THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

*************

FINAL PAPER
DIFFICULTIES ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY ENCOUNTER

WHEN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL

Lecturer: Trần Ngọc Minh

Course: Research methodology

Major: English Language

Class: K212BV.NNNAN01

Group number: 11

1. Lê Phương Dung 21C2202010076

2. Cấn Thị Kim Dung 21C2202010057

Binh Duong, 09/ 2022

 THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
*************

FINAL PAPER
DIFFICULTIES ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY ENCOUNTER

WHEN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL

Lecturer: Trần Ngọc Minh

Course: Research methodology

Major: English Language

Class: K212BV.NNNAN01

Group number: 11

1. Lê Phương Dung 21C2202010076

2. Cấn Thị Kim Dung 21C2202010057

Binh Duong, 09/ 2022

 AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Authors

Contents
Lê Phương Dung
Cấn Thị Kim Dung
(Team leader)

Chapter 1 x x

Chapter 2 x x

Chapter 3 x x

Appendix
x x
References
 TRƯỜNG ĐH THỦ DẦU MỘT CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆTNAM
KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ Độc lập –Tự do – Hạnh phúc

Bình Dương, ngày ….. tháng ….. năm 2022

PHIẾU CHẤM ĐIỂM MÔN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Họ và tên giảng viên chấm: ....................................................................
2. Họ và tên sinh viên: LÊ PHƯƠNG DUNG - 21C2202010076
CẤN THỊ KIM DUNG - 21C2202010057
3. Lớp : K212BV.NNNAN01
Khoá học : Research methodology
Ngành : English Language
4. Phần đánh giá và cho điểm của giảng viên: (Theo thang điểm 10, lẽ đến 0.1 điểm)

Các cấp độ đánh giá

Điể Điể Điể Điể
Tiêu chí Điểm TRUNG
STT TỐT KHÁ KÉM m m m m
đánh giá tối đa BÌNH
SV1 SV2 SV3 SV4
100% 75% 50% 0%
Cấu trúc
hợp lý, Cấu trúc
Cấu trúc
Cấu trúc nhưng bố chưa hợp
chưa hợp
hợp lí, bố cục một số lí, bố cục
lí, bố cục
cục chặt chỗ chưa không
chưa chặt
Cấu trúc 1.0 chẽ, rõ chặt chẽ, rõ ràng,
chẽ, rõ
ràng, trình chưa rõ trình bày
ràng, trình
bày đúng ràng, chưa không
bày đúng
quy định trình bày đúng quy
quy định
đúng quy định
định
Trích
Tiêu Trích dẫn Trích dẫn
Trích dẫn
dẫn và
chu và trình và trình bày
và trình
trình bày
ẩn bày tài tài liệu tham
bày tàitài liệu
1: Trích liệu tham khảo, hình
liệu tham
tham
Hìn dẫn và khảo, hình vẽ, bảng,
2 khảo đúng
khảo
h trình bày vẽ, bảng, biểu đúng
quy định
không
thức TLTK biểu rõ quy định
nhưng đúng quy
ràng và nhưng một
chưa rõđịnh,
đúng quy số chỗ chưa
ràng. không rõ
định rõ ràng.
ràng.
Ngôn ngữ Ngôn
Ngôn ngữ Ngôn ngữ
trong sáng, ngữ
trong mạch lạc,
Ngôn mạch lạc, không
sáng, nhưng
ngữ không có lỗi mạch
2.5 chính xác, nhiều chỗ
(điểm cá chính tả, lạc,
mạch lạc, chưa chính
nhân) không có lỗi không
không có xác, có lỗi
in ấn nhưng chính
lỗi chính chính tả,
còn một số xác
 tả, lỗi in chỗ sử dụng có lỗi in không rõ
ấn ngôn ngữ ấn ràng, có
chưa chính lỗi chính
xác tả, có lỗi
in ấn

