RESEARCH METHOD

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Learning listening english by using computers to the second year students of english major at hue college of foreign languages.

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HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH D RESEARCH METHOD Topic: LEARNING LISTENING ENGLISH BY USING COMPUTERS TO THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH MAJOR AT HUE COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES. Instructor: Students: Phan Thị Quỳnh Như Lê Thị Thanh Phước Nguyễn Thị Thúy Hà Đặng Thị Kim Thìn Hue, 06/2010 INTRODUCTION
Today’s media such as Internet, TV and the press gives people almost unlimited access to knowledge about their favorite subjects. After all, we live in the information age. With computers which are necessary to update information serving learning and working. One of the most effective tools is computer. Besides using many media, use of computers is wide-spread in English learning. Computers have been used for language teaching and learning ever since the 1960s (Warschauer Mark & Healey (1998)). There are some advantages when using computer for learning English. Especially, the most effective use of computers is in learning listening English. Jamieson (2004 & 2005) discussed the advantages of using computers in the second language learning listening English. He started “having many sources, finding many different voices, having some interesting contents”. However, Healey (2007) researched the difficulties of using computers in the second language learning listening. She was concerned about enough computers to use. Moreover, a number of studies on English listening have been conducted in Vietnam. In Vietnam, along with the development of technological science, computers are inserted teaching and learning foreign languages (Nguyen Van Long, (2009)). The most outstanding advantages which internet provides realistic materials of studying (Healey, 2001 & Felix, 1998) with updated information very minute (Walker, Hewer and Davies, 2005). Ton Nu Xuan Huong (2000) discussed the advantages of using computers in Danang foreign languages. On base her subjective access by attending as an observer and interviewing can acknowledge student’s learning listening English on computers. Students can find themselves diverse material in internet to learning listening English. Moreover, students can access material quickly and accurately. Generally, above researches showed these advantages on English listening learning by computers. Besides, they only just advanced benefits but they have not brought out disadvantages yet on English listening learning. So we decide to research about learning listening English by using computers to the second year students of English major at HCFL. Although HCFL is equipped computers for students to study, the students have not achieved maximum effects on English listening learning yet. Though there are computers, they are not enough. The students know way to use computers but are not conversant. Therefore, the topic of learning listening English by using computers is chosen. The researchers hope that this topic will contribute a positive voice to develop new methods of learning English. This research will be accomplished by answering 3 questions: 1. What do the students think about using computers for their major? 2. What are the positive effects of computers to learning listening English? 3. What should we do to using computers for listening English the most effectively? METHODOLOGY
This study will be carried out at HCFL with the cooperation of the second year students of English major. 5 questions being involved in the using computer for listening English will be handed to 50 participants. Besides, about 10 students will be interviewed directly. Then, the answers will be collected and analyzed by using tables or charts. From the data, this research will be investigated and divided into 3 parts: 1. Student’s attitude about using computer for their major of English. 2. The positive effects of computer to learning listening English. 3. The way to use computer for listening English effectively. FINDING AND DISCUSSION 1. Student’s attitude about using computer for their major of English. The use of computer-adaptive testing (CAT) for placement testing purposes has become an increasingly appealing and efficient method of assessment. Simply put, CAT saves testing time and decreases examinee frustration since low-ability examinees are not forced to take test items constructed for high-ability testers, and vise versa. As Bergstrom and Gershon (1994, p.1) note, “When the difficulty of items is targeted to the ability of candidate, maximum information is obtained from each item for each candidate, so test length can be shortened without loss of reliability. The American College Testing program offers COMPASS, a computer-adaptive placement test given to students entering college to assess their preparedness to do college work in reading and math. A number of high-stakes tests in the United States are also now administered in CAT form (e.g., Educational Testing Service’s Graduate Record Examination), and those in charge of constructing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are in the process of developing a TOEFL CAT for administration to various applicants taking the TOEFL in the twenty-first century. 2. The positive effects of computer to learning listening English. Students uniformly complained that listening classes were boring or learned nothing from them. Ergo, “I believe the listening exercises, as I taught them, were not primed for or well-integrated with the other topics of discussion”. Perhaps another contributing factor is that listening is by nature more passive and similar to test-taking; there is virtually no room for creativity when completing the exercises. Listening to the radio or other programs informally, as some students have suggested, might provide more space for creative thought simply by releasing students from the obligation of answering questions; the become free to concentrate on how what they hear provokes their interest. “Give us a chance to listen to the programs of news, such as VOA, BBC, and CNN to improve our listening skills. Let us listen to the English songs or watch the movies. I hope our listening lessons should be improved”. 3. The ways to use computer for listening English effectively.
One of the best ways of improving your English is to listen to radio news and discussion in English on your computer. Watch breaking news. Although news TV like CNN is a lot more difficult than TOEIC Listening Part One, if there is breaking news like parades and other ceremonies, car chases, hostage stand off crises etc, this language is similar to what you will hear when photos are described in the news. Listen to audio commentary on DVDs. Again, films and TV series have very different language to TOEIC Listening Part One. Make your own home videos with audio commentary in English. If you have a video camera, this is probably the audio visual thing that is most similar to TOEIC Listening Part One. SIGNIFICANCE Despite the advantages of listening English by computers. In the fact that using computers for learning listening English at HCFL is not carried out widely. The reason is lack of facilities like listening rooms, computers, headphones… Some implications therefore are suggested to improve the method of learning listening English. Good facilities must be supplied for learning. Holding the class of 20-25 students is also recommended. Students should be taken into a well-cut off rooms help them concentrate on listening. A period of listening English should be hold just about 45 minutes. It is good to have free time to relax, because some students are not used to being the computer room for a long time. Some websites of news in English like www.voa.gov (voice of American), www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice (BBC world service), CNN or Yahoo AP… are suggested so that the students can practice listening. Hope that these suggestions will help to promote learning listening better.
REFERENCE 1. Kuang-wu-lee (2000). English Teacher’s Barriers to the Use of Computer-assisted Language Learning. The Internet TEST Journal Retrieved on 12, 2000 from http://itesljorg/Articles / Lee-CALL barriers html. 2. Ton Nu Xuan Huong. (2000). Khao sat nhung kho khan trong qua trinh day ky nang nghe hieu cho sinh vien hoc Tieng Anh khong chuyen ngu. Giao duc, 40-44. 3. Nguyen Van Long. (2009). Kho khan, thuan loi, giai phap viec day va hoc ngoai ngu. Giao duc, 19-22. 4. Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction. Warschauer Mark. http://www.ict4lt.org/en/warschauer.htm. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.