Listening effectively for english learners at intermediate level khóa luận tốt nghiệp đại học

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES a
HO CHI MINH CITY
VIET NAM

LISTENING EFFECTIVELY FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS
AT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts in English

Submitted by TRAN THANH TOAN
Supervised by PHAN THI LE HOA

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2005


ABSTRACT
ne

This thesis examines the influence of English listening of students 4 the intermediate
levels. For a very long time, people neglected listening or even excluded

it from

study

program; people thought listening could develop by itself. Yet it has the reputation of being
very important for the enhancement of effective communication. This study investigates the

listening

abilities

and

practices

among

the

second

year

students

of Faculty

of Foreign

Languages of the Ho Chi Minh City Open University. This study also suggests a way in which
student may listen to English for better results.
This thesis consists of five main parts: the role of listening in our daily life, the review of
literature, the common problems as well as the solutions, and a survey questionnaire of 82
students.

Moreover,

the results revealed

that (1) the effects of listening on our studies in

particular as well as the role of listening skills in daily activities in general; and (2) although a
few of the students had good listening attitudes and strategies, the majority of them remained
poor listening habits and did have improvement methods for study listening skills; and (3) the
description of listening problems as well as the effective solutions have been proved partly.
The study also gives some recommendation for better learning listening skills.

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page: Listening Effectively for English Learners at Intermediate Leve
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Acknowledgement .........sssccesssssssessseseescsesssersnecersntsneercasenensancanenssenensins
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I.INTRODUCTTION ...................... 7-5 s teen trttrrtrtrtrnnttrntrtrrrrrr
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1.1 The importance of listening in đaily le .s...................----sec cnnrnnhrtrntrrrrrtrrrrirrerdrrdrrtterttrrtrrrttrtrrrtrrrre 2
1.2 The reasons for listening................-.
IL REVIEW OE LITERA TURE...................--- -

cà snenttttrrdtrdtrrrrdrrdrdetrrtrrrdrnnrrer 3

2.1 Problems in learning to listen in a foreign language...

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Slow speed of listening.................-.‹--ecreeerrerrrrrrrrrrrre À NT ky 1181251111.

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Lack of vocabulafÿ.................

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Misunderstood g€§(UF€S.....................ccrseerhrrhrhrrdrrrrrtdrtrrrrrirrrrriidttrtrrtdtrttreldrrtrndrrr
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Lack of concentratiOn.................----‹ccesrrnnhhnthhớtHtrrrưtrrrtrrrrrdrrrdtrrttrnttrtrtrtrrrdrntree

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Passive manner of listening................---‹---r+-cereerrreitrtrrrtrrerrrrtrttrrtrtrrnrtrrrrrdrrtrrntrre
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2.1.6 SUmIHAFY..................cccc752ScSc22tzhhttthhhtt122221m11011n1n0ntnnrrrrrrrrrrrrirrrrir
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2.2 Solutions to perfect our listening skillS...................------cr-eererrretrerrtdtrtrrtrrtrrrrrrrntrrrier

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2.2.1 Fasten our speed of listening................-.----rseererrerrrrrerrdrrrrtrrdrdrtrterttrtrrdttftrntrroe

2.1.5

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Enrich our vocabularY.................-..-----cccrscerneerrtrrrtrrttrrtrrtdtrrrtdtrttttrdtrdrtrrrerrrertrer

4.2.3

Undersiand gestUr€S.................---cccccsstnnhrnthrrrrttrrrrrirttritirtrrrrrrrdrrrrlimrndtrtrerret

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Avoid distractiOn...................--.--cerrrrrrrrrtrrrrrrerdirrrtrdrtdtrdtrddrrritrrrre

9.2.5

Keep our mỉnd op€n.................--.--ecssterrerrtrrrtrttrrtrdtrrtrrtrdtrrrrrrdtrrrrdrrtrrrtnrrrrerntrrer

2.2.6 SummaArY....................

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IIL RESEARCH DESCRIPTIONS....................-.---cceenenrrrtrrrrrrtrtrrtrtrtrrtrrtrrrdtre
3,1 Research qu€stÏOnS................---ccc+znsecrrtrrrtertrrirtdrrtrttrrrtrrrdttrrtiriltrrdtrrrrttrrrrrrtrrtrrrtrrrrrir

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3.2 Description of participans...............................-cerhrirredrrrrirreeireirierdtdrrrrdrdtrdtrrttrrrretire 10
3.3 Instrument: questionnair€S..................------ccnhưrrHrrrrdrrtrrrrrrrrrrrrrererdre tờ
....--- net ritnhnrrrrererertererrrrire se

3.4 Data collection prOC€dUT€§.............
3.5 Summary

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IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND EINDINGS.................................nee "`...

