Some measures to improve listening skill for students at primary school effectively

1. Background
1.1. The reason for selecting the topic.
Together with science and technology, education and training is the top national policy, aiming to improve people's knowledge and training human resources. Investing in education is investing in the future. The education and training sector is constantly innovating in terms of content and teaching methods. English has been taught at elementary level to help students master the common language of the world. To achieve that goal, there must be a positive direction in teaching to provide students with a solid foundation for later learning and communicating through English 
The new English program has been implemented nationwide so far for many years. The highlight of this program is to provide maximum opportunities for students to practice four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing on living environmental topics and situations in and out of the country. This change facilitates the teaching and learning of English in the school as a language instead of teaching words as many years ago. However, in practicing for students' English skills, teachers face many difficulties, especially for listening skill. In fact, at school, when I began to study foreign languages, most students liked to study, but gradually the students became ill. Most of them are very weak in listening skill. It is difficult for them to understand the content of a text or conversation. After each lesson, it is very difficult for the teacher to check the information they have listened to, and checking the lessons is not easy.
Facing that situation I myself who teaches English to elementary students am very concerned about how students can master, listen to information and apply information. In the process of teaching I observe my students and discovered that the training of listening skill of students has many problems. Most students do not know how to learn to listen, the most common practice listening is the hardest. In the classroom, students often say that in the listening list there are many words that are known but not heard. How to help students to use their vocabulary and grammatical structures to understand effectively? As a result, in the process of teaching, I find myself some positive, simple, easy-to-understand methods to develop students' thinking, their creativity . With this small range of experience, I boldly go into the issue of " Some measures to improve listening skill for students at primary school effectively "
1.2. The studying purpose.
English has been widely popular in schools across the country. But it is still considered one of the most difficult subjects for students. So how do teaching - learning English to achieve high results, especially to improve the ability to listen to students. That requires a lot of innovation in the teaching methods of the teachers and the hard work, enthusiasm, research and learning of the students. As an elementary school English teacher, I learned the advantages and disadvantages of children in the learning process. So I'm always anxious to find a new, best-fit teaching method for students to help them understand and encourage their love of English, especially to improve their listening ability.
So, how can students develop their listening skill quickly, effectively, and easily? Especially when applying them to actual communication when interacting with foreigners? Is this the trick of the teacher?
1.3. The studying subjects.
- Grade 5 students of Chau Loc Primary School
- English teaching for grades 1,2,3,4,5
1.4. The studying methods
 After nearly 10 years of teaching English in primary school in the innovative way. I realize that most of us do not know how to learn foreign languages. The use of English in life is limited, they do not dare speaking in English, communicate with friends in English. Also, during the learning process, they are weak in listening skill and find difficulties in listening. In order to practice effectively, students must learn and practice listening to a variety of speech patterns.
 Moreover, the formation and training of skills for students, teachers not only pay attention to the transfer of knowledge in textbooks, use the means of teaching but also attention to the organization too. The teaching program aims is activating learners' activities, enhancing and promoting the active role of active creation of students in learning and organizing students to acquire knowledge by their own activities, but most students do not understand the importance of learning listening comprehension so it is very lazy or just learn through speakers and do not use it, including students in grades 3, 4, 5.New knowledge that is so far away from the mother tongue is very afraid to learn. 
 In this experimential initiative, I use some methods of studying such as survey methodology , collecting information and compare the results of the students.
2. The content of initiative
2.1. The theoretical basic.
 Education Law was amended 2010 stipulates that “educational methods must promote the positiveness, self-awareness, activeness and creative thinking of students, training the learners’ abilities of self-studying, the ability of practicing, passion for learning and the will to rise.
 The goal of universal education is " Helping students develop comprehensively of ethics, intellect, constitution, aesthetic and basic skills , promote personal abilities , dynamism and creativity , make up the Socialist Vietnamese personality ,build status and responsibilities as citizens , prepare for students to continue studying for further education or come into labor life , participate in building and protecting their country". 
 Any one language in the world, to communicate with it, requires us to have a source of vocabularies. Because vocabulary is an indispensable component in the language used for communication activities. Therefore, the mastery of vocabulary to use is a very important job.
 In English we can not train and develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing of students that are not based on the foundation of the vocabulary. Indeed without the necessary words, they will not be able to hear, and its consequences are not able to speak, read and write well, whether they have mastered the structures of sentences.
 If we put this initiative into practising in Primary School , we can help students feel more confident when they communicate, or participate in activities and games in English.
2.2. The real situation of the studying issue.
 2.2.1.The stage:
 * Advantages:
- The school board always take their interest and create necessary conditions of the facilities and professional documentation served for the lecturing such as pictures, wordcar, recorders , projector, ect...
- Local authorities and associations in and outside schools always support the teacher in the process of teaching .
- Teachers themselve always receive support from other teachers and professional groups and colleagues .
