supplementary material in teaching listening skill to second-year English major at Hanoi National University of Education Sử dụng video làm tài liệu bổ trợ dạy

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

PHẠM THỊ THU THỦY

USING VIDEO AS A SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL IN
TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO SECOND-YEAR
ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI NATIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
Sử dụng Video làm tài liệu bổ trợ dạy nghe hiểu cho sinh viên chuyên ngành
tiếng Anh tại trường Đại học sư phạm Hà Nội

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi, 2010


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

PHẠM THỊ THU THỦY

USING VIDEO AS A SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
IN TEACHING LISTENING SKILL TO SECOND-YEAR

ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
OF EDUCATION
Sử dụng Video làm tài liệu bổ trợ dạy nghe hiểu cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng
Anh tại trường Đại học sư phạm Hà Nội

M.A Minor Thesis

Field

: English Teaching Methodology
Code
: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Nguyễn Minh Tuấn


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declarations
Acknowledgements
Abstract
List of tables and figures

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ii
iii
vi

Part 1: Introduction
1. The rationale of the study

2. Hypothesis
3. The aims of the study
4. The scope of the study
5. The methods of the study
6. The design of the study
Part 2: Development
Chapter 1: Literature Review
1. Theories of listening comprehension
1.1.Introduction and definition of listening comprehension
1.2. Listening processes
1.3. Listening in language teaching and learning
2. Definition and benefits of using video in language classroom
3. The application of video in language teaching
4. Previous studies
Chapter 2: Methodology
1. Participants
2. Type of method employed
3. Materials
4. Instrumentations
5. Procedures
Chapter 3: Data analysis and discussion
1. The findings from questionnaire
1.1. Students‘ assessment on the improvement in their listening competence
1.2. Students‘ attitude toward learning with video material
1.3. Students‘ assessment on the role of video in learning listening skill and the
effectiveness of using video in listening lessons
1.4. Some difficulties encountered when using video in teaching listening skill
2. The findings of the tests
2.1. Pre-test
2.2. Post-test

3. Discussion
Part 3: Conclusion
1. Objective revisited
2. The limitations of the research

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3. Suggestions for further studies

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References
Appendix 1: Questionnaire

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Appendix 2: Pre-test

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Appendix 3: Post-test

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Appendix 4: Sample units

VII

LIST OF CHARTS

Page
Chart 1: Change in percentage of students‘ comprehension after using video

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Chart 2: Change in percentage of students‘ retention after using video

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Chart 3: Students‘ attitude toward learning with video material

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Chart 4: Students‘ assessment on the role of video

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Chart 5: Students‘ assessment on effectiveness of video material

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Chart 6: Raw marks in pre-test

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Chart 7: Raw marks in post-test

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Videos are not only for entertainment, but for decades they have been used as useful materials
and important tool for teaching listening and speaking in the world. In recent years, combining
video with IT, information technology, is being developed. It allows teacher to transport
virtually the target language environment into classroom so that live or prerecorded news,
music, sports from all over the world can be viewed by students in real time. The advantages
of using video in the language classroom have been recognized by many researchers in applied
linguistics. The main advantage of using video as a technology for language teaching is
considered to be its ability to present and immerse learners into complete communicative
situations (Lonergan, 1984). Another greatest advantage is the ability of video to cover nonverbal aspects of communication and its cross-cultural comparison potential (Stempleski &
Tomalin, 1990). In addition, using video in the classroom allows differentiation of teaching
and learning according to students‘ abilities, learning styles and personalities.
I myself enjoy watching videos and English movies and find that my students are interested in
them, too. I have tried using some clips as well as extracts from several films for my teaching
listening and found them rather promising. There have been some questions arisen. Does
video material motivate my students to learn better? Does it affect a student‘s academic
listening comprehension in classroom? How should video material be designed and used in
my listening lessons?
These questions motivated me to carry out the study on ―using video as a supplementary

material in teaching listening to second-year English majors at the Faculty of English,


