2020

STRATEGIES APPLIED BY IELTS CANDIDATES IN

LISTENING SKILLS
– LAXMI ADHIKARI

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English Education

In Partial Fulfillment for the Master of Education in English
413 (S)
STRATEGIES APPLIED BY IELTS CANDIDATES IN LISTENING SKILLS

Submitted by
Laxmi Adhikari

Central Department of Education

Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
2020
 STRATEGIES APPLIED BY IELTS CANDIDATES IN
LISTENING SKILLS

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of English Education

In Partial Fulfillment for the Master of Education in English

Submitted by
Laxmi Adhikari

Central Department of Education

Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
2020

T.U. Reg. No.: No: 9-2-585-48-2011 Date of Approval of Thesis

Fourth Semester Examination Proposal: 19-05-2019
Roll No.: 7228538/073 Date of Submission: 18-03-2020
 Declaration

I hereby declare that to the best of my knowledge this thesis is original; no part
of it was earlier submitted for candidature of research degree to any university.

Date: 15-03-2020 ........…………………..

Laxmi Adhikari

i
 Recommendation for Acceptance

This is to certify that Laxmi Adhikari has prepared the thesis entitled
Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates in Listening Skills under my
guidance and supervision.

I recommend this thesis for acceptance.

Date: 16-03-2020 …...............……….......................…

Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel (Supervisor)
Reader
Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

ii
 Recommendation for Evaluation

This thesis has been recommended for evaluation from the following Research
Guidance Committee.

Signature

Dr. Gopal Prasad Pandey ……………………...

Reader and Head Chairperson

Department English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel (Supervisor) ………………………

Reader Member
Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Mr. Ashok Sapkota ………………………...

Teaching Assistant Member
Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Date: 19-05-2019

iii
 Evaluation and Approval

This thesis has been evaluated and approved by the following Thesis
Evaluation and Approval Committee.

Signature

Dr. Gopal Prasad Pandey ……………………...

Reader and Head Chairperson

Department English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam ………………………...

Reader Expert
Open and Distance Education Centre
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel (Supervisor) ………………………

Reader Member
Department of English Education
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur

Date: 02-12-2020

iv
 Dedication

Dedicated to my parents who devoted their entire life to make me what I am

today.

v
 Acknowledgements
I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Purna Bahadur Kadel, Reader, Department of English Education, T.U.,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, for his invaluable guidance for the successful completion
of this thesis. This research would have been impossible without his
constructive suggestions, corrective feedback, and incisive observation right
from the beginning to the end. His insightful ideas truly assisted me in
completing thesis research.

Similarly, I am grateful to Dr. Gopal Prasad Pandey, Reader and

Head, Department of English Education, for his productive suggestions and
guidance. I am obliged to my external examiner Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam,
Reader, Open and Distance Education Centre, Tribhuvan University, for his
constructive suggestions and corrective feedback at the final viva of my thesis.
In the same way, I am also obliged to Ms. Madhu Neupane, lecturer,
Department of English Education, for her corrective feedback and suggestions
during thesis-writing. Likewise, I am thankful to Mr. Resham Acharya,
Department of English Education, for his continuous encouragement and
insightful ideas that truly helped me write up this thesis. I would like to thank
to Prof. Dr. Tara Datta Bhatta, Department of English Education, for his
constructive suggestions during the journey of thesis writing. I am equally
grateful to my friends Bishnu Khadka, Renu Bhandari, Kabita Dulal,
Lalshwori Rai for their constructive ideas, kind support and unforgettable help
while doing my thesis.

Furthermore, I would like to thanks all the faculties and non- teaching
faculties, Department of English Education, for their direct and indirect
academic support during the venture of this study.

Last but not least, I am grateful to all of the teacher's response for their
genuine narratives and friends for their true friendship, motivation, love and
support for making this thesis a grand success.

Laxmi Adhikari
vi
 Abstract

This research work entitled Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates

in Listening Skills is an attempt to analyze and describe the various strategies
used by IELTS candidates in listening skill. In this study, I explored strategies
and techniques used by IELTS candidates especially in listening section. Forty
IELTS candidates were selected using purposive non-random sampling
procedure. I collected the data from four different institutes of Kathmandu
valley. The required data were collected by using questionnaire. Both primary
and secondary data have been used in the study.

The finding of this research shows that the strategies used while
listening skill in IELTS test were different from students to students; there were
several issues during listening test for students regarding better understand of
what the audio speaks; the problems were involved in prosodic features of
word and sentence level; they faced problems in unfamiliar topics; not only
these factors, but also time management was also a great burden for IELTS test
– takers; listen word by word, listen for detail information, focuses on new
words were their listening strategies during IELTS test.

This study consists of five chapters. The chapter one provides

theoretical input for listening skill especially in IELTS. This chapter deals with
background and developmental history of IELTS and prevailing strategies of
teaching listening skill. The chapter two incorporates with the review of related
literature, empirical literature, implication of the review of the study, and
conceptual framework. Similarly, chapter three consults with the research
methodology adopted for the study in which source of data, sampling
procedure, tools and techniques for data collection, process of data collection,
areas/ field of the study, sources of data, analysis and interpretation of data has
included. Likewise, chapter four indicates with the analysis and results of all
students’ response on strategies used by them while listening skill. Chapter five
deals with the research conclusion and implication based on the analysis and
vii
interpretation of the data. References and appendices are also included at the
end of this work to make it more valid.

