Some suggested types of exercises to motivate students into listening

Part I: INTRODUCTION
Reasons for Choosing the Topic
 Alongside the current trend of reforming English teaching method, there is a great need for focusing on communicating skills and listening is one of them. Then a troublesome problem arises. Of all these four skills, listening skill is considered to be one of the most difficult skills to teach and to learn. During teaching and self-studying, As teacher of English, I myself and other colleagues have met a lot of difficulties in appoaching this skill. I has chosen the topic about “Some Suggested types of Exercises to Motivate Students into Listening ” for two reasons.
 Firstly, listening skill plays an important role in teaching and learning a language so it should be paid much more attention to. However, it seems that this skill is not really focused on in many high schools in Vietnam and the qualities of teaching and learning this skill do not meet the avearage requirements . Thus, this topic is chosen to study in order to find out some suggested solutions to partly improve this matter.
 Secondly, although learning English listening skill is significant, the fact is that not many students are interested in studying listening because they have to struggle with a lot of difficulties which make them discouraged. Thus, the purpose of studying this topic is to create some new and interesting listening activities to motivate students into listening skill as well as design or reform several listening tasks in the course book to stimulate the students during listening lessons.
2. Aims of the Study
 The study is conducted with the following aims: 
- to find out the problems and difficulties in learning and teaching English listening skill at high school. 
- to suggest some solutions to these problems to partly improve the qualities of teaching listening skill and motivate students into listening lessons.
3. Scope of the Study 
This study is conducted among the 10th form students at Ngoc Lac high school during the school year 2017 -2018
4. Methods of the Study
 Both comparative and contrastive methods are used.
First of all, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on listening skills have been collected, analyzed and synthsizeded carefully with the due consideration for the students’ learning situations.
Secondly, a survey questionare has been conducted with the students to collect data. Then, follow-up interviews have been carried out with students to gather the most reliable data for analysis to find the answers to the research questions mentioned above.
Part II: DEVELOPMENT
1. Theoretical Background
1.1. What is Listening Skill?
 Listening skill is the language modality that is used most frequently. Listening involves a sender (a person, radio, and television), a message, and a receiver (the listener). Listeners often must process messages as they come, even if they are still processing what they have just heard, without backtracking or looking ahead. In addition, listeners must cope with the sender's choice of vocabulary, structure, and rate of delivery. The complexity of the listening process is magnified in second language contexts, where the receiver also has incomplete control of the language. Listening skill is integrated with the other skills in language use. Like reading, listening is a receptive skill where the purpose is to comprehend or understand what someone might be saying or writing.
1.2. Importance of Listening Skill
 In daily life, people spend a lot of time listening. In language use, listening skill plays a very important role: it includes various kinds of listener’s knowledge. Moreover, it decides his comprehension, content and attitudes in response to the speaker’s speech as well. Therefore, if we are bad at listening, we will fail to communicate with others. In addition, there is a close-knit relationship between listening and speaking skills: students cannot improve speaking skill unless they better their listening skill. To have a successful conversation, they must understand what is said to them. Listening is also an effective way of acquiring the language or enriching new words and structures.
1.3. Types of Listening
 Generally, there are two main kinds of listening (Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007): The first kind is casual listening which is often used in entertaining activities. The second kind is focused listening which is quite different from the first one: we listen to something with some particular purpose in mind and pay much attention to it so as to get as much information as possible. However, we do not listen to everything with equal concentration: we only focus on the important information for some purposes. For example, students listen to an English text to do the tasks given by the teacher or a customer listens to the instructions of the seller to use a computer.[1]
 In language learning, students usually use the second way of listening and casual listening is sometimes used for extra and further practice such as letting students listen to a song or a short story without any response required.
1.4. Teaching English Listening in CLT
Principles of Teaching English Listening Skill
 	To teach any skill of a language, it is important for teachers to follow the principles for teaching that skill so as to teach it more effectively and methodically. Forseth (cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007) suggests seven principles for teaching listening skill:
 	 First, the teacher should use authentic texts and present them as naturally and realistically as possible. 
 	 Second, it is better to include different kinds of texts: conversations, dialogues, jokes, lectures, news broadcasts
 	Third, the teacher should use primarily meaning- based tasks for students to do. 
 	The fourth principle is that the teacher states a specific purpose for the listening task. 
 	 Another principle is that the teacher introduces the listening task beforehand. The next principle is to avoid pre-teaching vocabulary unless necessary. Lastly, the teacher should let students listen to the text more than once.[2]
Subskills in Listening
 Like the other skills, listening includes a number of different sub-skills : learners have to recognize differences between phonological sounds - the difference in a single sound makes a new word with a different meaning. Another sub-skill of listening is comprehension of structures. In addition, learners may guess the unknown words or recognize words which are unnecessary for understanding. There are also some other sub-skills such as recognizing discourse markers and cohesive words which help hold discourse together, the ability to infer information that is learners by hiding the direct answers and learners have to search for the indirect answers carefully. Furthermore, skimming is a sub-skill for which listeners do not need to understand every word they hear but they only need to catch the main idea. By contrast, for scanning skill, listeners have to look for the specific information. For the summarizing skill, listeners should summarize what they have heard after listening or they have to decide what they are listening to is true or false or they agree with what they are listening or not- this is called critical listening and especially used for advanced learners. Recognizing different styles, emotional tones and varieties of language is a quite challenging skill. Two more sub-skills of listening are predicting and listening for total comprehension.
