The effect of metacognitive strategies on listening comprehension on non english major freshmen a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in TESOL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY
-------------------------------------

THE EFFECT OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES ON LISTENING
COMPREHENSION ON NON- ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts
(TESOL)

Submitted by PHAM THI KIEU TIEN

Supervisor
Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thu

Ho Chi Minh, September 2016


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that this MA thesis submitted today entitled “The effect of metacognitive
strategies on listening comprehension of non- English major freshmen” is my own
work.
Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain
material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I
have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.
No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text
of the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or diploma in any other tertiary
institution.
Ho Chi Minh, August 2016

Pham Thi Kieu Tien

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Apart from my effort, it would not be possible to complete this thesis without the
guidance of my supervisor, help from friends, caring and encouragement from my
family.
Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh
Thu, for his patience, enthusiasm, extensive knowledge and motivation. I have been
extremely lucky to have a supervisor who cared a lot about my work, and who
responded to my questions as well as supporting me to the completion of my thesis.
I also would like to thank my friends at Van Lang University who were willing to help,
give their best suggestions and share experience. Special thanks go to the sixty students
who kindly accepted to participate in this thesis.
Finally, I am most grateful to my family members, especially my husband, who were
always a source of understanding, support and inspiration.

ii


ABSTRACT
The thesis aims to find out the effect of metacognitive strategies on listening
comprehension of non-English major freshmen at Van Lang University. Both
qualitative and quantitative data analyses were employed in this study. Sixty first year
non- English major students at Van Lang University participating in this study are
divided into experimental group and the control group. Listening tests, questionnaire
and interview were used as tools for data collection. The study found that
metacognitive

strategies

enhanced

non-English

major

freshmen‟s

listening

comprehension at Ho Chi Minh University. Besides, students employ more problemsolving strategies and directed attention strategies, planning and evaluation strategies
and person knowledge strategies, except that they do not use mental translation
strategies when listening. The majority of students use metacognitive strategies when
they listen because they have good attitude about using these strategies in listening
comprehension.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of authorship………………………………………………………………..i
Acknowledgment……………………………………………………………………...ii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….....iii
Table of contents……………………………………………………………………..iv
List of tables and Figures…………………………………………………………….viii
Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………...xi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
1.1.

Background of the study ..................................................................................... 1

1.2.

Problem statement .............................................................................................. 3

1.3.

Research aims ..................................................................................................... 5

1.4.

Research questions ............................................................................................. 5

1.5.

Research significance ......................................................................................... 6

1.6.

Thesis structure ................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 9
2.1.

Overview of listening comprehension ................................................................ 9

2.1.1.

Definition of listening skill .......................................................................... 9

2.1.2.

Concept of listening comprehension ......................................................... 11

2.1.3.

Stages of listening comprehension ............................................................ 12

2.1.4.
2.2.

Potential problems in learning listening comprehension .............................. 17
Learning strategies ............................................................................................ 18

2.2.1.

Overview of learning strategies ................................................................. 18
iv


2.2.2.
2.3.

Classification of learning strategies ........................................................... 19

Metacognitive strategies ................................................................................... 21

2.3.1.

The concept of metacognition ................................................................... 21

2.3.2.

Components of metacognition ................................................................... 22

2.3.3.

Metacognitive strategies ............................................................................ 23

2.3.4.

Classification of metacognitive strategies ................................................. 24

2.4.

Importance of metacognitive strategies on language learning ......................... 25

2.5. The relationship between metacognitive strategies and listening
comprehension ............................................................................................................ 27
2.6.

Empirical studies .............................................................................................. 28

2.7.

Summary of Chapter 2 ...................................................................................... 35

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 36
3.1.

Research design ................................................................................................ 36

3.2.

Research site ..................................................................................................... 37

3.2.1.

Research setting ......................................................................................... 37

3.2.2.

Research participants ................................................................................. 38

3.3.

Data collection .................................................................................................. 39

3.3.1.

Instruments................................................................................................. 39

3.3.2.

Data collection process .............................................................................. 46

3.4.

The listening program of experimental group and control group .................... 47

3.4.1.

Materials .................................................................................................... 47

3.4.2.

Intervention of experimental group ........................................................... 48

3.4.3.