viii
 Table of Contents

Page No.
Declaration i
Recommendation for Acceptance ii
Recommendation for Evaluation iii
Evaluation and Approval iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgements vi
Abstract vii
Table of Contents ix
List of Tables xii
List of Symbols and Abbreviations xiii

Chapter I: Introduction 1-5

Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 3
Rationale of the Study 4
Objectives of the Study 4
Research Questions 5
Delimitations of the Study 5
Operational Definition of the Key Terms 5

Chapter II: Review of Related Literature 6-22

Review of Related Theoretical Literature 6
Listening as a Language Skill 6
Testing Listening 7
Techniques of Testing Listening Skills 8
Developing of Strategies in Listening Skills 9
Introduction of International English Testing System 13
IELTS Test Module 14
Test Scores 15

ix
 IELTS Listening Skills 17
Review of Empirical Literature 18
Implications of the Review of the Study 21
Conceptual Framework 22

Chapter III: Methodology 23-26

Design of the Study 23
Population, Sample and Sampling Procedure 24
Study Area/ Field 24
Data Collection Tools and Techniques 25
Sources of Data 25
Primary Sources of Data 25
Secondary Sources of Data 25
Data Collection Procedures 25
Data Analysis and Interpretation Procedure 25
Ethical Consideration 26

Chapter IV: Result and Discussion 27-35

Analysis and Interpretation of Data 27
Analysis of Challenging Areas of Listening 27
Analysis of Students Experiences in IELTS 28
Analysis of Students’ Easy Section in IELTS 29
Analysis of Difficulties in Listening Test 29
Analysis of Strategies Applied in IELTS Test 30
Analysis of the Responses from Open Ended Questions 31
Problems Faced by the Students during Listening Test 31
Student’s Views on the Best Way to Develop Listening Proficiency 33
Strategies Applied in the Listening Tests 34
Results 34

x
Chapter V: Conclusion and Implication 36-38
Conclusion 36
Implication 37
Policy Related 37
Practice Related 38
Further Research Related 38
References
Appendices

xi
 List of Tables

Page No.

Table 1: Challenging Areas to the Students 28

Table 2: Analysis of their Experiences in IELTS 28
Table 3: Easy Section for the Students 29
Table 4: Difficulties in Listening Test 30
Table 5: Strategies Applied in IELTS Tests 30

xii
 List of Symbols and Abbreviations

BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation

CUP = Cambridge University Press
i.e. = That is
IELTS = International English Language Testing System
M. Ed. = Masters in Education
No. = Number
S.N. = Serial Number
T.U. = Tribhuvan University
TEOSL = Test of English as a Foreign Language
U.K. = United Kingdom
Viz = Namely

xiii
 Chapter I

Introduction

This is the study entitled Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates in

Listening Skills. This section consists of background of the study, statement of
the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, rational of the study,
delimitations of the study and operational definitions of the key terms.

Background of the Study

Listening is the first skill among the four language skills. It is a basic
language skill and one of the most significant skills compared to speaking,
reading and writing. Listening is an ability to identify and understand what
others are saying. To quote Howatt and Dakin (1974, p. 17 as cited in Itani,
2012), “listening involves understanding a speakers’ accent or pronunciation,
his grammar and his vocabulary and graphing his meaning.” Without receiving
production is not possible. It along with the reading is the pre-requisite for the
productive skills. Listening is more active and less passive skill because
listeners receive the incoming data, an acoustic signal, and interprets it on the
basis of linguistic and non- linguistic knowledge. Underwood (1989, p. 1),
“listening is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get the meaning
from something.” It means trying to understand the oral message that people
are conveying. This definition also helps us to believe that listening to accept as
an active skill itself.

Thus, listening is an important part of communication process, and it is

used in mostly daily life situation. Listening is the activity of paying attention
to and trying to get meaning from something we hear. It is the first language
model that children acquire (Krashen, 1985). Learning a new language,
learners spend a lot of time listening while they are at school and much of what
they learn is acquired by means of listening. Hence, listening is an important

1
skill in language learning. It provides the foundation for all aspects of language
and cognitive development. It plays a life-long role in process of
communication.

Besides listening, speaking, reading and writing are other important

skills of language. However, not a single skill is independent in language
because good listening enhances good speaking and accurate reading increases
accurate listening as well (Harmer 2007). In the process of language learning,
learners involve in various activities as like interaction, discussion,
presentation, memorization, reflection and so on. All these activities require the
good competency over the four skills of language viz, listening, speaking,
reading and writing. Among all the skills, listening deserves more importance
in the standardized test of English and in the overall proficiency of the students.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is one of

the most popular international tests on English language proficiency.
International English Language Testing System first appeared in 1980. It aimed
to test the language skills viz. reading, writing, speaking and listening. As the
trend of going abroad for the further studies is increasing, the relevance of
IELTS is also increasing. IELTS has become one of the major documents in
order to get admission especially in English speaking countries such as UK,
Australia, the USA, New Zealand and Canada. It is to be done mostly by those
students who are from non-native English speaking countries to show their
certain level of English. IELTS is particularly designed to assess the ability of
the English language who wants to pursue their further education and migrate
particularly in English speaking countries. IELTS has become internationally
accepted and reliable test to check the candidates command over the English
language. IELTS is a very individual test. IELTS is jointly managed by
University of Cambridge ESOL Examination, British Council and IDP:
Australia. Thus, the importance of IELTS is getting more priority day by day
among non-native speakers of English language.

