Introducing audiovisual materials in listening comprehension lesson at Nong Cong II high school

TABLE OF CONTENT
PART A. INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale	2
II. Aims of the study	3
III. Research questions	3
IV. Scope of the study	3
V. Method	3
PART B. DEVELOPMENT
I. Literature review	4
II. Innovation	10
III. Research data and data analysis	11
IV. Discussion	18
V. Experimental Results	20
PART C. CONCLUSION	21
REFERENCE	22
APPENDIX	23
PART A	INTRODUCTION
RATIONALE
Nowadays, together with the development of economy and technology in Vietnam, foreign language, specially, English has become an important mean of international communication. It has also been considered as a “gold key” to enter the door of integrative trend. The need of using English fluently is an urgent requirement. Thus, in recent years, English has been taught and become one of the compulsory subjects in schools, colleges and universities. There have been many colleges and universities where train English as major purpose to meet the inquiry of society. With the demands of learning English for communication has been increasing; one of the urgent requirements for all English teachers is to be able to help students improve four skills well.
In recent years, Thanh Hoa province has invested for teaching and learning English. However, the quality of teaching and learning English is not as good as hope. After graduating, most students cannot communicate in English fluently, especially speaking and listening skills. Due to this reason, the requirement of improving English communication is an urgent duty in this school. This research project will be conducted with the hope to improve teaching and learning listening skill at Nong Cong 2 High School in Thanh Hoa province.
Although Richards (1983) realizes the limitation of direct research on second language listening comprehension, language researchers in recent time have focused much time on this matter. Listening comprehension is considered as an essential skill. According to Morley (2001), since 1960’s, listening skill has changed from an incidental and peripheral status to a significant and central important status in language education. Thus, it is necessary to improve listening skill for learners. One of the biggest problems is the inadequacy of authentic materials. Nowadays, teachers can choose useful materials such as radio, TV, internet, CD, VCD from many resources. In other words, audiovisual materials are good choice for teachers to improve their students’ listening skill. As a result, the researcher would like to use audiovisual materials in teaching listening and see whether audiovisual materials have good effect on students’ listening skill or not.
AIMS OF THE STUDY
This research project is conducted to investigate the fact of teaching and learning listening skill at Nong Cong 2 High School in Thanh Hoa province as well as to examine how audiovisual materials can affect students’ listening skill. Hopefully, this innovation will be useful method for teaching listening not only for the researcher herself but also for her colleagues at Nong Cong 2 High School 
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research project was designed so that it would answer the following research questions: 
How do audiovisual materials improve students listening skill? 
What are students’ attitudes to audiovisual materials?
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The participants of this study were 47 students with different levels who came from grade 10A4 and 4 teachers who had many experiences in teaching English in English Department at Nong Cong II High School in Thanh Hoa province. The number of female students in the class is 42 while there are 5 male students. Their age is from 14 to 15 years old. All students have learnt English for 4 years at Secondary School. They really wanted to study English well and took part in this study voluntarily.
METHODS
The methods used in the study consisted of classroom observation, small group interviews and teaching dairy. The first method was classroom observation. Students were observed while they were doing the listening tasks to examine whether students listened to the CD attentively and how they did the tasks. The second one was informal small group interviews to define the difficulties and the students' attitude towards listening after carrying out listening innovation. Finally, in order to investigate whether this listening innovation was useful for students and whether it could encourage students to listen, what the teacher observed and interviewed were noted down on weekly teaching dairy. 
PART B	DEVELOPMENT
I. LITERATURE REVIEW
In recent years, language researchers have paid attention to the aspect of listening skill improvement. Audiovisual materials are suggested to apply in teaching four skills, especially listening skill.
Teaching and learning listening skill.
	According to Ralph Nichols (1980), the most basic of all human needs “is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them”. Moreover, Morley (1991, p.82) points out that people can expect to listen twice as much as they speak, four times more than they read and five times more than they write. Thus, listening skill is considered as one of the most common communicative activities in daily life. In second language of foreign language classrooms, listening is vital because it provides input for students (Rost, 1990, p.141-142).
In the past time, with the popular of Grammar translation method, most schools in Vietnam only focused on teaching reading and writing skill. Listening and speaking skills seemed to be ignored. Brown (1987) states that twenty-five years ago, listening comprehension was not taken seriously in the process of language teaching. The focus in teaching as well as in publishing materials at that time was on reading and writing skill. Since 1960, as the development of communication approach, language learning could not be limited to writing and reading skill. Language was taught in an integrative way where all four skills were focused. Then, listening comprehension received more attention than before (Brown, 1987).
Audiovisual materials and language teaching & learning
2.1.Audiovisual materials 
In general, audiovisual materials are considered as any device used to help communicate ideas clearer. Talking about audiovisual materials in language teaching, it is commonly said that it means modern and recently used of teaching method such as film, video, radio, television, computer, etc. Audiovisual materials are combined from two types of materials. The first type is audio material that influences the learners’ auditory organ (hearing or listening). The second one is visual material that influences students’ sight sense (seeing or viewing). Thus, audiovisual materials are both of listening and viewing sense.
