VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
----------o0o----------

PHẠM THỊ VINH

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRST – YEAR – STUDENTS’
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING AT
FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY,
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (HAUI)

(Thái độ của sinh viên năm nhất ngành công nghệ kỹ thuật điện
đối với việc học nghe tại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2014


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
----------o0o----------

PHẠM THỊ VINH

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRST – YEAR – STUDENTS’

ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING AT
FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY,
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (HAUI)

(Thái độ của sinh viên năm nhất ngành công nghệ kỹ thuật điện
đối với việc học nghe tại trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Trần Thị Tuyết

Hanoi – 2014


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby state that I: Phạm Thị Vinh, am the author of the thesis entitled “An
investigation into the first - year - students‟ attitudes towards learning English
listening at faculty of Electrical Engineering Technology, Hanoi University of
Industry (HaUI)”, which is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master
of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University, and this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees.

Ha noi, 2014

Phạm Thị Vinh

i



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Tran Thi
Tuyet, my honorable supervisor for her great guidance and encouragement without
which the study would not be completed. Her patience and the amount of time she
spent on revising manuscripts with muddled up contents have been truly
appreciated. Besides, her sense of thoughtful criticism and recognition of the work
have played a crucial role to the progress and completion of this study.
I also take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to all of my course
instructors and lecturers of the University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable advice and suggestions
throughout my study.
In addition, I am appreciative of my first - year - Electrical Engineering
Technology students as well as my colleagues at Hanoi University of Industry for
their wholehearted cooperation in participating in survey questionnaires and
interviews which gave great help to form a significant part of this study.
Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to all those who have kindly
advised and helped me towards the completion of my study report.

ii


ABSTRACT
The current study sheds light on attitude which is considered one of the most key
factors affecting learners‟ achievement in foreign language learning. It can be seen
that attitude varies and different students lead different attitudes. Thus, this study
was conducted to examine attitudes of the first – year – Electrical Engineering
Technology students towards learning English listening at Hanoi University of
Industry. The 120 male students and 5 teachers involved in this study. Also,
questionnaire and interview were chosen as the instruments for data collection. In
the context of the study, it mainly focused on the influence of some determinant

factors (learners‟ factors, teachers‟ factors and learning environment‟ factors) on
students to evaluate their attitudes towards learning listening skills. Overall, the
findings indicated that the participants kept negative attitudes towards learning
English listening. Some possible causes accounted for their unfavorable attitudes
could be named as their disinterest, limited level of English, uncreative teaching
methods, poor learning conditions and inappropriate materials. Based on the
research findings, some recommendations were discussed to foster positive attitudes
towards learning listening skills.
Keywords: Attitude, language learning, questionnaire and interview, learners‟
factors, teachers‟ factors and learning environment‟s factors

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................iv
LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS .................................................................................... vii
LIST OF APPENDICES............................................................................................. vii
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viii
PART A: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
1.

Rationale ........................................................................................................... 1

2.

Aims of the study .............................................................................................. 2


3.

Research questions ........................................................................................... 3

4.

Method of the study ......................................................................................... 3

5.

Scope of the study ............................................................................................. 3

6.

Significance of the study .................................................................................. 4

7.

Organization of the study ................................................................................ 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 6
1.1.

Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning listening
skills in Vietnamese context ............................................................................ 6

1.1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 6
1.1.2. The teaching and learning of listening skills in the Vietnamese

context………………………………………………………………………...7
1.2.

Individual differences influencing on students’ success in learning
English listening skills ..................................................................................... 8

1.3.

The concepts of attitude ................................................................................... 10

1.3.1. Definitions of attitude ...................................................................................... 10
iv


1.3.2. Role of attitudes in students’ language learning ........................................... 11
1.3.3. Factors affecting students’ attitudes towards language learning ................ 12
1.4.

Summary ........................................................................................................... 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 16
2.1.