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4.1 Responses fO survey quâstẽOnnair....................ô-ôccecererererrrrrrerrrrererdid ơ

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4.2 Dafa analySèS........................cccceeceehhhhhhhhhdHt21..lndtrterrrrrdrttdtrrdtrrddrrrrrrer 13
4.3 Findings

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V.IMPLICA TION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..........................-.---ceneerrrertrrrrre 21
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5.2 RecommendatiOTIS.................
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5.2.2. TV, vid€O, CẦ-TOOIN...................

5.2.3. Cassetf€ pÏaY€T .........................c. che.

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5.2.4. Conversations with native speak€TS..............--.---c -snhhrerhddrerrdrrrrrenirrirrrdirrrrrdrir 25
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5.3 SUmIHAFY...............

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APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire in English...................--. ---ccsnstenhrrnhhdtrrreeddrrrrrrdrrdtrrrterr 30
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2: Questionnaire in Vietname§€........


LIST OF TABLES
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Page

Table 4.1: Studying English nowadays is diffiCult...........................
---- ác s Là He,
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Table 4.2: Listening skills are very ImpOFEATIE........................... Án
Table 4.3: Your listening skills are excel]eri...........................
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Table 4.4: The regular of having listening problems..............................
.-.-. sec. Â KH HH

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Table 4.5: Students like to listened lectures in English for all the time.............................-----++- 15
Table 4.6: Practice with foreigners the best way to deV€ÏOD....................... che.
Table 4.7: The regularity of having conversation with foreigners TT HH HH ng kh
Table 4.8: Programs students use to practice listening English ........................- sex

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16

Table 4.9: By means students practice their listening English .................................--.--c2 c2 16
Table 4.10: While listening to English lectures students used tO O.......................-.
so sec
18

Table 4.14: Which factor is the most importance for listening skills?........................--.--se 19
Table 4.17: The perception which techniques to improve your listening skills....................... 19
Table 5.1: News in English on Vietnamese TV schedule...................
.-- cty
ryn 24

Table 5.2: English Clubs / English Language School in HCM City..............................<.-
vi


I. INTRODUCTION
In the recent years, English is considered a very useful tool in most parts of the world
such as business, culture, science, technology, and so on. Although the amount of people
using Chinese is more than using English, English seems to be the most wopular international
language in the world. However, the target to achieve the perfection of using English is not
easy at all. There are many difficulties in four main skills of using English: writing, reading,
speaking, and listening, and listening skill seems to be the most difficult for people learning
English as a second language. Some people believe that good listening skill is easy to learn
and it is a part of everybody’s natural abilities. This is not the truth. I am going to prove

listening skills have to be learned and developed by ourselves instead of leaving it to develop
by itself.
1.1 The importance of listening in daily life

Several years ago, Matilda Bailey (1961, p.329) made a

study to determine how much

time adults spend in their learning skills including: reading: writing, speaking and listening. In
which of these skills would you guess that the average person spend most of time? Would you
like to guess the percentage of time we spend in each skill in an order? According to a study
by Matilda Bailey, the total amount of time we spend in the four skills of communication is
divided as follow:

“Writing 9%

Speaking 30%

Reading 16%

Listening 45%”

From this statistics, we know exactly that most of the time we spend on listening and
speaking.

The

ability

to

speak

and

listen

well

is very

important.

Once

Mr.

William

H.Armstrong, an author of the internet report “How to Listen Better, * said, “Listening is one
of the most important skills you can develop to do better in school. It is the second most

difficult skill. Reading is the most difficult.” I totally
not the most difficult because it takes only 16%

disagree with Mr. William, reading is

of our time in school, but at the same time,

listening takes 45%. Besides studying in class, we have to communicate with others in daily
activities and expressing our wants, feelings, thoughts, and opinion clearly and effectively
are only a half of communication

process for interpersonal understanding.