Today, audiovisual materials are widely used at all degrees and levels of teaching and learning language. According to Mueller (1980) in his research, most foreign language teachers believed that the more visual is used the better English is achieved. Thus, teachers used these visual aids in their daily teaching. 
Audiovisual materials not only make the learning process effective in general, they also help the weaker students to improve their English level. In his pilot study, Masako Sato (2006) hoped to explore the effects of using audiovisual materials on the weaker learners of English. Among many sources of audiovisual materials, he mostly focused on using film scripts. In his opinion, films were often used as authentic material and helped to motivate students’ learning. Sato, M pointed out that films encouraged students’ interest and challenge to understand what happen in the films.
However, Sato complained that films are also too difficult for weaker students. Because spoken words in films did not wait anyone and it might make the listener find it difficult to understand many phonetic changes in real utterance. Because of this reason, Sato suggested that to motivate students learning, film as an audiovisual material should be used. In addition, students’ listening skill would be improved if they understood the sound variation system.
2.2. Effect of audiovisual materials on language teaching and learning
As the discussion talked above, audiovisual materials are helpful and necessary in the following ways.
Firstly, audiovisual materials are considered as the mean of communicating. They help to supplement for what teachers cannot express well. For example, when the teacher wants to introduce the meaning of a new word, a picture or a poster will be very helpful.
Secondly, audiovisual materials are useful in retentive process. Students are often interested in films, video or pictures so these materials make the lessons more interesting and enjoyable. When seeing and hearing a visual with interest, students will remember it for a longer time.
Finally, audiovisual materials are a way of saving time. In the limited time of a lesson, the teacher cannot speak too much. 
Mei-Mei Chang and James D. Lehman (2002), two professors in Taiwan have the same interest in studying student’s motivation with multimedia and computer-based. In their experiment study (2002), they investigated relation between learners’ motivation and interactive multimedia in English as a foreign language (EFL). This research deeply studied the effects of the relevance component of the ARCS model on learners’ motivation. ARCS model here means attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. According to them, computer-based interactive multimedia was at the center of language learning technology. It provided students a learning environment that can satisfy their needs and interest. Chang and Lehman also concluded the ideas of other researchers about the benefit of audiovisual resources found in computer. 
Also talking about multimedia, Khalid Al-Seghayer (2001) focused on its effect on second language vocabulary acquisition. By briefly summarizing some relevant research on this area, Khalid Al-Seghayer made clear about the effect and value of multimedia annotation, the impact of electronic glossing on second language vocabulary acquisition and efficaciousness of videos and pictures. The result of his research showed that video was an effective way to teach new vocabularies.
Studying the other aspect of audiovisual materials, Gina Mikel Petrie (2003), a doctorial candidate at Washington State University investigated language teachers’ views on visual language. Specially, the researcher focused on the ways that language teachers experienced visual language in their classrooms. According to her, visualizing technology such as video, audio, the World Wide Web became more and more popular today. It not only influenced social lives, it also affected classroom environment. The result of his research showed that visuals helped to enhance language development. However, some ideas showed that visual language sometimes distracted the text. In conclusion, the researcher suggested that the language teachers should acknowledge soon the role of visual language such as image, graphics in language classroom. 
Audiovisual materials and listening comprehension
Because audiovisual materials become more popular and useful with both teachers and learners, they are considered as a helpful tool to teach and learn listening skill more effectively.
Daniel Y. Chang (2007) believed that changing learning environment was a good way to develop students’ listening skill. For this purpose, multimedia and interactive model were used as the best solution. According to him, audiovisual materials have brought a new environment for teaching and learning language. One of the most useful audiovisual materials was multimedia with personal computer.
In his research, the author realized that interactive model with multimedia was useful with the learning process. Multimedia was the combination of some media such as video, audio, sound, text, picture, and computer. It helped to enrich processing as well as recall the target language.
Similar to Chang, Jone and Plass (2002) paid attention to multimedia annotation to support listening comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. The main purpose of their research was to explore how effectively multimedia can assist second language students’ listening skill. More specifically, their research focused on the choice of pictorial or written annotation in listening activities. After studying 171 students at their university, the researchers found that students’ listening skill through the result of tests was highest when they received both written and pictorial annotation. However, groups of students who received pictorial annotation were better at listening than those who received written.
