Students' perceptions of note-taking skill to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test at Equest English Center = Nhận thức về kỹ năng ghi chép thông tin của học sinh đan

Viet Nam national university
Ha noi university of languages and international studies
Faculty of post-graduate studies




phạm thị kim liên





Students perceptions of note-taking
skills to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test
at Equest English center

(nhận thức về kỹ năng ghi chép thông tin của học sinh
đang tham gia các lớp luyện thi TOEFL iBT tại Trung
tâm tiếng Anh Equest)




M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Văn Th Thanh Bình, M.A.





Hanoi, 2011



i
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Students’ perceptions of note-taking skills to prepare
for the TOEFL iBT test at EQuest English Center” is the result of my research for the Degree
of Master of Art at College of Language and International Studies, Ha Noi National University,
and the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary
institution.


Signature:




Pham Thi Kim Lien

Date: 25/11/2011















ii




ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



I would like to acknowledge all my lecturers of the Post-Graduate Department, Hanoi

University of Languages and International Studies, VNU for their interesting lectures as well
as valuable instructions during our M.A. course 2009-2011.

I would especially like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Van Thanh Binh,
M.A. for her encouragement and guidance throughout the study. Without her help, this study
would not be completed.

I am also indebted to the English teachers and students at EQuest English Center for their
assistance in collecting the data for this study.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my parents, my husband who supported and
encouraged me during the time I conducted this thesis.











iii
ABSTRACTS


This study aimed at investigating students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills, their
perceptions of benefits of note-taking skills, their perceptions of difficulties in taking notes,
their perceptions of note-taking strategies to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test. Participants were

50 students who are currently studying for the TOEFL iBT at EQuest English Center, Hanoi.
Findings from questionnaires revealed that (i) most of the students hold positive attitudes
towards note-taking skills; (ii) many students perceived major benefits of note-taking skills
such as concentrating on lectures, remembering information in the lectures, organizing the
information after the lecture is over, answering the test questions better, feeling at ease; (iii)
they encountered some challenges in taking notes like listening to the talks and at the same
time take notes, missing important information while taking notes. Besides, findings also
showed that students perceived a lot of note-taking strategies and frequently employed those
strategies such as writing down important information for each main point; significant details;
using abbreviations, symbols; paraphrasing (using easier words); using outlining; organizing
notes visually; separating different ideas from each other; highlighting particularly important
information. Some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of note-taking skills have also
been given in this study. It is hoped that the study would contribute a small part to the
improvement of English teaching and learning, particularly to the training of note-taking skills
at EQuest English Center as well as to those who concern this issue.





iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ………………………………………………………………………
i
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………
ii
Abstracts……………………………………………………………………………
iii
Lists of abbreviations ……………………………………………………………

vi
Lists of charts ……………………………………………………………………
vi
PART A : INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………
1
1.Rationale ……………………………………………………………………
1
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………
2
3. Scope of the study ………………………………………………………….
3
4. Methodology ……………………………………………………………….
3
5. Significance of the study …………………………………………………
4
6. Design of the study ………………………………………………………
4
PART B ……………………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………….
5
5
1.1. Definition of note-taking ………………………………………………
5
1.2. Benefits of note-taking …………………………………………………
5
1.3. Difficulties in taking notes ……………………………………………….
8
1.4. Strategies of note-taking …………………………………………………
8
1. 5. Relevance of the problem to the TOEFL iBT …………………………

9
1.5.1. Introduction to the TOEFL iBT test ……………………………………
9
1.5.2. The importance of note-taking skills in the TOEFL iBT test ………….
12
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………
13
2.1. The context of the study …………………………………………………
13
2.2. Methodology …………………………………………………………….
14

v
2.3. Participants ………………………………………………………………
15
2.4. The questionnaire………………………………………………………
15
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ……………………………….
16
3.1. Students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills …………………………
16
3.2. Students’ perceptions of the benefits of note-taking skills. ……………
18
3.3. Students’ perceptions of the difficulties in practicing note-taking skills
20
3.4. Students’ perceptions of note-taking strategies ………………………….
22
3. 5. Discussion …………… …………… …………… …………………
29
3.5.1. Students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills …………………….

