TAY DO UNIVERSITY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

(Logo Đại Học Tây Đô)

Research paper

An investigation into factors causing

difficulties in listening of English Juniors at
Tay Do University

Supervisor: Student:

Dang Thi Bao Dung,Ph.D Võ Thị Ngọc Thơm

Phạm Thị Hồng Nhung
Nguyễn Thị Cẫm Quỳnh
Class: English 15B

April , 2023
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the teachers of the Faculty of
Foreign Languages, Tay Do University for imparting valuable knowledge to me and
enabling me to complete this research.

Next, I would like to thank my classmates in 15A and 15B who enthusiastically
participated in the survey and commented. In particular, I would like to thank Ms.
Dang Thi Bao Dung, teacher of Scientific Research Methodology, Faculty of Foreign
Languages, who has always been dedicated to teaching, guiding and giving me
suggestions to complete this research.

Finally, I would like to give special thanks to my family for their constant
encouragement and support in completing this research.

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 COMMENTS

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................i
COMMENTS..............................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................v
CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION.............................................................................1
1.1.Rationale.............................................................................................................1
1.2.Significance of the research................................................................................2
1.3. Organization of the research...............................................................................2
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................4
2.1.Definition and the importance of listening..........................................................4
2.1.1.Definition of listening..................................................................................4
2.1.2. The importantce of listening........................................................................5
2.2 Factors causing difficulties in listening...............................................................6
2.2.1. Linguistic factors.........................................................................................6
2.2.1.1.Vocabulary.............................................................................................6
2.2.1.2.Grammatical structure...........................................................................7
2.2.1.3 Pronunciation........................................................................................8
2.2.2.Listening comprehension.............................................................................9
2.2.2.1.Length of listening...............................................................................10
2.2.2.2.Speakers’speed of speech....................................................................11
2.2.2.3.Different accents..................................................................................11
2.2.2.4.Noisy environments.............................................................................12
2.2.3.Background knowledge..............................................................................13
2.2.4.Psychological factors..................................................................................14
2.2.4.1.Motivation...........................................................................................14
2.3. Related studies.................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH AIMS - RESEARCH QUESTION - HYPOTHESIS
.................................................................................................................................... 17
3.1. Research aims..................................................................................................17
3.2.Research questions............................................................................................17
3.3.Research hypothesis..........................................................................................17
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CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................18
4.1.Research design.................................................................................................18
4.2.Participants........................................................................................................18
4.3.Instruments........................................................................................................18
4.3.1.Questionnaire.............................................................................................19
4.3.2. Observation..............................................................................................19
4.4. Data analysis...................................................................................................20
4.5. Procedure........................................................................................................20
CHAPTER 5 : EXPECTED OUTCOMES.............................................................21
5.1.Linguistic factors...............................................................................................21
5.1. Listening comprehension.................................................................................21
5.3.Background knowledge.....................................................................................22
5.4. Psychological factors........................................................................................22
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................vi
APPENDIX................................................................................................................ vii

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 ABSTRACT

Listening is the most important skill for success in any communication, making an
important contribution to the language learning success of language learners as well as
to the success of teachers' teaching. However, it is worrisome that many English
Juniors still have difficulty listening to English. Therefore, the study "An investigation
into factors causing difficulties in listening of English Juniors at Tay Do University" is
mistakenly conducted to find out the main factors causing difficulties for students
majoring in English when listening to English. 83 students of two English classes 15A
and 15B of Tay Do University are selected to participate in this study. The two
research tools used to collect data are questionnaires and observations. The research
method is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. The findings of this
research will be analyzed to point out the elements affecting participants' difficulties
in linguistic factors (vocabulary, grammatical structures, and pronunciation), listening
comprehension (length of listening, speakers' speed of speech, different accents, and
noisy environments), background knowledge, and psychological factors (inhibition,
motivation, and confidence).

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 CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION
(This chapter mentions The rationale, The significance, and The organization of the
research)
1.1.Rationale
English is currently the most widely used language in the world. In addition to
the UK and the US, there are over 60 countries that choose English as the official
language or list it as a second native language. No matter which country you go to,
you just need to know how to communicate in English. communicate and work with
complete strangers (What is the role of English? Is learning English really
necessary?, eiv.edu.vn). Therefore, teaching and learning English in Vietnam is
currently of great interest.

English is currently the most widely used language in the world. In addition to
the UK and the US, there are over 60 countries that choose English as the official
language or list it as a second native language. No matter which country you go to,
you just need to know how to communicate in English. communicate and work with
complete strangers. Therefore, teaching and learning English in Vietnam is currently
of great interest. In the process of learning English, students will be taught all 4 skills
of listening, speaking, reading and writing. But listening is considered an even more
important skill in English communication. There is no denying that listening is an
important skill in mastering any language. According to Nunan (1998), listening is a
fundamental skill in language learning and without listening skills, learners will never
learn how to communicate effectively. In fact, more than 50% of the time students use
a foreign language should be spent listening. Similarly, Hamouda (2013) who
confirms that listening is a fundamental language skill in foreign language because the
key to acquire a language is to receive understandable language input. Without
understanding inputs at a right level, any kind of learning cannot occur. Rost (2002)
also points out that developing listening is the key to achieving fluent speaking.

