An exploratory study on the use of information technology in teaching english listening skills at huong son high school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN TIEN DUNG

AN EXLORATORY STUDY
ON THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
LISTENING SKILLS AT HUONG SON HIGH SCHOOL

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Nghe An, 2017


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN TIEN DUNG

AN EXLORATORY STUDY
ON THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
LISTENING SKILLS AT HUONG SON HIGH SCHOOL

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Code: 60140111

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

SUPERVISOR:
Tran Ba Tien, Ph.D.

Nghe An, 2017


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby certify that this thesis entitled “An exploratory study on the use of
information technology in teaching English listening skills at Huong Son high
school” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at Vinh
University. No material in this thesis has been accepted for the award of any other
degree or diploma in any university and neither does this thesis use and contain
previously published material or written by another person.
Author
Nguyen Tien Dung

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ACKOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Tran Ba Tien, my
supervisor, for his invaluable guidance, comments, correction, and most of all his
kind encouragement throughout the work.
I also would like to express my sincere thanks to teachers of Foreign
Language Department for their kind encouragement and suggestions.
I am appreciative of all my teachers and my students at Huong Son High
School where I have gathered information for my study. Without their help, this
study could not have been successful.
I am indebted to my family members whose support and encouragements
greatly contributed to the completion of my study.
Vinh, July 2017
Nguyen Tien Dung

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ABSTRACT
Information Technology (IT) is an important element in the education
scenario in order to prepare the citizens for the future. The quality of teaching is
often related to the use of IT in teaching and learning. Hence, the Ministry of
Education and Training (MOET) has implemented various programs to promote the
use of IT pin teaching and learning. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the
use of IT in teaching English listening skills at Huong Son high school. To achieve
the aims, in this study the researcher used qualitative and quantitative research
method, including the use of survey questionnaires and interview. The study was
conducted with ten teachers and two hundred students at Huong Son high school,
Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. The data from survey
questionnaires, information collected from interviews was discussed and interpreted
statistically. The findings reveal that although teachers were quite positive attitudes
about IT integration, there were several challenges that were still holding them back
from fully utilizing the ITs. Issues such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of
knowledge and skills on how to integrate IT tools, their own attitudes and beliefs,
were challenges that the teachers seemed to point out as major impediments to the
smooth integration of IT. Considering the data gathered, it is hoped that this thesis
will be useful for teachers in using IT in teaching English listening skills at Huong
Son high school in particular and at other high schools in general.

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LIST OF TABLE AND CHART
Table 1: Distribution of respondents by gender
Table 2: Distribution of respondents by age

Table 3: Distribution of respondents by teaching experiences
Table 4: The degree held by the participants
Table 5: IT Ownership
Table 6 & Chart 1: Teachers’ and students’ attitude towards using IT in listening
lessons
Table 7 & Chart 2: Teachers’ Internet skill
Table 8 & Chart 3: Teachers' frequency in using IT in their teaching
Table 9: Administrators’ frequency in encouraging teachers to use IT
Table 10: Colleagues’ frequency in appreciating the value of using IT
Table 11: Teachers’ frequency in using computers to design English listening
lessons
Table 12: The utilized IT devices
Table 13 & Chart 4: Teachers’ and students’ assessment on the effectiveness of
your English listening lessons with the help of IT
Table 14 & Chart 5: Teachers’ and students’ perception towards the importance of
using IT in teaching listening skill
Table 15: Teachers’ and students’ perceptions toward the benefits of using IT in
teaching English listening skill
Table 16: Difficulties confronted by the teachers in using IT in their teaching
Table 17: Difficulties confronted by the students in learning listening skill with
technology
Table 18: Teachers’ suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of using computers in
teaching listening skill

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APPENDICES
Appendix A: Teacher questionnaire
Appendix B: Student questionnaire