Listening guide sheet ................................................................................. 51

3.4.4.

Listening lesson plan for experimental group ........................................... 55

3.4.5.

Listening process of control group ............................................................ 57

3.4.6.

Listening lesson plan for control group ..................................................... 57

v

3.5.

Pilot study ......................................................................................................... 59

3.6.

Data analysis approach ..................................................................................... 60

3.6.1.

Validity and reliability issues .................................................................... 60

3.6.2.

Mean .......................................................................................................... 62

3.6.3.

t- Test ......................................................................................................... 62

3.7.

Summary of Chapter 3 ...................................................................................... 63

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................. 64
4.1. Participants‟ performance at pre- test and posttest .............................................. 64
4.1.1. Independent samples t-test of control group and experimental group in
Pretest ...................................................................................................................... 64
4.1.2. Pair samples t- test of control group in Pretest and Posttest ......................... 66

4.1.3. Pair samples t- test of experimental group in Pretest and Posttest ................ 67
4.1.4. Independent samples t- test of control group and experimental group in
Posttest ..................................................................................................................... 69
4.2. Questionnaire data analysis: Participant‟s response to the use of metacognitive
strategies in listening comprehension. ........................................................................ 71
4.2.1. Participants‟ response to their individual information .................................. 71
4.2.2. Participants‟ response to using planning and evaluation strategies in listening
comprehension ......................................................................................................... 71
4.2.3. Participants‟ response to using directed attention strategies in listening
comprehension ......................................................................................................... 76
4.2.4. Participants‟ response to using person knowledge strategies in listening
comprehension ......................................................................................................... 79
4.2.5. Participants‟ response to using mental translation strategies in listening
comprehension ......................................................................................................... 82
4.2.6. Participants‟ response to using problem- solving strategies in listening
comprehension ......................................................................................................... 85
4.3. Interview .............................................................................................................. 91
vi


4.4. Discussions of findings ...................................................................................... 103
4.5. Summary of chapter 4 ........................................................................................ 111

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 112
5.1. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 112
5.2. Implications ....................................................................................................... 113
5.2.1. Implications for teachers ............................................................................. 114
5.2.2. Implications for students ............................................................................. 116
5.3. Limitations of the study ..................................................................................... 116
5.4. Recommendations for the further research ........................................................ 118

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 119
APPENDICES.............................................................................................................. 131
APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................... 131
APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................................... 131
APPENDIX 3 ............................................................................................................... 138
APPENDIX 3A ............................................................................................................ 146
APPENDIX 3B ............................................................................................................ 147
APPENDIX 4 ............................................................................................................... 151
APPENDIX 4A ............................................................................................................ 158
APPENDIX 4B ............................................................................................................ 159
APPENDIX 5 ............................................................................................................... 163
APPENDIX 6 ............................................................................................................... 164
APPENDIX 7A ............................................................................................................ 165
APPENDIX 7B ............................................................................................................ 168
APPENDIX 8 ............................................................................................................... 171
APPENDIX 9 ............................................................................................................... 177
vii


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
TABLES
Table 3.1: Questionnaire of Vandergrift et al. (2006)…………………………………43
Table 3.2: Listening instruction stages and related metacognitive strategies, by L.
Vandergrift and C. Goh (2012)………………………………………………………..49
Table 3.3: Listening guide sheet (Fahim, M., & Fakhri Alamdari, E., 2014)…………52
Table 3.4: Main teaching stages and procedures for the experimental group…………55
Table 3.5: Main teaching stages and procedures for the control group……………….58
Table 4.1. Group Statistics on pretest of control group and experimental group……..65
Table 4.2. Results of Independent Samples T- test on Pretest of Control Group and

