EFFECTS OF LISTENING CONTENT ON STUDENTS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION AS PERCEIVED BY FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT UET, VNU =

Abstract

Listening plays a significant role in daily communication as well as educational process. In spite of its importance, listening has long been neglected by many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. However, in recent years there has been an up-trend focus on listening ability because of its considerable importance in language learning and teaching. Listening comprehension is undoubtedly a struggling task for EFL learners because it has to cope with not only distinctive phonological features such as accents, stress and intonation but also cultural background knowledge. In other words, many factors are attributed to set barriers to EFL learners’ listening comprehension, among which listening content is considered significant. The study investigates the current situation of dealing with the content of listening text among first-year students at University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Vietnam National University (VNU). In detail, the researcher tries to find to what extents and why listening content impacts EFL students’ listening comprehension. The informants comprises 59 first-year students who are not specialized in English from two separate classes at UET, VNU and their two teachers of English. The data were collected from questionnaire for the students and interviews of the lecturers. The results shows great influence of listening content on students’ comprehending. It also reveals a bitter fact about strategies students adapt to deal with the challenges listening content putting on them. Findings based on the review of the literature along with analysis of the data are of great significance and can be advantageous to improve EFL learners' English listening comprehension skill by easing the impacts of the content of listening text.