The setting ......................................................................................................... 16

2.1.1. The students’ background information at HaUI .......................................... 16
2.1.2. The English teachers at HaUI ......................................................................... 16
2.1.3. A brief description of the English course ....................................................... 17
2.2.


The study ........................................................................................................... 18

2.2.1. The participants ............................................................................................... 18
2.2.2. The instruments ................................................................................................ 19
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 21
3.1.

Data analysis of the students’ questionnaire ................................................. 21

3.1.1. The influence of internal factors on students’ attitudes ............................... 21
3.1.1.1.

Students’ perception .................................................................................... 22

3.1.1.2.

Students’ interest ......................................................................................... 23

3.1.1.3.

Students’ ability ........................................................................................... 24

3.1.2. The influence of external factors on students’ attitudes .............................. 25
3.1.2.1.

Teachers’ factors ........................................................................................ 26

3.1.2.1.1. Teachers’ behaviors ..................................................................................... 26
3.1.2.1.2. Teachers’ practices ...................................................................................... 27
3.1.2.2.


Learning environment’s factors ................................................................ 29

3.1.2.2.1. Learning conditions ..................................................................................... 29
3.1.2.2.2. Listening materials ...................................................................................... 30
3.1.3. Summary from students’ questionnaire ........................................................ 31
3.2.

Data analysis from teachers’ interviews ........................................................ 31

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..................................................... 33
4.1.

Students hold negative attitudes towards learning English

listening……………………………………………………………………...............33
v


4.2.

Some factors leading to students’ negative attitudes
towards learning listening skills ..................................................................... 34

4.3.

Suggestions to foster students’ positive attitudes .......................................... 36

PART C: CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 38
1. Summary of the study ........................................................................................... 38

2. Limitations ............................................................................................................. 39
3. Suggestions for further studies ............................................................................. 39
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 40
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................................... VI
APPENDIX 3 ............................................................................................................... XI

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HaUI

Hanoi University of Industry

ESL

English as a second language

LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: STUDENTS‟QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese version)
APPENDIX 2: STUDENTS‟QUESTIONNAIRE (English version)
APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

vii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Students‟ perception

Table 2: Students‟ interest
Table 3: Students‟ ability
Table 4: Teachers‟ behaviors
Table 5: Teachers‟ practices
Table 6: Learning conditions
Table 7: Listening materials

viii


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
English is known as an international language that is widely used to
communicate in all fields of the life such as science, technology, culture,
education, economy and so on. Therefore, mastering English has become an
essential requirement in many nations all over the world as well as in Vietnam.
In Vietnamese educational system, one of the most concerned problems is how
to help teachers and students teach and learn English effectively. English has
been introduced as a compulsory subject at grade three in most Vietnamese
primary schools, so English learning process extends through primary school,
secondary school, high school and university. Communicative competence is
required as the ultimate aim of foreign language teaching and learning in all
schools; it means that students are required to focus on all four skills, namely
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. However, in reality, the emphasis on
some basic knowledge of English in terms of grammar, vocabulary, reading
comprehension or written forms is seen for the purposes of examinations instead
of communicative purposes in many Vietnamese schools (Hoang, 2010). As the
result, it is likely that the majority of Vietnamese students are good at grammar,
writing, and reading but weak in listening and speaking (Nguyen, 2008). Among
four skills, listening skill seems to be the most difficult to students. They have to

face much trouble in learning English listening skills.
In English as second language learning context (ESL), many studies have
been conducted on how to teach and learn listening skills effectively. Numbers
of them have shown that various factors have strong impacts on the success of
learning English language in general and learning English listening in particular.
These factors can be motivation, anxiety, attitudes, aptitudes, intelligence,
personalities, age, etc. (Gardner, 1960; Lehmann, 2006 - cited in Shames, 2008).
Among them, the matter of attitudes is one of the most crucial features affecting
second language learning. It is said that both positive and negative attitudes have
1