Moreover,

the

other half is listening and understanding what others respond to us. From the importance of


in

listening

studying

we

life,

activity

and

to

is indispensable

listening

presume

may

everybody for effective communication.

1.2 The reasons for listening
First, listening is the first thing we have to be accustomed to sineé we were born. We

start learning to listen very soon not until we go to school because according to Jami Ferrer
Whally

and Elizabeth

Handreddy

primary skills because

are considered

and listening

“Speaking

p.256),

(1996,

before he goes to

a child learns to speak and listen several years

school to study how to read and write.” When a child grows up, he will go to school to study,
and Mr. William H.Armstrong stated, “The classroom is the place to lear, and the classroom

is the place to listen.”
Second, one more time Jami Ferrer Handreddy and Elizabeth Whally (1996, p.256)
said, “Communication

can fail even

have

two people

when

native

the same

language.”

Moreover, certainly, if the listeners do not have enough ability to receive the information
from the speakers, that communication will fail. Most people are poor listeners in everyday,
from

everywhere

a speaker

school activities to office activities. While

asks someone

to

concentrate on him, someone is busy thinking about his or her answers. They tend to listen
and think about
listeners

conflict

thing

another

at the same
When

themselves.

the

time,

listeners

and this happens
could

not

frequently

when

the

ideas

from

the

some

catch

speaker’s message, they do not often confirm the meaning again and it frequently leads to
misunderstanding.
The

last point,

communicate,

so we

nobody
must

to be

wants

know

how

misunderstood

to deal

with

our

with

other

important

people

senses

for

while

we

a perfect

communication in our life. We are learning English as a second language and of course, we
certainly face off with many obstacles not only in English but also in many other languages
such

as Chinese,

France,

Japanese,

Germany...

We

had

better

deal

with

these

troubles,

recognize them exactly, solve them and perfect ourselves.
Actually, listening skill is not easy to attain. With the desire to help English learners
perfect their listening skills. I chose the topic: Listening Effectively for English Learners at
Intermediate Level. In addition, what is the significiance of this topic? I presume this topic not
only helps English learners recognize their common

-2-

problems

but also helps them

solve


problems effectively. Moreover, I chose this topic because there has been a few researches
on listening, according to Professor Lindsay Miller who works as an associate professor at
English Department at University of Hong Kong; he claimed that there has been a lack of
research interest into listening. Some of the reasons for this lack of redearch
from the fact that speaking was always considered such a "valuable"
classroom,

and

that

researchers

and

teachers

have

interest come

skill to focus in the

often believed

that

listening

was

something to be improved itself and as researchers and teachers had not been taught listening
themselves, they saw little need for developing a specific research agenda or approaches to
teaching listening. Furthermore, I chose this topic not because I am good at listening but it is
related to the role of listening in daily life and the reasons why

listening is important to us.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Part of the great challenge of our complex world is how to understand others and to
make

ourselves understood.

will have

Sometimes,

chapter,

we

a review

listening

skill. All information

we

of some
they

give

do this succéssfully

former

authors

us about

and sometimes

and researchers

the basic

problems

not. In this

in the English

that we

certainly

encounter while we are listening and the solutions to solve it.
2.1 Problems in learning to listen in a foreign language

We

have many

troubles in listening English but the first common

trouble is the

difficulty of the speed of our listening.
2.1.1 Slow speed of listening
“It is certainly

a challenge

to communicate

with

someone

who

speaks

a foreign

language”, said by Deborah Philip (1993), but listeners often feel confused with problems
when they first attempt to listen to a new language. Besides then they were daunted by the
difficulties. The normally speaking speed of most college lecturers is often about 120 words
per minute (1984, p.226), which means that in fifty minutes we hear roughly six thousand
words
control

and that so hard for any intermediate English learner to capture. “Listeners are lack of
over

the

speed,

so

they

feel

difficult

when

they

listen,”

confirmed

by

Kerr

Gwendolyn (1984). Moreover, when the speakers say, they do not speak again and listeners:
cannot get it through. Sometimes, they are too busy to clarify what they could not capture and

-3-


(1984, p.83) also confirms,

Kerr Gwendolyn

they miss the next part. Therefore,

“English

language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension is that the
listener can not control how quickly a speaker speaks” (1984. p.93). Unless we have a tape
«

a

-

recorder, speakers always give a speech with fast intonation.