2
 So, IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. It
measures the ability of non-native speakers of English. The test is accepted by
many English- speaking academic and professional institutions. IELTS test is
one of the major English Language tests in the world. As Celce-Muria (2001)
says, listening comprehension takes a more important role now and people
need to have knowledge of vocabulary, grammatical structure, sounds and even
body language to be able to comprehend successfully. It is important to help
the students to improve their oral English skills before being trained in hotels
or tour companies or joining the labor market in future. In helping the students
to improve their oral (listening/ speaking) ability especially in the face-to-face
communication, it is essential to know how students process the information
and what processing strategies (bottom-up and top- down) they use while
listening.

Statement of the Problem

Listening is a receptive skill. We receive messages or information

through listening. Listening is an obligatory or a primary language skill to
acquire the native language to learn a foreign language. Therefore, listening is
one of the basic language. Traditionally, listening is viewed as a passive
process, in which our ears receive the message into which information was
poured, and all the listener had to do was passively register the message
(Harmer, 2007). But, nowadays, we recognize that listening is an active
process, and that good listeners are just active when listening as speakers are
when speaking. Generally, the foreign language learners are not exposed to the
authentic language and text. They may not have the exact experience on their
target language. The foreign language learners have difficulty in listening
mainly because of the inherent characteristics of listening texts. If they are
involved in the tasks with authentic listening texts, they have difficulty to
understand the information. The problem stated in this study is strategies
applied by IELTS candidates in listening. Hence listening is important, it is not

3
given much attention in our classroom practices, so students score in listening
test is not good level.

Learners have so many problems in listening because listening is an active

process and it is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning
from what you hear. The main problem with listening seems to be the fact that
they cannot keep up listening and forget what they hear before. In classroom
situation, learners cannot have word repeated. Students’ sometimes hear the
words clearly, but they don’t understand the meaning of words they hear.
Sometimes encounter an unknown word, which may cause them to stop and
think about the meaning and thus, they miss the next part. Further, lack of
contextual knowledge is also a problem in listening.

Rationale of the Study

This study will be significant for all those persons who are interested in
teaching and learning. This study tries to find out the strategies applied by
IELTS candidates in listening. The study will be significant and helpful for
those students who want to go abroad for their further study. Moreover, this
study was expected to be significance to all those who are directly in language
teaching and learning activities in general and to the students, text book writers,
syllabus designers and language trainers and other further researchers in
particular. Therefore, the study becomes significant to the practitioners to
enhance teaching and learning English by providing with authentic and
meaningful learning environment.

Objectives of the Study

The present study has the following objectives:

a) To find out the strategies used and the challenges faced by the students
in IELTS test.
b) To suggest some pedagogical implications.

4
Research Questions

The main research questions were as follows:

a) What are the strategies used by the students to overcome the challenges
in IELTS based listening test?
b) What are the challenging areas for IELTS candidates?

Delimitations of the Study

The present study has the following delimitations:

a. The study was limited only to learners who are preparing IELTS.
b. The study was limited to Kathmandu valley.
c. Only the listening skill ability based on IELTS test was tested.
d. The data was collected only from IELTS learners.
e. The study included questionnaire and test items.

Operational Definition of the Key Terms

The key terms that have been used in this study were as follows:

IELTS. The term ‘IELTS’ refers to International English Language

Testing System which is particularly taken in non- English speaking countries
to access their level of English language.
Listening Skill. Ability to actively understand information provided by
the speakers, important for effective communication.
Technology. The term technology is used as the branch of knowledge
that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation
with life, society and the environment.
Proficiency. Proficiency is the level of competence. In this study, the
term refers to the skills or ability of the students in listening tests based on
IELTS test.

5
 Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

Review of related literature is very important and significant to carry out

any research. It helps to make the research valid and reliable and it helps the
researchers to gain wide area of knowledge of their research. This section
includes review of related theoretical literature, review of related empirical
literature, implications of the review for the study and conceptual framework.
The literature related to the research study is reviewed under two broad
headings: Theoretical and Empirical.

Review of Related Theoretical Literature

At present, numbers of tests are designed in order to test the proficiency

and competency of the language. The natives test English language proficiency
to judge whether we can manage in activities or work. English is one of the
international languages and its popularity is spreading rapidly. The study of
IELTS is mostly for fulfilling migration of requirement for abroad and higher
education.

Listening as a Language Skill. Listening is the first skill among the

four language skills. It is the ability to identify and understand what others are
saying. It is basic language skill and one of the most significant skills compared
to speaking, reading and writing. To quote Howatt and Dakin (1974, p. 17 as
cited in Itani, 2012), “listening involves understanding of speakers’ accent or
pronunciation, his grammar and his vocabulary and graphing his meaning.”
Without receiving anything production is not possible. It, along with reading, is
the pre-requisite for the productive skills. Listening skill is the more active and
less passive skills because listeners receive the incoming data. Along with the
active skill, it is also a complex process as the listener has to receive and
interpret the spoken language. According to this, Khaniya (2005, p.124) says:

6
Listening is a complex process. In listening, the listener receives the incoming
data, an acoustic signal and interprets it on the basis of a wide variety of
linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge. The linguistic knowledge includes
knowledge of phonology, lexis, syntax, semantics, discourse structures,
pragmatics and sociolinguistics. The non- linguistic knowledge of the topic, the
context and general knowledge the world and how they work. Underwood
(1989, p.1), defines listening as “the activity of paying attention to and trying to
get meaning for something we hear.” It is not same as hearing. Hearing is about
the perception of sound, listening is about the perception of meaning. It means,
in act of listening one hears properly, tries to get meaning and responds
accordingly. So, listening is not simply listening to the things rather it is a way
of getting information from the listening text or conversation.