associated with learners‟ language learning. Positive attitudes can enhance
students‟ language learning and help them achieve their goal easier; meanwhile,
negative ones can decrease it (Ellis, 1994).
As an English teacher at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), I have
recognized that my students, especially the freshmen met many difficulties in
learning listening skills. All of them have learnt English for at least 7 years;
however, their listening abilities were quite poor. As far as I has observed, my
students reflected different attitudes towards learning listening skills. Some
students showed their favorable attitudes and wanted to improve their listening
abilities, but others felt uncomfortable and under pressured in listening lessons.
Hence, I think it is vital to identify students‟ attitudes to learning English
listening. After identifying students‟ attitudes, we can also find out some reasons
for their favorable or unfavorable attitudes to facilitate positive attitudes and
limit negative attitudes towards learning listening skills.
For all what I have just mentioned, I decide to choose the topic “An
investigation into the first – year – students‟ attitudes towards learning English
listening at faculty of Electrical Engineering Technology, Hanoi University of
Industry (HaUI)” for my minor thesis. Hopefully, the efforts in doing this

research can contribute effectively to help my students overcome their
difficulties, and make them feel more comfortable in practicing English listening
and assist them in improving their listening skills.
2. Aims of the study
The study is conducted to identify the Electrical Engineering Technology
students‟ attitudes towards learning listening skills.
The specific aims of the research are as follows:
-

The study investigates the students‟ attitudes at HaUI towards
learning English listening.

-

The study aims to find out factors affecting their attitudes towards
learning English listening.

2


-

Then the study can provide some suggestions to facilitate students‟
positive attitudes in their listening learning process.

3. Research questions
In order to classify the aims, the paper answers the following research questions:
1. What are the first – year – Electrical Engineering Technology
students‟ attitudes towards learning English listening?
2. What should be done to foster students‟ positive attitudes towards

learning English listening?
4. Method of the study
Both quantitative method and qualitative method were used; however, the
quantitative one was the main focus. The quantitative data was collected through
students‟ questionnaire to examine the first – year – students‟ attitudes at faculty of
Electrical Engineering Technology at HaUI School towards learning listening skills.
In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, qualitative
method was applied with semi - structured interviews for teachers to check
students‟ attitudes in class. Then, some guides were drawn to help students have
positive attitudes to learn English listening. All the comments, remarks,
recommendations and conclusions provided in the study were based on the data
analysis of the study.
5. Scope of the study
Due to the limited time and within an M.A. minor thesis, the study mainly
concentrates on investigating students‟ attitudes towards learning English listening
in a case of the first- year students at the faculty of Electrical Engineering
Technology at HaUI School. All of them has been studied English for at least seven
years and they have continued to learn English as a fundamental subject in the
university. The researcher intends to discover the attitudes of the target population
towards learning English listening; then offers some recommendations to foster
students‟ positive attitudes to learning listening skills.

3


6. Significance of the study
Conducting this study is necessary because it sheds light on one of the most
significant factors claimed to affect learners‟ language learning. In fact, identifying
attitudes is beneficial to students, teachers and researchers as well. Most
importantly, the results of the research may give the answer to the question whether

students‟ attitudes are in line with the aim of facilitating positive attitudes towards
learning English listening. At tertiary level, it is essential to impart language
programmers by realizing the right attitudes perceived by students because there is a
strong correlation between attitudes and language learning achievement. Last but
not least, such efforts in the study hope to contribute to the development of
educational field by instilling in students more interest in learning English
listening and stimulating them to accomplish higher English language
proficiency.
7. Organization of the study
The study is divided into three parts: the Introduction, the Development and the
Conclusion.
Part A: Introduction – deals with the rationale, aims, scope, methods,
significance and organization of the study. It expresses the reason why the
researcher chooses this study and the methods for the fulfillment of the study.
Part B: Development – consists of four chapters.
Chapter 1 – Literature Review – is intended to give some theoretical background
related to listening skills, individual differences influencing on students‟ success in
learning listening skills, the attitude concepts and some components affecting
students‟ attitudes.
Chapter 2 – Methodology – reviews the setting of the study, participants, data
collection instruments, data collection procedures.
Chapter 3 – Data analysis – provides a comprehensive analysis on the collected data
from questionnaire and interviews

4


Chapter 4 – Findings and suggestions – discuss some major findings and also offers
some recommendations to facilitate positive attitudes of students to learn listening
skills.