However, despite its importance to foreign language learning, teaching

listening in general and listening comprehension in particular has long been neglected
and remains a poorly taught aspect of English in many chapters EFL program
(Mendelson & Rubin, 1994). In fact, listening comprehension remains one of the least
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understood processes that often consider listening to be the most difficult language
skill to acquire. According to observations, the researcher found that most students
studying at TDU Foreign Language Department, especially third-year students, face a
lot of difficulties in listening comprehension. Compared to other languages, listening
skills are considered as one of the most challenging.

In order to determine the students' awareness of the role of listening skills as

well as the problems students encounter in the process of learning English listening
comprehension at TDU, the author decided to carry out the topic “An investigation

into factors causing difficulties in listening of English Juniors at Tay Do University ”.

This study aims to help both teachers and students recognize the difficulties in
listening to English and then find suitable solutions. merge for better improvement.

1.2.Significance of the research

This study mainly focuses on finding out the factors causing difficulties in
listening of English Juniors at Tay Do University and through those issues, the
researcher expects to help students realize their problems in speaking. Consequently,
thanks to this, these English-majored students can find out some useful solutions to
improve their communication skills.

1.3. Organization of the research

The study is made up of five main chapters as follows:

 Chapter 1: Introduction provides the rationale, research aims, research

questions. Besides, the significance and organization of the research are
also listed here.
 Chapter 2: Literature Review covers the theoretical background of
listening, consisting of definitions of listening, the importance of
listening, and the factors causing difficulties in listening.
 Chapter 3: Research Methodology indicates the study is method
employed in this thesis including such features as research design,
participants, instruments, and procedure.

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 Chapter 4: Results and Discussion reports the findings of the research to
figure out the participants' difficulties in listening and what factors are
causing the difficulties.
 Chapter 5: Conclusion, Implications, Limitations, and
Recommendations gives the conclusion, implication, reflect on the
limitations of the study, and put forward recommendations for further
research.

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 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
(This chapter consists of Definitions and The importance of speaking, Factors causing
difficulties, and Related studies)
2.1.Definition and the importance of listening
2.1.1.Definition of listening
Many academics have offered distinct definitions of the concepts of listening. It is
completed with several definitions of the term, some of which are included below.

According to Rost (1994) Listening is very important in the language classroom

because it provides information to the brain for learners. Without understanding the
starting information at the right level, any learning cannot begin, if the learner does
not determine the correct language acquisition. Do that, listening is the foundation for
speaking. In addition, Michael Purdy (1996:8) The active and dynamic process of
attending, perceiving, interpreting, remembering, and reacting to the wants, concerns,
and information presented (verbally and nonverbally) by other people is known as
listening .

In another definition, Merry(1996) listening is defined Receiving, forming

messages from, and responding to spoken or nonverbal messages is what is referred
to as listening. Moreover, Brown (2001), listening is not simply a one-way process
of receiving sound symbols, but he thinks that one aspect of hearing comprehension
is the psycho-motor process of receiving sound waves sound through the ear and
transmit nerve impulses to the brain. Therefore, listening consists of three elements:
the sender, the message, and the listener. Following Nunan (2002), listening is a
receptive skill that requires a great deal of patience on the aspect of both students
and teachers. Even though listening is a receptive skill, the process still requires
students to actively listen in order to gain understanding.

After all the discussion above, listening skill is defined in different ways by
scholarly and by field of study. However, it is also simply defined as the process of
receiving information from the speaker to the listener. The main purpose of listening

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is to help people convey and express the information that the speaker wants to
convey. In general, speaking is an indispensable need in daily life.

2.1.2. The importantce of listening.

Listening skill is the most important skill for success in any communication.
Listening helps us gather a lot of information to solve problems; help us understand
others and behave accordingly.
Listening is the first mode of communication that children learn, it is the basis for
all aspects of language and cognitive development, and it plays a lifelong role in
communication processes, Wilt (1950) saw that individuals listen for 45% of the
time they communicate. In any case, people spend a lot of time interacting through
their ears because listening skills are essential to communication. Language input is
the most important condition for language acquisition, according to second
language acquisition theory, listening is an important input skill in students'
language development, Krashen (1985), people develop speaking skills by
comprehending the linguistic information they hear. In the other words, language
acquisition is primarily accomplished through the receipt of understandable input,
and the ability to listen is a critical component in obtaining understandable language
input.
According to Iwankovitsch, Ron (2001:5) "The Importance of Listening", Paul T.
Rankin conducted a survey on the four communication processes. He found that the
average person spends 9% of his time writing, 16% reading, 30% speaking, and
almost half, 45% listening. However, to listen to English is not easy because the
listener must know many important parts such as pronunciation, vocabulary ,
intonation,etc. Students need to meet all the factors to be able to listen to understand
English. Furthermore, Babita Tyagi (2011) also asserts that listening skills are key
to effective message recognition, and that speaking skills are overlooked in
classrooms, mainly emphasizing only a few reading and writing sections. The
integration of other language abilities essentially serves to highlight the importance
of listening. Students benefit from listening as they build their vocabulary, grammar,
and speaking abilities. In response to the information they have heard, students
might react and express their feelings. Outside of the classroom, listening is really