2. Real situation of learning listening skill at Ngoc Lac High school
At Ngoc Lac High school, Students come from diffirent areas of Ngoc Lac district: Some are in the town with quite good English capacity, others from remoted areas often show their poor English. However, it was realized that the teachers and students have made much effort to enhance the quality of teaching and learning English. Besides, there are still some problems such as: the modern teaching and learning facilities have not been used frequently and effectively, some teachers do not have really creative methods of teaching so they cannot attract their students to learning. Therefore, they meet many difficulties in learning the skills especially listening skill. They find listening the most difficult skill of all. A large number of students cannot understand any thing in a listening text. The result is that this skill is neglected. In other words, it is ignored by many teachers and students. Some teachers do not teach this skill very carefully, they just let students listen to a listening text in the textbook for a few times and ask them to answer the questions without checking their understanding. For students, most of them use reference books to answer the questions in spite the fact that they do not really understand the lesson.
3. Some Suggested types of Exercises to Motivate Students into Listening
 A lot of listening games for teaching and learning this skill have been applied so far and the followings are some suggested games for teachers and students to consider:
3.1. Drawings 
 Students listen to a simple short text or a conversation which describes something such as a place, an object, a picture or somebody. After listening, students are asked to draw a picture about the thing or the person whose characteristics they have just heard. The student who has the picture which describes the most exactly is the winner. This activity is for individual work and it can be used for students of wide ranges of capacity. This game is rather interesting but it may distract students from listening to the text: they may draw something else or they only draw according to their imagination without understanding the text. Teachers have to pay attention to students’ drawings and their concentration on listening by checking their understanding carefully.
* Notice: - The description in the listening text must be clear enough for students to understand and draw more easily.
 - To draw more exactly, while listening, students can remember or write down what is being described.
Example: (modified from “English 10” text book, Unit 1, part C- Listening, using this activity in “after-you-listen” section )
 Listen to the following passage and draw the person which is described:
“This is Mr. Lam. He is a cyclo driver. He is a middle-aged man with short gray hair under an old brown cap. He is sitting on a bench under a big tree during his short break at noon. He is listening to the news on an old black radio. Thhere is a red umbrella on the cyclo beside him ”.[3]
3.2. Cross-words 
 The teacher divides students into small groups (each group may have five or six members) and gives them the instructions of playing the game: Students are given the list of the questions of the cross-word beforehand and they have to answer those questions while listening. The answers for those questions are the words in the cross-word. After each time of listening, the teacher can stop playing the tape so that students have time to check their answers. After a few times of listening, the group who find the key word will be the winner. This game is quite difficult for students who are not very good at English so it had better be used for good students. This is a kind of comprehension exercises but to answer the cross- word puzzle, students will be more motivated. It takes much time if the teacher does not arrange the time suitably. 
* Notice: - The key word should be short and the questions should be rather easy for students to answer.
Example: Listen to the following text and answer these questions to fill in the cross-word below: 
* Listening text:
Teenagers who listen to the same music often have a common look. One hot style in music and fashion is hip hop. Hip hop is a type of urban
music with a heavy beat. Hip hop fashions are large or loose-fitting street clothes. The style includes baggy jeans, sweat shirts, hiking boots and base ball caps. However, teens add other clothing items like flannel shirts, jackets with sports logos, and athletic shoes. Africa American kids in Detroit and Chicago first made hip hop popular. They wore baggy street clothes to dance clubs. Hip hop is now a teen fashion from Britain to Japan. In Japan, hip hop is replacing the usual outfit for teenage girls: blouses and skirts with cartoon characters on them. And in US, teens spend a lot of money on hip hop fashions. David Bowen, 17, of Evanston Illinois, has five pairs of hiking boots at 100$ each. [4]
 * Questions: 
How many pairs of hiking does David Bowen have? 
Hip hop is a type of urban music with a heavy 
What type of caps does the hip hop style include? 
What kind of shoes do teens wear in the hip hop style? 
5. African Americanin Detroit and Chicago first made hip hop popular. 
6. What is hip hop replacing in Japan? 
Who spend a lot of money on hip hop in US? 
And these are the answers:
 1 F I V E
 2 B E A T
 3 B A S E B A L L
 4 A T H L E T I C
 5 K I D S 
 6 O U T F I T
 7 T E E N S
The key word: FASHION
3.3. Lucky Listening Topics
 This activity is rather similar to lucky number game. However, instead of using numbers, teachers will provide different topics such as family, friendship, hobbies for students to choose to listen. For this game, students can work in group of six members. Each group will choose a topic they like and after choosing the topic, they are given some questions about the topic to answer after listening. The other groups also have to listen to answer those questions because if that group cannot answer the questions after listening, the others will have chances to answer them. Each correct answer will bring the group mark ten. The lucky topic may be a song and students have to do nothing apart from enjoying it. The group with the highest mark is the winner. This activity is for group work and can be applied in any high school classes. It requires much time so the teacher should choose short and easy topics for students to listen. 