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HNUE.” With this study, the researcher mainly focused on carrying out a quasi-experimental
research to investigate the effectiveness of using video material on improving students‘
listening competence.
2. Hypothesis
This study was carried out to test the following hypothesis: video material can be used to
enhance students‟ motivation in listening to English; improve their listening competence as
well as enhance their retention.
3. The aims of the study
The study aims to reach the following target: to investigate the effectiveness of using video in
teaching listening skill to second-year English major students
4. The scope of the study
The research limits its scope to listening skill and to its participants of second-year English
majors of intermediate level at Hanoi National University of Education.
Of four skills of language teaching, I choose listening skill to deal with as I have tried out
some listening lessons using videos and I have found that listening in the classroom derived
from the use of videos is very interesting and hopeful. In addition, I also realize the changes in
my students‘ attitudes toward learning listening skill.
The choice of participants is simply a matter of convenience as I am teaching listening for
second-year English majors at HNUE. Personally, I suppose that students at this level are
more suitable for the application of this teaching method. Hence, audio-visual lessons are very
demanding to most students, and require them relevant background knowledge to
comprehend.
The materials for my listening lessons are collected from different sources and mostly involve
authentic videos such as movies, documentaries, news or clips downloaded from the internet.
Although the availability of video materials for teaching listening is high, the choice of videos

is the key which can make videos useful or useless in a lesson plan. Teachers picking a video
without consideration of their lessons can turn a lesson into a disaster. Stempleski and Arcario
(1992) claimed that different purposes have to be served with different methods of materials.


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However, as Underwood (1989) pointed out that what determines the difficulty of a teaching
material is not just the material itself but also what the students are asked to do with it.
5. The methods of the study
The major method which was used in study is qualitative. All comments, remarks,
assumptions and conclusions of the study were based on the data and analysis. Data
collections for analysis in the study were gained through the following resources: survey
questionnaire, observations, tests for students, as well as reference books.
A survey was carried out at the end of the semester. The participants of this survey were
students from experimental group which had been taught listening with video as a
supplementary material. The aim of this survey was to investigate the students‘ attitude
toward the use of video materials as well as their self-assessment on the effectiveness of video
material.
Two tests, one pre-test and one post-test were delivered, marked, then the results of these tests
were analyzed, compared so that the researcher could use them to support for her conclusion.
6. The design of the study
The study consists of three parts as follows:
Part 1 presents the rationale the topic, the aim of the study, the scope of the study and the
methods applied.
Part 2 develops the theme into three main parts:
 Chapter 1 sets up some theoretical backgrounds that are relevant to the purpose of the
research.
 Chapter 2 presents the methodology
 Chapter 3 analyzes the results collected from survey questionnaire and two tests

 Chapter 3 deals with the discussion of findings, some personal recommendations
Part 3, Conclusion, briefly revisits the objectives, the limitations of the study and suggestions
for further studies


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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Theories of listening comprehension
1.1. Introduction and definitions of listening comprehension
Research has demonstrated that adults spend 40-50% of communication time listening
(Gilman & Moody, 1984), but the importance of listening in language learning has only been
recognized relatively recently (Oxford, 1993). Since the role of listening comprehension in
language learning was taken for granted, it merited little research and pedagogical attention.
Although listening played an important in audio-lingual methods, students only listened to
repeat and develop a better pronunciation (for speaking). The role of listening has been
considered as a tool for understanding and a key factor n facilitating language learning.
Listening has emerged as an important component in the process of second language
acquisition (Feyten, 1991).
Listening is an invisible metal process, making it difficult to describe. Listeners must
discriminate between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammar structures, interpret stress
and intention, retain and interpret this within the immediate as well as the larger socio-cultural
context of utterance (Wif, 1984). Rost (2002) defines listening, in its broadest sense, as a
process of receiving what the speakers 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).