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essential. The potential of receiving a better education, landing a decent career, and
being promoted is higher for students who can listen to English very well.
Moreover, Hasan (2000) stated that listening comprehension creates the ideal
environment for language acquisition and the development of other language skills.
Students who listen well can achieve half of their communication success because
listening comprehension entails processing information obtained from visual and
auditory cues in order to define what is going on and what the speakers are
attempting to express. Students majoring in English must take care of this skill
because it is an important factor in language. As a result, the success of listening is
dependent on a variety of factors.
In general, listening English is increasingly taking on increased significance in a
number of colleges as well as in real-world settings. So that they can have plenty of
opportunity to practice and improve their skills, pupils should become aware of the
advantages of listening as soon as feasible.
2.2 Factors causing difficulties in listening
The difficulties in listening vary according to different aspects .There are a
number of factors that facilitate or impede successful spoken communication.They
can be divided into four types including linguistic factors, listening comprehension
background knowledge, and psychological factors. Linguistic factors commonly
refer to the elements of English as a language itself, which include
vocabulary,grammatical structures, and pronunciation. Listening comprehension
problems include the length of listening, speakers' speed of speech, different
accents, and noisy environments. Psychological factors include students' inhibition,
students motivation, and students' confidence. These are all factors influencing
students' listening skills.
2.2.1. Linguistic factors
The linguistic factors greatly influence students' communication skills as
well as the their future. This is also one kind of barrier that students always meet
during their learning process or communication process. Nevertheless. sometimes
they do not realize how important it is and pay no attention to it . Therefore, in this
part, the researcher will clarify some problems related to linguistics such as

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vocabulary, grammatical structures, and pronunciation so that students can
recognize the linguistic barriers that they are meeting.
2.2.1.1.Vocabulary
Doan Hieu Phung and Hung Tan Ha (2022:1) argue that vocabulary
knowledge can be considered a determinant of a number of factors affecting
listening comprehension. Lack of vocabulary causes difficulty in listening,
(Thornbury, 2002),lack of grammar little can be communicated, but lack of
vocabulary nothing can be conveyed,learning vocabulary is one of the first and
important steps to language learning, however learners never end up acquiring
vocabulary. In fact, lack of vocabulary also makes students limited in learning to
listen.
Wanting to improve listening skills takes a lot of time to practice and increases
vocabulary. While listening, the listener does not grasp the keyword that causes him
to not understand the content that the speaker wants to convey, as Underwood
(1989) only makes the point that when students listen to a foreign language, it is
certain that they cannot know all the words in the speech as their mother tongue.
Therefore, when they hear an unknown word that can seem like a barrier to conflict
is lowered, they may stop and think about the word is meaning, distracting them
from listening. Rich vocabulary will help the listener understand the problem
specifically and quickly, in order to become an effective learner, one must
understand an overall range of vocabulary” (Samuels, 1984).The importance of
vocabulary in developing for learners is the main focus of current research.
Insufficient vocabulary is the main obstacle affecting listening skills. So we need to
find the right learning method to make it richer and longer remembered.

2.2.1.2.Grammatical structure
Besides vocabulary, grammar plays a relatively important role in listening to
English.According to Debata(2013), when linguistics becomes ambiguous,
grammatical knowledge serves as a solid ground for referencing .The same view,
Yen-Fen Liao (2007:38) conducted a much-needed survey on grammar. In English,
in addition to the vocabulary element, the grammar factor is also a very important

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factor and that causes difficulties for third-year students because they cannot
remember all the grammar components because they are very complicated . Hinkel
and Fotos (2002) stated speakers can use knowledge grammar to organize and
express ideas in their heads. Due to the influence of Vietnamese language, students
have difficulty in word form during the listening process. They frequently use
incorrect words and misinterpret the meaning and context of the sentences in the
conversation. Communicative competence entails understanding and applying
grammar as well as making appropriate use of the language's vocabulary to convey
meaning in a socially acceptable manner. It focuses on three aspects of grammar:
form, meaning, and usage, and provides learners with the attention they require to
advance in their language ability.
Students often have the habit of applying their native grammar structure to
practice speaking skills, Nguyen (2007) ,leading to problems with listening
comprehension skills. Besides, the resources are very rich, and you can search
easily in many ways, such as through books, newspapers, the internet, etc. On the
other hand, it is because of this factor that students cannot access the right materials
for their level. Because students do not understand the rules of grammar and how to
use them, there have been many cases of listeners misinterpreting the speaker's
content, causing conflicts in relationships. Therefore, students need to learn basic
grammar structures and upgrade according to their level. Pay attention to context
when using structure to improve English writing skills.

2.2.1.3 Pronunciation
According to Fergina Lengkoan (2017:219) suggests that learning
pronunciation rules improves your listening skills. The learner cannot recognize
familiar words due to mispronunciation, this is a mistake that most beginners make.
If the listener learns to pronounce the sound correctly on his own, he will easily
hear it correctly. Beside, pronunciation has a large influence on the listening
process, it is one of the factors influencing students' listening skills, as per the Yates
(2001), pronunciation is the production of sounds that are then used to form
meaning. Pronunciation is essential because it is a component of successful oral