Appendix C: Teacher interview
Appendix D: Student interview

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IT

: Information Technology

CALL

: Computer Assisted Language Learning

EFL

: English as Foreign Language

CLT

: Communicative Language Teaching

ALM

: Audio Lingual Method

TPR

: Total Physical Response

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................ i
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLE & CHART ................................................................................ iv
APPENDICES........................................................................................................ v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale ......................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims of the study ............................................................................................ 3
1.3. Research questions .......................................................................................... 3
1.4. Method of the study ........................................................................................ 3
1.5. Scope of the study ........................................................................................... 4
1.6. Significance of the study ................................................................................. 4
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Foreign Language Teaching ............................................................................ 6
2.2. Information technology ................................................................................. 10
2.2.1. Definition ................................................................................................... 10
2.2.2. Kind of technology available to language learning and teaching .............. 10
2.2.3. Technology in language teaching and learning.......................................... 11
2.2.4. The use of using IT in teaching and learning English listening skill ......... 13
2.3. CALL ............................................................................................................ 14
2.3.1. Behavioristic CALL ................................................................................... 15
2.3.2. Communicative CALL ............................................................................... 16

2.3.3. Integrative CALL ....................................................................................... 17
2.3.4. Uses of CALL to teach listening skill ........................................................ 18
2.4. Listening skill ................................................................................................ 18
2.4.1. Listening and hearing ................................................................................. 18

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2.4.2. Definitions of listening ............................................................................... 19
2.4.3. Listening skill ............................................................................................. 20
2.4.4. The process of listening ............................................................................. 21
2.4.5. Types of listening ..................................................................................... 23
2.4.5.1. Extensive and intensive listening ............................................................ 23
2.4.5.2. Discriminative listening .......................................................................... 25
2.4.5.3. Informative listening ............................................................................... 25
2.4.5.4. Relationship listening .............................................................................. 25
2.4.5.5. Appreciative listening ............................................................................. 26
2.4.5.6. Critical listening ...................................................................................... 26
2.4.6. Strategies for Developing Listening Skills ................................................ 27
2.4.6.1. Top-down strategies ................................................................................ 27
2.4.6.2. Bottom-up strategies ............................................................................... 27
2.4.6.3. Listening for Meaning ............................................................................. 28
2.4.7. Stages in listening tasks ............................................................................. 28
2.4.7.1. The pre-listening stage ............................................................................ 28
2.4.7.2. The while-listening stage ........................................................................ 29
2.4.7.3. The post-listening stage........................................................................... 30
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. The setting of the study ................................................................................. 31
3.1.1. IT in FL education at Huong Son high school ........................................... 31
3.1.2. The teaching EFL at Huong Son high school ............................................ 32

3.2. Research methods.......................................................................................... 32
3.2.1. Participants of the study ............................................................................. 33
3.2.2. Measurement instruments .......................................................................... 33
3.2.2.1. Survey questionnaire ............................................................................... 34
3.2.2.2. Interview ................................................................................................. 34
3.3. Procedure....................................................................................................... 35

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Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Data collection and analysis .......................................................................... 37
4.1.1. Presentation of statistical result from teachers’ and students’
questionnaire. ....................................................................................................... 37
4.1.1.1. Personal information about teachers and students .................................. 37
4.1.1.2. The status quo of the use of IT in teaching English listening skills
at Huong Son high school .................................................................................... 40
4.1.1.3. Teachers’ and students’ perception towards the use of IT in teaching
and learning English listening skills .................................................................... 48
4.1.1.4. Some suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of using computers in
teaching and learning English listening skills ...................................................... 54
4.1.1.4.1. Teachers’ opinions. .............................................................................. 54
4.1.1.4.2. Students’ opinions ................................................................................ 57
4.1.2. Presentation of teachers’ interview. ........................................................... 58
4.2. Discuss of the findings .................................................................................. 61
4.2.1. The status quo of the use of IT in teaching English listening skills at
Huong Son high school. ....................................................................................... 61
4.2.2. The teachers’ and students’ perception towards the use of IT in
teaching and learning English listening skills ...................................................... 63
4.2.3. The effective strategies in using IT to help students improve their English

listening skills....................................................................................................... 66
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
5.1. Summary of the results.................................................................................. 69
5.2. Implications .................................................................................................. .70
5.3. Limitations of the study ................................................................................ 71
5.4. Suggestions for further research.................................................................... 72
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 72
APPENDIX .......................................................................................................... 78