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Listening is a complex, active process of interpretation, in which listeners match what they
with what they already know.
Specifically, listening theory is about an active process in which individuals focus on selected
aspects of aural input, construct meaning form passages, and relate what they hear to existing
knowledge (O‘Malley, Chamot, Kupper, 1989: 418.) During the process of interpreting aural
input, listeners extensively deploy both linguistic knowledge (phonology, lexis, syntax,
semantics and discourse) and non-linguistic knowledge (knowledge about the topic and about
the context, and general knowledge about the world and real life.)
River and Temperly (1978: 63) defined listening as a complex operation integrating the distict
components of perception and linguistic knowledge. It is not a passive but an active process of
constructing a message from a stream of sound with what one knows of the phonological,
semantic, syntactic potentialities of the language.
All in all, listening has been conceptualized in different ways and from different points of
view. However, the role of context-based listening is also found and highlighted in many
definitions.
1.2. Listening processes
There are two distinct processes involved in listening comprehension. Listeners use ‗topdown‘ processes when they use prior knowledge to understand the meaning of a message.
Prior knowledge can be knowledge of the topic, the listening context, the text-type, the culture
or other information stored in long-term memory as schemata (typical sequences or common
situations around which world knowledge is organized). Listeners use content words and
contextual clues to form hypotheses in an exploratory fashion. On the other hand, listeners
also use ‗bottom-up‘ processes when they use linguistic knowledge to understand the meaning
of a message. They build meaning from lower level sounds to words to grammatical
relationships to lexical meanings in order to arrive at the final message.
Listening comprehension is not either top-down or bottom-up processing, but an interactive,
interpretive process in which listeners use both prior knowledge and linguistic knowledge in
understanding messages. The degree to which listeners use the one process or the other will
depend on their knowledge of the language, familiarity with the topic or the purpose of

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listening. For example, listening for gist involves primarily top-down processing, whereas
listening for specific information, as in a weather broadcast, involves primarily bottom-up
processing to comprehend all the desired details.
On one hand, research from cognitive psychology has shown that listening comprehension is
more than extracting meaning from incoming speech. It is a process of matching speech with
what listeners already know about the topic. Therefore, when listeners know the context of a
text or an utterance, the process is facilitated considerably because listeners can activate prior
knowledge and make the appropriate inferences essential to comprehend the message (Byrnes,
1984). Therefore, teachers need to help students organize their thought, to activate appropriate
background knowledge for understanding and to make predictions, to prepare for listening.
This significantly reduces the burden of comprehension for the listeners.
On the other hand, listeners do not pay attention to everything; they listen selectively,
according to the purpose of the task. This, in turn, determines the type of listening required
and the way in which listeners will approach a task. Richards (1990) differentiates between an
interactional and a transactional purpose for communication. Interactional use of language is
socially oriented, existing largely to satisfy the social needs of the participants; eg., small talk
and casual conversations. Therefore, interactional listening is highly contextualized and twoway, involving interaction with a speaker. A transactional use of language, on the other hand,
is more massage-oriented and is used primarily to communicate information; e.g., news
broadcasts and lectures. In contrast with interactional listening, transactional listening requires
accurate comprehension of a message with no opportunity for clarification with a speaker
(one-way listening). Knowing the communicative purpose of a text or utterance will help the
listeners determine what to listen and, therefore, which process to activate. As with the
advantages of knowing the context, knowing the purpose for listening also greatly reduces the
burden of comprehension since listeners know what they need to listen for something very
specific, instead of trying to understand every word.
In short, second language (L2) listening comprehension is a complex process, crucial in the

development of second language competence. Listeners may use all of the above processes to
comprehend. Guiding students through the process of listening not only provides them with


