Engaging learners of English through the use of authentic learning materials both inside and outside the classrooms has always been a challenge for teachers in non-native English speaking environments such as Vietnam. TED talks have been proposed as a resource that perfectly caters this need. This study investigated English-majored students' perspectives on the use of TED talks for extensive listening with a focus on three aspects: (1) students' current practices in using TED talks for extensive listening, (2) the benefits of using TED talks for extensive listening, and (3) the difficulties students encountered in using TED talks. Employing a mix-method approach, a questionnaire was designed, amining to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data and administered to 191 English-majored students at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Findings revealed that students were highly aware of the value of watching TED talks for improving their listening skills, yet watching these talks has not yet become an established habit among the students. TED talks were also perceived as highly beneficial to students, especially in terms of general listening skills improvement, background knowledge of specific topics and important academic skills. Vocabulary complexity, speakers' accents, speech rate, motivation, concentration, and cultural barriers were reported to be key factors hindering their efforts and effectiveness in listening practice. The study provides important implications for students, teachers and program administrators to develop action plans and training programs that better support students in employing this resource for effective listening practice and development.
Engaging learners of English through the use of authentic learning materials both inside and outside the classrooms has always been a challenge for teachers in non-native English speaking environments such as Vietnam. TED talks have been proposed as a resource that perfectly caters this need. This study investigated English-majored students' perspectives on the use of TED talks for extensive listening with a focus on three aspects: (1) students' current practices in using TED talks for extensive listening, (2) the benefits of using TED talks for extensive listening, and (3) the difficulties students encountered in using TED talks. Employing a mix-method approach, a questionnaire was designed, amining to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data and administered to 191 English-majored students at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Findings revealed that students were highly aware of the value of watching TED talks for improving their listening skills, yet watching these talks has not yet become an established habit among the students. TED talks were also perceived as highly beneficial to students, especially in terms of general listening skills improvement, background knowledge of specific topics and important academic skills. Vocabulary complexity, speakers' accents, speech rate, motivation, concentration, and cultural barriers were reported to be key factors hindering their efforts and effectiveness in listening practice. The study provides important implications for students, teachers and program administrators to develop action plans and training programs that better support students in employing this resource for effective listening practice and development.
Room 2 (Meeting Room No.4) VietTESOL International Convention 2022 convention@viettesol.org.vnTechnical Issues?
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