2.1.2 Lack of vocabulary
One of the popular difficulties of foreign language learners (in every language) is lack
It is evident that no one knows

of vocabulary.
English

speakers.

fields

in many

are created

words

New

even the native

all the words in English,

after day

of life day

such

as

Informatics Technology, Marketing, and Astronomy. Most of us have a limited vocabulary. It
will be a big trouble if we do not have enough vocabulary in this life. “When students read

social studies, math,

and science

texts, they often confront the language

of historians,

mathematicians, and scientists for the times. The vocabulary is unfamiliar because so many
words are unique to certain subject areas,” said Richard Vacca (2004) an author of a report
+

on internet “Real World Vocabulary.”
Richard

Vacca

stated

also

vocabulary

if our

was

we

limited,

would

miss

the

experience of connecting words with the concept, and if we did not have enough vocabulary
to understand the text, how could we comprehend the message in listening and expressed our
ideas?

Remember

that we

do

not have

to listen

change

for times.

English,

like other

languages, a word has several meanings in each field and factor, using and situation. The
speakers

next part is the relationship between

and movement

that listeners often do not

understand. They are gestures.
2.1.3 Misunderstanding gestures
When

we

ate

watching

TV,

we

not

only

listen

to the

voices

but

also

watch

the

movement of actors and the movement of speakers. Someone does not pay much attention to
it, so he/she does not get full of the information the speaker means.

Most of the time, while

speaking the speakers’ hands must move a little at least, and their movements explain more
about

what

they

mean.

Furthermore,

Professor

Goldin

Meadow

(2004)

believes

that

“comprehension of speech appears to depend on the gestures company it keeps”. In addition,
you know that according to the researchers, on average teachers produced 37 explanations,

containing gestures during each of the session, which is only 12 minutes. The teachers used in

-4-

60 percent of their instructions with one-third of time their gestures conflict with their speech.
Gestures with

Moreover, in many cases gestures and speech of speakers are mismatched.

speakers are very important. It adds valuable information to their speech and when we listen
to them we

will often misunderstand if the movement

of their- handstdo" not fit with the

speech, and how can we understand exactly the meaning at that time? Moreover, not only we
encounter with the unfamiliar words and the rapid speed they usually speak but the effects of
environment also raise difficulties for us. In addition, the difficulties

from

outside make

us

lack of concentration.
2.1.4 Lack of concentration
Thomas

Sherma

(May

2002) had defined concentration as “the ability to direct one’s

thinking in whatever direction one would intend”. We
some of the time. However,

at sometimes

our thoughts

all have the ability to concentrate
wander

reckoned

and Thomas

that

“losing concentration is probably the second greatest reason for poor listening”
Not only we lose our concentration by ourselves but also we are “being distracted by the
speaker’s appearance

of delivery,”

said by Thomas

Sherma.

We

do not listen to what a

speaker is saying because we are focusing on his/her accent, speech pattern, postures, or their

clothing.
In addition,

Jack and David

(1985, p.85) believed that we

pretend

to listen but our

thoughts are wandering somewhere else, we might look directly to the speaker and our heads
nod many times to show the agreement while we are actually day-dreaming. At that time, we
think about our troubles, about what we are going to do at the weekend, or what we are going
to respond. The
saying, but we

speaker at that time believes we are polite and interested in what he is
are not paying any attention to his speech.

Furthermore,

the surrounding

usually distracts us. We often look out of the window, look at another classmate, playing with

our pencil or hair clip, or get mad with the narrow seat, hot environment, or uncomfortable
position in class..etc. For all of that, we could pay less attention on our lectures and the
information we get will certainly not enough.

2.1.5 Passive listening manner
In company with the lack of concentration is the passive manner of most of English

learners. According to Mort Orman (2002), a Doctor of Medicine who works as a physician

-5-


and stress counselor believes that listening is not a passive activity. In contrary with Orman
(1995), most

not

or

nothing

psychologist,

he believes

express

Conformable

question.

asking

understand thoroughly

often

learners

of English

that not asking

to

what

for clarification

is one of the common

Nadig

Alan

Larry

doing

manner

by

(1999),

a clinical

listening

their passive

Engh” learners

do not

sources of difficulties from the listeners.