29
3.5.2. Students’ perceptions of benefits of note-taking skills …………
30
3.5.3. Students’ perceptions of difficulties in note-taking skills ………
31
3.5.4. Students’ perceptions of note-taking strategies …………………
31
3.5.5. Conclusion …………… …………… …………… …………….
32
3. 6. Summary …………… …………… …………… …………………….
33
PART C: CONCLUSION …………… …………… …………… …………
34
1. Summary of the study …………… …………… …………… ………….
34
2. Implications of teaching note-taking skills …………… ………………….
35
3. Limitations of the study …………… …………… …………… ………
37
4. Suggestions for further studies …………… …………… ……………….
38
REFERENCES…………… …………… …………… ……………………….
39
APPENDIX …………… …………… …………… …………………………
I



vi
LISTS OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills
16
Chart 2: Students’ perceptions of the benefits of note-taking skills
18
Chart 3: The number of students encounters difficulties in taking notes
20
Chart 4: Students' difficulties in taking notes
21
Chart 5: The number of students taught to take notes
22
Chart 6: How frequently students use note-taking strategies
(The strategies that students used most frequently in taking notes)
24
Chart 7: How frequently students use note-taking strategies
(The strategies that students used less frequently)
26
Chart 8: How frequently students use note-taking strategies
(The strategies that students used least frequently)
28



LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as Foregin Language
ETS: Educational Testing Services Organization
HULIS: Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies
L1: English as the first language
L2: English as the second language

TOEFL iBT: Test of English as Foreign Language, internet-Based Test



1

PART A: INTRODUCTION


1. Rationale

Note-taking is regarded as a useful study skill because it can assist students not only in
remembering what they have heard or read, keeping them focused on the subject area and to
the task at hand (Kesselman-Turkel and Peterson, 1982), but also extending their attention
span during lectures (Rowntree, 1976). The reason is when taking notes, they use multiple
senses and multiple activities including reading or listening then writing, using brain and
muscles, etc. Besides, note-taking skill is considered an indispensable tool in preparing for the
exams in general, and the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) in particular. With
the emergence of the TOEFL program in which test-takers are not allowed to take notes, note-
taking has become an interesting topic to a handful of researchers. They mainly concern
whether note-taking has facilitative effects on test takers' performance and to decide whether
note taking should be allowed or not. Some researchers are in favor of the view that note-
taking is effective because it serves to focus on the main point of the lecture or conversations,
students are, thereby, more likely to answer questions accurately. Others are against note-
taking because taking note during listening distracts learner's concentration ability, and that
they will miss a substantial number of major details. Not to mention some arguments
supporting the idea that note taking does not help students since they often answer the
questions based on their memory without referring the notes at all. In other words, it is
unimportant whether to take notes or not. However, in 2005, the new version of TOEFL,
TOEFL Internet-Based Test (iBT), was introduced by Educational Testing Services

Organization (ETS), note-taking is permitted throughout the test. This means that note-taking,
to great extent, plays an important part in students' taking the TOEFL iBT test.
However, note-taking is regarded to play a critical role in examinees' taking the TOEFL test by
mostly teachers and researchers. Little is known about students' perspectives of the benefits of
note-taking skill for the TOEFL iBT test. Whether note-taking is facilitative or detrimental


2

depends on students themselves. If they have positive attitude towards note-taking, they will
practice taking notes to answer the questions in the test. Meanwhile, they will not take notes
when the teacher asks them to note down information from listening or reading passage.
As an English instructor, the author has observed that some students are aware of the role of
note taking skill while the others frequently do not realize the importance of taking notes.
Sometimes, they are reluctant to practice note-taking skill, they write down information just
because the teacher asks them to do so. Some students explain that they can remember
information, so they do not necessarily have to take notes or learn to take notes. Others
mention that they will be distracted from listening when they note down information, thus,
they will not take any notes to avoid missing specific data.
Why are students not willing to learn and apply note-taking skill in studying for the TOEFL
iBT test? What are their perceptions of note-taking skills for the TOEFL iBT test? Two above
mentioned questions have drawn my interest in conducting the current research on students'
perceptions of note-taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.