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production or communicative competence, as demonstrated by Hismanoglu (2016),
while listening, students must not only remember but also know how to pronounce
words.
Ur (1984), in addition, self-studying English pronunciation will also help learners to
remember more easily. Therefore, listeners need to acquire important skills to
identify the main idea of information, their mother tongue sometimes affects their
pronunciation. In English with homonyms such as "ship" and "sheep", nothing
happens if you do not know the pronunciation rules. This interrupts you from
speaking in conversation because you do not understand what message the speaker
wants to convey.
Moreover, intonation is no less important than pronunciation and stress. Intonation
is the rhythm of a person's voice raising and lowering the volume at a certain point
in a sentence. In addition, intonation in English can also convey a speaker's
emotions into a conversation. Intonation is an indispensable feature in countries
such as England, Brazil... In communication, when the speaker has different
intonation, it will confuse the listener because different intonation makes the same
sentence have different meaning. In addition, if there is a misunderstanding in the
conversation, the reason often lies in the rather large difference in stress and
intonation to misunderstand Boyle (1984). Not surprisingly, if the speaker changes
intonation, the listener often misinterprets the meaning of the sentence. Therefore,
learners should learn to control their intonation correctly.
In addition, connect speech also confuses you when trying to improve
listening skills, this is a very common use of native speakers to help speakers speak
faster but for beginners this is a fear. Moreover, not learning how to pronounce the
end of a word also hinders listening, many students often overlook this error, if we
do not pay attention, we will never improve this skill.
2.2.2.Listening comprehension
In the past, listening was a skill that was often overlooked because
universities and schools only focused on writing, reading, and vocabulary. Most
teachers do not apply listening in their classrooms. However, nowadays, listening
comprehension is one of the important skills in communication. Besides English

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speaking skills, listening comprehension plays an extremely important role in
helping listeners understand the message the speaker wants to convey. According to
Rost (2009), listening helps us to understand the world around us and is one of the
necessary elements in creating successful communication. Thomlison's (1984)
listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying. This
process involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, the speaker’s
grammar and vocabulary, and comprehension of meaning. An able listener can do
these four things simultaneously. Listening comprehension is regarded as a
complex, interactive process in which listeners are involved in a dynamic
construction of meaning. Listeners understand the oral input from sound
discrimination, prior knowledge of vocabulary, grammatical structures, stress and
intonation, as well as other use linguistic, paralinguistic, or even nonlinguistic clues
in contextual utterance (Saraswaty , 2018). Brown and Yule (1983), listening
comprehension means that a person understands what he/she has heard. If he/she
learns the text through hearing it, he/she will understand it.
In order to help learners to recognize the barriers influencing their listening
skills, in this part, these above-mentioned difficulties related to listening
comprehension mentioned will be more clearly analyzed through 4 main issues such
as length of listening, speakers’ speed of speech, different accents, and noisy
environments.
2.2.2.1.Length of listening
The length of the listening section is also a factor in developing listening skills. To
develop listening skills, we need students to pay attention to time and topic; if their
listening skills are not good, it is not possible to choose lessons that are many minutes
long (University of Maryland, 2010:i) because when presenting. Azmi Bingol, Celik,
Yidliz, and Tugrul Mart (2014) stated that the level of students can have a significant
role when they listen to long parts and keep all information in their minds. It is very
difficult for lower-level students to listen for more than three minutes and complete
the listening tasks. Short listening passages make easy listening comprehension for
learners and reduce their tiredness. At the beginner level, you have a lot of limitations,
such as a limited vocabulary and grammatical structures that make many mistakes,
making it difficult to listen and understand. Not only that, choosing a topic that is too
academic or a topic that you never use in practice makes you feel confused when you
want to improve this skill and wastes time because, when anyone is familiar with any
language, you have to learn from the most basic knowledge; when you master it, you

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can absorb more advanced lessons. Short listening texts facilitate listening
comprehension and diminish boredom, keeping learners' concentration alive (Atkins et
al. 1995). If the text contains a lot of information, it is not easy to store everything in
the mind; exceptional listening ability and strategy are required to understand (Carroll,
1977).
To maintain motivation, we need to choose a reasonable listening time and listen
effectively. Currently, there are many methods to improve listening skills, one of
which is listening to dictation. i.e., we listen and write them down on paper; this
method both helps you improve your listening skills and helps you improve your
vocabulary. Besides, we should choose the right topic according to our level and
ability. Instead of you spending an hour listening, but your topic is too difficult and
abstract, you do not take notes and do not focus on the lesson. listening, which leads
to your not grasping the knowledge. Therefore, choosing the right topic makes it
easier for you to absorb and learn more effectively.
2.2.2.2.Speakers’speed of speech
Another reason makes listening text difficult is the speed. If the speakers
speak faster than normal listener may have difficulties to catch target words.
Creative Education (2017:107) points out that speaking speed is the main factor
causing difficulty in listening comprehension. The speaker talks too fast, the listener
can not keep up with the pace of the conversation, and there are many cases where
the speakers come from Asian countries, typically India; they have a very strange
accent, plus the fast speed makes the listener obsessive, and the conversation
becomes less productive. According to Underwood (1989), speed can make
listening passage difficult. If the speakers speak too fast students may have serious
problems to understand L2 words. In this situation, listeners are not able to control
the speed of speakers and this can create critical problems with listening
comprehension. It is clear for most language learners and teachers that a slower
speech speed would facilitate beginner learners’ listening comprehension (Flaherty,
1979; Griffiths, 1990, 1992; King & Behnke, 1989; Zhao, 1997). Blau (1990)
concluded that lessen the input speed is one of the effective technics that helps
comprehension for second language learners. Therefore, sometimes we should ask
the speaker to slow down so that the listener understands the content that he or she
wants to convey. At the same time, we try to improve our listening skills by