Listeners often do not ask why or how it is like that they usually nod or turn their head away
when lecturers look at them. Moreover, we pretend to listen what we want to listen. “The
concentration on the lecture will be stopped if it is not our desires or there are many touchy
(2000). Buck

” said G. Buck

subjects

also believes

that when

a lecturer uses inflammatory

words or phrases that cause an emotion eruption at that time listeners are likely to harbor evil
thought or negative feelings, and it takes their concentration

Those

away.

words

include

abortion, feminist, sexual, pro-life, free-market, virgin, plagiarize..etc. As soon as we hear
those

words,

Effective

our feeling

communication

turn

exists

would

“fire”,

and

we

between

two

people

into

not follow

When

the

the

listener

lecture

actively.

interprets

and

understands the speaker’s message. To become a proficient listener, we not only recognize
our listening problems

that we encounter but also we find out the effective solutions for

ourselves.
2..1.6 Summary
Listening is a difficult and complicated task. For second language learners, listening
often occur many problems restate them. The section 2.1 has described the common problems
that often happen including six matters. Moreover, the next part is the solution to perfect our

listening skills.
2.2 Solutions to perfect our listening skills
“Listening

ability can only

be developed

by practicing

listéning,

to get all the

necessary skill,” said D. Mendelson (1995, p.46). We have known already about problems
caused by lack of listening skills when we learn English, so we would find out the keys to
solve these troubles to improve

and perfect our skills. First, we

had better improve

listening speed in English even when the speakers say more than at 150 words per minute.

our


2.2.1 Fasten our speed of listening
A. Nida

Eugene

(1983)

were

there

confirmed

many

to fasten our speed of

methods

listening. First, we must know the basic sounds systems. It is so hard to understand a speech if

we do not know it. The sounds of a word always change in fast- speakifg Or saying speed.
Nida added words were

not spoken correctly as the original. Furthermore,

author of the page

unknown

“Theory

according the
“Fast

to Practice” of website Englishlistening.com,

pronunciation is very different from the dictionary form of the word” and it is said that the
English sound system varies from place to place, from person to person. Speakers decide how
fast they will speak and most speakers speak very fast for many reasons (skillful, nervous,
or

high-tone

low-tone,

speak

end).

to the

Therefore,

listeners

to

have

listen

fast,

when

reading we can choose a suitable reading speed but listening. Listeners must listen as fast as
the speaker’s speed.

The speed of the speech is called the “speech rate”. It is very an important for
second language listeners: usually, as the speech rate increases, comprehension
decreases. If the speech rate is too fast, comprehension stops.
(Extracted from “Theory to Practice”, . Available)
Eugene A. Nida also states that speech is usually fast, we must get the main ideas
quickly and correctly as soon as possible, There is no time to stop and wonder about language
used, part of speech and grammar used. That means listening must be flexible. When having
a conversation with a native speaker, do not blame for their “speech rate” just because we
are non-native English speakers. After listening or having conversation with foreigners for
times, we will be familiar with that rate and our listening speed will be enhanced rapidly as

we did not recognize it.

2.2.2 Enrich our vocabulary
with

According

Watkins

Floyde

and

Dilingham

(1995,

p.41),

the

authors

of

“A

Speaking and Listening Skill” book, they believes that the listeners use their own vocabulary
to understand
Having

enough

Moreover,

the meaning
vocabulary

having

and they
is so very

a good reading

reading English books everyday,

should

use

important

vocabulary

and

flexibly.

including

English.

actively

in all of languages

and knowledge.

By

will increase rapidly and that words

are

habit will enlarge
our vocabulary

more

our vocabulary

alike bricks to build up our house of English one day. The way we enrich vocabulary will play

-7-


an important role in our English progress. A well-built English vocabulary will effectively
help us understand

what people

are saying

and more

comfortable

to express

our ideas.