Không
Nêu được
Nêu được nêu được
tính cấp Nêu được
tính cấp tính cấp
thiết của tính cấp
thiết của đề thiết của
đề tài; xác thiết của
tài; xác định đề tài;
định mục đề tài;
mục tiêu/ không
tiêu/ mục không xác
Đặt vấn mục đích, xác định
0.5 đích, định được
đề nhiệm vụ được
nhiệm vụ mục tiêu/
nghiên cứu mục tiêu/
nghiên mục đích,
một số chỗ mục
cứu một nhiệm vụ
chưa rõ đích,
cách rõ nghiên
ràng, chưa nhiệm vụ
ràng, hợp cứu
hợp lí nghiên
lí
cứu
Khối
lượng Khối lượng
công việc công việc
Khối
hợp lí, tư hợp lí, tư Tư liệu
lượng
liệu phong liệu phong không
công việc
Tiêu phú, chính phú, chính phù hợp
hợp lí, tư
chu xác, phù xác, phù với mục
liệu phù
ẩn Nội dung hợp mục hợp mục đích
hợp mục
2: nghiên 1.5 đích đích nghiên nghiên
đích
Nội cứu nghiên cứu, nhận cứu,
nghiên
dun cứu, nhận xét xác không có
cứu, phân
g xét xác đáng, khả phân
tích, tổng
đáng, khả năng suy tích, tổng
hợp đạt
năng suy luận, phân hợp
yêu cầu
luận, phân tích, tổng
tích, tổng hợp khá
hợp tốt
Biết vận
dụng các
Biết vận Phương
phương Phương
dụng các pháp
pháp nghiên pháp
phương nghiên
cứu phù nghiên
pháp cứu
Phương hợp với nội cứu phù
nghiên không
pháp dung nghiên hợp một
1.5 cứu phù phù hợp
nghiên cứu của đề phần với
hợp với với nội
cứu tài nhưng nội dung
nội dung dung
một số chỗ nghiên
nghiên nghiên
sử dụng cứu của đề
cứu của đề cứu của
chưa đúng tài
tài đề tài
phương
pháp.
 Không
Đề tài có
Đề tài có có cái
cái mới và Đề tài ít có
cái mới, ít mới và
mang tính cái mới
Tiêu mang tính không
thời sự nhưng đáp
chu thời sự, đáp đáp ứng
Tính mới đáp ứng ứng được
ẩn ứng được được
và tính 0.5 được chuẩn đầu
3: chuẩn đầu chuẩn
thời sự chuẩn đầu ra của
Tín ra của đầu ra
ra của chương
h chương của
chương trình đào
sáng trình đào chương
trình đào tạo
tạo tạo trình đào
tạo
và tạo
triể Đề tài Không
Đề tài mang Đề tài có
n Tính ứng mang tính mang
0.5 tính ứng mang tính
vọn dụng ứng dụng tính ứng
dụng khá ứng dụng
g cao dụng
của Có bài báo
Có bài báo
đề Đề tài có từ cấp Có bài báo
từ cấp Không
tài bài báo Trường trở ở cấp
0.5 trường trở có bài
(điểm lên, không Khoa, có
lên, có báo
thưởng) có phản phản biện
phản biện
biện
10đ
Tổng số
+0.5

1. Nhận xét khác:

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Giảng viên chấm

(Kí và ghi rõ họ tên)
 LECTURER’S COMMENTS

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No. Name Mark Remarks
1. Lê Phương Dung
2. Cấn Thị Kim Dung
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABBREVIATION DEFINITION
TDMU Thu Dau Mot University
 CONTENT
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS ................................................................................5
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................12
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................15
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ..........................................................................15
AIM OF THE STUDY ..........................................................................................15
RESEARCH QUESTION.......................................................................................15
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................15
STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ..............................................................................16
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................17
DEFINING DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL. ...................17
DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILL. ...................................17
2.2.1. Poor Vocabulary. .....................................................................................17
2.2.2. The content of the dialogue. .....................................................................18
2.2.3. The listeners .............................................................................................18
2.2.4. The speaker. .............................................................................................18
2.2.5. Physical setting. .......................................................................................18
PREVIOUS STUDIES ..........................................................................................18
CHAPTER SUMMARY ........................................................................................19
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.........................................................................21
RESEARCH METHOD .........................................................................................21
POPULATION AND SAMPLING ...........................................................................21
3.2.1. Population................................................................................................21
3.2.2. Sampling ..................................................................................................21
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS ................................................................................22
Table 1: Distribution of questionnaire items. ....................................................22
DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES ....................................................................22
DATA ANALYSIS METHODS .............................................................................22
PROPOSED RESEARCH TIMELINES .....................................................................22
Table 2: Proposed research timelines ...............................................................23
CHAPTER CONCLUSION ...................................................................................23
REFERENCE..........................................................................................................25
APPENDIX..............................................................................................................27
 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
English is very important language. According to British Council (2020), English is
the International language all over the world. English is a part in the cultural, political, or
economic life (Graddol, 1997). In recent years, English has been the priority foreign
language in education as well as in society (Gil & Adamson, 2011)
Listening in learning English is very important. Listening is the most important skill
in the modern life (Morley, 1991). Every person listening for several purposes such as
learning, entertainment, search information. The four skills go in pairs (Sreena &
Ilankumaran, 2018). Often in the process of learning a new language, learners begin with a
receptive understanding of the new items, then later move on to productive use. The
relationship between receptive and productive skills a complex one, with one set of skills
naturally supporting another (Masduqi, 2016).
There are many problems in processing to listen. Some factors that have been the
focus of research included speech rate, lexis, phonological features, background knowledge
(Meng, 2000).
This thesis was expected to identify the difficulties English majored students at
TDMU encounter when learning English listening skill.
Aim of the study
The study has main purpose:
• To identify the difficulties English majored students at TDMU encounter when
learning English listening skill.