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the knowledge by which they can successfully complete a listening task; it also motivates
them and puts them in control of their learning. Therefore, teachers can help students develop
their listening comprehension skill through these processes by designing appropriate listening
tasks and activities.
1.3. Listening in language learning and teaching
Listening comprehension as a separate component of language learning and instruction came
into its own only after long and significant debate regarding its validity. A large volume of
research has demonstrated the critical role of input, and particular ‗comprehensible input‘ in
language acquisition, underlining the primacy of the role played by listening comprehension in
second language teaching.
Until recently, listening comprehension activity in foreign or second language classroom was
limited to testing listening comprehension. The underlying rationale was that if students are
successfully learning the target language, they should automatically be able to decode the
aural version of structures and vocabulary they learn in their textbooks. Success at this
decoding was typically measured by correct response to WH (information) questions.
Responses to such questions tagged successful retrivial of information from an aural text.
Knowledge of target language syntax and lexis was deemed sufficient to enable this retrieval
and was ultimately the way how students were tested. Listening is now treated as a much more
complex activity and one that is the cornerstone of language acquisition (Krashen, 1994)
Recognition of listening‘s critical role in the language acquisition process has greatly
influenced contemporary language teaching practice. The view that listening is an active and
interactive process has, for example, cast the learners in a role rather than the passive receiver
of aural input (Rost, 1993). Classroom emphasis is now on aural intake through active
negotiation of meaning. In face to face interaction, the listener, not just the speaker, engages in

the active making of meaning. It is believed that this mutual negotiation of meaning between
speakers activates the cognitive and socio-cognitive processes necessary for language
acquisition to occur (Breen and candling, 1980; Pica and Doughty, 1985)
Listeners use meta-cognitive, cognitive and socio-affective strategies to facilitate
comprehension and to make their learning more effective. Meta-cognitive strategies are


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important because they oversee, regulate or direct the language learning process. Cognitive
strategies manipulate the material to be learned or apply a specific technique to a listening
task. Socio-affective strategies describe the techniques listeners use to collaborate with others,
to verify understanding or to lower anxiety. Research shows that skilled listeners used more
meta-cognitive strategies than their less-skilled counterparts (O‘Malley & Chamot, 1990,
Vandergrift, 1997a). When listeners know how to


analyze the requirements of a listening task;



activate the appropriate listening process required;



make appropriate predictions;



monitor their comprehension;



evaluate the success of their approach

they are using meta-cognitive knowledge for successful listening comprehension, which is
critical to the development of self-regulated learning.
2. Definition and benefits of using video in language classroom
According to Lonergan (1994), the term ‗video‘ has two meanings. For some, it means no
more than replaying television program on a video recorder, for viewing in class or private
study. For others, it implies the use of video camera in class to record and play back to
learners their activities and achievements in a foreign language. Lonergan defines the term
‗video film‘ as a photographic process, involving the effects of light and chemicals on
sensitive paper. He also categorized the sources of video materials used in language teaching
as follow:


video recording of language -teaching broadcasts and films;



video recordings of domestic television broadcasts, such as comedy programs and
news programs;



video recordings of specialist films and television programs, such as documentaries
produced by industry, or educational programs;



video language-teaching materials made for the classroom rather than for public
transmission as broadcasts;



self-made video films, involving the teachers and learners.


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An important attribute of video is the ability to use both auditory and visual symbol systems
(Baggett, 1984.) It appears that when audio and visual systems are presented together, each
source provides additional and complementary information that retains some of the
characteristics of the symbol system of origin. Baggett (1984) observed that information
obtained visually was more memorable, on the basis of her finding that summaries written a
week after viewing a movie were judged to be more complete than those written a week after
listening to the audio-only version. Kozma (1991) also supported the fact that the visual
component is memorable. He argued that simultaneous processing of auditory and visual
information may aid learning. In addition, video might be efficient for learning complex skills
because it can expose learners to problems, equipment, and events that cannot be easily
demonstrated.
According to Dusenbury, Hansen, & Giles (2003), video-assisted instruction has the benefits
of standardizing messages, so it might be able to increase the fidelity of implementing
instruction. The M.A thesis conducted by Nguyen M., T. (2005) also summarized general
benefits of using video in language classroom as follow:


It is quite easy to notice the compelling power of video in the classroom, a power
that is even enhanced by concentration on short sequences. Video, in other words,

stimulates students‘ motivation, and maintains their interest and concentration better
than sound-only learning environment.