Part C – Conclusion – presents a summary of the study, limitations of the
study and suggestions for the further research.

5


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
To provide a theoretical background to the study, this chapter is devoted to the
reexamination of concepts most relevant to the thesis‟s topic. Firstly, the overview
of the current situation of learning and teaching listening skills in Vietnamese
context is taken into consideration. Besides, individual differences influencing on
students‟ success in language learning as well as learning listening skills are also
discussed. Lastly, some theories involving concepts of attitude (definitions, its role
and some components affecting attitudes) are also introduced.
1.5.

Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning listening
skills in Vietnamese context

1.5.1. Introduction
Richards and Renandya‟s research (2002) reveals that listening skills were not given
much attention by researchers as well as ESL learners in the early history of
language teaching. Sharing the same view, Mendelsohn (1994:9) states that the
teaching of listening skills is almost ignored and less concerned. Also, listening
skills in the second language learning area are neglected (Chiang & Dunkel, 1992).
However, the attention to learning and teaching listening skills has been recently
increased and gone along with the development of English language teaching. The
importance of teaching and learning listening skills is considerably emphasized with
the discovery of Communicative Language Teaching where it is believed that

learners learn mainly through the act of communication (Helgesen, 2007: 25).
Miller (2003) points out that there has been a growing interest in the theory and
practice of listening skills dedicated to understanding the nature of listening and to
developing effective listening skills and materials. Thus, it can be seen that many
concerns about teaching and learning listening skills have been raised to ESL
communities recently.

6


1.5.2. The teaching and learning of listening skills in the Vietnamese context
The significance of English teaching has been emphasized considerably in
Vietnamese education system since 1980s after Đổi mới policy. English is a
compulsory subject at both lower and upper secondary levels and an elective subject
in primary levels. At tertiary, English is also introduced as a compulsory subject to
all students. However, Nguyen (2008) states that many students are normally good
at doing exercises of written forms, these forms of exercises mostly concern
grammar, reading or writing comprehension; they have many difficulties in
speaking and listening. Nguyen also claims that many Vietnamese students still
cannot communicate successfully with foreigners even in simple daily
conversations despite the fact that they are good students with high marks in
English tests. In Vietnamese context, this situation is understandable because there
are some common problems in teaching and learning English in general and
listening skills in particular.
The first problem lies on the quality of the teaching staff. Most English teachers in
Vietnamese schools are deeply influenced by grammar – translation method (Le,
2011). Hence, there is a lack of skillful and professional staff in terms of language
knowledge and methodology, practicing communicative skills and updating modern
technologies in language teaching. Besides, teachers of English have limited
opportunities to communicate in person with foreigners or native speakers at

schools. It is claimed that many of them do not normally communicative in English
fluently, so it raises the question of how they can deal with teaching skills that
mainly depend on communicative interactions.
Second, despite the emphasis on the development of practicing communicative
skills, it is rarely reflected in classrooms (Hoang, 2010). He claims that most
Vietnamese schools and Vietnamese students mainly focus on the importance of
reading comprehension, vocabulary or some structures for the purpose of passing
the entrance examinations into colleges or universities. Thus, it can be indicated that
due to the neglect in listening skills in language classes as well as the unawareness

