the mother tongue.

1.5. Listening practice in relation to the web
The web allows repeated practice with a variety of authentic materials that can supplement
and transcend what students receive in class or in their local communities. (Hubbard, Kessler
& Madden, 2003)
1.5.1. Reasons for using the web for developing and improving listening comprehension
The Internet offers many online listening-based learning environments designed to meet
the study needs of ESL learners (Peterson, 2010). Learners can use the web in developing and


23

improving their language skills, in particular listening comprehension for the following good
reasons:
(i) Current university students have been characterised as the “Net Generation”
(Barnes,2007; Prensky, 2001) and “native speakers” of the digital language of computers,
video games, and the Internet (Prensky, 2001). Learners today have high expectations when it
comes to technology and they expect a language school or programme to offer opportunities
to use technology in their courses, for example via a well-equipped self-access centre (Sharma
& Barrett, 2007).
(ii) The use of technology outside the language classroom or in the self-access centre can
make learners more autonomous. Using technology allows language practice and study away
from the confines of the classroom at your own pace anywhere: a room, an office, an Internet
café, at home or of course, in the self-access language centre.
(iii) New information technology skills such as Internet search skills can be transferred to real
life. Using a range of information communication technology tools and a web-based
environment can give learners exposure to practicing listening regularly, and consequently,

become a more effective listener.
(iv) The use of technology via web-based environment can be current, e.g. using a listening
activity with today‟s news from news websites can add a dimension of immediacy to listening
practice.
(v) While listening to digital audio or watching a video clip, learners have the opportunity to
pause at will, and listen and read a transcript. Moreover, learners can get instant feedback on
what they have done (e.g. you watch a video clip/listen to audio and check answers
immediately after watching/listening).
(vi) Learners can access authentic websites, as well as websites for EFL or ESL learners. As
learners become used to selecting and evaluating listening materials, they are able to plan out
their own use of web-based materials in their own time. This helps them become effective
listeners and independent learners.

1.5.2. An example of free listening material source and web-based listening techniques and
activities
The selected free site listening material and example of web-based listening techniques and
activities by Phil Hubbard, Stanford University are presented here:


24

Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab – A non-commercial site
developed by Randall Davis. Includes over 140 exercises divided into 4 groups: general
listening, academic listening, long conversations with video, and short exercises. Some are
quite engaging. Exercises are also divided into easy, medium, difficult, and very difficult.
Lessons have pre- and post-listening exercises, the latter including quizzes and text
completion. Transcripts include glossed vocabulary.
Using Randall‟s Cyber Listening Lab. Among other things, Phil Hubbard advises students
to select familiar topics if they want to focus on language development and processing, and
less familiar topics for more of a challenge for global listening. For difficult material,

especially in an unfamiliar area, they may want to review the script first.
Figure 2 Screen shot from Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab Website

In short, this chapter has presented the overview of the literature relevant to the study. The
focus has been on theoretical overview of listening comprehension, a brief introduction of the
Internet as a language teaching and learning tool, the discussion of some drawbacks of the
Internet in language teaching and learning and the web-based language learning activities,
especially a quick look at listening practice in relation to the web.
The next chapter will detail the method of the study, that introduces the setting of the study,
participants, instruments and the procedure of the study.


25

CHAPTER 2: METHOD OF THE STUDY
This chapter gives a brief overview of quasi-experimental research and then it describes the
setting of the study, participants, instruments of the research, including the pretest and
posttest, the survey questionnaire. The procedure of the study is also presented.
2.1. Quasi-experimental research
According to Nunan (1992, p 24-25), experiments are carried out in order to explore the
strength of relationship between variables.
Quasi-experimental research is one of the three main types of experiments (the others are
pre-experiment and true experiment). The design of a quasi-experiment relates to a particular
type of experiment or other study in which one has little or no control over the allocation of
the treatments or other factors being studied. The key difference in this empirical approach is
the lack of random assignment. Another unique element often involved in this
experimentation method is use of time series analysis, both interrupted and non-interrupted.
Experiments designed in this manner are referred to as having quasi-experimental design
(Wikipedia).
There are several types of quasi-experimental designs ranging from the simple to the

complex, each having different strengths, weaknesses and applications. Since quasiexperimental designs are used when randomization is impractical and/or unethical, they are
typically easier to set up than true experimental designs, which require random assignment of
subjects. Additionally, utilizing quasi-experimental designs minimizes threats to external
validity as natural environments do not suffer the same problems of artificiality as compared
to a well-controlled laboratory setting. Since quasi-experiments are natural experiments,
findings in one may be applied to other subjects and settings, allowing for some
generalizations to be made about population. Also, this experimentation method is efficient in
longitudinal research that involves longer time periods which can be followed up in different
environments.
Experimental research methods revolve around hypotheses and the final goal of
experimental designs is to eliminate alternative hypothesis. While pre-experimental research
design may eliminate chance, otherwise eliminates no alternative hypothesis, quasiexperimental design eliminate some, but not all alternative hypothesis and true experimental
design attempt to eliminate most alternative hypotheses, especially those related to time and
to make-up of the groups.