3.4. Guessing the Content of the Lesson
 This activity is for pre- listening. Some key words of the listening text are given before listening. Students are asked to guess the content of the text and create a new text according to what they guess. It can be a conversation, a story or a piece of news. After that, they are allowed to listen to the original text to check their guessing. This task is easier for students because they have known the key words and understood some things about the lesson beforehand. It can be used for students at the average level. For better students, the listening texts should be more difficult.
For example: Look at these words and write a short passage according to your understanding:
Aladdin, an order, close his shutters, Princess, hide, peep, lift her veil, fall in love, ask her in marriage, magic fruits.
 And here is the original listening passage:
 “One day Aladdin heard an order from the Sultan proclaimed that everyone was to stay at home and close his shutters while the Princess his daughter went to and from the bath. Aladdin was seized by a desire to see her face, which was very difficult, as she always went veiled. He hid himself behind the door of the bath, and peeped through a chink. The Princess lifted her veil as she went in, and looked so beautiful that Aladdin fell in love with her at first sight. He went home so changed that his mother was frightened. He told her he loved the Princess so deeply he could not live without her, and meant to ask her in marriage of her father. His mother, on hearing this, burst out laughing, but Aladdin at last prevailed upon her to go before the Sultan and carry his request. She fetched a napkin and laid in it the magic fruits from the enchanted garden, which sparkled and shone like the most beautiful jewels. She took these with her to please the Sultan, and set out, trusting in the lamp”.[5]
3.5. Rearranging the Order of the Conversation
 The teacher gives students handouts of a conversation which is in the wrong order and ask them to listen to this conversation again in the right order. After listening, they have to rearrange the order of the conversation according to their understanding. This exercise can be used for students at any level. The degree of difficulty of the listening conversation depends on students’ levels. Nonetheless, the teacher has to check students’ understanding so as to avoid their guess at the answer. 
 Example: Look at this conversation which is in the wrong order:
Tom: - Oh where are you from in Brazil?
Paulo: - My parents are here from Brazil. They are on vacation.
Tom: - Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Tavares.
Mrs. Tavares: - Nice to meet you, Tom.
Paulo: - Mum and dad, this is Tom Hayes. Tom, these are my parents.
Mr. Tavares: - We are from Rio.
And now listen to the conversation in the right order:
Paulo: - Mum and dad, this is Tom Hayes. Tom, these are my parents.
Tom: - Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Tavares.
Mrs. Tavares: - Nice to meet you, Tom.
Paulo: - My parents are here from Brazil. They are on vacation.
Tom: - Oh where are you from in Brazil?
Mr. Tavares: - We are from Rio. [6]
3.6.Choosing the Right Topics
 For this exercise, the teacher gives students a list of some topics and lets them listen to some texts or some conversations about those topics. Students have to point out which topics in the list they have heard and give some key words to show their understanding. This exercise is for individual work. It can help students practice skimming skill but may take time so the teacher should choose short and not too difficult listening texts. 
Example: Listen to some conversations and decide whether which one belongs one of the given topics below:
Jobs Shopping Greetings Hobbies Music
People in US often shop from catalogs. There are special catalogs for 
almost every need- including clothing, furniture, health and beauty products, and things for the kitchen. People also order about 40% of their music from music catalogs.
Sarah: Hi, Tom. How is everything?
Tom: Not bad. How are you?
Sarah: Pretty good, thanks.
Jason: Where do you work, Andrea?
Andrea: I work for Thomas Cook Travel
Jason: Oh, really? What do you do there?
Andrea: I am a guide. I take people on tours to countries in South America like Peru.
Jason: That sounds interesting![7]
3.7. Making T/F Statements
 Students are allowed to listen to a text for some times and take notes. After listening, each of them has to make some T/F statements relating to the text and use them to ask their partners. The partners have to base on the information they get from the listening text to answer the questions of their friends. After that, they are allowed to listen to the text again to check if the questions and the answers are right or wrong. This activity is for pair work. The good points of this activity are that it checks students’ understanding exactly and helps them get more specific information. They have to listen carefully to make and answer the questions correctly. But it is difficult for students at average level. Hence, it may be more often used for good students. If it is used for average level students, the listening text must be easy enough for them to understand. 
For example: True – False Statements.( modified from listening text of Unit 11 - National Parks. This excercise can replace Task 2 ( page 116 – English 10)
Cuc Phuong belongs to 3 provinces: Ninh Binh, Ha Tay and Thanh Hoa.
Cuc Phuong is about 160 kilometres south east of Hanoi.
Cuc Phuong National Park was established in 1960.
Nguyen Hue defeated the Quing invaders in the spring of 1789.
The Muong ethnic minority in Cuc Phuong live mainly on bee keeping and farming enemy
There is no cave in Cuc Phuong National Park.
Nearly 10,000 visitors made their way to Cuc Phuong in 2002.
Quen Voi is a historical place where Nguyen Hue’s army was