7


of the importance of listening skills, it causes Vietnamese learners‟ weakness in
English listening skills. In addition, the majority of students have few chances to
interact with English foreigners at schools, except in some urban schools.
Therefore, understandably they have to struggle with many difficulties in using
English in actual situations.
Third, the insufficiency of poor facilities and teaching materials also causes the
difficulties for Vietnamese learners in learning English in general and listening
skills in particular (Hoang, 2010). In fact, the average class of forty-five to fifty
students with poor facilities such as low lighting, inadequate ventilation, and
inoperative heating and cooling systems can have negative impacts on the learning
of Vietnamese students. Besides, limited materials for teachers and students,
including supplementary exercises, methodology or training books, dictionaries,
magazine

or newspapers in English, tapes and recorders are also barriers in

listening teaching and learning process.

In sum, it might be said that in Vietnamese context, there are many
limitations on the development of teaching and learning English communicative
skills in general and listening skills in particular. Listening seems to be the most
challenging skill for most students and they have to suffer from numbers of
difficulties in their learning of listening skills. Accordingly, it causes much trouble
for all teachers and authorities to help students increase their listening proficiency.
Therefore, finding solutions to this situation is necessary despite the fact that it may
require much time and energy.
1.2. Individual differences influencing on students’ success in learning English
listening skills
As have been said in the previous part, most students have to face with many
difficulties in learning listening skills. A challenging question raised among
teachers as well as researchers is that how to improve students‟ listening abilities
and help them achieve success in their English listening learning. However, under
the same circumstance, some students gain much higher proficiency in learning

8


English skills and some do not make any progress. This can be explained with
individual differences among learners. Individual differences stand for the variation
or deviations among individuals in regard to a single characteristic or numbers of
characteristics. Obviously, each student is an independent individual with various
characteristics. In foreign language context, researchers have confirmed that
individual differences have strong impacts on the success of English language
learning in general and learning English listening in particular (Oxford, 1990; Ellis,
1994; Cook, 1996).
Oxford (1990) notes that individual characteristics affecting language
learning are very complicated, including motivation, attitudes, language anxiety,
self-confidence, language aptitude, family size, and personality variables.

Sharing similar view with Oxford, Skehan (1991) also suggests that
individual differences such as aptitude, motivation, learner strategies and learner
styles are the factors affecting language learning achievement.
Similarly, Lightbown and Spada (1999) claim that “many of us believe that
learners have certain characteristics which lead to more or less successful language
learning”. They believe that learners possess characteristics such as personality,
intelligence, aptitudes, ages and attitudes and motivation which can determine more
or less successful language learning.
In sum, from the opinions of the researchers above, it can be concluded that
there is a great variety of learners‟ individual factors affecting students‟ second
language learning. Among these factors, scholars have recently spent considerable
attention to the impact of students‟ attitudes on language learning (Gardner, 1985;
Baker, 1992; Fakey, 2000). Attitude is suggested to be one of the key predominant
factors affecting learners‟ success in language learning and conducting attitudinal
research in the field of language learning is essential. Therefore, this study was
designed to investigate the impact of attitude on students‟ language learning.

9


1.3. The concepts of attitude
1.3.1. Definitions of attitude
Many researchers refer to different definitions of attitude from various
aspects. Especially, they distinguish language attitude from general attitudes by the
fact that language attitudes are precisely about language (Faso, 1984:148). It can be
understood that language attitude refers to attitude people hold towards language.
Ryan and Giles (1982) define language attitude as “any affective, cognitive and
behavioral index of evaluative reactions towards different language varieties or their
speakers”. According to their opinions, attitude is the way we feel, think and behave
to different languages in a particular situation.