2. Aims of the study

The study is carried out with the aims at:
- Surveying students' attitudes towards note-taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test;
- Investigating students' perceptions of benefits of note-taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL
iBT test;

- Discovering students’ perceptions of difficulties in practicing note-taking skills;
- Examining students’ perceptions of note-taking strategies;
- Giving some recommendations for EQuest teachers to help students improve the
effectiveness of note-taking skills.
It is hoped that the study will be useful for teachers and students in general and for those at
EQuest English Center in particular.




3

To reach the aims of the study, the following questions are given:
1. What are EQuest students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL
iBT test?
2. What are students’ perceptions of benefits of note-taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL
iBT test?
3. What are students’ perceptions of difficulties in practicing note-taking skills to prepare for
the TOEFL iBT test?
4. What are students’ perceptions of note-taking strategies to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test?

3. Scope of the study

Because of the framework of a minor thesis, the author only focuses on 50 students currently
preparing for TOEFL iBT test at EQuest English Center to figure out their perceptions of note-
taking skills to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.

4. Methodology

The aim of this research is to find out the students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills and

perceptions of the benefits of note-taking skills, students’ difficulties in note-taking skills and
their note-taking strategies. A descriptive research is carried out as it is the most suitable
method to obtain the aim. Although this method has its own limitation, specifically, the results
collected may not reflect the matter proposed precisely. To lessen the invalidity and unreality,
the researcher explained instructions meticulously to students, and collected questionnaires
right away to make sure that students answered each questions themselves. The answers are
completely objective and not controlled by the researcher.






4

5. Significance of the study

The study highlights the importance of note-taking skill as a critical study tool to improve
English in general and to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test in particular. Its findings are
expected to be useful for instructors and students at EQuest to be aware of the essential role of
note-taking. The researcher of the study hopes that the suggestions provided will be helpful for
EQuest teachers to teach note-taking skills effectively.

6. Design of the study

The study is divided into three parts:
Part A is the introduction, which provides brief information about the study such as rationale,
aims, scope, methodology, significance and design of the study.

Part B including three chapters:

Chapter 1 deals with the literature review relevant to the study.
Chapter 2 describes the context of the study and how the study is conducted.
Chapter 3 presents data analysis and interpretation of the results obtained from the
questionnaires.

Part 5 is the conclusion which reviews what has been presented in the study and suggests
some implications for improving note-taking skills.









5

PART B
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1. Definition of note-taking

Note taking is wildly accepted as a useful strategy for augmenting student attention and
retention of academic discourse (Dunkel, 1988). Note-taking is intuitively appealing to the
learners of English and is generally viewed as one class of mathemagenic activity that
facilitates the process of learning and remembering lecture material (Cleverhan, 1995;
Crawford, 1925; Dunkel, 1988; Dunkel & Davy, 1989; Kiewra, 1987; McKenna, 1987;
Palmatier & Bennet, 1974). While, Peck and Hannafin (1983) define note-taking as a process
involving listening, information encoding, cognitive processing, and recording information in

written form. Note-taking takes place at the third stage of listening, where listeners have to get
the relationships of sounds words into some forms meaningful to them. In others words, before
learners take meaningful notes, they first have to go through a meaningful thought process of
organizing and identifying.