Experimental Group…………………………………………………………………...65
Table 4.3. Paired samples group statistics for control group Pretest and Posttest…….66
Table 4.4. Results of paired samples test for control group in Pretest and Posttest…...66
Table 4.5. Paired samples group statistics for experimental group Pretest and
Posttest………………………………………………………………………………...68
Table 4.6. Results of paired samples test for experimental group in Pretest and
Posttest......................................................................................................................... 69
Table 4.7. Group Statistics on posttest of control group and experimental group…....69
Table 4.8. Results of Independent Samples T- test on Posttest of Control Group and
Experimental Group…………………………………………………………………..69
Table 4.9. Students‟ response to using planning and evaluation strategies in listening
comprehension……………………………………………………………………….. 72
Table 4.10. Students‟ response to using directed attention strategies in listening
comprehension………………………………………………………………………...76
Table 4.11. Students‟ response to using person knowledge strategies in listening
comprehension………………………………………………………………………...80
Table 4.12. Students‟ response to using mental translation strategies in listening
comprehension………………………………………………………………………...82

viii


Table 4.13. Students‟ response to using problem- solving strategies in listening
comprehension………………………………………………………………………...85

ix


FIGURES
Figure 1: Illustration of data analysis of question 1………………………………….72

Figure 2: Illustration of data analysis of question 10………………………………...73
Figure 3: Illustration of data analysis of question 14………………………………...74
Figure 4: Illustration of data analysis of question 20………………………………...74
Figure 5: Illustration of data analysis of question 21………………………………...75
Figure 6: Illustration of data analysis of question 2………………………………….79
Figure 7: Illustration of data analysis of question 6………………………………….77
Figure 8: Illustration of data analysis of question 12………………………………...78
Figure 9: Illustration of data analysis of question 16………………………………...89
Figure 10: Illustration of data analysis of question 3………………………………...80
Figure 11: Illustration of data analysis of question 8………………………………...81
Figure 12: Illustration of data analysis of question 15……………………………….81
Figure 13: Illustration of data analysis of question 4………………………………...83
Figure 14: Illustration of data analysis of question 11……………………………….83
Figure 15: Illustration of data analysis of question 18……………………………….84
Figure 16: Illustration of data analysis of question 5………………………………...86
Figure 17: Illustration of data analysis of question 7………………………………...86
Figure 18: Illustration of data analysis of question 9………………………………...87
Figure 19: Illustration of data analysis of question 13……………………………….88
Figure 20: Illustration of data analysis of question 17……………………………….88
Figure 21: Illustration of data analysis of question 19…………………………….....89

x


ABBREVIATION
VLU

: Van Lang University

MALQ

: The Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire

TOEIC

: Test of English for International Communication

xi


Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Background of the study

Under the effect of globalization, each individual needs to improve themselves to be
competent in foreign languages. Among many languages, it is estimated that more
than 50 countries of the world use English as their official language and most of
others use it as a foreign language (Crystal, 2003), including Vietnam. Vietnam‟s
open door policy has ushered into a new era, which attracts foreign direct investment
(FDI) in many industries, where English is used as a major means of communication.
For that reason, English becomes more and more necessary for students as well as
workers in particular, and all people in general to use and be able to communicate
with foreigners. To meet that demand, English in Vietnam is now introduced to 3rd
graders at school, and such a shift shows how important English is. Besides, English is
considered the important subject that is taught together with maths, literature, physics,
biology, etc. and is an ever- increasingly essential requirement for students to enter
high school or university.

However, using English is not easy because it requires users to master many skills,
such as listening, speaking, reading, writing skill. Obviously, for language learners,
listening is perhaps considered the most difficult skill (Huang, 2003). Of the four
macro skills, listening is a very important skill in acquiring a language. “L2/FL
listening is the most fundamental macro skill” (Rost, 2002; Richard, 2005). “Listening
accounts for 40- 50% of communicating, with speaking at 25- 30%, reading at 11-

1


16%, and writing at 9%” (Mendelsohn, 1994). People use listening action nearly twice
as much as speaking and four to five times as reading and writing (Rivers, 1981;
Morley, 1991). The major role of listening is to provide input information for
understanding and remembering to apply it into other communicative skills (Gass &
Selinker, 2008). Moreover, Huong (2011) reported that according to the results of a
survey conducted by prestigious English centers- British Council and Apollo Vietnam,
Vietnamese learners are placed at the eighth position in reading and writing, but at the
eighteenth position in listening and speaking among twenty countries examined. So,
teaching English listening is an important concern in Vietnam educational tendency,
especially in university to prepare undergraduates for real communication in their
workplace.

