Teaching Listening Skills for English Non-Majored Students at Ba Ria - Vung Tau University: Difficulties and Solutions

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate the teaching of listening skills at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. Its focus was on the reality of teaching listening skills for English non-major students, the difficulties faced by EFL teachers in teaching this skill and their recommendations. The findings of the study uncovered a dull reality of the listening teaching at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University, especially low interests of both teachers and students in the listening teaching and learning, the lack of modern listening facilities, students' low proficiency in English listening, teachers' limited listening competence, inappropriate listening teaching methods, the difference between teachers' favors and students' interests towards listening activities, and so on. Besides, the study revealed that EFL lecturers at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University had been facing a lot of challenges in teaching listening skills. The prominent obstacles included students' low motivation and limited vocabulary, large class-size and mixed ability, too difficult listening tasks. Therefore, the suggestions and implications of the research were worked out to increase the effectiveness of teaching listening for English non-major students at BVU. Providing students with key words before listening to the passage, adapting listening tasks to suit students' levels, helping them with listening strategies and using more interesting materials were offered by many BVU lecturers.