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practicing every day and getting acquainted with the accents of many countries so
that the conversation flows naturally and is comfortable.
2.2.2.3.Different accents
Habib, Indawan & Rini(2021:2) argue that voice is also a factor in listening
difficulties. Undeniably, many different voices will make the learner's listening
comprehension good, but besides the positive side it also brings trouble. Due to the
different languages of different countries, they use different substances. Their
accents are somewhat influenced when they speak English. There are some
countries that use very confusing accents ,Buck (2001) indicated that when listeners
hear an unfamiliar accent such as Indian English for the first time after studying
only American English will encounter critical difficulties in listening. The listener
will feel confused because it is far from the learned voice, Munro and Derwing
(1995) stated that too many accented speeches can lead to an important reduction in
comprehension .Also 66% of listeners referred speakers' accents as one of the most
important factors that impact on listening comprehension Goh (1999). The students'
inability to listen is also influenced by the speakers' various accents , this has
happened not only to students studying English as a foreign language, but also to
native speakers. This is demonstrated by Hamouda (2013), who claims that some
students believed they had different versions of English since their teacher
attempted to teach them British English at school while they mostly heard American
English on television at home.
Because learners are used to the voice of native speakers, students should not hear
many difficult voices when listening skills are not really good, it takes time get
acquainted.
2.2.2.4.Noisy environments
The noisy environment is the last factor that causes difficulties in listening
comprehension skills. Ryoko Fujita(2017:640) conducted a survey of learners with
noise and quiet, the results showed that participants were capable of hearing poorly
in noisy environments.With the same opinion, the noise that occurs during the
listening process interferes with the learners' ability to concentrate on the material.
Kurniawati (2016) discovered that the noisy situation in the classroom is caused by

12
an ineffective soundproof system. The lack of a soundproof system also allows
outside noise to enter the classroom. It means that students struggle to understand
English as a foreign language when the sounds are unclear.According to Rost
(2011), a medium of input such as video or audio aids students' listening
comprehension. A well-prepared video presentation with graphics or text can help
students perform better. This may cause students to pay more attention and listen
more carefully. Treasure (2017) agrees, stating that listening is a composite of
listening and attention. Because of the poor audio quality, the provided input is
unclear, causing a problem with listening comprehension. This is supported by
Chao's (2013) finding that 62% of Technology and Education students failed the
listening test due to unclear pronunciation . Therefore, 3rd year students who want
to study effectively should choose a quiet place to receive knowledge more easily
2.2.3.Background knowledge
Rost ((2002 as cited in Vandergrift 2002):113) argues that background
knowledge is an important component of the listening process. Having background
knowledge you will easily absorb difficult knowledge more easily than novices. For
example, if you like to learn about animals, the speaker mentions the knowledge
you have learned, and students are more receptive to the information that the
speaker wants to convey, since familiarity with the text makes listening easier for
the listeners as he is able to relate to his own background knowledge Gebhard
(2000). In addition, because the infrastructure in rural areas is still poor quality, the
quality of teaching is not guaranteed, leading to the knowledge of students in rural
areas is broken, even losing basic knowledge in urban areas, students can use
modern equipment for teaching and learning, so students can use modern equipment
for teaching and learning. longer memorization of knowledge, trying not to be
distracted by noise. Background knowledge, according to Vanniarajan (1990),
includes knowledge of the target culture, current events, art, politics, and literature.
The majority of listening materials in class are related to social issues, and students
rarely listen to these issues. However, in everyday life, they typically listen to topics
such as life, family, society, and so on. As a result of their lack of knowledge about
various topics, students face difficulties when dealing with unfamiliar topics. The

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topic has a significant influence on listening comprehension in the listening
material. On the one hand, understanding will be enhanced and improved if the
listener has the necessary prior knowledge. On the contrary side, if the listener has
no previous knowledge, he will have to study hard to understand what he listens.
Moreover, lack of background knowledge is an obstacle in the learning
process. Anderson and Lynch (2000) mentioned that the lack of socio-cultural,
factual, and contextual knowledge of the target language can also interfere with
understanding because the language used to express cultural show. And the link
between language and culture goes hand in hand, according to Brownell (1990). In
fact, background knowledge includes knowledge of culture, art, politics, and
literature. Culture provides language for development and, conversely, language
works to serve culture. For this reason, learners need to have knowledge of the
cultural background of the language they are learning.
2.2.4.Psychological factors

Schwartz (2005) posits that the

psychological side of a learner has
a major role in language learning
along
with the success and failure of this
process
Schwartz (2005) posits that the
psychological side of a learner has
a major role in language learning
along

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with the success and failure of this
process
Schwartz (2005) posits that the
psychological side of a learner has
a major role in language learning
along
with the success and failure of this
process.
Schwartz (2005) posits that the
psychological side of a learner has
a major role in language learning
along
with the success and failure of this
process.
Schwartz (2005) posits that the psychological side of a learner has a major
role in language learning along with the success and failure of this process.
Psychological factors are one of the problems affecting 3rd year students'
skills.Although students have quite good grammar and vocabulary knowledge, they
still have difficulty using the language to listen to understand. These are not only
problems related to linguistics but also psychological factors, it occupies a
significant position in the listening comprehension of students.To be able to hear
well, students need a solid mentality to overcome in the process of wanting to