Using video in language teaching can enhance students‘ understanding and retention
of information. It also brings students kinds of situation, with full contextual backup.



Video is used to help enhance the meaning of message trying to be conveyed by the
speakers through the use of paralinguistic cues. In addition, it allows students to see
body language and speech rhythm in second language discourse through the use of
authentic language and speech in various situations.



Video is a window on English-language culture.



Video can be used as stimulus or input for discussion, for writing assignment,
projects or the study of other subjects.


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

Video, as a moving picture book, gives access to things, places, people, events and

behaviors, regardless of the language used.



Using video in language teaching allows differentiations of teaching and learning
according to the students‘ abilities, learning styles and personalities. Teaching with
video can widen the range of activities in the classroom.



The students dealing with video in their learning improve a range of social skills,
including communication, negotiation, decision-making and problem-solving.

He also found out that video course not only teaches English through video but gets students
to use the English they have learned in talking about the video. In addition, using video creates
a great number of tasks and activities that stimulate communication and particular spoken
language among students.
In the book titled Video in Action, Stempleski & Tomalin (1990) stated that the introduction of
a moving picture component as a language teaching aid is a crucial addition to the teacher‘s
resources.
First of all, children and adults feel their interests quicken when language is experienced in a
lively way through television and video. Using a video sequence in class is the best thing to
experience the sequence in real life.
Second, through communication, teachers have observed how a video sequence used in class
makes students more ready to communicate in the target language.
Thirdly, through non-verbal aspects of communication, video allows us to see gestures,
expression, posture, dress, and surroundings – the setting of communication and to freeze any
moments to study the non-verbal communication in detail.
Finally, through cross-cultural comparison, observing differences in cultural behaviour is not
only suitable training for operating successfully in a different community. It is also a rich

resource for communication in the language classroom.
To sum up, the use of video can make language more accessible to learners by:


making it easier to integrate and contextualize listening, speaking and
pronunciation, reading and writing activities


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

motivating learners and helping them in their efforts to use the language naturally
in their own lives by seeing how the characters succeed in communicating with
native speakers and getting things done in their everyday activities



bringing native speakers into classroom (on video), providing additional models for
pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm besides that of the teacher



raising learners‘ awareness of non-verbal aspects of communication



increasing listening comprehension: paralinguistic features (facial expression, body
language, context, setting…) help learners comprehend more than from listening to
audio tape only



stimulating learners‘ interaction and communication with co-learners as they
discuss the video itself or ways it relates to their lives and experiences



raising cross-cultural awareness: learners enjoy observing similarities and
differences between the behaviour of the characters in a video clip and that of their
own families and friends

3. The application of video in language teaching
The application of video in the classroom has offered exciting possibilities for language
teaching and learning so far. There have been a lot of books studying and presenting
techniques for using video in the classroom. Teaching with video equipment does not imply
that an entirely new methodology should be taken over but relate to the teacher‘s own
professional experience and local conditions.
In the book titled ―Video in Language Teaching”, Lonergan (1984) introduced teachers and
teacher trainers to some general principles concerning the use of simple video equipment in
the language classroom. With these insights into teaching with video, teachers can develop
their own techniques and language-learning materials. However, the book only limits to
simple video equipment: basically, a camera and video recorder. Also, there is a limit to what
new technology can offer the language learners of the future. Therefore, as he pointed out:
―the teacher should analyse what the technology can offer; apply sound pedagogical principles
to that, and adapt and use the technology for his or her own specific language-teaching
situation.‖ (1984: 12)