1.2. Benefits of note-taking

In the literature, there has been an emphasis on two general functions of note-taking including
encoding and external storage (Divesta & Gray, 1972; Fisher & Harris, 1973). Di Vesta and
Gray (1972) stated that the encoding function of note-taking allows the learner to transcribe
whatever subjective and associations, inferences, and interpretations occurred to him or her
while listening. The encoding mechanism ensures that information that a listener receives is
first properly understood, and then encoded into memory. By the encoding process, a learner’s
awareness and concentration can be improved (Hartley & Marshall, 1974), attention to the
information can be increased (Frase, 1970), his or her awareness of the organization of the talk
can be enhanced (Dunkel & Pailorsi, 1982; Einstein, Morris, & Smith, 1985), and his or her
comparison between the information heard and prior knowledge can be induced (Di Vesta &


6

Gray, 1972). Learners can potentially benefit from the encoding function when they
experience deeper processing during the lecture while taking notes, and when the kind of notes
they take entails processing information helpful to them in examinations (Anderson &
Armbruster, 1986). Therefore, the mere act of taking notes without any opportunity to review
such notes will enhance performance. In other words, a learner’s memory for information can
be increased merely by recording lecture notes even without reviewing. On the other hand, the
external storage mechanism of note-taking provides a learner a resource for later study or
reference (Di Vesta & Gray, 1972). Howe (1976) also suggested that a major reason for taking
notes is that learner can keep a permanent and convenient record of information and

knowledge. The function of external storage indicates that a learner’s performance will be
facilitated by the review of what is stored in a written form.
In studying the effects of note-taking on the retention and recall of lecture information,
Crawford (1925) stated that taking notes on a point did not guarantee its being recalled at the
time of quiz, but failing to take note of it decreased greatly its chances of being recalled (as
cited in Dunkel and Davey, 1989). According to Dunkel (1988), note-taking is perceived by
examinees as a strategy that facilitates remembering the lecture content. Kiewra (1989) also
claims that note-taking is beneficial for at least two reasons. Firstly, note-taking aids lecture
learning by activating attentional mechanisms and engaging the learner’s cognitive processes
of coding, integrating, synthesizing, and transforming aurally received input into a personally
meaningful form. Secondly, note-taking is seen as beneficial because the notes taken serve as
an external repository of information that permits later revision and review to stimulate recall
of the information heard. In a study of college students' theory of note-taking, Van Meter,
Yokoi, and Pressley (1994) noted that most college students take notes in most classes because
note taking is the primary means of creating “a record of information” that is presented in
lectures. Similarly, Rickards, Fajen and Sullivan (1997) stated that those who were allowed to
take notes related to the organization or content of the lecture recalled nearly the whole lecture
later. However, when they were not allowed to take notes, they did not remember the whole
text.



7

With regard to the researches on note taking of EFL learners, Hale & Courtney (1991)
indicated that taking notes could help students recall the content easily. Hale & Courtney
(1994) also revealed that EFL students apparently had positive views about note taking in the
classroom and that also indicated that note-taking can be useful as an aid to remembering
lecture information, organizing the information and studying after the lecture is over,
answering the questions better, making them feel more at ease, and Therefore, note taking can

offer L2 learners such affective benefits as the sense of security and comfort besides the
encoding and retaining functions.
In 2002, the study by Carrell, Dunkel, and Mollaun also showed a facilitating effect on L2
listening comprehension when a group of examinees with heterogeneous L1s was allowed to
take and refer to notes during mini-lecture listening. They revealed that a positive effect for
allowing note taking was found, shorter lectures produced a higher percentage of correct
scores than longer lectures did. According to Carrier (2003), students could remember the
content easily from the key word notes, and note-taking could help students recall the content
easily.
According to Liu (2001), taking and having notes available during question answering had a
significant effect on students’ recognition of specific information (but not general information)
in both immediate and delayed multiple-choice test performance. Students could facilitate
their listening comprehension by taking notes because they could pay more attention to the
content (Yeh, 2004). Note-taking was also considered to be an effective strategy for students to
promote their listening comprehension because they could concentrate more on the content
and the process of note-taking in itself does enhance recall in Lin’s study (2005). One of the
most recent studies conducted by Shang (2007) indicated that taking notes did not distract
students from their listening process; instead then even paid more attention to the text and the
students could recall the content of listening passages easily by reviewing their notes.
Another study by Teng (2011) revealed that all participants considered note-taking to be
important, the reasons included remembering key points of lectures, retaining the learning
material better, organizing what the teachers said, and feeling more secure and confident
(pp.483).