Audiovisual materials are helpful for teaching and learning listening comprehension. However, a new question is that how they affects listening comprehension testing? Chan (2008), a lecturer of Zhejiang Gongshang University in China conducted a research project to examine the effects of different types of visual materials on CET-3 listening tests. According to him, traditionally, listening tests in his school had no visual clues so that the validity of tests was low. Because of this reason, the author tried to apply the different types of visual materials and investigated their effects on CET-3 listening tests. After doing the research on 174 students of four classes at his university, the author provided evidence that the effect of visuals in the tests were not clear. With short conversations as well as with short passages, the effects of visual clues were nearly nonexistent. From this result, the researcher claimed that at least for the moment, visuals should not be added to the CET-3 listening test. 
 Like the lecturer of Zhejiang Gongshang University, Londe (2009) in her research emphasized the effects of video media in English as a second language (L2) listening comprehension tests. Her research aimed to explore the differences in test performance when learners were given listening tests in different formats of audio and video.
In her opinion, to assess students’ listening skill, it was simple to find out the evidences that students could respond to question in real life and could answer several questions in listening test. With the new trend of communicative testing, video media helped to change the traditional way of test tasks. However, the result of this pilot study showed that although video media was more authentic than audio alone, it did not help to change the performance of listening testing. 
However, through her study, Londe found that her students felt more interested and comfortable with video format. Progosh (1996) in his research had ever mentioned that students liked video listening test than audio only. It might be that video media helped to enhance students’ motivation and attention. In conclusion, video media help to decode meaning in listening comprehension but it had no influence on students in listening testing (Kellerman, 1992).
In conclusion, the author of this study tries to review and have an overview of research that is related to the topic. However, for most research, the effects of audiovisual materials in listening comprehension are in general. There is nearly no research in which listening skill’ improvement is mentioned and explored. From this problem, the author of this research project should emphasize and deeply study about the effects of audiovisual materials on improvement of students’ listening skill in EFL classroom.
Innovation.
 4.1.What is innovation?
In recent years, the word ‘innovation’ was much mentioned in many language researches. While Miles (1964, p.13) saw innovation as organizational behaviors, Rogers and Schoemaker (1971, p.19) emphasized innovation with the aspect of the personal perception and interpretation. Summarizing from these opinions, Nicholls (1983, p.4) described innovation as a new idea, object or practice of which intention for improvement in the relation with objectives. More specifically, in the research in 1988, White saw innovation in the differences with change. According to him, change was the act of making different between time 1 and time 2. Change occurred without being planned or intended whereas innovation was produced with awareness, plan and intention. The procedure of carrying out this study was an innovation based on the idea of White (1988) because the researcher had awareness of her teaching context, had intention to change, and then made careful plan to do innovation.
 4.2.The model of innovation:
The researcher followed to both the social interaction and problem-solving models because of following reasons:
4.2.1. The social interaction model:
According to White (1988, pp. 125-126), the social interaction model emphasized the influent and important factors of social relation in the transmission and adoption of innovation. In the social relations, communicator and communication were key factors whereas the change agent played a significant role. In this innovation, the researcher and six other English teachers in teaching staff played important roles in the transition and adoption of the innovation. The researcher found the solution for the problems in teaching listening at her school and experiment with new method to know whether it was successful or not. By inviting other colleagues to take part in the study, the researcher introduced and transmitted the innovation and these colleagues adopted as well as continued to transmit this innovation. It was the social relation in this study. 
4.2.2. Problem-solving model:
In his opinion, White (1988, pp. 123-125) saw problem-solving model as the basis of action research where the researcher identified the problems by herself. This model emphasized on a bottom-up rather than top down approach.
Markee (1997, pp. 66-67) also emphasized that problem-solving model was the most popular approach to promote change in education in which the eventual user of an innovation identified the need for change and this change was a bottom up not a top down process. In this study, the researcher identified the problems from her teaching context by herself and she was aware of the need for change. Thus, this study not only followed to social interaction model but also problem-solving model.
 4.2.3.The role of stakeholders:
According to Markee (1997, pp. 43-44), teachers played a key role while other individuals had a stake in the process of an innovation. These individuals called stakeholders. Stakeholders were those who involved in an innovation. They had their own opinions about innovation and showed their views in different ways. Stakeholders had relationship to each other as adopters (or resisters), implementers, clients, suppliers and change agents (Markee, N., 1997). Following items were more detail about stakeholders and their roles in the innovation process.
4.2.4. Adopter:
An adopter is a person who decides to accept the change. According to Markee, N. (1997, p. 58), there are five different types of adopters that can be listed as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. In this innovation, the researcher, the English teachers invited to take part in the innovation, and students in class N5 were adopters.
4.2.5. Resister:
A resister is a person who rejects an innovation; refuses to adopt the ideas of change agents and does not want to change. Some students in class N5, who did not want to change, were resisters.
4.2.6. Implementer:
Implementer is a person who has to make innovation work in the classroom. In this innovation, the researcher and the English teachers invited to take part in this innovation were the implementers.
4.2.7. Clients
The students in class N5 were clients in this innovation.
4.2. 8. Supplier:
Supplier is a person who designs an innovation. The researcher and the English teacher invited