Research question

The study is conducted to answer the following question:

What the difficulties English majored students at TDMU encounter when learning
English listening skills?
The significance of the study

This study to identify the difficulties English majored students at TDMU encounter
when learning English listening skill. Firstly, it offers difficulties in listening skill which
make students become more unconfident and uncomfortable when communicate with other
people. Secondly, students are afraid of the listening subject because many factors such as
the listening text, the speaker, the listener and the physical environment and so on.

Structure of the study

This study consists of three chapters: Introduction; Literature Review; Methodology.
Chapter 1: Introduction is the introduction of my study including background, aims of
the study, research question, significance of the study, and structure of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review includes Theoretical framework and Previous Studies of
the study.
Chapter 3: Methodology describes methods which are done in the study such as research
method; population and sampling; research instruments; data collection procedures; and
data analysis methods.
 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provided the literature associated with the difficulties of English
listening skill. In particular, section 2.1 presents the difficulties in learning English listening
skill. 2.2 is about previous studies. The last part is the summary of Chapter 2.
Defining difficulties in learning English listening skill.
Listening skill in learning English is the most difficult and important skill. As
indicated by Bingol et al. (2014), there are great deals of challenges and difficulties that
listeners may have in English listening skills.
However, there are have many factors affect to learning English listening skill. There
are several factors that may affect listeners, some of which they may not be able to control
such as the background noise which may reduce listening. Some factors that have been the
focus of research inclued speech rate (Conrad, 1989, Blau, 1990, Griffith, 1992, Zhao,
1997), lexis (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1980, Kelly, 1991), phonological features
(Henrichsen, 1984, Matter, 1989) and background knowledge (Markham, 1987, Long,
1990, Chiang and Dunkel, 1992) comprehension (Sahlen, et al., 2020). According to Azmi
Bingol, Celik, Yidliz, and Tugrul Mart (2014), there are a lot of difficulties that learners
mayencounter in the listening comprehension processes and the purpose is to be aware of
these problems and try to solve them.
Difficulties in learning English listening skill.
2.2.1. Poor Vocabulary.

Vocabulary has also recognized is very importance in language. Wilkins (1972),

learning vocabulary is as important as learning grammar. A wider vocabulary helps us
support all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. As Paul
Nation (2015) noted in his paper on vocabulary learning: “Vocabulary is not an end in itself.
A rich vocabulary makes the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing easier to
perform”.
 2.2.2. The content of the dialogue.
It is obvious that the shortage of background information and contextual
knowledge were big problems for listeners to comprehend the spoken message. Underwood
(1989) don’t understand the topics and background information cause listener difficulties
approaching the meaning of messages. Anderson and Lynch (2003), background
information includes culture, facts, ideas, and lifestyle.
2.2.3. The listeners
The level of listeners can influence on listen. Bingol et al. (2014) the level of listeners
can have an impact on what they can hear. The good listener can hear long and keep
information for a long time than the lower - level listeners. The levels of students can find
it easy to understand short messages (Underwood, 1989). If the speaker talk too fast, the
listeners are difficult to understand.The listeners will difficult to control the speed of
spoken message (Underwood, 1989).
2.2.4. The speaker.
The speaker has a great influence on the listeners. Different accents and
pronunciation are make listeners low understand (Underwood, 1989). The speaker voice
also influences on listeners. Some people choice the voice they like to listen to study such
as the American’ voice or the British’s voice. Besides, the speed of spoken messages also a
challenge for listener. Most of listeners perceived that it is too fast to follow the messages
of native speaker (Brown & Yule, 1983).
2.2.5. Physical setting.
Physical setting is very important while English majored students learn to listen skill.
Chetchumlong (1987) large room and noises surrounding cause difficulties for listening.
Watching English films make students practice listening more and more. Because movies
show a lot of specific contexts that incorporate both the speaker's body language, many
words, phrases, and even sentences. Porcel (2010) say that the students can benefit a lot
from watching films in English.
Previous Studies
1. Different studies about the difficulties when learning to listen skill have been carried
out. The study of Rameshwar Jyoti (2020) investigated English Language Student’s
Difficulties in Listening Comprehension. The main aim of Rameshwar Jyoti’s study was to
explore difficulties English language students when learning English listening skill.
Research design at three community schools of Rupandehi district, Nepal with sixty male
and sixty female students they all were from secondary level. The author used the
questionnaires for researching methods. The results of the study. The results of this study
have obvious implications for both teachers and students.
2. The study of Wah, N. N. (2019). Teaching Listening Skills to English as a Foreign
Language Students through Effective Strategies. The aim of this research paper is to
improve English language students when learning English listening skills. Research design
at University of Technology (Thanlyin) in 2018- 2019 academic years with 35 Electronic
Engineering students, 35 Mechanic Engineering students and 30 Civil Engineering students.
The author used the questionnaires for researching methods. The results of this study have
obvious implications for both teachers and students.
Chapter summary
Chapter 2 has played a crucial role in providing the literature review as a platform to
accomplish this paper. The chapter is begun by giving Defining difficulties in learning
English listening skill. Then, the most important part of Chapter 2 is to describe difficulties
in learning English listening skill such as poor vocabulary, listening difficulties related to
the content of the dialogue, physical setting, the listeners, the speaker. In addition, some
previous studies are introduced to identify the difficulties English majored students when
learning English listening skill. In the next chapter, the methodology of this study will be
conducted.
 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