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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Rationale
English has been considered as one of the compulsory subjects in secondary

and high school in Vietnam. New English textbooks from grade six to twelve,
which are born with the aims to require students standard level of English as well as
to meet, demand of social development focuses on the four skills: reading,
speaking, listening, and writing. Listening is considered very difficult but important
one, the basic for others. However, teaching and learning English listening skill at
schools in general and high schools in particular still exist some limitations. The
reasons are the learners lack of motivation to listen, limited level of English, noise
and lack of instrument for listening. And an important reason is from the teachers’
methodology. They may still be familiar to the old method of teaching, or they get
difficult to find a suitable method, so they cannot motivate their students to learn
English listening skill better. In many recent years, the idea of applying IT in

teaching in general and English especially listening skill is being carried out in
schools in Vietnam to help the English lessons effectively.
Nowadays, IT is a concept that is not too strange with many people. With a
computer and Internet technologies, people can now have access to more
information more quickly and easier. IT definitely plays an important role in
educational success. The impact of the use of IT on education has been investigated
by many researchers in different settings in Vietnam and in the world. These studies
shared a very common finding that is related the effectiveness of the use of IT in
teaching in general and in teaching English in particular. Lam & Lawrence (2002)
also stated that technology not only gives learners the opportunity to control their
own learning process, but also provide them with ready access to a vast amount of
information over which teachers have no power to control. The effective IT tools

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which can help teachers to expand the difficult walls of the traditional classroom
and rebuild their class without the walls are increasing in both quantity and quality.
However, there still exist many difficulties in the use of IT in teaching
English in general and in teaching English listening skills in particular. Although IT
has been in existence for many years, it has just begun to spread to schools and ESL
classrooms. The reason is that IT tools require hard ware, which is relatively
expensive. Furthermore, using them well or professionally requires the teachers
have to have good skills or knowledge of using them. Young (2004) indicated that
teachers’ lack of knowledge and skills have become primary factors in failure of
computers or technology integration program in the institution. The lack of time is
also often considered as a difficulty by teachers in their English teaching. The
teachers only use IT in making lesson plans or let students use Internet in the
library. Because of the reasons above that cause low quality of period of teaching
English. As a result, teachers’ lessons can be not very successful as expected.

With the requirement of ministry of education and training and the actual
demand for teaching programs, the implementation of IT in teaching and learning
activity has attracted great interest from the teachers at high schools in Vietnam.
Teachers have started to adopt and implement IT for teaching and learning process
either in the classroom or outside the classroom. The use of IT in teaching English
in general and especially listening skill is being carried out in schools in Vietnam. It
is very necessary to investigate the reality, the difficulties, the teachers’ and
students’ attitude in teaching and learning listening skill at high schools.
These above-mentioned concerns urged the author to carry out the research,
called: “An exploratory study on the use of information technology in teaching
English listening skills at Huong Son high school”. Hopefully, this study would
help teachers of English at Huong Son high school carry out the English listening
skill periods with the help of IT as effectively as expected. The students will also
find more interested and motivated in learning English listening skill lessons.

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1.2.

Aims of the study
This study aims at studying the use of IT in teaching English listening skills

at Huong Son high school. Hence, it is expected to achieve the following objectives:
- First, to investigate the status quo of the use of IT in teaching English listening

skills at Huong Son high school
- Second, to investigate the teachers’ and students’ perception towards the use of

IT in teaching and learning English listening skills

- Third, to give some effective strategies in using IT to help students improve their

listening skills
1.3.

Research questions
In order to achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions

were raised:
-

What is the status quo of the use of IT in teaching English listening skills at
Huong Son high school?