The purpose of listening text is an important variable that provides a

variety of information. Listening is not only listening but also understanding
what the learners listen to i.e. listening comprehension and it is the analysis of
the utterances into segments and identifies the linguistic units.

Testing Listening. Testing is a method of measuring a person’s ability

or knowledge in given area. It is an essential and integral part of education.
Testing helps to find out the strength and weaknesses of the students how far
they have achieved the objectives of a course of the study. It measures the
language proficiency of the students and assist placement of students by
identifying the stage of a teaching program most appropriate their ability.
Khaniya (2005, p.1) says that testing is used as a process of scrutinizing how
far learners have learned what the teacher wishes them to learn. Testing
listening is not an easy task. It is difficult to test the listeners’ ability, that they
understand the given lessons or not. According to Underwood (1989, p. 17), “It
is almost tough for the teaching to judge whether or not the students have
understood any particular section of what they have heard.”

7
 Brown and Yule (1983) in this regard, say:

Different listeners often have different motives of learning, due to

different interest and different needs. Listeners will play more attention
to those features of a text which they think are more attention to those
features of a text which they think more interesting and more relevant.
Thus, what listeners get out of the text will depend on the purpose of
listening as well as their background and interpretations will therefore
often differ from listener to listener. (As cited in Buck, 2001, p. 8)

Testing listening is not an easy task. It is difficult to test the listeners’

ability, that they understand the given lessons or not. Heaton (1988, p. 64) has
said “the human brain has a limited capacity for the reception of information
and, we there no such features built into the language, it would be impossible to
absorb information at the speed at which it is conveyed through ordinary
speech.” Different person has different capacity and different motives to learn
language according to their capacity and motives they acquire or learn
language through listening.

Techniques of Testing Listening Skills. The following test items can

be adopted to test listening comprehension ability as given by Heaton (1975) :

Phonemic Discrimination Test. Listening test can be conducted in

various ways. One of them is phonemic description test. In such test, the
students are asked to distinguish similar vowel and consonant phonemes. The
teacher pronounces 3 or 4 identical vowel and consonant sounds and a different
one. The students should choose the different ones.

Test of Stress and Intonation. The teacher pronounces a particular word

with a stress on a particular syllable and the students are asked to recognize
where the stress falls. Similarly, the students are asked to find out whether a
particular sentence is uttered with rising or falling tone.

8
 Statements and Dialogue. In this test a cassette containing a
conversation or dialogue between two or more people is played. The student
should listen to the text and find out which are true or false statements.

Testing Comprehension through Visual Materials. The students are

given some visual materials as pictures, maps and so on and the questions
related to the program are asked.

Understanding Talks and Lectures. Above mentioned testing

techniques are especially useful for elementary level. But here test items are
used to test the ability to understand both formal talks and formal lectures
which is suitable for advanced level students. A speech is delivered and the
questions related to the speech are asked.

Developing of Strategies in Listening Skills. Listening is the activity

of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something what we hear.
To listen successfully to spoken language, we need to be able to work out what
speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways on particular
occasions. It is not just a single skill; it is an integration of several skills. Nunan
(2002) writes, “Listening is assuming greater and greater importance in foreign
language classrooms”. Listening is vital in the language classroom because it
provides input for learners. Without understanding input at the right level, any
learning simply cannot begin. Listening is, thus, fundamental to speaking.

Language learning requires intentional listening strategies for

identifying sounds and making meaning from them/ listening involves a sender,
a message and a receiver. Listening strategies are techniques or activities that
contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening
strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input.

Top-down strategy. This is listener based strategy. In top-down strategy,

the listener taps into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or
context, the type of text and the language, this background knowledge activates

9
a set of expectations that helps the listeners to interpret what is heard and
anticipate what will come next. Top-down strategies include:

 Listening for the main idea

 Predicting
 Drawing inferences
 Summarizing

Bottom-up Strategies: This is text based strategy. In bottom-up strategy,

the listener relies on the language in the message, that is, the combination of
sounds, words, and grammar that creates meaning. Bottom-up strategies
includes:

 Listening for specific details

 Recognizing cognates
 Recognizing word-order

Although both strategies are used as listening strategies, because of their

own characteristics both are important in listening field. Buck (2001, p.3)
supports the top-down strategy “listening comprehension is a top down process
in the sense that it various types of knowledge involved in understanding
language are not applied in any fixed order-they can be used in order, even
simultaneously, and they are all capable of interacting and influencing each
other.”

According to Brown (2006), the following are the key listening

strategies of listening:

 Looking for key words

 Looking for nonverbal cues to meaning
 Predicting speaker’s purpose by context of discourse
 Activating one’s background knowledge
 Guessing at meanings
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  Seeking clarification
 Listening for general gist

The above ideas mention that in listening activity students often look for
key words, non-verbal cues to meaning, predicate speakers’ purpose by the
context of discourse, guess meaning and try to grasp the gist of the text.