Teaching English listening requires teachers not only teach students the content of the
passage but also teach them the ways to learn listening better. Strategies are one of the
effective ways for students to learn listening themselves. According to Oxford (1990),
knowledge of strategies is important for language learners because of two reasons.
Firstly, strategies are essential tools for active self- directed involvement to develop
communicative competence. Secondly, learners with appropriate learning strategies
have greater self- confidence and learn more effectively. “Having knowledge and the

use of effective strategies in listening comprehension can help learners to understand
most of language input to which they listen to” (Fateme, Aliakbar, & Akbar, 2012,
p.843). Furthermore, many authors have proved the importance role and good effect of
listening strategies, especially metacognitive strategies. Previous research indicated
that more- skilled learners use more metacognitive strategies than less- skilled learners
(Baker & Brown, 1984; O‟Malley & Chamot, 1990; Rubin, 1987). “Metacognitive
learning strategies help learners to know what to do when they come across
difficulties” (Zahra Ratebi & Zahra Amirian, 2013, p. 141).
2


1.2.

Problem statement

It is very difficult for students to get high score in listening tests because of many
reasons. Goh (2000) states many reasons for Chinese students‟ failure at listening
comprehension, similar to the Vietnamese context (Tran, 2014). Learners cannot
know the familiar words and pay attention to next part when they think about the
previous part. They have the tendency to forget the spoken discourse and miss the
listening text as soon as they start listening. Other reasons are that they immediately
forget information they received before they misunderstand subsequent parts because
of previous problems. Last but not least, they cannot recognize key points in the text
as well as pay attention to intended message. These reasons make listening
comprehension problematic for not only Chinese students but also Vietnamese
students and all English learners all over the world as well.

According to Tran (2014), there are two reasons for failing the listening course. Firstly,
proficiency students lack sufficient knowledge about vocabulary and pronunciation so
that they do not listen well enough. Secondly, when listening, they lack of the so-called

strategies. “These very strategies are the ways or the methods to make the best use of
available knowledge to get high score” (p.2). In fact, the strategies are important as the
knowledge because they can help learners get good results in not only learning but also
listening.

The above reasons are problems which Vietnamese learners frequently face with.
Besides, in Vietnamese condition, English training curricula at university levels mainly
focus on vocabulary, grammar structure and reading comprehension skills (To Minh
Thanh, 2006). According to Pham (2014), students often do reading comprehension

3


and many grammar exercises and in the last two years, they have started reading their
specialized materials depending on the university and major. Tran (2012) stated that
most of English teachers (from her short interview) have not focus much on teaching
listening because classes are usually large and they do not have enough time to cover
all skills. Therefore, students do not pay due attention much to listening. They find that
it is difficult to have listening course when entering the university. The results of
listening tests depend on many factors including the listening strategies that students
have.

Non-English major freshmen at Van Lang University also find listening
comprehension difficult to learn. The researcher has observed the students and figured
out the reasons for this problem. First, they listened very little in high school due to the
examination system, which forms poor listening skills. Second, they have less time in
practicing English in class because non- English major students just spend 4- 5 periods
a week on the four skills of English. Third, they lack the English environment outside
classroom to practice. Finally, the most important reason is that students do not possess
listening strategies. They do not know how to listen effectively. There are many

strategies in listening comprehension. According to Oxford (1990), learning strategies
include metacognitive strategies category; which are essential strategies to help
learners succeed in SL/FL learning acquisition.

The results of applying metacognitive strategies in listening may be different from
various studies based on the learning culture, the countries, sample size, the way which
teachers model metacognitive strategy, and the intervention programs, etc. Many
studies about the effect of metacognitive strategies on listening comprehension were
conducted all over the world and the results we received are quite different because of

4


the level of participants and nationalities. Besides, the sample sizes should also be
considered the reason for this case. However, there are just some studies in Vietnam
about this issue, especially at Van Lang University. As a result, the present study,
carried out at Van Lang University, is to seek whether there is any effect of
metacognitive strategies on listening comprehension for non- English major freshmen
and whether non- English major freshmen use metacognitive strategies in listening
after they have been introduced about them.

1.3.