Chapter 3 is written how the research is conducted. In particular, section 3.1 which is about
the description of research methodology. Then, section 3.2 provides the population and
sampling definitions and section 3.3 presents the Research Instruments. Next, section 3.4
describes data collection procedures and section 3.5 describes data analysis methods.
Finally, Chapter 3 ends with proposed research timelines.
Research method
This study employed a quantitative research method designed to investigate the
difficulties English majored students at TDMU encounter when learning English listening
skill.
Cresswell (1994) has given a very concise definition of quantitative research as a
type of research that is `explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are
analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics). In quantitative
research we collect numerical data, analysis using mathematically-based methods. In order
to be able to use mathematically based methods our data have to be in numerical form.
Quantitative research is essentially about collecting numerical data to explain a particular
phenomenon, particular questions seem immediately suited to being answered using
quantitative methods.
Population and sampling
3.2.1. Population
Population is all the people living in a particular country, area, or place. Population
is the amount of individual or object that have similar characteristic (Lind et al., 2017).
Therefore, the population of this study was focused on English majored students at
TDMU. The goal of the studies discussed the difficulties English majored students at
TDMU encounter when learning English listening skill.
3.2.2. Sampling
Sampling is the process of selecting a statistically representative sample of
individuals from the population of interest. A sample is part of the elements on population.
Etikan et al. 2016 mentioned that sample is a part or portion of the whole population.
The sample groups of this research will 100 part – participate on English majored
students at TDMU. The age range is from 23 to 50 years old.
 Research Instruments

In the quantitative method, we designed a questionnaire form those included

questions involving demographic information of the students surveyed, their English
certificates, and their difficulties in learning English listening skill.
Table 1: Distribution of questionnaire items.
Content Number of items
Part 1: Demographic information 3
Part 2: Educational background 1
Part 3: Difficulties in learning English
20
listening skill

As can be seen in Table 3.1:

• Part 1 consists of 3 questions about student age, gender, and marital status.

• Part 2 includes a question about their English proficiency. It will serve as a base
to assess the English levels of the participants and to evaluate the reliability of the
survey.

• Part 3 provides 10 questions on strategy recognition

Data Collection procedures
This section presents, the data collection techniques employed in this study and the
individual instruments used to gather the data. The survey was conducted by distributing
questionnaires to classes of English majors at TDMU either directly in class or through a
question link on the web. The survey will be conducted during the break time of the students
in the classroom.
Data Analysis Methods
In this study, all data collected in the survey from the questionnaire will be aggregated and
analyzed using excel.
Proposed research timelines
 Table 2: Proposed research timelines

