This study investigates the teaching and learning of listening in a Thai university fundamental English course. The investigation considers how listening is taught both in the classroom and in the Self-access Learning Centre (SALC). It takes into account what happens in the classroom and the SALC. It also examines the attitudes towards the teaching and learning of listening of the teachers, students, board of directors and textbook writers. The study was conducted at the Language Institute, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. It was carried out through a qualitative analysis of data obtained from: (1) semi-structured interviews with the different parties; (2) semi-structured observations of five classes; (3) informal SALC observation forms completed by the students using the centre; (4) self-access learning reports/portfolios completed by students from the five classes observed; and (5) two documents about the course: the Language Institute Booklet and the course outline. The main findings are as follows. First, the lesson format used by the teachers is similar to the lesson format used in the early days of the 1950s in that the focus was on the pre-listening stage. Second, three aspects regarding the textbook listening activities were evaluated by the different parties: (1) the (in)appropriate level of difficulty; (2) the lack of authentic materials; and (3) the disappointment with word recognition listening exercises. Third, the majority of students were against listening assessment as they believed that they lack the ability to do the test. On the other hand, one of the directors and four teachers were clearly in favour of assessment. Fourth, the SALC was seen as a very low priority as it was found that some informants never or only rarely visit the centre. Fifth, none of the 170 students, including the interviewees, chose to practise their listening skills using the commercial listening materials provided in SALC 4. The study ends with the insights and recommendations for second language listening pedagogy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:676291 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Ratanapruks, Alisa |
| Publisher | University of Essex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/15507/ |
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