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Another book discussing about video techniques is Video in Action by Stempleski and
Tomalin (1990). It provides a full-scale collection of recipes for using video in class. Once the
teacher has chosen a sequence of video, he or she can browse these recipes until finding a
suitable one. This book not only deals with equipment and the ways how to run a video library
but also answers a number of questions about video and its use.
As it is stated by Stempleski & Tomalin (2001) in the book titled Film, the video, and in
particular films, offers some advantages for enhancing listening skills. Although films are
scripted, they are made to sound natural to the native speaker and thus they do represent
authentic language. Since students do not live in an ESL context, films can to some extent
substitute for the input students cannot get from outside the classroom.
Real spoken language is full of false starts, incomplete sentences, and hesitations. Sometimes
people mumble, some others may have an unusual voice quality. There are regional, ethnic,
and even gender variations and differences in level of formality. These are hard to indicate in
textbooks, yet we find good examples in films in plausible contexts. In these contexts, teachers
can explore with students issues of appropriateness and pragmatics while observing linguistic,
paralinguistic, and nonverbal behavior.
When we teach or practice listening skills in the classroom, we usually focus on intensive
listening and most often this is listening for specific information. Films provide the
opportunity to observe how native speakers use interactional language combined with
appropriate body language and other pragmatic behavior. Students can also practice extensive
listening, focusing on following what is going on in the story without worrying too much
about every single word. If a film has a motivating story line, students are propelled along by
their own curiosity about the content, similar to the way they watch a film in L1—for
entertainment. The listening task becomes more realistic. When we do this, we can also point
out some strategies to use and encourage students to find strategies that work for them, for
example, viewing a scene a second time and changing the caption option or paying attention to
body language.
The application of ITC in general and video in particular in Vietnam has considerably
enriched the variety of methods, resources and a range of activities for learning languages. On

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one hand, it gives more opportunities for communication between peer learners. On the other
hand, it breaks the routine of learning words or grammar patterns and adds to the positive
attitude of both learners and teachers. Video has gained popularity in language-teaching
classroom in recent years in Vietnam. Several language-teaching centers, schools and
universities use teaching materials aided with audio-video. However, using video-assisted
teaching materials is very time-consuming and expensive due to the need of facilities for
study. Only well-equipped schools or language centers can meet the requirements of the
course using video.
4. Previous studies
In Vietnam, there have been few studies on the use of video and on the effect of video-assisted
instruction on students‘ listening competence. Nguyen, M.T (2005) conducted a study titled
―Design a Listening and Speaking Syllabus Using Video for English Language Non-major at
Pre_Intermediate Level.” In his study, he focused mainly on building up an appropriate
syllabus with audio-visual aids to improve students‘ listening and speaking skills. He also
embraced fundamental techniques and video activities in language classroom. However, the
syllabus he designed limited its scope to non-major students at pre-intermediate level with the
purpose of improving listening and speaking skills. The study was conducted on students of
the above level in May School, at 36 Ly Thai To, Hanoi, where most teaching materials were
aided with audio-video. The method used in this study is qualitative including comments,
remarks, comparisons and suggestions based on factual research, observation, experiences and
discussion. Actually, the findings and syllabus were valuable and practical in the context of
language teaching and learning in Vietnam.
Another thesis conducted by Bach, T., H., Y., (2009) studied on the effectiveness of videoassisted instruction on teaching listening for non-English majors at Phuong Dong university.
This is quasi-experimental research in which the participants wee divided into two groups: the
control (A) and the treatment (B). Both of the classes were second-year non-major students.
The results from pre-test showed that the listening competence in class A was better than class