According to Jackman and Mcdowell (1999, p.67) has mentioned the

five skills of listening comprehension:

 Listening for specific information

 Identifying details
 Identifying main ideas
 Seeing beyond the surface meaning
 Being aware of stress, rhythm and intonations

Similarly, according to Rost (1994, p. 142) the following components

are involved in successful listening:

 Discriminating sounds
 Recognizing word
 Identifying stressed words and grouping of words
 Identifying functions in conversation
 Connecting linguistic cues in order to construct meaning
 Using background knowledge and context to predict and then to
conform meaning
 Recalling important words, topics and ideas
 Giving appropriate feedback to the speaker
 Reformulating what the speaker has said

However, different experts have mentioned different kinds of skills or

listening but the gist of all skills are same that is to make learners able to listen

11
in a target language and make them able to communicate in the target language.
The materials used for teaching listening have a crucial role for the purpose of
listening activity. Materials for listening can be obtained from a number of
sources: such as different audio version on cassette or CD. The audio cassettes
prepared to teach listening in particular class are widely used as the non-
authentic materials. This provides idea source of listening materials. Students
can enjoy reading and listening at the same time using the reader both in the
book from and on an audio track. Students can improve their listening skill by
listening English news, songs, movies etc.

We may listen to obtain information, broaden the knowledge, improve a

relationship, gain appreciation for something, make discriminations or engage
in critical evaluation. According to Klines (1989) there are several main types
of listening skills which are as follows:

Informational Listening: Listener’s primary concern is to understand

the message, which is found in all areas of our lives. Much of our learning
comes from informative learning, for example, we listen to lectures or
instruction, briefings, reports and speeches. What we learn depends on how
well we listen. There are three key variables which help to improve our
informative listening skills, which are vocabulary, concentration and memory.

Relationship Listening: It helps in individual to improve the

relationship between peoples. The speaker expresses his/her feelings and the
listener’s job is to process the information before responding. Attending,
supporting and empathizing are the three keys to developing effective
relationship listening. Eye contact, giving advice, caring are the relative
examples of those key factors which help to establish the effective relationship
listening.

Appreciative Listening: This is an enjoyable type of listening, which

happens in theater, television, radio, film and so on. There are not a lot of

12
responses necessary in appreciative listening through groups of listeners might
often talk among themselves to process the experiences. The quality of
appreciative listening depends on three factors: presentation, perception, and
previous experience.

Sympathetic Listening: In this type of listening listener’s role is often

not to respond all. It is a most challenging type of listening. The speaker who
seeks sympathetic listening might have suffered a tragedy or needs someone to
listen to a serial complex of thoughts. The listener can help by validating what
the speaker says and supporting his/her words.

Critical Listening: This is complex types of listening which involves

paying careful attention to the speakers’ tones, inflections and word choices.
This kind of listening is very important in many fields like as on the job, in the
community, study, family and partial filed.

Discrimination Listening: This is the most important type of listening.

Attention to the sound structures, pitches, action, non-action and vocal factors
are very important in understanding listening. Attention to those factors is more
important in effective discrimination listening.

Introduction of International English Testing System. IELTS

(International English language Testing System) first appeared in 1980 but it
was started from 1989 as a measurement of a person’s ability proficiency in the
English Language and is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge
ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL or UCLES), The British council and
IDP; IELTS Australia. It is a proficiency test conducted by Cambridge
University as a TESOL program. Its main aimed to test the English language
skills, viz. listening, speaking, reading and writing. Before the appearance of
IELTS, EPTB (English Proficiency Test Battery) was dominant in the field of
language testing which couldn’t last since IELTS replaced it with several
corrections and new strategies of language testing. Its Main purpose is to assess

13
the English Language proficiency of non-native speakers. In the case of Nepal
also numbers of students are preparing IELTS exams and several institutions
and educational consultancies are also managing class for IELTS preparation.
Even British Council is launching IELTS preparation classes from different
modes too. In IELTS, an easy- to- use 9- bands scale clearly identifies
proficiency level, from non- user (band score 1) through the expert (band score
9). IELTS is available in two test formats- Academic or General Training- and
provides a valid and accurate assessment of the four language skills: listening,
reading, writing and speaking. (www.ielts.org)

In particular, IELTS was influenced by growth of ‘communicative’

language learning and ‘English for specific purposes’. The test takers were
based on analysis of the way in which language was used in academic contexts
and intended to reflect the use of language in real world. Barras (1982, p. 14)
argues:

IELTS tests all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and
writing. The speaking test is a face to face interview with a certified
examiner. It is interactive and close to a real- life situation as a test can
get. Researcher shows that IELTS motivates test- takers to develop real
and well-rounded English rather than learning by rote. This means their
understanding of English is improved and be valid for real life in an
English- speaking country.

IELTS Test Module. The test consists of four modules. All candidates
(General or Academic) take the same listening and speaking modules but there
is a slight difference in the reading and writing modules. The following chart
explains the modules in IELTS.

14
 Listening
4 sections, 40 items,
30 minutes
Academic Writing
3 sections, 40 items,

General Training Reading 60 minutes

3 sections, 40 items,
IELTS
60 minutes
Academic Writing
2 Tasks (150 and 250 words)
General Training Writing
60 minutes
2 Tasks (150-250 words),
60 minutes Speaking
11-14 minutes

Test Scores. IELTS provides a proficiency report of a candidate to use

English. Candidates receive a report after 13 days in online and after 17th days
in a hard paper. They receive band score in the range of band 1-9. Overall band
score and individual band score are reported in whole or half bands. IELTS test
score is valid for 2 years only.

IELTS Band Scores

9 Expert User- Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate,

accurate and fluent with complete understanding.

8 Very Good User- Has fully operational command of the language with only
occasional unsystematic, inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Misunderstanding
may occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles complex detailed argumentation
well.

7 Good User- Has operational command of the language, though with

occasional inaccuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings in some

15
situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed
reasoning.

6 Competent User- Has generally effective command of the language despite

some accuracies, inappropriateness and misunderstandings. Can use and
understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.