SPECIFIC TASKS Duration Deadlines

- Choosing a topic 4 weeks 27/08/2022-
24/09/2022
Chapter 1
- Writing the aims of the study 24/09/2022-
2 weeks
- Formulating the research questions 08/10/2022
- Providing an outline of the literature review
Chapter 2 08/10/2022-
2 weeks
- Writing the literature review 22/10/2022
Chapter 3
22/10/2022-
- Writing the methodology chapter 2 weeks
05/11/2022
- Designing the questionnaire
- Collecting data 05/11/2022-
1 week
12/11/2022
- Analysing data 12/11/2022-
1 week
19/11/2022

Chapter Conclusion

Chapter 3 is divided into seven sections that aim to present the research
methodology. The first section explains why the quantitative research method was
chosen and its advantages. The second section defines the Population and Sampling of
the study which is a complete group of this research will 100 part – participate on
English majored students at TDMU. The age range is from 23 to 50 years old. The next
three sections are research Instruments, Data Collection Procedures, and Data Analysis
Procedures. The objective of these sections is to show how a survey questionnaire is
created, then how its data is collected and subsequently processed. The results after will
demonstrate which difficulties are popular for English majored students at TDMU. The
sixth section is the suggested time frame for completing the research, and the final
section is the summary of Chapter 3.
 REFERENCE

Gil, J., & Adamson, B. (2011). The English language in mainland China: A sociolinguistic
profile. English language education acros s greater China, 1, 23-45.

Graddol, D. (1997). The future of English?: A guide to forecasting the popularity of the
English language in the 21st century. British Council.

Morley, J. 1991. Listening comprehension in second/foreign language instruction. In M.

Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (2nd ed.).
Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Sreena, S., & Ilankumaran, M. (2018). Types of Communication Skills and the Ways and
Means to Enhance Them. International Journal of English Language and
Literature in Humanities (IJELLH), 6(4), 492-498.

Masduqi, 2016. Proceeding of the International Conference on Teacher Training and

Education, s.l.: s.n.

Meng, C. G. C., 2000. A cognitive perspective on language learners' listening

comprehension problems, s.l.: Elsevier.

Goh, C. C. (2000). A cognitive perspective on language learners' listening comprehension

problems. System, 28(1), 55-75.

Al-Dersi, Z. E. M. (2013). The use of short-stories for developing vocabulary of EFL

learners. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies, 1(1),
72-86.

Nation, P. (2015). Principles guiding vocabulary learning through extensive

reading. Reading in a foreign language, 27(1), 136-145.

Gilakjani, A. P., & Sabouri, N. B. (2016). Learners' Listening Comprehension Difficulties

in English Language Learning: A Literature Review. English language
teaching, 9(6), 123-133.

Littlewood, W. (1998). Communicative activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Lynch, T. (2003). Listening. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bingol et al. (2014). Listening comprehension difficulties encountered by students in
second language learning class. Journal of Education and Instructional Studies,
4(4), 2146-7463.

Brown, G. A., & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Chetchumlong, S. (1987). Problems of teaching English listening. TESOL Quarterly, 1(3),

35-46.

Porcel Carme. 2010. Learning English through Films. Humanising Language Teaching.
Retrieved from: www.hltmag.co.uk/jun10/less02.htm.

Jyoti, R. (2020). Exploring English language students’ difficulties in listening

comprehension. Journal La Edusci, 1(3), 1-10

Wah, N. N. (2019). Teaching Listening Skills to English as a Foreign Language Students

through Effective Strategies. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research
and Development (IJTSRD), 3(6), 883- 887.
 APPENDIX

Student Questionnaire

The purpose of this Questionnaire is to collect information about your difficulties

in learning English listening skill. Therefore, your responses are honestly crucial and
highly appreciated.

I. Demographic information:

1. Your age: …………….

2. Your gender: Male / Female/ Other

3. Your marital status: Single/ Married/ Other

II. Educational Background:

1. How long have you been learning English: …………….

2. Do you have English certificates? Yes/ No

If you choose Yes,

What your highest certificate is: …………………

Its score: …………………

III. Difficulties in learning English listening skill.

Likert scale discription:

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree

1 2 3 4 5
 1 2 3 4 5

1/ Do you have often trouble

learning English listening skills?
2/ Do you have difficulty
defining the main idea of the
English listening passage?
3/ Do you feel the speaker talks
too fast?
4/ Do you see the listening
passages have too many new
words?
5/ Can you catch up with
sentence structures while
listening?
6/ Do you have problems with
pronunciation while listening to
English?
7/ Do you have trouble
repeating what you just heard?
8/ Physical setting has a great
influence on your listening
practice, doesn’t it?
9/ Do you find it hard to have to
equip yourself with new
knowledge from different major?
10/ To what extent, does the
speaker’s accent affect your
listening?
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