8

1.3. Difficulties in taking notes

According to Shang (2007), the reasons why students could not concentrate on their listening

were lack of vocabulary and spending too much time in taking notes while listening to the
text. Lin (2004) also indicated that lack of vocabulary capacity was the main reason why the
students could not effectively take notes while listening. Besides, Engraffia, Graff, Jezuit, and
Schall (1999) shared the same view that students did not know what to write down because of
many unfamiliar vocabularies. Likewise, Chen (2006) revealed that students could not take
notes effectively because of lack of vocabulary capacity. Another difficulty was that students
spent much time in taking notes while listening to the text, which distracted them from
concentrating on the content of listening passages (Cheng, 1996). Similarly, according to Lin’s
(2004) study, students spent too much time in taking notes, so they could not concentrate on
their listening.

1.4. Strategies of note-taking

According to Dunkel (1988a), L1 and L2 note-takers who scored high on the post-listening
test had comprised a large amount of information in their notes and had detected and noted
information that subsequently appeared on the post lecture quiz. Test achievement was not
directly related to the quantity of the notes taken “but rather to the terseness of notations and
the inclusion of potential test information.” (pp. 269-270). Similarly, good notes were
compared to those that contained the most information in the fewest number of words
(Cushing, 1993). According to two-above researchers (Dunkel, 1988a & Cushing, 1993),
general strategy is noted down a largest amount of information in a least amount of words.
With regards to the strategy of note taking, the study by Van Meter, Yokoi, and Pressley (1994)
showed that students took down definitions, main points, important concepts and ideas, and
information not well understood or not familiar. They did not note down content that is
common knowledge.
Liu (2001) added that learners should be encouraged to “take down more content words when


9

required to recall specific information,” and as it might be a lost cause to spell out words fully,
to establish a “personalized shorthand system”. According to Rost (2002), taking notes shifts
the focus from the text to the taking of the notes. Thus, skillful note-takers need to use
shorthand and other techniques to get down the main points without losing focus on the text.
Strategies are more concrete in the study conducted by Carrell (2007), participants’
perceptions were that note taking strategies related to the content of the notes were used most
frequently and were the most helpful to them (getting the main ideas and important facts, as
opposed to writing down irrelevant comments or trying to write down everything the lecturer
said). The next most frequently utilized and helpful note-taking strategies were those related to
the efficiency of notes (using abbreviations, symbols, paraphrases, and omitting function
words and using only content words) and review of notes (after the lecture to confirm
comprehension and to answer test questions). Strategies involving the organization of the
notes were reported as least frequently used and less helpful (using diagrams, numbers, lists,
arrows, and highlighting). General note-taking strategies such as using neat handwriting and
writing down unconnected words were reported as being used least frequently and as being
least helpful. (pp.25). Chang (2007) also claimed that most of the students were aware of some
of note-taking tips such as using symbol/abbreviation, looking for big picture, using keywords,
and using space and heading.

1.5. Relevance of the problem to the TOEFL iBT

1.5.1. Introduction to the TOEFL iBT test

There are a large number of resources providing information of the TOEFL iBT test, yet this
study takes information from the official website of the TOEFL test, www.ets.org/toefl. The
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is an examination that is administered by the
Educational Testing Service (ETS) and is used to evaluate a nonnative English speaker's
proficiency in the English language. First introduced in 2005, the new TOEFL iBT is being
gradually popular throughout the world. Unlike other TOEFL tests, the new TOEFL iBT tests

10

all four language skills that effective communication requires: Reading, Listening, Speaking,
and Writing. Some questions require the test taker to use more than one English-language skill
and integrate information from more than one source. TOEFL iBT helps test takers prove they
can combine their English-language skills to communicate ideas effectively. This ability is the
key to academic success.