5 Modest User- Has partial commands on the language, copying with overall
meaning in most situations, though are likely to make many mistakes. Should
be able to handle basic communication in own field.

4 Limited User- Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has a

frequent problem in understanding and expression. Is not able to use complex
language.

3 Extremely Limited User- Conveys and understands only general meaning in

very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur.

2 Intermittent User- No real communication is possible except for the most

basic information using isolated words or short formula in familiar situations
and to meet immediate needs. Has great difficulty understanding spoken and
written English.

1 Non User- Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a
few isolated words.

0 Did not attempt the test- No assessable information provided at all. (IELTS
11, 2016,

Proficiency Test. For Heaton (1975), proficiency test is concerned

simply with measuring a students control of language in the light of what he/
she will be expected to do with it in the future performance of a particular task.
He further points out that the proficiency test is connected, with measuring not
general attainment but specific skills in light of the language demands made

16
later in the students by a future course of study of job. A proficiency test
measures a learner’s level of language. It can be compared with an
achievement test, which evaluates a learner’s understanding of specific
material, a diagnostic test, which identifies areas to work on, and a prognostic
test, which tries to predict a learner’s ability to complete a course or take an
exam. A proficiency test is intended to measure the command of language
regardless of the background in that language. Such test encompasses four
language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Collins online
dictionary define proficiency test as “an exam which test how proficient or
skilled someone is in a particular activity, field of study, language”.

Proficiency tests the global level of proficiency but it may not always do
so because it can be specific in some cases. It tests what aspect of language i.e.
which measures true to life ability to communicate in English. ( Retrieve from;
www.ieltshelpnow.com/academic writing-test-2html)

IELTS Listening Skills. The IELTS listening test takes about 30

minutes during which students listen and at the same time write tick or
matching in the questionnaire. There are four sections, generally 10 questions
in each section. In all IELTS listening test, there are 40 questions. The test is
recorded on a CD and is played only once. During the test, time is given to
candidates to read the questions and write down and check their answers except
in section four. After all the four sections are over, they will be given ten
minutes time to transfer the answers on to the listening answer sheet with clean
handwriting and correct punctuations and spellings. Test takers will lose marks
for incorrect spellings and grammar. Their correct numbers of answers are later
converted to the total listening band score. As already mentioned, IELTS
listening has 40 questions in 4 sections. The listening section of IELTS has four
sub- sections. The first one is a conversation between two individuals set in an
everyday social context. Second is a monologue or speech. The third section is
a conversation among a maximum of four people set in an academic setting and
the final one is a monologue on in academic lectures, which can be referred to
17
while answering the questions. The purpose of the IELTS listening exam is to
test candidates ability to understand main ideas, follow logical arguments, find
specific information, and recognize opinions or attitudes. A variety of question
types is used, including: multiple choice, matching, plan/ map/ diagram
labeling, form completion, note completion, table completion, summary,
sentence, short-answers questions completion etc. Candidates hear the
recording once only and answer the question as they listen. Ten minutes are
allowed at the end for candidates to transfer their answers to the answer sheet.

Review of Empirical Literature

A number of researches have been carried out in the area of feedback. In

order to collect some ideas and information, I had gone through some of related
previous related researches and reviewed them as follow:

Chapagain (2001) carried out a research entitle “Proficiency in Listening

Comprehension of Grade Nine Students.” The objective was to find out the
listening proficiency of nine graders of public and private schools in the
Kathmandu Valley. The population of the study consisted the students of the
nine grades from ten schools. Twenty students from each school were selected
by applying stratified random sampling strategy. All the six different listening
texts and types of test were taken from IELTS test preparation books. He found
that the average proficiency in listening comprehension of ninth graders has
been found to be 5 band level of IELTS band score table.

Similarly, Itani (2012) conducted a research on “Listening Proficiency

of Bachelor Level Students”. The main objective of his study was to find out
the listening proficiency of Bachelor’s Level of Students on the basis of
IELTS. The population of the study was Bachelor Level Students of Tribhuvan
University who were in their first year of Academic study in Kathmandu
Valley. He selected 120 students purposively from three faculties
(Management, Humanities and Social Science, and Education) by applying

18
stratified random sampling strategy. He used IELTS based complete listening
test from the past IELTS exam paper of Cambridge book-4 (2005). In this
study he found that the average listening proficiency of the bachelor’s level of
students was 20.14, i.e. 49.09 percent, and 5.20 according to the IELTS band
score which was below the proficiency requirement for academic program on
the basis of their IELTS band. Similarly, regarding the faculty wise analysis,
the students of the Humanities and Social sciences have obtained more score
than those of Faculty of Education and of Management.

Jing (2014) carried out a research on “IELTS Listening Test Strategy

Research: Chinese Students’ Strategy use with the Lecture-Based Questions in
the IELTS Listening Paper”. The objective was to find out the differences in
the use o of strategy between students studying in China and Chinese
undergraduate students in the UK use when taking the IELTS listening test.
Researcher used retrospective reports and oral interview as a tools. Researcher
found that listening strategy used higher by IELTS groups than that of the non-
IELTS groups. 12 Chinese undergraduate students were selected.

Nufai (2012) conduct a research on “Effects of Processing Strategies on

Listening Comprehension”. The aimed of this research was to discover
processing strategies used by listener with different level of listening
comprehension, ability and gender. Sample population was forty two (33-
female, 9- male). Researcher used questionnaire and interview for their
research. Researcher found that gender was not as important as learner’s
listening ability in making the choice of strategies. Quantitative research design
was used for this research.

