people's democratic and republic of algeria ministry of high education and scientific research ...

66 Pages·2015·2.87 MB·English

PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA
MINISTRY OF HIGH EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
UNVERSITY OF TLEMCEN
FACULTY OF ARTS AND LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
SECTION OF ENGLISH

LISTENING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES AND

DIFFICULTIES

THE CASE OF FIRST-YEAR EFL LEARNERS AT THE
UNIVERSITY O F TLEMCEN
D issertation Submitted to the Department of English as a Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirement for the Master Degree in Language Studies.

Presented by: supervised by:
Ms. Beloudnine Fatima Zohra Dr.Khaldi Anissa

Board of Examiners
Dr. Djebbari zakia President (University of Tlemcen)
Dr. Khaldi Anissa Supervisor (University of Tlemcen)
Mr. Ben Safa Abdel kadder Internal Examiner (University of Tlemcen)

Academic Year: 2014-2015
DEDICATION
I dedicate this thesis to:
My lovely mother
The memory of my father
My sisters and brother
The children: Mohamed; Kheira; Ismail; Chaimae.
My fiancé and his family
My friends

I
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr KHALDI
Anissa for her guidance and valuable comments. I extend my gratitude to
the teachers who helped me in this study and the members of examiners
for having accepted to read and examine my dissertation. Last but not
least, great thanks go to all who helped me with encouragement and
support which have never ceased all along the preparation of my work.
II
Abstract
The present work is devoted to an assessment of EFL students’ difficulties and
strategy use in listening comprehension. It undertakes a classroom investigation
at the level of first year students in the department of English at Abou Bakr
BELKAID university, Tlemcen. Different research instruments were
administered to first- year EFL learners and some of their teachers. After
analyzing the data quantitatively and qualitatively the main findings clearly
showed that listening is the most difficult and complex skill to learners. The
results also showed that learners face some obstacles related to: speech rate,
memory limitation, lack of prior knowledge and other difficulties. Furthermore,
listening is far more complicated, which requires the use of appropriate
strategies in order to improve the learners’ achievement. However, first year
EFL learners lack using sound strategies.
III
TABLE OF CONTENT

Dedication…………………………………………………………………….Ⅰ
Aknowledgements……………………………………………………………..Ⅱ
Abstract…………………………………………………………....................Ⅲ
Table of Content………………………………………………………………Ⅳ
List of Abbreviation…………………………………………………………..Ⅶ
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………Ⅷ
List of Graphs ……………………………………………………………….Ⅸ
GENERAL INTRODUCTION………………………………………………02
CHAPTER ONE: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1.1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………05
1.2. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPEECH AND WRITING………….05
1.3. THE DEFINITION OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION…..………..06
1.4. THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION…………08
1.5. THE STATUS OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN EFL
INSTRUCTION……………………………………..…………………09
1.6. LEARNING STRATEGIES AND LISTENING STRATEGIES……….10
1.7. LISTENING DIFFICULTIES…………………………………………14
1.7.1. The Level of Difficulty………………………………………….14
1.7.2. The Variables That Affecting the Difficulty……………………15
1.7.2.1. Speech Rate………………………………………………16
IV
1.7.2.1.1. Some Problematic Features …………………………17
1.7.3. Cultural Background Knowledge………………………………18
1.7.4. Memory and Listening Comprehension……………………….19
1.8. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………..20
CHAPTER TWO: CASE STUDY
2.1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………..22
2.2. ELT IN ALGERIA……………………………………………………….22
2.3. TEACHING ENGLISH IN SCHOOLS…………………………………..23
2.4. THE LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT THE DEPARTEMENT OF
ENGLISH……………………………………………………………………..24
2.5. RESEARCH DESIGN…………………………………………………….25
2.6. SAMPLE POPULATION…………………………………………………25
2.6.1. Teachers’ Profile………………………………………………….25
2.6.2. Learners’ Profile………………………………………………….26
2.7. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS……………………………………………26
2.7.1. Students’ Questionnaire…………………………………………..26
2.7.2. Teachers’ Interview ………………………………………………27
2.8. DATA ANALYSIS ………………………………………………………28
2.8.1. Students’ Questionnaire……………………………………………29
2.8.2. Teachers’ Interview………………………………………………..33
2.9. DATA INTERPRETATION……………………………………………..36
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2.10. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………37
CHAPTER THREE: SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………40
3.2. TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE LISTENING ………………….40
3.3 TEACHING LISTENING STRATEGIES……………………………….40
3.4. EXPLICIT STRATEGY INSTRUCTION……………………………...41
3.4. DEVELOPING LEARNERS’ LINGUISTIC PROFICIENCY………...42
3.5. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN STRATEGY INSTRUCTION…..44
3.6. THE IMPACT OF STRATEGY INSTRUCTION……………………..45
3.7. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………47
GENERAL CONCLUSION………………………………………………...49
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………...…52
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………….58
APPENDIX ‘A’: Students’ Questionnaire…………………………………..58
APPENDIX ‘B’: Teachers’ Interview……………………………………….60

VI
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a foreign language
ELT: English language teaching
FL: Foreign learners
L1: Mother tongue
L2: Second language
VII
LIST OF TABLES

Table.1.1. Listening Comprehension Strategies
Table.2.1. The Learners’ Preferable Skills
Table.2.2. The Difficulties Encountered By The Learners In Listening
Comprehension
Table.2.3. The Strategies Used By The Learners When Listening

VIII
LIST OF GRAPHS

Gragh.2.1. Comparing Listening With Other Skills
Graph.2.2. Evaluating the Students’ Comprehension
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