-

What are the teachers’ and students’ perception towards the use of IT in
teaching and learning English listening skills?

-

What are the effective strategies in using IT to help students improve their
English listening skills?

1.4.

Method of the study
In order to realize the aims of the study, a combination of quantitative and

qualitative method was used. Data were collected through the analysis of the survey

questionnaire for students and teachers, teachers’ interview. Survey questionnaires
are used as the main instrument to collect information and evidence for the study.
They were then compared, contrasted, analyzed and synthesized both qualitatively
and quantitatively. The data collected for the study will mainly from two sources:

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200 students from grade 10, 11 and 12 and 10 teachers of English at Huong Son
high school.
All comments, remarks, recommendations, and conclusions provided in the
study were based on the data analysis.
1.5.
-

Scope of the study
The study limits itself to investigating the use of information technology in

teaching English listening skills at a high school in Ha Tinh. It deals with the issue
of using IT to teach English listening skills to high school students
-

Because of the limitation of the time, making a research with a large number

of the participants was out of the author’s reach, therefore, the participants for the
study was 10 teachers of English and 200 students grade 10, 11 and 12 at Huong
Son high school.
1.6.

Significance of the study

This study, if successful, will be of theoretical as well as practical benefits.

First, it will provide more information to help people have a deep insight about the
reality of using IT in teaching English listening skills at a high school. From then
people who are responsible for this field will have some suitable solutions to deal
with this problem for their school so that the use of IT in teaching will be more
effective. The teachers can give more suggestions to help the teaching effectively.
In addition, the significance of the study is for English teachers at Huong
Son high school. The results of the study are expected to English language teachers
who have interest in using IT in teaching English listening skill. With this study, the
writer hopes to make a small contribution to teachers at Huong Son high school that
they may use the materials, computer programs, the Internet... for their teaching
with their own teaching purposes more effectively.
Last but not least, this study itself wishes to raise teachers’ and
administrators’ awareness of utilizing the existing modern technologies to meet

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students’ needs and implementing the instruction 29/2001/CT - BGD&ĐT about
applying IT in education and training into specific perspectives. Its implemented
recommendations will make the use of IT in teaching English listening skill at
Huong Son high school more successful and effective.

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Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter introduces a brief review of the literature relevant to the study

and is divided into four sections. The first section is overview of foreign language
teaching. The second section is to discuss some key terms related to IT, the third
section briefs the history of CALL, the fourth section is overview of listening skill.
2.1.

Foreign language teaching
In the long history of educational development, people witnessed many

teaching methodologies have come and gone. In the past, there were some old
methodologies of foreign language teaching such as Grammar-Translation Method,
Direct method, Audio-lingual Method, Total Physical Response and so on are
considered ineffective now because of their shortcomings.
In the 19th century, the Classical Method came to be known as the Grammar
Translation Method. It is one of the most conventional methods which have a long
history. The Grammar-Translation method represents the tradition of language
teaching adopted in western society and developed in many centuries of teaching
not only the classical languages such as Latin and Greek, but also foreign
languages. It focuses much on grammar, reading and writing pays little or no
attention to listening and speaking, and learners’ aim is to master the language not
to use the language. Therefore, students cannot be able to communicate. It remained
popular in modern language pedagogy, even after the introduction of newer
methods.
The Audio-lingual Method is derived from “The Army Method”, so called
because it was developed through a U.S. Army programme devised after World
War II to produce speakers proficient in the languages of friend and foes. James Lee
and Bill VanPatten defined Audio-lingual method as: “The Audio Lingual Method
was predicted on the marriage of behaviorist psychology and the current structural
linguistics. According to behaviorist psychology, all learning verbal and nonverbal
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takes place through the process of habit formation. Habits areformed through
repetition, imitation, and reinforcement. In ALM, language habits were formed by
memorizing dialogues and practicing sentence patterns, usually through drills that
required learners to imitate and repeat what their instructor said.” Like any other
method, it has made some good contributions to the educational field. In ALM, no
translation is permitted to teach vocabulary. It means that teachers must not use
translation as an activity to teach vocabulary; they should create and apply new
ways to explain a new word. They can use realia, flashcards, gestures, mimicry,
synonyms, and antonyms to explain a word definition or meaning. Students learn
pronunciation, intonation and stress through teacher’s modeling. They are
encouraged to use the foreign language and to speak in ALM lessons. They must
use the foreign language to express any idea they have. ALM is based on operant
behaviorism where reinforcement plays a very important part in the teaching and
learning process. Despite of the fact that the ALM created a revolution in the area of
teaching foreign languages during 1960s, it has some characteristics which are
difficult for learners to follow such as: translation is forbidden at early levels, the
use of the student’s native language is also forbidden. This method does not let
students create a meaningful environment to learn the topic or structures that are
going to be presented to them.
Total Physical Response (TPR) which was developed by James Asher, an
American professor of psychology is based on the theory that the memory is
enhanced through association with physical movement. TPR is an approach to
teaching a second language, based on listening connected to physical activities
which are designed to reinforce comprehension. TPR as an approach to teaching a
second language is based, first and foremost, on listening and this is linked to
physical actions which are designed to reinforce comprehension of particular basic
items. TPR relies on the assumption that when learning a second language, which is
internalized through a process of code-breaking similar to first language
development. It brings many advantages for teachers and learners in their teaching