Prior to the new generation TOEFL test was introduced to the world, note taking was not
permitted in taking the TOEFL tests (paper-based test, computer-based test, and institutional
testing program), cited in www.ets.org/toefl. However, in the TOEFL iBT test, candidates are
allowed to take note on any section of the test the same way they would do in a real college
class. They can use the notes when answering test questions. The notes are collected and
destroyed before the test takers leave the test center. The test lasts four hours, test takers
complete all four sections of the test in one day. Scores are reported online, so test takers can
view their scores online 15 business days after the test.

Among four sections in the new TOEFL iBT test: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing,
only Reading part necessitates test takers’ note-taking skills the least. This section measures
the test taker’s ability to understand university-level academic texts and passages. Students
will be asked to read three to five passages and answer 12-14 comprehension questions about
each passage. The last question in each set is normally the summary or category question, in
which students can take notes from the reading passages to give answers more accurately. The
reason is that they do not view the text and those questions at the same time.

In the Listening section, examinees will hear two or three conversations and four or six
academic discussions, in other words, they have to listen to total six or nine listening passages
within one hour or one hour and a half. More importantly, questions will only be presented at
the end of each passage one by one. The conversations may take place during an office

meeting with a professor or teaching assistant, or during a service encounter with university
staff. Students are quite familiar with these conversations’ content while the academic


11

discussions and classroom lectures reflect the kind of listening and speaking that occurs in the
classroom. Note-taking skill is allowed here, which may help candidates to retain major
details; to follow the lecturers’ speed as well.

The Speaking section requires examinees to respond to two independent tasks about familiar
topics and four integrated tasks. In the independent speaking tasks, test takers give responses
basing on their own ideas, opinions, and experiences within 45 seconds. The difficulty lies in
fifteen-second-preparation for the response, so note-taking skills are essential to address to the
task fully within the time allotted. In the remaining four integrated tasks, test takers must read
a short passage; listen to a short talk; prepare in 20 seconds, after that respond within 60
seconds. In other words, they have to read and listen attentively, prepare and give a full
response under time pressure.

The Writing section measures a test taker’s ability to write two writing tasks in an academic
setting. The first writing task-Integrated- requires students to combine information they have
read in textbooks or other materials with they have heard in class lectures once only, and then
write an essay within 20 minutes. In this type of writing, if students take notes on what they
hear and read, they can use notes to organize information before writing; paraphrase, and cite
information from the source material accurately; write about the ways the information they
heard relates to the information they read. In writing task 2 – Independent- students express
opinions relying on their own knowledge and experiences in 30 minutes.

1.5.2. The importance of note-taking skills in the TOEFL iBT test

There are several supplementary skills that will help test takers succeed on the test as well as
in their academic studies. Note taking is considered one of the most effective tools to improve
their score. Also, note taking is an important skill for any student to develop. As mentioned in
previous part, taking notes is considered as the most effective way to organize and remember
what they hear in class, as well as what they read outside of class.


12

To prepare for the TOEFL iBT, note-taking skills play an important role for the following
reasons. First, taking notes will help examinees focus their attention on the content of the
listening passages (as mentioned in the previous part of benefits of note-taking). One obvious
reason is that listening section lasts 60 to 90 minutes with 6 to 9 listening passages which
really necessitates a high concentration of students. Without taking notes, their mind may
easily wander away. Besides, the questions of listening part only emerge after the listening
passage has finished. Researchers also support that the amount of notes approximates the
attention of students in lectures. For example, Borich (2004) claims that students are more
receptive to what they hear if they take down notes.