15
improve listening skills. This section discusses the psychological problems of
students including inhibitions and dynamics.
2.2.4.1.Motivation.
Motivation is crucial to achieving success in language learning. In
particular, learning listening comprehension plays an increasingly important role in
the process of teaching and learning foreign languages. As quoted in Nguyen
(2011), Littlewood, (1984) stated that motivation is the important force that
determines whether the listener embarks on a task or not. In the process of learning
listening needs motivation to be able to support and improve their skills.
There is a close relationship between motivation and interest. Motivation is
something that encourages a student to achieve a certain goal and interest is a desire
for a student to pay attention to something. Brown (2007) asserted that motivation is
commonly thought of as an inner voice, urge , stimulus , emotion, or desire that
moves or compels a person toward a particular action or task mainly. When a
student learns listening comprehension, that student must be stimulated, we must try
to avoid boring or overly theoretical subjects, using as much as possible those
subjects that we think our students have. may be interested. Often students are
unmotivated because the topic is irrelevant; activities that are not suitable for the
student's level; or the content of the lesson is not related to the reality of the
students. When any of these limitations occurs, the student may not feel interested,
i.e. the student may not be paying attention to the class and therefore, the student
may not be engaged in the class.
According to Byrne (1988) sometimes the amount of time we have to listen without
participating can cause memory problems or even fatigue, so we eventually stop
listening with understanding. In short, their motivation has a huge influence on
how well they hear in class.
2.3. Related studies.
In the past, many researchers have conducted a number of studies related to
the problem of English listening as well as the difficulties hindering third-year
English major students. However, the content of their research is not exactly the
same, but they all share the same opinion on the factors that cause students'

16
listening difficulties. The following related studies may provide supporting
evidence for this study.
Active study in September 2013 by Janet Yu-gi Chao with the topic
"FactorsAffecting College EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension and Listening
Problems" to investigate non-English majors' English listening performance and
listening problems. Seventy-five college students participated in the study. At last,
sixty-eight valid data were used in this study. The instruments comprised of a
General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) at the intermediate level and a Listening
Comprehension Problem Questionnaire (LCPQ). The results showed that, the
listening problems met by the subjects were mainly from the input factor, followed
by the listener factor and the task factor. Most frequently encountered listening
problems included easily forgetting the content, long listening texts, not knowing
which strategy to use, unclear pronunciation, and unfamiliar intonation patterns.
In 2015 and 2016, a research team consisting of Meilisa Trismasari,
Sudarsono and Eni Rosnija conducted the survey "FACTORS INFLUENCING
ENGLISH LISTENING DIFFICULTIES" to find out the most influential factor of
English listening difficulties encountered by Year-11 students at "SMA Negeri 1
Sungai Raya" in Academic Year of 2015/2016. The research method was
descriptive. The data were collected using questionnaire with 35 items designed on
a five-point likert-type scale. The questionnaire were distributed to 38 students. The
data were analyzed by calculating the percentage of each factor. The study found
out that the students of Year-11 at "SMA Negeri 1 Sungai Raya" encountered
listening difficulties because of listening text (21.53%), speaker (21.67%), teacher
(9.72%), listener (22.18%), physical environment (24.90%); and of these factors,
physical environment was the biggest influential factor and teacher- related factors
was the last influential one.
Similarly, in 2021 a study from Amik Ludfatun Nuriah was born that is "MI
Subulussalam 1 Sriwangi Ulu, OKStudents' Difficulties in Listening for Daily
Context Course on the Second Semester of English Education Program".The
purpose of this research is to understand the problems that students encounter when
listening to the daily situational topics. The writer chose STKIP Nurul Huda's

17
second semester English Education Program, with 34 students in the second
semester. Collect data through questionnaire surveys, interviews and observations.
The questionnaire was conducted from three aspects: listening materials, listening
factors and physical environment. The research results show that there are 30
problems in listening to daily situational topics. They have 7 problems in the
listening material, 14 problems in the audience factor, and 9 problems in the
physical environment.
In short, listening practice is not an easy process, learners will encounter
some difficulties due to many factors. Although there have been many studies on
the difficulties of listening in English to discover how to improve foreign language
ability, there are still many factors that have not been clearly analyzed for learners
to apply effectively. Therefore, in this study, the author explores the factors that
cause difficulties in listening and speaking encountered by English majors at Tay
Do University, especially Junior. As a result, these students not only realize their
obstacles but also overcome and develop their foreign language ability.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH AIMS - RESEARCH QUESTION - HYPOTHESIS

(This chapter includes Research aims, Research question, and Hypothesis)
3.1. Research aims
This study aims to investigate the factors causing difficulties in listening that
English-major Juniors at Tay Do University may encounter. Thanks to this result,
students can find out their own obstacles and choose better methods to improve their
listening skills effectively. At the same time, lecturers can base on this research to
find out suitable teaching methods to help students listen English better.

18
3.2.Research questions
This study is conducted in order to answer the following questions:
- Do English-major Juniors at Tay Do University have difficulty in listening ?
- What factors are causing difficulties in listening of English Juniors at Tay Do
University ?
3.3.Research hypothesis
According to English-major Juniors of Tay Do University, listening is the most
difficult part for them during their three years of studying English. Therefore, based
on relevant references and research questions, the researcher hypothesizes that third-
year English majors at Tay Do University have difficulty listening stemming from the
following factors. factors related to language factors, listening comprehension,
background knowledge and psychological factors. These factors help students realize
the difficulties they face and thereby find ways to develop their listening skills better.