- The majority of students in the class loved to learn English and prepare books and utensils for learning .So some students feel excited, or interested in this subject, so most students are very positive.
- The majority of parents are interested and create conditions for their children's learning. 
 * Difficulty:
 - English in primary schools in general and Chau Loc Primary School in particular was difficult especially in learning and using the vocabulary. So teaching students how to learn and use English is to give students a living treasure dictionary of words and sentence structure and is an essential requirement in learning English, specially with primary students. English is considered to be new to elementary school students in recent years. 
  - According to the current program distribution, English in almost primary schools is taught with 2 per week, but each lesson always has new words and even in exercises. But if we want to make lessons to become more vivid, teachers must make pictures, maps to illustrate, enabling them to easily remember words and the attention of the children on the themes or focus on the lessons. Besides, because of difficult conditions and circumstances, parents do not understand the importance of the English language, so they have not paid more attention to this subject and urged them to study. In addition, due to the development of all aspects is limited, conditions for elementary school children are exposed to mass media, entertainment programs using English are limited. That leads to the possibility of their communication is limited, so communicating in English becomes more difficult
- To the students, besides some students study English positively, a large number of children consider it perfuntorily, do not inculcate the words into memory, do not learn to read, write regularly, two-dimensional non-sense. When teachers ask they will not succeed.
  - In addition, teachers also have difficulty in checking or guiding them to learn at home because English is a foreign language, not the mother tongue they know. This is a very difficult problem in managing the student's learning at home.
 - In addition, the way of students’learning vocabulary is also attentive, students often learn vocabulary by reading words in English and try to remember them in Vietnamese, writing them in the notebooks to deal with teachers, but have no sense of self-check themselve, to inculcate new words and available vocabulary. Therefore, they are easy to forget and easily confuse the words with other words, and many students get bored and neglected school. So teachers need to pay attention to the students' psychology.
 2.2.2. The results of the current state:
	The question is how we overcome these weaknesses in order to contribute to improving the quality of learning and listening skills, help students feel more confident in communicating, using English as a second language, Proficiency in each word, especially for rural students like students in Hau Loc district.
	First of all I survey the situation characteristics, health practitioners, and listening skill of students in grade 5. I took a listening exercise of elementary English program. I did a survey at the beginning of the year as follows.
Listen and complete the dialogue
Lan: Hello, Hoa
Hoa: Hi, Lan. You seem (1)
Lan: I am. I received a (2).from my friend Hung today.
Hoa: Do I know her?
Lan: I don’t know. I think so. She (3).my old friend in Hue.
Hoa: What does she (4).like?
Lan: Oh, she is (5). Here is her (6)..
Keys:
1. happy	2. letter	3. was	4. look
5. beautiful	6. photo	
Result:
No
Class
Numbers of students
Finished
Unfinished
Mark (9;10)
Mark ( 7; 8)
Mark 
( 5, 6)
Bad mark
1
5A
22
2=9%
5= 22%
12=55%
3= 14%
2
5B
21
2=10%
5=24%
11=52%
3=14%
Total
43
4=9%
10=24%
23= 53%
6=14%
As a result, I found that their listening skills were limited. They have not understood the lesson, have not used the knowledge they have learned. I am very anxious concern, not knowing how to help students good English listening, helping them studious. With many years of direct teaching experience in the subject of English, initially to train the students in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, I give some experience in the teaching as well as skills. sounds like the following.
2.3 Initiatives and solutions used to solve problems
2.3.1. Some experiences help teachers teach effective listening skills.
* Listening skill is influenced by speaking skill.
Listening skill is influenced by speaking skill so teachers must help students in many classes to compensate speaking and listening skills. Because when they practice speaking, they will remember the vocabulary and sentences that they often encounter, so students will develop listening skill. Moreover, while listening, if you meet long and difficult sentences, then you just need to stop at the level of understanding the meaning of the sentence, and do not need to hear all the words in the sentence . 
For long essays that want to hear well, focus on the mind for a long time, depending on the ability to withstand the pressure of the brain under great psychological pressure. If it is too much, it can be divided into small sections to hear and then to hear once again. It is necessary to focus on pronunciation and intonation, understand directly in English , if possible you can contact to Vietnamese. 
Remember that when you listen you should look at the picture and associate the image of things or events in your head. In the process of hearing if the words or sentences are not clear, after listening you can stop to reflect on the sentence. If you can not hear it, you can watch it in textscript and listen to it again. Remember that " listening with the eyes" is more effective and less boring than "listening with the ears”
Example: Lesson 2- Unit 2 : I always get up early. How about you?Part 4: Listen and number- Class 5
	Teachers let students to observe the pictures in the textbook page 15, and then set up a situation of listening: "Some Students (Mai, Linda, Tom and Nam are talking about daily routines. Listen and number the pictures in their correct order. At this point, the teacher asks the students to practice speaking by describing their activities through the pictures
+ What are they doing in picture a,picture b?