Phuyal, (2015) carried out a research work on “Use of World Wide Web
for learning English”. She took the sample from grade 12 students from four
different colleges of Kathmandu valley. She used purposive non random
sampling procedure to collect the data. Her research design was survey in

19
nature. She found that at present, maximum numbers of students are using
Internet as a major source for learning English Language.

Prasain (2007) carried out a research work entitled “Listening

Proficiency of Grade IX Students: A Comparative Study”. The main objective
of his study was to find out listening proficiency of grade IX students of
government and private schools of Kathmandu valley. He selected hundred
students (ten students from each school) as sample population from five public
and five private schools randomly. Questionnaire and oral test were selected as
tool for the data collection. The findings of his study showed that the overall
listening proficiency of ninth graders is 72.76% where students of public and
private listening proficiency are 58.76% and 86.76% respectively.

Rokaya (2018) conduct a research entitled “Use of Information and

Communication Technology in English Language Learning”. The main
objective of this study was to explore the use of ICT in Bachelor 1st year
students in their English Language learning. He used survey research design as
research design. He selected forty students as a sample for this study following
non -probability sampling procedures. Closed-ended questionnaires were used
as research tool. He found that students are positive towards the use of ICT in
English Language learning and they are using ICT for developing their English
Language learning.

Singh (2000) carried out a research on “A Study on Listening

Comprehension of Grade Eight Students in Listening Tests and their Problems
and Difficulties”. He found out that the listening comprehension of the private
schools’ student was better than of public school. He tested the population
including eighty students from four different schools, two of them private and
two of them public. The primary sources of the data were the grade eight
students of both private and public schools and different journals, books,
articles were used as a secondary data by applying random sampling procedure.

20
 Wang, X. (2017), conducted a research entitled “On the Evaluation of
IELTS Listening Test and its Wash back Effects on Listening Teaching and
learning”. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the listening section
of IELTS from three aspects: test authenticity, test validity and reliability and
then analyzed wash back effect on listening teaching and learning.

Implications of the Review of the Study

Kumar (2011) states “Reviewing the literature can be the time

consuming, daunting and frustrating but also rewarding”. A literature review is
an integral part of the entire process and makes a valuable contribution to
almost every optional step. Literature related to the research area is reviewed to
widen the body of knowledge or subject area in which s/he is interested. It
determines the quality of the research provides theoretical knowledge and helps
to improve the methodology and contextualized the findings. I have reviewed
some researches which are related to my study.

The above mentioned studies are related to find out the listening
strategies of IELTS. To be specific, from Nufai (2012) helped me to know
about the strategies of listening process and methodological tool which were
very beneficial to my work and also helpful in create the conceptual
framework. Similarly, Prasain (2007) seemed relevant to me to conduct a
survey research on listening proficiency. After reviewing all those research
work, I got many ideas about the research process and methodological tools
which were very beneficial to my research work. Similarly, from Itani’s (2012)
and Chapagain’s (2001) work, I got many ideas about listening proficiency and
I updated myself. The reviewed literature has many implications to my research
work regarding the design of the study, sampling procedure, data collection
tools analysis and interpretation of data.

This all research works have been carried out with different objectives,
methodology and research questions. So, after reviewing all these research

21
 works, I updated myself with research process and methodological tools which
are very beneficial to my present research work. Thus, the review of literature
helped me to make my task more informative and reliable.

Conceptual Framework

Conceptual framework is the guideline of the research which determines

the nature and quality of the research. Based on theoretical and empirical
literature review, I have developed the following conceptual framework:

IELTS Listening Test

Listening Skill Types of Listening Developing

Listening Strategies

Techniques of Testing  Informational listening

Listening Skill
 Relationship listening
 Appreciative listening
 Phonemic Discrimination
 Sympathetic listening
test
 Critical listening
 Test Stress and Intonation
 Discrimination listening
 Statements and Dialogues
 Testing comprehension Top down Strategy Bottom up strategy
Through Visual Materials  Listening for the  Listening for specific
 Understanding Talks and main idea details
Lectures  Predicting  Recognizing Cognates
 Drawing inferences  recognizing word
 Summarizing orders

22
 Chapter III

Methodology

This methodological part consists design and method of the study,

population, sample and sampling procedure, study area, data collection tools
and techniques, data collection procedure and data analysis and interpretation
procedures of the study.

Design of the Study

I had used survey research to accomplish my study. To find out the

strategies applied by IELTS candidates in listening skills, I had followed
survey research to collect the data and quantitative research design as well to
analyze the collected data. For this, I had visited the determined areas to find
out the existing data. Here, survey design was selected to address the large
population by selecting sample population, which was representative of the
study population as a whole. Population of the whole sampling was doing to
obtain practicability of the study.

According to Cohen and Manion (1985, as cited in Nunan, 2010, p.

140):

Surveys are the most commonly used descriptive method in educational

research, and vary in scope from large scale governmental investigations
to small-scale studies carried out by single researcher. The purpose of
survey is generally to obtain a snapshot of condition, attitudes, and/ or
events at a single point of time.

Nunan (1992, p. 141) suggests the following eight- step procedures of

survey research:

Step 1: Define objectives  What do we want to find out?

23
Step 2: Identify target population  How do we want to know about?
Step 3: Literature review  What have others said/ discovered
about the issues?
Step 4: Determine sample  How many subjects should we survey
and how we will identify this?
Step 5: Identify survey instruments  How will the data be collected:
Questionnaire/ Interview?
Step 6: Design survey procedure  How will the data actually be carried
out?
Step 7: identifying analytical  How will the data be assembled and
procedure analyzed?
Step 8: Determine reporting  How will results be written up and
procedure presented?