Sharing the same view about attitude, Gardner (1985) mentions that “an
individual‟s attitude is an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object on
the basis of the individual‟s beliefs or opinions about the referent”. It also means
that people‟s beliefs or perceptions can lead their attitude favorably or unfavorably
to an object.
Based on Gardner‟s argument, Wenden (1991) refines a comprehensive definition
of the attitude concept. He categorizes attitude concept into three components:
behavioral, cognitive and affective. The behavioral aspect of attitude mentions the
way one behaves in a specific context. The cognitive component refers to the
beliefs, ideas or opinions about the object of the attitude. The affective one is
expressed through the feeling of “like” or “dislike” the objects or surrounding
situations. The three components are interrelated and they are always present
whenever a person holds an attitude.
Also, Baker (1992:10) defines attitude as “a hypothetical construct used to explain
the direction and persistence of human behavior”. From this point of view, attitude
interprets the way human beings act and behave in a consistent manner towards an
object.
Looking from a different angle, Brown (1994:168) also suggests that “ Attitudes,
like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop

10


early in childhood and are the result of parents‟ and peer‟s attitudes, contact with
people who are different in any number of ways and interacting affective factors in
the human experience”. Here it seems that attitude is formed through a long process
and it is affected by many factors in the daily lives of each person.
In sum, most of the definitions have indicated that, attitude can be
understood as an emotion that has a considerable influence on behaviors of human
beings. People‟s reactions and responses toward certain things in general and

toward a specific language depend on attitude to this language. Therefore, attitude is
an important concept in second language learning.
1.3.2. Role of attitudes in students’ language learning
Considering the role of attitudes in learning a language, many studies have
shown that there is a reciprocal relationship between learners‟ attitudes and their
language learning. Attitudes towards a particular language might be either positive
or negative; some individuals might possess neutral feelings. In fact, both negative
and positive attitudes partly decide the success or failure of second language
learning.
It is believed that those who keep the positive attitudes towards the target language
can attain higher proficiency in language learning. Gardner and Lambert (1972) in
their extensive studies provide evidence that positive attitudes towards a language
can enhance students‟ proficiency. Also, Brown (2000:181) discusses several
studies about the effects of attitudes on language learning and concludes that
“positive attitudes towards the self, the native language group, and the target
language group enhanced proficiency”.
Karahan (2007:84) states that “positive language attitudes let learner have positive
orientation towards learning English”. He believes that students become more active
in their learning process when they hold the favorable attitudes, so their positive
attitudes can help them access to the target language easier.
Brown (2000:181) also supports this opinion when he claims that second language
learners benefit from positive attitudes and negative attitudes may lead to decreased

11


motivation, and in all likelihood, because of the decreases input and interaction, to
unsuccessful attainment of proficiency. It seems that learners with positive attitudes
can become successful in achieving their goals whereas those with negative
attitudes find it difficult to acquire the expected level of proficiency in language

learning.
From all of these views, it is evident that attitude is considered as one of the
most crucial elements impacting to the students‟ achievement in language learning.
It is obvious that second language learners gain many benefits when they possess
positive attitudes. Therefore, it is essential to discover students‟ attitudes towards
their target language to facilitate their positive attitudes and limit their negative
ones.
1.3.3. Factors affecting students’ attitudes towards language learning
In second or foreign language learning, attitude has recently received
remarkable attention from language researchers (Gardner, 1985; Baker, 1992;
Dornyei, 2001). They share the opinions that there are numbers of different factors
affecting students‟ attitudes towards language learning. In the context of this study,
some of internal and external factors are considered as determinant factors directly
influencing students‟ attitudes would be discussed.
Kumaravadivelu (2006) states that attitudes are “the matter of individual
differences”, so different students lead different attitudes. Thus, internal factors
namely students‟ perception, students‟ interest and students‟ ability are considered
to be the key factors affecting students „attitudes.
Perception is a way of thinking or point of view of each person, so each
learner has certain perceptions about the target language. Such individualized
perceptions shape what students think, how they make decisions, and how they
define what is important. Therefore, the way students perform their thinking
(perceptions) is what results in their attitudes (Walther & Langer, 2008: 87)
In addition, learners‟ interest to a specific subject also has a strong impact on
their attitudes. It is suggested that the inner feelings and emotions of learners

12


influence their attitudes towards the target language (Choy & Troudi, 2006).