B. However, after one semester applying video-assisted instruction to class B, the students‘


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listening competence was better than those in class B who were not taught with video
materials.
The common point of these two theses is that they are both applied to non-major students
only. The researcher feels an urge to conduct an investigation on the effects of video as a
supplementary material on English majors‘ listening competence at Faculty of English at
HNUE.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
Chapter 2 presents the methodology applied in the study including the descriptions of the
participants, the type of method, materials, instrumentation and procedures of data collection
and data analysis.
1. Participants
The research was carried out at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of
Education with the participation of 50 second-year English major students, from two different
classes A and B, with 25 students each. Two classes met once a week for two-hour listening
lesson during 13 weeks. Most of them had been learning English for at least eight years (i.e
from lower secondary). However, their age and their learning conditions in high schools were
quite different. Some of them did not pass the entrance exam for the first time, so they were
older than their classmates. Those from Hanoi had more opportunities to listen to English
tasks in the textbook than the others due to the sufficient equipment and experienced teachers.
There are some reasons for the choice of these second-year participants. Firstly, considering
the syllabus which stated the listening skills should be mastered by second-year English
majors after finishing semester 4, the researcher realized that many of these skills such as
identifying roles, relationship; understanding purpose and attitude; note taking, etc could be
improved and achieved by using appropriate listening tasks from video material. Secondly,

second-year students were chosen because they had spent one year learning listening skill in
traditional method with audio-only material. This point made it feasible for the researcher to
make some comparisons between two methods: the one with audio-only material and the one


21

with the aid of video material. Therefore, she could partly evaluate the effectiveness video
material to her students‘ listening competence.
2. Type of method employed
Actually, this research is a quasi-experiment which has pre-test; post-test; experimental and
control groups but no random assignment of subjects.

3. Materials
It is very important for the researcher to select appropriate video material which could be used
as supplementary material in enhancing her students‘ listening skill. Consequently, before the
researcher decided to employ any video material she had considered the following criteria
carefully.
3.1 Types of video material
In general, there is a variety of video sources from which teachers can exploit to design
listening tasks. They can be popular feature films, drama programs, documentaries on subjects
which interest students and the daily news. Teachers who enjoy watching video themselves
will know how to make use of the available source of video as a rich source of materials for
their teaching.
There is a wide range of types of video recording which can be exploited, such as: drama
video (films, soaps, etc), documentaries, TV news and weather, interviews, TV commercials,
sports programs, talk shows, game shows, educational films.
3.2 Authentic or Instructional videos
Authentic videos are produced as entertainment for native English speakers. They generally
present real language that is simplified and is spoken at a normal speed with genuine accents.

Instructional videos are such productions that have been created for use in classrooms or in
other educational settings. This kind of videos has considerable advantages: they are likely to
already have been evaluated for language, content, and length, and many instructional videos
are packaged as multimedia resources that include student workbooks, teacher guides and
video transcripts.


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3.3. The level of difficulty of video material
As it is stated in the research conducted by Nguyen, M.T (2005) when selecting video to
teach, a teacher has to consider its level of difficulty compared to the participants‘ level of
English proficiency.
The features that hinder comprehension are:


high verbal density, i.e. a lot of speech with very little action



words unmatched to the action; or words conflict with the action



a high degree of naturalism in the speech, e.g. everyone talking at once, mumbled
asides, actors with their backs to the camera, inconsequential dialogue



too many dialects and regional accents



period language, e.g. some classics contain some words and phrases which are not
common in modern language

The features which help comprehension are:


clear conventional story lines: straightforward love stories aimed at adolescents,
children‘s film drama, and science-fiction drama, which have simple plot lines and
special effects which lighten the verbal comprehension burden



clearly enunciated speech in standard accent - this criterion rules out a lot of excellent
regional films



stylized acting: old movies are acted like plays – only one character speaks at a time;
always clearly and always to camera
3.4. The objectives of the course

As it is stated in the syllabus, after finishing semester 4, English major students at FOE should
be master in the following listening skill:


identifying roles, relationship and location



understanding purpose and attitude



deducing meaning



note-taking and blank-filling



listening for specific information



anticipating and predicting