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and learning process. In the TPR lessons, students enjoy activity and these simple
TPR activities do not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teachers.
It is inclusive and works well a class with mixed ability levels. It also helps students
achieve fluency faster by immersing learners in activities that involve them in
situational language use. This method has its own limitations such as: it is most
useful for beginners, preparation becomes an issue for teachers at higher levels or
students are not generally given the opportunity to express their own thought in as
creative manner.
After few decades, in 1960s and 1970s foreign language learning was
extended with the establishment of comprehensive schools. It led to the teaching of
a foreign language to virtually all learners. It was the main pressure for a change in
teaching methods and curricula to suit the needs of non-traditional learners. As a
result, there has been a movement in foreign language education, which is studying
about language toward a focus on using a language as a useful tool to communicate
in real life. And communicative approach or Communicative language teaching
(CLT) is becoming a dominant approach used to teach foreign languages. CLT is
best considered as an approach rather than a method (Richards & Rogers, 1986). It
focused around communicative competence rather than on linguistic or grammatical
competence. It used to motivate learners to want to learn or use the foreign language
for real communication by extending their knowledge and experiences. Different
from the Audio-lingual method, the Communicative Approach gives priority to the
semantic content of language learning because learners learn the grammatical points
through meaning not the other way around. CLT is based on a theory of language
as a system of expression of meaning, the primary function of language being
interaction and communication (Nunan, 1995).
The study by Mhundwa (1998) investigating the characteristic of CLT is that
classroom communication is planned and presented in ways that stimulate real life

situations. According to Richards and Rodgers (1995) illustrated some examples of
functional communicative activities such as: giving and following directions,
8


solving problems, using clues, conversations, dialogues and role plays, all of which
should not be memorized. Students should interact more with each other than with
the teacher because CLT is both learner-centered and experience-based. The next
characteristic of CLT is that it discourages over-correction of language errors by the
teacher as it distracts from the message (Brumfit, 1984). To the teachers, errors
determine how far the learner has progressed towards the language learning. To the
learner, errors are evidence of learning.
The teachers play the role of facilitator, guide, participant, resource
organizer, resource himself, learner, needs analyst and counselor in CLT. During
the presentation of an activity, students should not normally be aware of
intervention by the teacher as teacher but as a communicator (Brumfit, 1984).
Classroom activities in CLT are aimed at the situational and contextualized
use of particular language. The teaching materials in CLT by Nunan (1995) refers to
these as task-based materials that play the primary role of promoting
communicative language use.
With the application of the active and new teaching approach to CLT, the use
of IT in teaching English in general and teaching English listening skill in particular
will help English teachers offer their students with the best lessons, since then help
them develop their communicative competence and increase their interest in selfstudying English as an important foreign language.
With the rapid development of IT, the emerging and developing of
multimedia technology and its application to teaching English, sets a solid
foundation for reform and exploration on English teaching method. It’s proved that
IT plays a positive role in promoting activities and initiatives of student and
teaching effect in English class. Technological innovations have gone with the
growth of English teaching method and are changing the way in which people

communicate.