Students with interest in a subject are likely to be more motivated to manage their
own learning and develop the requisite skills to become effective learners of that
subject. In contrast, low enjoyment can become a barrier leading to students‟
negative attitudes in their learning process.
Also, another internal factor that influences students‟ attitudes towards
learning language is the level of ability. It is generally agreed that the ability to
learn a language and the attitudes to that language are in some way correlated
(Baker, 1992; Gardner 1985). They argue that the ability of language learning, a
high proficiency level and achievement in the second language will enhance
favorable attitudes towards the target language. Hence, students‟ attitudes are also
in direct relation to their ability.
Apart from internal factors, external factors also have strong impacts on the
development of students‟ attitudes. Masgoret and Gardner (2003) believes that
learner‟s attitudes towards the learning situation can be elicited through their
evaluation

of

the

course,

the

teacher,

the

materials


and/or

teaching

environment. Thus, it is inferred that students‟ attitudes are affected directly from
factors associated with teachers and learning environment.
Indeed, a number of studies have indicated that behaviors of the teacher are
very important in the formation of students' attitudes (Fontana, 1988; Moore, 1993).
Good and Brophy (1994 - cited in Dornyei, 2001: 121) claim that the teacher should
be a patient, encouraging person who supports students‟ learning efforts. Thus, it is
believed that good behaviors of teachers towards learning might have a beneficial
impact on students‟ attitudes towards education in general and the target language
in particular. Such attitudes are useful to students, for example; help bring interest,
enjoyment and fun in classroom, etc.
Furthermore, teachers‟ practices in class are also worth mentioning. It is
reasonably assumed that there is an essential link between teachers‟ practices and
students‟ attitudes (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003). Hammer (2001) suggests that a

13


teacher is a person with multiple roles such as subject specialist, classroom director,
employee and curriculum implementer. Thus, teachers‟ practices should guarantee
leadership or guiding role in the teaching and learning context. Teachers need
guides and instructions to help students actively participate in class activities.
Therefore, teachers‟ practices are extremely influential on students‟ attitudes in the
learning process.
Additionally, it has been shown that students‟ attitudes towards learning are
closely linked to learning environment (Entwistle & Entwistle 1991, 2003).
Learning environment can be considered as the combination of learning conditions

and learning materials.
Learning conditions can form positive or negative attitudes of students in
learning process. In fact, such elements as infrastructure, class size and class
atmosphere can affect learners‟ attitudes towards their learning (Wolf & Fraser,
2007). For instance, the number of students in a class is quite large with 40 or 50
students; it can easily make noises and lead students to lose concentration in
lessons. Accordingly, students can feel tired and they may have disfavored attitudes
to their learning.
Also, it is said that materials such as textbooks, referent books, video and
audio tapes, visual aids, etc…have attribution to shape learners‟ attitudes (Garden,
1985:40). As the matter of fact, materials should be designed appropriate for
learners‟ needs and interest. If materials meet students‟ needs, they can encourage
students‟ positive attitudes towards language learning. However, if materials cannot
make students satisfied, they can demotivate students and then they may lead
students to negative attitudes.
1.4.

Summary
This chapter has presented relevant literature, which has helped to form the

theoretical framework for the study. Through what have been discussed in this
chapter, it is important to reconfirm that in foreign language learning, students‟
attitude becomes an essential component in language learning context in general

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and in learning listening skills in particular. Moreover, in the case of this study, two
groups of factors that play a vital role in influencing students‟ attitudes are taken
into consideration. The first group is internal factors associated with the students

themselves (students‟ perception, interest or ability). The second one is external
factors associated with teachers (teachers‟ behaviors and teachers‟ practices) and
learning environment (learning conditions and materials).
In sum, from what I have mentioned above, it is essential to conduct this
research to investigate the first – year – Electrical Engineering Technology
students‟ attitudes towards learning English listening.

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