26

There are three types of hypotheses in experimental research: research hypothesis, null
hypothesis and alternative hypothesis.
Research hypothesis is the first hypothesis the researcher set out about how the results will
turn out, it means that there is an effect and it is due to the independent variables.
Then, researcher hold the possibility that there is no effect of the independent variable on
the dependent variable or that the differences observed are due to chance only. This is the null
hypothesis. The first step in experimenal research, then is ruling out chance. Put another way,
researchers set up an experimental design that will allow them to reject the null hypothesis. If
they can confidently reject the null hypothesis, they gain confidence in the research
hypothesis
At this point, another group of hypotheses- the alternative hypotheses comes into play. If
there is an effect beyond chance, it may due to the independent variable or a number of other

factors- confounding variables. Again, researchers use experimental design to allow them to
eliminate alternative hypothesis.
The present study is conducted as a quasi-experimental design. Three hypotheses were set
up for the study. The first hypothesis stated in the research questions, the second one was the
null hypothesis- there is no difference between the posttest scores of the experimental group
and the control group. Because this is a quasi-experimental research and because of the time
constraint, only one the alternative hypothesis was set up for the study: the pretest score of the
experimental group and the control group are different.
2.2. The setting of the study
The study was conducted among 40 first-year non-major students at NUTE who come
from two separate groups ĐK6C and CK14D. Although these students are major on
accounting, electronic and electrical engineering, information technology and mechanical
engineering, they are grouped together as in the first year, they attend general subjects
including basic English. A program of English consisting two stages has been implemented at
the university. The first one, which lasts for two semesters, is focused on basic English.
Students are taught intergrated skills and progress from elementary level in the first semester
to pre-intermediate level in the second year. The course book used in this stage is the
Headway series, including Headway Elementary and Headway Pre-Intermediate. This stage
aims at providing the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. In this
stage, some sub-skills such as using dictionary, searching for the net, self-study are also


27

introduced. Generally, this stage gets everything ready for the English for Specific Purposes
studied in the following semester.
In order to achieve the above aims, a variety of approaches and methods have been
employed during the teaching and learning process. As there is no one-size-fits-all method or
no best method, the teachers have to be flexible to combine different methods in their
teaching. Whatever methods are used, the focus of the learning process in on learner-centered.

Teachers can not teach students everything but motivate them to learn, instruct them how to
learn so they can study by themselves.
2.3. Participants
The participants chosen for the study included 40 non-major students at NUTE in their
first year. The students were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group,
each has 20 students. These participants were not randomly selected and they belong naturally
to two available groups: ĐK6C and CK14D ( both of them are taught by the researcher).
Non-major English students is the thing that the two groups have in common. They are
attending basic English One with the course book Headway Elementary by Liz and John
Soars- Oxford University Press. As such, their English level was elementary.
Among 40 students selected for the survey, the male students outnumbered the female
with 24 (60%) and 16 (40%). The student gender is illustrated below:
Chart 1: Students’ gender
70%
60%
60%

Percentage

50%
40%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male

Female

The experimental group practise listening for details themselves with the suggested
websites while the control group self study listening comprehension following the traditional
mode- use analogue and tape-based format (cassette ). The experimental group consists of 20


28

students, 14 males and 6 females while the control group consists of 20 students, 10 males
and 10 females.
2.4. Instruments
The instruments including pretest, posttest and survey questionnaire were employed to obtain
data for the study.
2.4.1 Pretest and posttest
Pretest and posttest were the similar tests with similar questions and order which are
administered to both experimental group and control group. The similar tests were used for
both the pre and post test since this could avoid the fact that the pretest was more or less
difficult than the posttest and vice versa. Moreover, the use of the similar tests before and
after the experimental treatment was to measure exactly the difference that may have been
caused by that treatment, and to minimize the possible effect of test familarity on the students‟
gains between the two tests administrators.
In terms of the content, the test simply consists of two parts:
The first part includes about fifteen pictures simple and familiar with students. What
students have to do is to listen to the song and click the correct words. This section aims at
checking students‟ ability to identify and tick the phrases being sung very quickly.
The second part requires students to listen carefully and complete the conversation
following by filling in the missing words or sentences. There were about six gaps that need to
be completed. This part tests students‟ ability to remember and guess what is said in the
dialogue. The exercise sometimes asks for knowledge of grammar and vocabulary used in a
particular context.
The results of the pretest and posttest are statistically analyzed to measure the

effectiveness of self-study with web-based listening activities in comparison with the
traditional method.
2.4.2 A survey questionnaire
The survey questionnaire designed for students includes seventeen questions and it was
administered to the experimental group. The aims of this questionnaire is to investigate
students‟ opinions and attitude towards the use of web-based listening activities in listening
and to find out the difficulties students faced with in the process of self-study.
Seventeen questions of the questionnaire were divided into two parts. The first one
consists of eight questions with seven close-ended questions and one open-ended question,