Second, writing down information will help them to remember main ideas and details, not
only in listening section but also reading, writing, speaking ones. While taking notes, they are
using listening and writing skills simultaneously, they are also using their brain and muscles. It
is more likely for them to remember what they have heard. Besides, note-taking skill is
worthwhile strategy, in case they forget details, they can refer back to their notes. According to
Williams & Eggert (2002) that students are already engaged in some memorization work while
taking down notes, especially when they are engrossed in deep comprehension of the source of
their notes. Note taking proves no less helpful in speaking tasks, note taking skill aids
students’ memory when combining information from the listening passage to give a response.

Finally, organized notes will help them to develop a well-organized speech or essay in the time

allotted. Taking the TOEFL iBT test, examinees have to constantly work under time pressure,
without effective note-taking skill, it may be arduous for them to get high scores. For example,
in integrated speaking tasks, within 20 to 30 seconds to prepare, a well-organized note may
contribute to a well-organized speech. Not to mention, integrated writing part if students
neither note down the important ideas from the reading nor major ones from the listening, they
will probably encounter difficulties in organizing a concise and effective essay within required
time.



13

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY



2.1. The context of the study

EQuest English Center was founded in 2003 by a group of masters and doctoral graduates in
the U.S., UK, Australia, and Netherlands. EQuest is a provider of educational service for
pupils and students, including training and preparation for international standardized tests such
as SAT, GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS.

Among courses here, the new generation TOEFL, (TOEFL iBT) preparation courses are
known as the trade-name of EQuest. These courses often attract high school students in Hanoi
who desire to study abroad, especially in America or university students who also dream to
take master degree in U.S.A., even officials who long for further study abroad. Students’ age
may range from 16 to 30 years old. They have to take the placement test and get more than 75
out of 120 points in order to enroll in a TOEFL iBT preparation class.

The primary goal of this course is to help learners to earn outstanding points in the test, that is,
get more than 90 out 120 points; other purposes are to help them improve their English skills,
to familiarize them with learning styles in America universities. To achieve these goals,
training program for TOEFL iBT classes is comprised of syllabus, ready-made updated
materials and qualified teachers. In comparison with the old version of the TOEFL test, many
changes have been made to the new TOEFL test, TOEFL iBT, from format to test content, that
is, note-taking is only allowed in the TOEFL iBT test. Thus, teaching methodology here will
be remarkably different in accordance with the new trend. One of the helpful test taking
strategies which students are trained to tackle the TOEFL iBT is note-taking skill.




14

Each course lasts about 3 months, 3 sessions a week, and 2 hours a lesson. Materials used for
these courses are designed by EQuest (for in-house use only). Each lesson focuses on one
skill, Listening, Reading, Speaking or Writing, and each skill is taught by one teacher,
speaking is taught by a native instructor. Each lesson is carried out with the help of modern
technology such as computer, projector. Learning outcomes are evaluated by regular tests and
teacher’s daily reports. Students also have chances to take the final test organized like in a real
test site.

Teachers of these courses are all bachelor and Master of Arts in English teaching, more
importantly, they have real experience of taking the official TOEFL iBT test. As a teacher
here, the author has realized that not all students take notes when learning TOEFL iBT, they
may encounter difficulties in note-taking, or they may perceive that note-taking does not help.
Thus, this urged me to carry out this study into EQuest students’ perceptions of note-taking
skills to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.

2.2. Methodology

In order to serve the purpose of collecting data, 50 students from 5 classes at EQuest Center
were invited to participate in the study. The questionnaire was employed with emphasis on
their perceptions of note-taking skill. According to Cohen and Manion (1985), surveys are the
most commonly used descriptive method in educational research, and may vary in scope from
large scale investigations to small scales studies carried by a single researcher. Questionnaire
was also chosen as the means of collecting data because of its advantages such as low cost
(Evalued, 2006), respondents had time to think their answers, information was collected in a
standardized way (Milne, 1999). Questionnaire was provided in the appendix 1.
After the data was collected, the researcher analyzed the data from the questionnaire. The
methods used to analyze the data collecting from the questionnaire were descriptive and
statistical analysis



15

2.3. Participants

The total number of the students participated in the survey is 50 students who are preparing for
TOEFL iBT, they are about 16 to 25 years old. There level of English is intermediate or high
intermediate (75-90 TOEFL iBT scores). They are planning to take the TOEFL iBT within 3
months with the goal of applying for scholarship to study undergraduate or graduate. Their
expected score ranges from 90 to more than 100 out of 120 points.

