FINAL ASSIGNMENT

RESEARCH METHODS IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS

A39346 BÙI THỊ HÀ

INSTRUCTOR: LE QUANG DUNG, PH.D

GRADE: NE33A8

MARKER 1 __________________________________ MARKER 2

______________________________

HANOI 2023

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 Abstract

Of the four macrolanguage abilities, listening is the most challenging to teach and
master. Several barriers have reportedly caused difficulties with learning to listen to
English. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the difficulties Vietnamese high school
students have with listening to and understanding English, as perceived by both the
students and their teachers. Eleven classes from Thang Long University in Vietnam
participated in the research project. Then descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and
percentages, and content analysis, respectively, were used to assess the quantitative and
qualitative data that had been gathered. The teachers and students identified issues with
perception, parsing, and utilization in English listening comprehension.

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 Contents
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................4
1.1. Background to the study.............................................................................................................4
In order to learn a language effectively, it is important to be able to listen to and understand native
speakers....................................................................................................................................................4
1.2. Research problem.......................................................................................................................4
1.3. Significant of study......................................................................................................................5
1.4. Research questions.....................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................6
2.1. Review of related literature......................................................................................................6
2.2. Attention span..................................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................9
3.1. Research approach...........................................................................................................................9
3.2. Participants......................................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS.............................................................................................10
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS.....................................................................11
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................12

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study

This study makes an effort to investigate the strategies used by pupils when
engaged in listening. In addition, it seeks to identify problems and offer
suggestions for change.
Listening plays a vital role in daily lives. Individuals listen for a variety of
reasons, including enjoyment, education, or gathering information they need.
Listening is crucial for learning a foreign language since it gives language
input (Rost 1994:141-142). Learning cannot advance without accurate
interpretation of the input. In addition, communication is impossible without
listening skills (Cross, 1998). In regards to that, it can be challenging for
language learners to develop strong listening skills, particularly for those who
study English as a foreign language in a non-native environment. This little
initiative aims to pinpoint issues faced by Thang Long University's first-year
English major students.
1.2. Research problem
Difficulties and strategies in listening comprehension
1.3. Research questions (hypotheses)
What are the most common problems they encounter?
1.4 Significance of the study
At Thang Long University, second-year English language students will serve
as the subjects of the study. due to the fact that English language students will
interact and hear English more often than students with other majors. The poll
reveals that this amount is actually quite small. This study's main goal is to
ascertain how students perceive the value of attention span in enhancing
listening comprehension. The study's second goal is to determine how pupils
can lengthen their attention span. The study will also show students how to
use their attention span to their advantage in order to enhance listening
comprehension.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Review of related literature

Of the four macrolanguage abilities, listening is the most challenging to teach and
master. Several barriers have reportedly caused difficulties with learning to listen to
English. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the difficulties Vietnamese
high school students have with listening to and understanding English, as perceived by
both the students and their teachers. Eleven courses from Thang Long University in
Vietnam participated in the research project. Then descriptive statistics, such as
frequencies and percentages, and content analysis, respectively, were used to assess the
quantitative and qualitative data that had been gathered. The teachers and the students

both identified issues with perception, parsing, and utilization in English listening
comprehension.

In second language training, listening is crucial for several reasons (Rost,

1994). It will be difficult for you to communicate if you can't hear it clearly, and
you might even fail your listening test. In fact, kids frequently listen in the wrong
way, which results in bad performance. It should be remembered that the learner's
perception of their listening issue and techniques may positively or negatively
impact their comprehension (Wenden, 1986). Finding out the listening issues that
are challenging kids is therefore necessary in order to assist them to improve their
listening skills. The message, the speaker, the listener, and the physical
environment were all contributing elements to listening issues, according to
Yagang (1994). In addition, numerous studies have been conducted to identify the
listening issue. It was thought that the issues were brought on by the speaking
tempo, vocabulary, and pronunciation (Higgins, 1995). According to Flowerdew
& Miller (1996), the students' issues were speed of delivery, unfamiliar
vocabulary and concepts, trouble focusing, and the physical setting. Students must
deal with these three issues, according to Nguyen Ngoan, who wrote an article
titled "Listening to VOA: Advantages, Problems, and Solutions." First of all,
because they have never heard of anything before, the kids have trouble
understanding appropriate names. In other words, they are ignorant of the context
of what they are hearing. The second issue is said to result in the pupils feeling
weird, disheartened, and bored with what they are hearing since it is unfamiliar,
uninteresting, and takes too long. The final one is thought to be about the
intonation and sound linkages used by native speakers with various accents.