Watkins Floyde and Dilingham (1995, p.41) also believes that a rich vocabulary could not
develop instantly; it grows over a long period spent reading widely anf iganing new words,
After reading
example,

English

the words

books

everyday,

which describe

we

have

to learn

a kitchen like: a cooker,

new

words

in

“groups”.

For

a span, a knife, a gas cooker,

electric stove, a pot, a pressure cooker, boxes of spices...etc, then with another group.
2.2.3 Understand gestures
“Gestures add valuable information to teacher’s lessons,” said Susan Goldin Medow
(Chicago, 2000). According to Medow,

she believes that we need to learn more about how

teachers make gestures and how students comprehend what to see. Gestures are always
adding valuable information to teacher’s lessons. For example, with their hands movement
we will understand

easily what a rectangular box,

things..etc and hands could express anything.
speaker’s hand movement,

we will find a

a cross, the quality, the size of some

Remember

that always keep an eye on the

little bit information in his lectures. Indeed, Susan

Goldin Medow (2000, p.11) added gesture’s power comes from the fact that its strengths are

different from and complementary to speech.
2.2.4 Avoid distraction
“A good listener must make a conscious effort to concentrate on what is being said,
whenever possible, to eliminate instruction” (extracted from

Good Listening”, http://).

The

“Talk Yourself into Learning

tendency

on what we

focuses

will

listen next rather than on what the speaker saying. In addition, Kevin J. Murphy (1987, p.220)
confirmed, “Concentration does not mean thinking only one thought: Concentration means

holding a central issue in mind while you accept or reject ideas that are related to that issue.”
Moreover,

to help

you

pay

more

attention

herein

the

three

suggested

methods

which

extracted from “Listening Skill”, gle/wesminter.edu.com:
First, when we notice our thoughts wandering, say to ourselves “stop” this sounds very

simple, but it works

and it brings

daydreaming, negative thinking...etc.

our attention

back

to where

we

want

to be.

Stop


Second, do not look for distraction. For example, if someone is front of us moving or

coughing ignore them; do not look at them, and just only the link between us and the lecturer.
Third, ensure that our environment aids concentration, reduce distractions, and do not

be so comfortable to nod off so many times. To concentrate you must simtiear the front of the

class where you can see easily and clearly hearing the speaker. If you are assigned a seat and
you could not hear well, for this matter just ask the teacher to move you right away. “Sitting
near the teacher allows you to focus more

closely. Briefly we must

eye contact with the

speaker, be quiet ourselves, focus on what speaker say or delivery. Moreover, the coming
next is the most important solution for most of English learner.
2.2.5 Keep our mind open
Businessman

and author Kevin

J. Murphy

says in Effective Listening

(1987,

p28)

“Minds are like parachutes; they only function when open.” He adds listening is an active,
not passive activity, to listen we must be thinking. We

all act and respond based on our

understanding. With active listening, if a misunderstanding has occurred, it will be known

immediately, and the communication can be clarified before any further misunderstanding
occurred. The best way to let the lecturer know when we do not understand is “ask question”

and clarify unclear matters as much as possible. Next, always go to class with a positive
attitude; pay attention; adjust to the lecturer’s speed and topic. We can hear something but
we usually: ‘In one ear and out the other’ and to remember for a long time we had better not
repeat it exactly

every

word

or enough

all sentences

in a message.

We

have

to only

remember its main ideas and relate it to what we have known and then keep moving with the
next sentence of the message. That best way is to avoid repetition; it could happen in few

seconds, but it works and we need a
emotion word or highly charged

lot of practice regularly. The last point, dealing with

language

is similar with a fear or-phobia.

The

emotion

impact of words can be decreased often through a frank and open discussion. Keep our mind
free and listen to the other points of view and we might learn something that we did not know
before. Always be kind and fair to other’s point of view. Have no tendency to attack. Inform
ourselves

of both

sides

of an issue

and focus

on facts rather than opinion.

In personal

listening, our kind smile and relaxed attitude can help put the speaker at ease. Do not make
the speaker uncomfortable by being cold or impatient.

-9-


2.2.6 Summary
The

abilities to listen and to express

one

clearly

and-effecttely

contribute

to a

student’s success in school and in life. Section 2.2 has described the main six solutions to
perfect the weaknesses of section 2.1. However, even the most reliability, validity methods
should be used appropriate to any purposes. Most of these studies of listening either focused
on just one or two aspects of listening in general, without the carefully investigating into the

listening habits and obstacles of the students.
Therefore, a further research about the habits and

problems of listening is needed.