-Mai is going shopping in picture a.
-Nam is having lessons in picture b.
-Linda is doing her English project in picture c.
-Tom is playing computer game in picture d.
Keys: a4	b1	c2	d3	
 It can be said that speaking skill plays an important role during the listening process, the more you talk, the better you listen.
* Help students figure out how to learn to listen effectively
	Like other skills, listening plays an important role in gaining knowledge of English. It may sound a little harder than other skills, but there are also more benefits. If we listen well we will improve our pronunciation and communicative ability. Normally students who learn English practise listening exercises by doing their homework in listening books. However, the lessons in books are not updated regularly, so students do not have much opportunity to acquire knowledge in modern life. I suggest that teachers should give students useful advice to help them find the best way to learn listening.
 Learn to listen from the beginning.
	When learning a foreign language in general and English in particular, should start as soon as possible. In this way, it will help students get familiar with the sounds of that language. Thus, learning to pronounce will become easier. When you first start learning English, find all the tapes that come with the accompanying version. Whenever you do not understand a word on tape, look at the version and look up the word on the dictionary.
Listen multiple times a content	
 Listening to the same content is a good way. Guide students to choose an interesting video and listen to it many times. While listening, try to memorize useful sentences.
	Then recall and rehearse the sentences, trying to imitate the speaker's pronunciation. After some times students will notice that the words and phrases on the tape have become part of themselves
	Students will start using them in their own sentences. Pronunciation and listening skills will definitely be improved.
Listen everyday.	
 Instruct children to practice listening every day, practice each day a little. If possible,you should equip yourself with a suitable hearing aid.
Record and preset your favorite English tapes so you can listen whenever you can.
Listen to what?
	Help students find listening contexts that are easy to understand and meaningful to them. Select materials for appropriate topics to ensure student interest.
Choose a pleasant voice for the student to listen and expect to hear every day.
 Principles of listening skills
	Listening is probably the hardest skill for most English learners as a second language. The most important thing for students is to improve their listening and listening more offen. Help students realize that not only they do not understand. If you still do not understand, then do not be discouraged or disappointed. Orientation for students:
- Accept the fact that you do not understand anything
- Keep calm when you do not understand anything, even may not understand for a long time.
- Do not try to translate them into Vietnamese
- Pay attention to the gist of what you are listening to. Do not focus on details until you know the main idea.
2.3.2. Use good, flexible techniques during a listening session.
* Warm up
	A lesson of listening will become more effective if the teacher knows how to make the text sound lively, interesting and engaging. One of the first things a teacher can do is to prepare well for the "warm up" activity. Here are some specific warm up activities that teachers can apply to make their lessons really engaging and effective
- Reading stories
	The story, if the content is interesting and recounted in a professional manner, will attract the attention of most students pay. Therefore, before the students listen to the tape, teachers should read slowly for their students to hear a short story with simple content, easy to understand. After that, the teacher may set out a few questions related to the content of the story for the student to answer. Or the teacher can tell only a part of the story, then let the students discuss and give the end of the story. This will make students feel very excited about the lesson because students are being given their own ideas. Especially for students who are weak in using English, they will feel very surprised and happy that they can understand a story in English. From there, they will have more motivation to try to learn.
- Ask and answer.
	Before beginning the listening lesson, teachers may spend about 5 to 10 minutes asking students a few questions about the topic of the listening. This will help students shape the topic of the listening, so that they will be able to learn the basics of vocabulary and grammar related to the topic of the lesson, and help them to learn more effectively
Example: Teachers can use the following questions to ask their students in Unit 5: Can you swim? Lesson 1-Part 3.
Who are they in these pictures?
What are they doing ?
What abilities can they have?
Students can answer:
They are Tony, Nam and Akiko
They are talking about their abilities.
Tony can draw a picture, sing and dance. Nam can cook, skip and ride a bike. Akiko can skate, sing and read stories
Now, you are going to listen to three dialogues and tick the correct pictures.
When answering such open questions, students will be able to visualize what they must do, what they need to know when they hear it. In addition, this makes the atmosphere between the teacher and the student to become more friendly, and helps students gain confidence and excitement to pay attention to lessons..
- Use pictures
	In English, the sentence "a picture is worth as a thousand words" shows the importance and efficiency of conveying the message of the pictures. So, teachers take full advantage of that strength, because the picture will make the lesson more lively, helping students to participate in the lesson more passionately.
	These are three of the many ways we can apply for warm up activities to prepare for effective listening.
* Pre-listening techniques.
	The purpose of the activities at this stage is to help students focus their attention on the topic, especially anticipating the information of the topic being heard. To overcome the difficulties of listening during the class, the teacher should introduce the topic, context and situation of the content related to listening part, findimng out if whether the students know or not know what they will listen. , suggesting curiosity, creating excitement for the