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 There is not enough information on second language listening comprehension.
According to Goh (1997:161), there are "fewer insights concerning the process of
hearing and the way it is taught" when compared to other talents. There is minimal
direct research on second language listening comprehension, according to
Richards (1985:189). As for that, I'm conducting this study in part to further the
research that has already been conducted and to assist students at our university in
improving their listening skills.

2.2 attention span

Examine the effect of attention span on a learner's capacity for listening.

Acknowledgement is crucial since it shows that you appreciate the value of attention
span. Several studies have examined how attention span affects listening abilities.
Although there have been widespread reports of favorable effects in these situations,
numerous studies have looked into its impacts from a variety of angles and have found
mixed results. Ian H. Robertson made the observation that paying insufficient attention to
activities can cause mistakes in action by inadvertently initiating automatic, unwanted
action sequences. Such lapses are caused in part by insufficient long-term focus.

Low cognitive ability levels' scientific problem-solving abilities could not be improved
by the targeted attention span and working memory exercises.

2019 (Barnabas O. Ellah) . On the other hand, David Stawarczyk came to the conclusion
that mind-wandering cannot be wholly attributed to the inability to keep attention
centered on a job and proposes that external distractions, rather than mind-wandering, are
caused by attentional control deficits.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

For this study's methodology, a questionnaire was used. Nunan claims that
questionnaires are less expensive, more susceptible to quantification, and simpler
to complete. They are effective methods for gathering data (Cohen & Manion)
1989, Weir & Roberts 1994). Additionally, surveys are thought to be more
trustworthy methods since they are anonymous, which promotes greater honesty.
Both closed- and open-ended questions were included in the survey. The reason
for blending closed and open-ended responses is that the former is simpler to
compile and evaluate, and the latter will provide the respondent greater flexibility
to make a more accurate response.
50 undergraduates from Thang Long University's English department are among
the participants. They encounter these issues because they are in their first
academic year. Students should have a number of tools at this time, starting with
their early listening skills. They will have improved their listening skills by then
with the use of the right tactics.
3.1. Research approach
A survey research method was used for this investigation. The majority of the
survey's items will be in check-list format and pertain to listening comprehension
and attention span.

3.2 Participants

50 male and female second-year English majors from Thang Long University will
participate in the poll. These 50 students will be split into two groups; one group
will respond to the question as normal, and the other will respond to it
immediately following a month of using attention-span improvement techniques.
The stage of statistics and analysis of the gathered data will follow the completion
of the questions.

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS (RESULTS)

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CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

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References
Berman, M. (2003). Listening strategy guide. Dyed international Inc
Brown, G. (1992). Listening to Spoken English. London: Longman
Press.
Cohen, L & Manim, L. (1998). Research methods in Education. Croom
Helm
Cross, D (1998). Teach English. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Flowerdew, J. and Miller, L. (1996). Student perceptions, problems
and strategies in second language lecture comprehension RELC
Journal 23 (2), 60–80.
Goh,C. (1997). Metacognitive awareness and second language
listeners. ELT Journal 51 (4),361–9.
Hasan, A. (2000). Learners’ perceptions of listening comprehension
problems. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13, 137-153.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the language classroom .
Oxford University Press
Herron, C. and Seay, I. (1991) The effect of authentic aural texts on
student listening comprehension in the foreign language
classroom. Foreign Language Annals 24, 487–95.
Higgins, J.M.D. (1995) Facilitating listening in second language
classrooms through the manipulation of temporal variables.
Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Rost, M. (1994) Listening. London: Longman.
Weir, C & Robert, J. (1994). Evaluation in ELT. Oxford: Blackwell
Wenden, A. (1986). What do second language learners know about
their language learning? A second look at retrospective
account. Applied Linguistics 7 (2), 186–205.
Willis, J. (1981). Teaching English through English. London: Longman
Yagang, F. (1994) Listening: Problems and solutions. In T. Kral
(ed.) Teacher Development: Making the Right Moves . Washington,
DC: English Language Programs Divisions, USIA