Using research descriptions that allows us having a carefully investigation of the listening

habits of students and utilize the data to analyze with an easy way.

I. RESEARCH DESCRIPTIONS
In the previous part, not only the common
language learners were

problems

described but also the suggested

that often happen

to second

solutions to solve it. Moreover,

using the research descriptions will reveal a clear and accurate information about student that
learn English as a foreign language of Ho Chi Minh City Open University.
3.1 Research questions
This study was designed to examine the weaknesses, the strengths, and the listening
habits of students in Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HOU). Three questions guide to this
study:
(1) What are the listening habits of HOU students?
(2) How far do HOU students recognize their listening weaknesses and strength?
(3) How can HOU

students improve their listening skills?

3.2 Description of participants
The main subjects of this study are the second year students’ age 18 - 22 from two

different classes of Faculty of Foreign Languages

of Ho Chi Minh

city Open

University.

Moreover, almost of the subjects was learning for the first degree of university to ensure that

-10-


other did not distract them. Delivering 100 papers of a quiz test, the fulfilled responses were
82. Therefore, 18 students did not fill the paper quiz for many purposes. Answering why the
subjects were chosen for the study, the researcher thinks the second yeaystadents satisfy two

conditions.
Second-year students have learned all subjects and necessary skills of foreign

(1)

language learners
Second-year students have enough listening experienced by them.

(2)

A summary of the characteristics of the total sample in terms of the following personal

attributes: age, gender, the length of learning English

Summary of sample characteristics
Age

18 - 20

= 72 (87.9%)

21-22

=

4

(4.8%)

Other

=

6

(7.3%)

Female

=67 (81.7%)

Male

= 15 (18.3%)

Gender

Length of learning English

`

7-10

=45 (54.9%)

More than 10

= 37 (45.1%)

The majority of the subjects were 22 - 23 years old (87.9%). Almost students in the

Faculty of Foreign Language were female (81.7%). In addition, 54.9% of students have 7 - 10
l

years experience with English.

3.3 Instrument: questionnaires
The survey was carried out by means of questionnaire, due to its flexibility, legible
and easy to understand, The questionnaire was specifically built for collecting data on the
students’ listening habits, both in classroom and out of school. The questionnaire was written

in Vietnamese to ensure that all the students could afford the meaning of the topic and did not

encountered

any

problems

due

to the proficiency

-11-

of reading

levels.

The

two

complete


questionnaires,

one

in

Vietnamese,

and

one

in English

translation

that

appeared

in

Appendices. The questionnaire had 17 items separated in three parts.
The first part was the about the personal information, in which the students were
requested to give information about their age, gender and length of 4 ning

English. By

using these background information, we could build profiles of description of participants and
we could give appropriate recommendations for them.

.

The main section to the questionnaire consisted of two parts, Part I and Part III, each

of which

served

a different purpose.

Part II contained

four items

concerning

about

the

general information about student’s listening levels.
(1) The recognition of study English (Question 1) `

(2) The importance of listening skills in daily life. Question 2 consisted of 1.1 the
importance of listening in daily life and 1.2 the reasons for listening.
(3) Student’s listening levels (Question 3)
(4) Troubles when students listening English. Question 4 consisted of the 2.1 problem
in learning to listen in a foreign language.
Part III of the questionnaire was designed to elicit information about the students’

habits of listening English as a foreign language only. This part elicited information not only
how often students practice their listening skills but also the ways they practice.
(1) The preference of listening English or Vietnamese of HOU students (Question 5)
(2) The importance of practice with foreigners and native - speakers regularly, the
best way to develop our listening skills (Question 6 and 7)
(3) The frequency of practice listening skills of HOU students (Question 8,9 and 10)
(4) By means HOU

students practice their listening skills (Question 11,12 and 13)

(5) Factors that help students improve their listening skills (Question 14,15,17)
(6) Factors causing difficulties for students in listening English (16)
3.4 Data collection procedures
The administration of the survey by questionnaire was carried out for two different
classes in their regular classrooms.
The participation of students in the study was voluntary, which was made

possible

with the help of the teacher in charge. The teachers and their students had been informed

-12-


of listening

about the study

of the study

skills, the purpose

and

its importance.