2.4. The questionnaire

A questionnaire is designed to gather data about their opinions of note taking skills. The
questionnaire will be delivered after at least 5 lessons because it is the time that students

have formed their perceptions of note-taking skills. The questionnaire consists of 4 main
parts. Part 1 includes 5 closed questions with yes, no options to find out students’ attitudes
toward note-taking skills. Part 2 consists of 1 closed question designed according to Likert
scale, whose options are from strongly disagree to strongly agree. These questions seek for
students’ perceptions of benefits of note-taking skills. Part 3 consists of 1 closed question
and 1 open question which clarify the students’ difficulties in taking notes. Part 4 is
comprised of 2 closed questions which aim to figure out student’s perceptions of note-
taking strategies, how frequently they used those strategies. One Likert scale designed
question is used here with 5 options ranging from very infrequently to very frequently.










16

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION


This chapter will present and analyze the data collected from the survey questionnaires. First,
the data will be analyzed based on four research questions. After that, findings and discussion
will be introduced.

3.1. Students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills
Students’ attitudes towards note-taking skills are summarized in chart 1 below

(N = 50):










No
Questions
1
Take notes when studying for the TOEFL iBT test?
2
Use notes when answering the test questions?
3
Think that other students should take notes when taking the
TOEFL iBT test?
4
Think that note-taking is important to get a better score in the
TOEFL iBT test?


100
0
90
10
94

6
94
6
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4
Chart 1: Students' attitudes toward note-taking skills
NO
YES


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As can be seen from chart 1, all of the students chosen (100%) answered for question 1
that they take notes when studying for the TOEFL iBT test.
On the other hand, regarding question 2, not all of them use their notes to answer test
questions. 90% of the samples mentioned that they use their notes to address the tasks in the
TOEFL iBT test. 10% stated that they do not use their notes, yet they still take notes. Perhaps,
they may feel anxious without taking notes.
In terms of the importance of note-taking, a great majority of students (94%) said that
learners should take notes, whereas only 6% of the sample revealed that learners should not.
Concerning question 4, most of the students (94%) believed that note-taking can help
them to earn better score in the TOEFL iBT test, while 6% did not think so.
The results shown in chart 1 generally reveal that students at EQuest had positive
attitudes towards note-taking skills. The number of students who hold negative attitudes
towards this activity was minority. They show conflicting views when stating that learners

should not take notes and note-taking skill is not important to get better score, they still take
notes when preparing for the TOEFL iBT test. They possibly think that note-taking skill is
important in a particular aspect, rather than enable them to achieve high score in the test.
In order to know what the students perceive of the benefits of note-taking skills, the
following section will be introduced in more details.













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No
Statements/Options
1
Find note-taking skill useful to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.
2
Taking notes helps to concentrate on the lectures.
3
Taking notes helps to remember the information in the lectures.
4
Taking notes helps to organize the information after the lecture is over.

5
Taking notes helps to answer the test questions better.
6
Feel at ease when taking notes.
7
Be advised to take notes.

3.2. Students’ perceptions of the benefits of note-taking skills.

Chart 2: Students’ perceptions of the benefits of note-taking skills. (N=50)







2
10
20
36
32
12
28
14
20
26
2
12
40

46
0
16
38
46
0
18
46
36
4
14
22
36
24
4
24
32
40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1

2
3
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
Agree
Neither agree
or disagree
Disagree
Disagree
strongly
%