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

(In this chapter, the methodology of the research includes Research design,
Participants, Instruments, Data analysis, and Procedure)
4.1.Research design
The study is conducted to answer the research questions and test the
hypothesis. To find out the factors that cause difficulties that third-year English
majors at Tay Do University face when listening, both quantitative and qualitative
tools are used. Questionnaires are distributed to students to poll their opinions. In
addition, observation is used to enhance the specificity of the study. Finally, data from

19
questionnaires, interviews and observations will be analyzed and conclusions will be
drawn.
4.2.Participants
The study is conducted with the participation of 83 third-year English majors
from two English classes 15A and 15B of Tay Do University. Typically, the
participants are between the ages of 21 and 23 years old. They all speak Vietnamese
and consider English as a foreign language. Besides, most of them come from rural
areas and they have studied English for at least 9 years. However, most of you are
influenced in high school before, so they do not have many opportunities to practice
listening regularly in class and do not receive proper listening instruction. For this
reason, when entering Tay Do University, their listening skill level is limited and they
face many difficulties in listening to English as well as learning English. They will be
provided with questionnaires about their difficulties in listening to English to collect
data for the study.
4.3.Instruments
In this study, questionnaires and observations are the two main tools used. The
questionnaire is used to collect basic information of the students and to investigate the
problems that interfered with the students' English listening. Furthermore, to make
the study more reliable, the researcher also uses observation to confirm the hypothesis
truthfully.
4.3.1.Questionnaire
In this research, the questionnaire includes 5 questions and 20 statements and it
is classified into the following group:
Group Summary of question group
A.From 1 to 6 Students' personal background
B.From 7 to 11 The difficulties related to linguistic
factors
C.From 12 to 16 The difficulties related to listening
comprehension
D.From 17 to 21 The difficulties related to background
knowledge

20
 E.From 22 to 26 The difficulties related to background
knowledge
In group A, there are 6 questions surveying the students' English speaking skills
background. Students are asked to choose the answer that best fits their opinion. In
some cases, a specific answer will be given (sentence 4) and multiple answers will be
selected (verse 5 and 6).
The remaining group of 20 sentences related to students' difficulty in listening
English is designed on a scale of 5 levels: Strongly disagree (1), Disagree (2), Normal
(3), Agree. (4), Strongly agree (5). In this section, students are required to circle the
number next to each statement provided in the answer sheets to indicate their level of
difficulty in listening.
4.3.2. Observation
Observation is used to make the study more realistic. The researcher will
attend about 3 English speaking lessons of the participants. While observing the
activities of the participants, the researcher will recognize the difficulties that the
participants may face. At the same time, from observations during the years of
learning English, the researchers also realized the difficulties of themselves and those
around them. The researcher then takes notes, and this helps the study to be highly
accurate.
4.4. Data analysis
After data collection, the data from the questionnaire will be analyzed using
SPSS software (descriptive test, reliability test). The data from the observations are
mainly interpreted using qualitative analysis methods. All collected data will be
aggregated and calculated.
4.5. Procedure
This study is conducted for 2 weeks and the procedure was divided into 4 steps
as shown in the following table:
Duration (2 weeks) Activities in study process
Step 1: from day 1 to day 3 - Find research papers.
- Correcting the research topic.
- Submitting the framework of the

21

Step 2: from day 4 to day 7
Step 3: from day 8 to day 10
Step 4: from day 11 to day 14
research.
- Writing chapter 1,3 and 4.
- Start observing.
- Designing questionnaire.
- Delivering questionnaire to students to
collect the data.
- Analyzing the data collected from
questionnaires.
- Writing chapter 1,2 and chapter 5.
- Completing the paper.

CHAPTER 5 : EXPECTED OUTCOMES

(This chapter shows the expected results of the research)
Listening is one of the important skills in communication and language
learning of students majoring in English. However, in order to listen more easily,
English learners need to overcome their own fears and difficulties. Even so, there are
many third-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University who still have a lot
of difficulties in listening to English related to language factors (vocabular
22
grammatical structures, and pronunciation), listening comprehension (length listening,
speakers' speed of speech, different accents, and noisy environments), background
knowledge, and psychological elements (inhibition, motivation, confidence).
5.1.Linguistic factors
Difficulties related to linguistics are often encountered by most students. In
particular, pronunciation is the first factor that makes listening difficult for students
because they do not recognize the sounds that the speaker says. Besides, learners often
have difficulty listening because of lack of vocabulary and grammar, they have the
habit of having to understand all the words in a sentence to understand the content of
the lesson and need to listen many times to understand it. Therefore, learners find it
difficult to grasp all the information and do not predict what the speaker is about to
say.
5.1. Listening comprehension
Listening comprehension plays a key role for students to improve their
listening ability. However, if they have to listen for a long time, learners will feel tired
and lack concentration, sometimes they will feel confused when a large amount of
information is conveyed to them at once. In addition, students often cannot understand
the message being conveyed because the speaker speaks too fast. Equally important, a
different accent is also a factor that makes it easy for you to have difficulty in listening
comprehension, if the learner hears an unfamiliar accent like English - Philippines for
the first time after only learning American - English, or maybe, they only listen to
Vietnamese English but then listening to British English for the first time they may
have difficulty with their listening comprehension. In addition, the noisy environment
significantly affects the listening skills of the learners, leading to the listener not
absorbing the speaker's message well.
5.3.Background knowledge
Foundational knowledge is an essential component of learning a language. If
students have little or no basic knowledge of what they are hearing, they may have
difficulty receiving and responding to the speaker's message. Therefore, having good
background knowledge means that students can succeed in communication.

23
5.4. Psychological factors
Psychological problems are a barrier many students face but most
underestimate its impact. It cannot be denied that inhibition makes students' listening
skills slow to develop, students often lack motivation to practice listening, making
them feel bored when learning to listen to English, they can only improve their skills
if motivated. Besides, the lack of listening skills and shyness in communication also
make it more difficult for students to listen to English.
In general, based on the issues mentioned in the survey, the author hopes that this
study will help students recognize some difficulties in listening skills and thereby find
a better method to practice listening in English effective.