It took

approximately 15 minutes to finish the questionnaire.
3.5 Summary
This section has presented the research description that consisted four parts: research
questions,

instrument,

of participants,

description

and

data

procedures.

collection

The

investigation of this survey was based on: (1) questions asking about students’ listening skills
and (2) questions asking the students’ listening habits.

IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
The preceding section has described the research descriptions used in the study. In
this section, all the student’s responses to the questionnaire were

analyzed and discussed.

The data analysis was intended to identify what the attitudes and habits of listening.
4.1 Responses to survey questionnaires
The

main

was

analysis

target of the data

about

to get information

the listening

experience of students majoring in English as well as their perception of the importance of

this survey.
Examining

the students’

responses,

one student might have more

than one check.

However, not all students answered all the questions. The final total checks for one question
might

more

than

the

collected,

questionnaires

which

were

82.

In

addition,

though

the

questionnaire collected 82, the number of certain responses was below the number.

4.2 Data analysis
Question

1 was designed to deal with the students’ perception of studying English.

More than three - fourth of the students (74.4%) believed that studying English nowadays is

difficult whereas only 21 of 82 students (accounting 25.6%) disagree with the statement.

Table 4,1: Studying English nowadays is difficult.
Strongly

1

2

3

4

Strongly

5

agree

disagree

0
(0%)

3

18

50

(3.6%) (22%) (61%)

11
(13.4%)

-13-

Total

responses

82
(100%)


The figures revealed that most of the student agreed the studying English nowadays is

not easy at all.
to question

The responses

two showed

that almost

(89%)

students

confirmed

that

listening skills were very important whereas nine of 82 students disagree.
Table 4.2: Listening skills are very important.

Strongly

1

2

3

4

5

Strongly

disagree

agree

9

0

0

(11%)

(0%)

(0%)

16

37

Total
responses

82

(19.5%) (69.5%)

:

(100%)

Table 4.2 revealed that almost students recognized listening skills are very important

for their study and daily life.
Question

designed

3 was

to examine

the

listening

levels

of students,

from

this

: §nformation could figure out what caused their listening problems and how to cure it.

Table 4.3: Your listening skills are excellent.
Very bad

1

2

3

4

5

excellent

Total
responses

25

38

17

0

(30.5%) (46.4%) (20.7%) (0%)

2
(2.4%)

82
(100%)

The result showed that three - fourth of the students (76.9%) confirmed their listening

abilities were not very good whereas one - fourth of the students were average and only two

students were excellent listening skills.
Question

4 was

designed

to figure

out the regular

students’

problems

with

their

listening skills. This question not only examined the listening ability of students but also
figured out the problems.

-14-


Table 4.4: The regularity of having listening problems.

never

1

2

3

4

5

often

Total
responses

3

4

1

(3.6%)

(4.9%)

18

(1.2%)

56

(22%)

82

(68.3%)

(100%)

The statistics showed that almost students often had problems while were listening
English (90.3%). However, seven of 82 students rarely have problems with listening English.

This statistics were not fine enough to assure that students were good at listening skills.
Part II consisted of 13 questions focus on the listening habit of the students; question 5
_ was designed to elicit the reference of which languages that was spoken in HOU.

| Table 4.5: Students like to listened to lectures in English for all the time.

Strongly

2

1

3

5

4

Strongly

agree

'| disagree
0
(0%)

4

10

7

61

(4.9%) (12.2%) (8.5%)

Total
responses

82

(74.4%)

(100%)

These figures showed a good result. Most students preferred listening to English
(82.9%) rather than Vietnamese (17.1%). No one liked to listen to lectures in Vietnamese.
Question

6 and

7 focused

on

the

recognition

of students,

in study

any

foreign

language, the fastest way to develop our skills was practicing with foreigners as much
possible.

Table 4.6: Practice with foreigners is the best way to develop.
Strongly

1

2

3

4

5

disagree

Strongly

agree

0

0

0

34

(0%)

(0%)

(0%)

(41.5%)

48
(58.5%)

-15-

Total

responses

82
(100%)

as