Research aims

According to Liu (2007), students who are not good at English listening often lack their
listening strategies, especially non- major freshmen. As a result, they face difficulty
when studying listening. It is not wrong to say that lacking strategies leads to
ineffective listening comprehension or ineffective listening studying students often lack
strategies. It cannot be denied that strategies have a very important role to listening. So,

the purposes of this study are:

a. To investigate the effect of metacognitive

strategies on listening

comprehension of non- English major freshmen
b. To examine the use of metacognitive strategies in listening
c. To explore non- English major freshmen‟s attitudes about using metacognitive
strategies.

1.4.

Research questions

In this study, the researcher would like to find answers to the following two questions:
5


1. What is the effect of metacognitive strategies on listening comprehension of nonEnglish major freshmen?
2. To what extent, do freshmen use the metacognitive strategies in listening?
3. What are non- English major freshmen‟s attitudes about using metacognitive
strategies?

The hypotheses of this study are that the metacognitive strategies have good effect on
improving listening comprehension of non- English major freshmen at Van Lang
University and demonstrate that these students show positive attitudes to metacognitive
strategy and use metacognitive strategies in listening after taking the intervention. If
this happens in these cases, the study may have good contribution to teaching English
listening.

1.5.

Research significance

The analysis of metacognitive strategies can bring advantages for not only students but
also English teachers. The study is conducted with the hope that its findings can
provide an overview about the result of using metacognitive strategies in listening
comprehension in Vietnam, especially at Van Lang University. For Vietnamese
English teachers in general and teachers at Van Lang University in specific, they can
apply metacognitive strategies as one of their listening teaching technique. The study
also introduces Vietnamese students the information of metacognitive strategies and
listening so students can understand more about these two areas and easily apply them
in other situations. The study is hoped to contribute to changing the concepts and belief
of students in Vietnam and the Van Lang University, developing their autonomy as

6


well as encouraging them to use metacognitive strategies when listening. Finally, it
may provide some aspects for further research in this area of interest.

1.6.

Thesis structure

The thesis concludes five chapters: chapter 1 – Introduction, chapter 2 – Literature
Review, chapter 3 – Methodology, chapter 4 – Finding and Discussion and chapter 5 –
Conclusion.

In the Introduction, there are the background of the study, the problem statement of
the study, the research aims, the research questions, the research significance and
thesis structure.

In Chapter 2, the theoretical background of metacognitive strategies and listening
comprehension is introduced. Besides, the relationship between metacognitive
strategies and listening comprehension was also introduced in this part. Lastly, it
includes some empirical studies of other researchers.

In Chapter 3, the methodology used in the study is described. It provides the detail
information about the research site, participants, the design of the study, procedure of
the study, research instruments and the validity and reliability.

In Chapter 4, the data collected from t- Test, questionnaire and interview are analyzed,
followed by the discussions of these findings.

7


In Chapter 5, a conclusion, implications, limitations, and recommendations are
presented.

8


Chapter 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literature relevant to this study. The chapter contains five

main parts. First, it begins with the overview of listening comprehension definition of
listening skill, the concept of listening comprehension, and stages of listening
comprehension. The second part is about learning strategies, including an overview of
learning strategies and classification of learning strategies. The third part deals with
metacognitive

strategies,

where

concepts

of

metacognitive

strategies

and

metacognition, classification of metacognitive strategies, and importance of
metacognitive strategies on language learning are presented. The fourth part is about
the relationship between metacognitive strategies and listening comprehension which
shows the combination ideas of other authors about these two subjects. Finally, some
previous researches that have explored the effect of metacognitive strategies on
listening comprehension in many other conditions are introduced.

2.1.

Overview of listening comprehension

To have correct definition of listening comprehension, it is necessary to know the
definition of listening skill first.

2.1.1. Definition of listening skill

9


Listening has emerged as an important component in the process of second language
acquisition (Feyten, 1991). Besides, listening is the ability to identify and understand
what people are saying (Howatt & Dakin, 1974). Besides, Buck (2001) defines
listening as:

“the ability to 1) process extended samples of realistic spoken language, automatically and in
real time; 2) understand the linguistic information that is unequivocally included in the text;
and 3) make whatever inferences are unambiguously implicated by the content of the passage
(p.114)

Listening relates to making sense of spoken language, followed with sounds and
visual input, help speakers understand the context in which they are listening and
listening is an „active‟ process (Schmitt, 2002). In fact, listening is a complex process
that the listeners need to concentrate totally on the listening stages. Rost (2002) said
that “listening is an intention to complete a communication” and it is a complex
process of “receptive orientation” (what others say), “constructive orientation”
(construct and present meaning), “collaborative orientation” (negotiate and response)
and “transformative orientation” (create meaning, imagine).