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2.2.

Information technology (IT)
2.2.1. Definition
The term “Information Technology” which appeared in the 1970s has a long

history. IT stands for “Information Technology”, and it is used to refer to anything
related to computing technology, such as hardware, software, networking, the
Internet... Technology can be defined as the process of using scientific, material and
human resources in order to meet human need or purpose. Then there is a simple
definition of Information as “that which can be communicated and understood”,
then together a basic definition of IT could be: Information Technology is the use
of information in order to meet human need or purpose.
IT as defined by the Information Technology Association of America
(ITAA): is study, design, development, implementation, support or management of
computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and
computer hardware. In short, IT deals with the use of electronic computers and
computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve
information, securely.
IT consists of computers, networks, satellite communications, robotics,
videotext, cable television, electronic mail (e-mail), electronic games, and
automated office equipment.
2.2.2. Kinds of technology available to language learning and teaching
Teaching and learning is changing from a classic classroom environment to
an increasingly technology one, where students are active learners. However,

students should engage themselves with technology familiar to them. IT has
changed a lot with the development of new tools and the arrival of the era of the
Internet, use of multimedia, and mobile devices which have been changing the way
people interact and collaborate with each other. Gill (2011) pointed out that IT has
increased its role in second language learning with the use of new tools to deliver
language teaching, which provide more interaction, such as live chat or discussion
10


boards. Because of the growing of available technology, teachers have to choose
hardware and software that meet teachers’ and students’ needs. Their selection
depends on several reasons, such as their personal preferences - familiarity with the
technology and their ability to implement the technology tool to use it to teach. The
element should be cared by teachers when they select software or hardware is
pedagogical purposes, which are based on learning goals to reach those goals.
2.2.3. Technology in language teaching and learning
In teaching and learning English, teachers have a lot to choose from the
world of technology: Audio Cassettes, Radio, TV, Computers, CALL, the Internet,
Electronic Dictionary, Email, Power Point, Videos, CD, DVD or VCD, etc. This
rapid development of IT has offered a better pattern to explore the new teaching
model. As a result technology plays a very important role in English teaching at
schools. Using IT to create a context to teach English has its unique advantages.
Technology and foreign language education is no stranger to one another. IT
deals with the application of electronic computers and computer software to
convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and retrieve information. IT has been used
differently in education and contributed greatly to the pedagogical methodology
renovation in many recent years.
IT is used in classrooms at many schools in Vietnam. The use of technology
helps teachers to diversify their lessons, display more information, and enhance
student learning. Thank to different technologies in the classroom, this can help

teachers save time and energy and allow for more attention to be paid to the course
content. There are many different learning materials available to teachers in order to
help them with their teaching.
In many recent years, to improve the importance of technology in teaching
many studies have been conducted to find out the influences or benefits of the use
of IT in teaching foreign language. Many studies have been conducted to investigate

11


how the integration of technology into the curriculum may enhance language
teaching and learning (Wong 2004; Miner, 2004; Eugene, 2006; Hixon, 2008).
Many studies were conducted on using IT in teaching English. To the
researchers’ best knowledge a few studies were conducted on using CALL in
teaching English grammar in Jordan. Douglas Hogg (2000) conducted a study to
examine teachers’ perceptions of the effect of using computer technology on their
role in the classroom and on their personal teaching style. The result showed that
teachers are interested in using computer technology and technology also influences
on their teaching style. Hoopingarner (2009) indicated that the use of IT in teaching
language can be effective as long as teachers use it efficiently; an effective use of IT
takes into consideration language pedagogy practices to use any sort of technology
to support and increase language teaching and learning. Al-Qumoul conducted a
study to investigate the effect of an instructional software program of English
language functions on tenth graders’ achievement. The results revealed that the
students who studied the English language functions through CAI lessons
performed better than those who learnt by the traditional method. Mike (1996)
described the use of the Internet has also been shown to promote higher order
thinking skills. The fact is that using IT brings many benefits to teachers’ teaching.
According to Díaz, Jansson & Martínez (2011), the use IT in teaching and learning
foreign language has the power of improving students’ learning and students’