24
 REFERENCES
M. H. Dong (2022), An investigation into English – Majored students’ difficulties in
doing their listening comprehension tasks, European Journal of Foreign Language
Teaching 6(1), 90-101.
Henny Yulia, Neti Lastri (2019), An investigation of listening comprehension
problems encountered by third semester students of English education study program
at Baturaja university, Jurnal Elsa 17(1), 55-71.
K. Pratiwi, E. Andriyanti (2019), External factors causing students’ difficulties in
listening, Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics 4(2), 227-238.
N.Walker (2014), Listening: The most difficult skill to teach, Encuentro 23, 167-175.
Alex Case (2008), Why your students have problems with listening comprehension
[Online]. Available: https://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/articles/why-your-
students-have-problems-with-listening-comprehension.html .

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 APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

☺☺☺
Hi guys ! We are group 4 of Scientific Research Methodology and we come from
English 15B. We are conducting a study on An investigation into factors causing
difficulties in listening of English Juniors at Tay Do University
I would like to ask for your help. Please complete the following questionnaire
about the factors that make it difficult for you to listen to English .
Before starting this questionnaire, please fill in the following blanks,please.
Personal information
Class: ....................................................................................................................
Gender: Male Female
Age: ......................................................................................................................
Please read the following questions and circles the appropriate answer for each
question.
Give the specific answers if needed.
1. Where do you come from?
A. Urban place/ City
B. Rural/ Countryside
2. How long have you studied English?
………………….years.
3. How much time do you spend on practicing listening English per day?
………………….minute(s).
………………….hour(s).
4. What skill do you think is the most difficult?
A. Listening
B. Speaking
C. Reading
D. Writing

vii
 5. How do you evaluate your listening skills?
A.Very good
B. Good
C. Average
D. Bad
E. Very bad
6. What aspects of language affect your listening skills? (You can choose more than
one answer)
A. Linguistics
B. Listening comprehension
C. Background knowledge
D. Psychology

viii
Please read these sentence below and circle the number 5,4,3,2 or 1 on your
answer sheet to ondicate the level to each of the corresponding sentences.

Statements Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

agree
(4) (3) (2) Disagree
(5)
(1)
LINGUISTIC FACTORS
7. You cannot understand 5 4 3 2 1
the information the speaker
is expressing because of the
lack of vocabulary.
8. You lose focus and 5 4 3 2 1
cannot continue listening to
the speaker when you hear a
word you do not know yet.
9.You cannot memorize the 5 4 3 2 1
information the speaker
wants to express because
the vocabulary is not
familiar.
10. You have trouble 5 4 3 2 1
listening because you
cannot remember complex
grammatical structures.
11. You misinterpret the 5 4 3 2 1
speaker's information
because you do not
understand the grammatical
structure.
12. When listening you 5 4 3 2 1
cannot recognize familiar
words due to
mispronunciation.
13. You often apply the 5 4 3 2 1
pronunciation of your
mother tongue to English
pronunciation, which leads
ix
to difficulties in listening.
14.You misinterpret the 5 4 3 2 1
speaker's meaning when the
intonation changes.
15. You have difficulty 5 4 3 2 1
hearing words that have the
last pronunciation.
LISTENING
COMPREHENSION
16. You cannot memorize 5 4 3 2 1
and record all important
information when listening
for a long time.
17. You hear a lot of 5 4 3 2 1
information but do not
know what is important.
18. You cannot understand 5 4 3 2 1
or capture important
information from the
speaker because they speak
too fast.
19. Speakers from other 5 4 3 2 1
countries have a strange
accent and speak quickly,
making it difficult for you to
understand and capture
information.
20. Unfamiliar voices make 5 4 3 2 1
your and others'
conversations less effective.
21. Noisy environments 5 4 3 2 1
make you lose focus when
listening.
22. The noisy environment 5 4 3 2 1
makes it difficult for you to
receive information when
listening.

x
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
23. Your background 5 4 3 2 1
knowledge of the fields is
limited.
24. You lacked background 5 4 3 2 1
knowledge since high
school.
25. Because of the lack of 5 4 3 2 1
background knowledge, it is
difficult for you to absorb
the information that the
speaker wants to convey.
26. You cannot understand 5 4 3 2 1
all the information while
listening because of lack of
knowledge in different
areas.
27. Lack of background 5 4 3 2 1
knowledge hinders you in
the language learning
process.
28. Stress is the reason why 5 4 3 2 1
you cannot concentrate to
absorb information while
listening.
29. You are afraid of making 5 4 3 2 1
mistakes when checking
your answers after listening
to the tapes in front of the
class.
30. Small classrooms, poor 5 4 3 2 1
quality equipment make you
not interested in listening to
English.
31. Poor listening 5 4 3 2 1
comprehension makes you
have low self-esteem, not

xi
daring to face the
difficulties ahead.
32. There is no motivation 5 4 3 2 1
that makes you uninterested
in practicing your listening
skills.
33. You are not motivated to 5 4 3 2 1
listen to English because the
topic is irrelevant, not
suitable for your level and
the content is not connected
with reality.
34. You have to listen to 5 4 3 2 1
English for too long,
making you feel tired and
depressed, not motivated to
continue listening.

♥Thanks for your kind help !!!♥

xii
xiii