In general, listening is a complex and active process that related to symbols, sounds,
communication, knowledge and input. The process of listening happens inside the

brain to convey the exact information. To listen well, apart from the outside condition,
listeners have to know how to control their thinking and focus on the exact
information. This study is about to help learners control their mental process while
conveying the information in their brain.

10


2.1.2. Concept of listening comprehension

Listening comprehension is not easy and simple concept to acquire. Buck (2001) said
about the complexity of the listening process, so listeners have to use a broad variety of
sources of knowledge, linguistic and non-linguistic, to interpret the incoming data.
Nowadays, people pay much more attention to listening comprehension because
teaching English through communicative approach is introduced to students more in
order to help students improve their communicative skill. Understanding definition of
listening is a good condition to learn new language as well as language- using habit
like foreigners so that students can apply it in suitable situations.

Moreover, it is hard to have a well- defined definition of listening comprehension
(Liu, 2007). According to Hariri (2014), in listening comprehension, people do not just
listen to what is read or talked, but they have to decode meaningful parts of speech to
understand them. Vandergrift‟s (1999) in his article “Facilitating Second Language
Listening Comprehension: Acquiring Successful Strategies” is a good summary of
listening comprehension:

Listening comprehension is a complex, active process in which the listeners must discriminate
between sounds, understand vocabulary and grammatical structures, interpret stress and
intonation, retain what was gathered in all of the above, and interpret it within the immediate as
well as the large social structural context of the utterance. Coordinating all of this involves a

great deal of mental activity on the part of the listener (p. 168).

For the present study, it plays an essential and valuable role to help the researcher
enlarge her knowledge about listening comprehension. Actually, teachers should know
more about other definitions to have a general and clear overview about the topic.
11


Holden (2004) stated that listening comprehension is a passive activity because
listeners have to receive the audio input process and output of what they have
comprehended; therefore it is considered a complicated activity and need mental
exertion to understand it. However, according to Thomson (2003), in the process of
listening comprehension, the listeners are active, not passive. Jinhong (2011) stated
that “We can indicate that listening comprehension is a process-oriented activity in
which listeners need to deal with the input actively step by step” (p.6). In other words,
“listening comprehension is a mental exertion when listeners deal with the aural
language input” (p.7). Besides, “listening comprehension is a creative activity.
Listeners construct or assign meanings based on the given information or their
experience and background knowledge” and “listening comprehension is an interactive
activity as both speakers and listeners are involved” (p.7).

From the above- mentioned definitions, we can conclude that listening comprehension
is a complex process. It requires time to study and strategies to master. Besides,
knowing that listening is very important, teachers have to prepare well before going to
class as well as help students match the appropriate strategies to each situation and
develop listening process.

2.1.3. Stages of listening comprehension
“In a typical lesson, there are “pre” activities, “while” activities, and “post” activities”
(Brown, 2006).

Pre- listening stage

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According to Field (1998, as cited in Richards & Renandya, 2002, p.243), the prelistening stage aims: “to provide sufficient context to match what would be available
in real life and to create motivation” and through certain activities in this stage help
students have general overview about what they are going to listen for (Vandergrift,
2008). Teachers have to create, prepare the exercise as well as the activities to help
students involve in this stage. Lindsay & Knight (2006) also state a similar idea that
pre- listening stage helps students prepare what they are going to listen.

Wilson (2008) acknowledges that the activities in this stage help students have a
successful opportunity for the listening tasks. Therefore, teachers need to be flexible
and creative in teaching so as to engage students in the activities. Through a variety of
activities, students have to think, brainstorm, discuss and predict what they are going
to listen in this stage.
 discussing the topic or situation to the listening text
 a question or answer session to the listening text
 brainstorming
 games
 looking at some pictures and talking about the topic

These activities in this stage provide background information for students to facilitate
their listening. Last but not least, Rost (1990) points out some more activities that are
related in following skills:


discriminating between sounds



recognizing words

13