motivation while offering students the opportunity for individuality of technology
access and interaction in order to be able to communicate ideas using the new
second language vocabulary and grammar learned.
When dealing with the importance of IT in education, we can not ignore the
role of multimedia, which has been considered to have enormous potential in
education in general and in foreign language teaching and learning in particular. On
many campuses, new multimedia learning centers and electronic laboratories have
already become the focus of the changing paradigms of foreign language
instruction. To the teachers, the increased use of IT resources in foreign language
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programs prompted a revision of teaching styles and techniques. When IT is used
properly it could be a powerful tool that would have positive effects on the process
of learning language skills (Gill, 2011).
2.2.4. The role of using IT in teaching and learning English listening skill
The use of information technology actually promote high school English
listening Teaching recently. With the traditional English teaching, listening is
carried out mainly through tape recorders and the teachers themselves
accomplished. Although this traditional method plays an important role, but there
are still some disadvantages such as a single method to control the inconvenience.
Understanding the importance of English listening skill in language learning and
teaching is necessary for English teachers to help their students become effective
listeners. In the communicative approach to language teaching, it means modeling
listening strategies and providing listening practice in authentic situations: those
that students are likely to encounter when they use the language outside the
classroom. One of the best ways teachers should introduce students to listening
strategies is to integrate listening activities into language lessons using IT. This
becomes more accessible to teachers and learners of other languages, its potential as
a tool to enhance listening skills becomes a practical option.

Modern technology advance listening skills by providing a multitude of
opportunities for listening to spoken language. An English teacher should be aware
of these new technologies to immerse their students in the spoken language
experience. Thank to the development of IT teaching English listening skill
nowadays are convenience, teachers can use many different tools to assist their
teaching and make their lessons better. Technology provides teachers multisensory
elements, text, sound, pictures, video, and animation, which bring meaningful
contexts to facilitate comprehension. IT emphasizes the individual needs of learners
and allows students to hear the available input as many times as needed until they
feel they understand it. Besides, it also encourages greater interaction between

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teachers and students and students, and allows them to build their self-instruction
strategies and self-confidence. All these things lead to promotes second language
learners’ learning motivation.
2.3.

CALL
The rapid advances of technologies of the 1990s have raised both the

expectations and the demands placed on the computer as a potential learning tool.
With recent advances in multimedia technology, computer-assisted language
learning (CALL) has emerged as an alternative to earlier modes of supplementing
or replacing direct student-teacher interaction, such as the language laboratory or
audio-tape-based self-study.
CALL stands for Computer Assisted Language Learning. It is a new trend in
the development of foreign language teaching. In the foreign language teaching, IT
in the development process, CALL, definitely make a significant change in high

school English teaching. This change in English teaching in various aspects such as
listening, speaking, reading and writing, are tremendous.
It is defined as “the search for and study of applications of the computer in
language teaching and learning” (Levy, 1997, p.1). It is often known as an approach
to language teaching and learning in which the computer is used as an aid to the
presentation, reinforcement and assessment of material to be learned, usually
including a substantial interactive element. It is used to be considered as an essential
component in language teaching by many language educators.
From the 1960s, computers have been used for language teaching. Through
more 30-year history, CALL can be divided into three main stages: “This
development can be categorized in terms of three somewhat distinct phases which I
will refer to as behavioristic CALL, communicative CALL, and integrative CALL”.
A certain level of technology and a certain pedagogical approach are presented in
each stage.

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