Survey research is mainly carried out to find out people’s attitudes,

opinions and specified behaviors on certain issues, phenomena, events or
situations. The finding of survey is generalizable to the whole group. For this
reason, I choose survey design in my study.

Population, Sample and Sampling Procedure

The population consisted of those students who were preparing IELTS

in different (four) consultancies in Kathmandu valley. Forty students were
selected from different consultancies through the use of purposive non-random
sampling procedure.

Study Area/ Field

The area of this study was Kathmandu valley and the field of it is
concerned with the strategies applied by IELTS candidates in listening skills.

24
Data Collection Tools and Techniques

The main tools for data collection were questionnaire and test items.
This tool was effective, appropriate and feasible for the respondents of this
study and useful for the researcher to meet the objectives of the study.

Sources of Data

I had used both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary
sources had been used for collecting data and the secondary sources had been
used to facilitate the study.

Primary Sources of Data. The primary data was taken from the
students who were studying IELTS in Kathmandu valley.

Secondary Sources of Data. The secondary data was taken from the
IELTS textbooks, journals, websites and materials available in the internet to
the present research.

Data Collection Procedures

For the authentic data after the completion of prerequisites, I visited

different consultancies and developed rapport with the manager of the
consultancy and explain about the purpose of my visit. I talked to the
concerned authority and asked for permission to employ my questionnaire to
the students. I clarified about the questionnaire and tell the students to fill up
and returned back. Finally, I collected the questionnaire and thank them for
assistance.

Data Analysis and Interpretation Procedure

Most of the survey researches are quantitative in nature. Being a survey

research, it has the characteristics of quantitative analysis. After collecting the
raw data, I analyzed it systematically and I analyzed it descriptively also.

25
Ethical Consideration

This part is taken as valuable part in any research because to address the
original sources, a researcher should maintain every ethical issue in his/ her
research. Every research should be aware about the ethical considerations while
conducting any research studies. I was conscious and respectful regarding my
respondents’ privacy in terms of their personalities, weaknesses and
professional ethics. I analyzed the data objectively. I gave attention on
accuracy and truthfulness of data in my study. I did not cite the data from the
books, articles, journals and research works without referencing them. I was
aware about plagiarism. I did not reveal any participants.

26
 Chapter IV

Result and Discussion

Mainly this chapter is concerned with the results and discussions of the
collected data. The collected data from the informants were discussed to find
out the strategies used by IELTS candidates in listening skills. The data were
collected from the informants were based on the sets of test and questionnaire.
The questions were constructed being based on the objectives of the study. I
used purposive non- random sampling procedure to select four different
institutions of Kathmandu valley, and then I selected ten students from each
institution. The tests and questionnaire also contained a list of the possible
learning techniques with slight information about each of them practiced by
students. The results and discussion carried out in this chapter has been made
as accurate as possible with a view to making the study more objectives.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

The analysis means to study or examine something carefully in a

methodological way. Similarly, interpretation was the act of explaining,
reframing, or otherwise showing researcher understanding of results. This
research entitled “Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates in Listening Skills”
was mainly depended upon the research objectives what types of listening
strategies employed by IELTS candidates while listening. Here obtained data
were analyzed and interpretation had been made on the basis of analysis.

Analysis of Challenging Areas of Listening. Listening strategies used

by IELTS candidates in listening skills, I found some challenging areas of
listening. The challenges are mentioned in the given table:

27
 Table 1

Challenging Areas to the Students

S.N. Areas No. of Students Percentage

1. Unfamiliar Topics 4 10%
2. Speed of Speech 11 27.5%
3. Pronunciations 14 35%
4. Time Management 11 27.5%

Table 1 shows the challenges faced by students during listening test. it

shows that 10% of students faced the problems in unfamiliar topics. Similarly,
27.5% of student found difficulty in speed of speech and time management.
Likewise, 35% of student faced problems in pronunciation. From this data, it
can be generalized that most of the students faced difficulties in pronunciation
on listening test. Because of high speed of speech and time management they
felt difficulty in listening and most of the students (35%) felt that the most
challenging areas is pronunciation.

Analysis of Students Experiences in IELTS. Analyzing the test score

of students experience in IELTS, I mentioned it in the given table:

Table 2

Analysis of their Experiences in IELTS

S.N. Areas No. of Students Percentage

1. Normal 6 15%
2. Easy 8 20%
3. Difficult 16 40%
4. Very hard 10 25%

Table 2 indicates the students experience in IELTS class. It shows that

15% student felt normal, 20% student felt easy. Similarly, 40% student felt
28
difficult and 25% student felt very hard. This result shows that, student felt it is
not an easy task because it is difficult for them. Many students responded that
they fell difficulty in IELTS class.

Analysis of Students’ Easy Section in IELTS. The respondents have

given the following responses which are tabulated below:

Table 3

Easy Section for the Students

S.N. Areas No. of Students Percentage

1. Listening 14 35%
2. Speaking 11 27.5%
3. Reading 7 17.5%
4. Writing 8 20%

Table 3 shows the easy section for students. It shows that 35% students
felt easy in listening section. Similarly, 27.5% students felt easy in speaking
section, 17.5% felt easy in reading section and 20% students felt easy in
writing section. From this data, it can be inferred that the student felt easy in
speaking and reading section whereas most students faced difficulties in
listening section so, they should give more time and focus in listening section.

Analysis of Difficulties in Listening Test. The respondents’ views on

the difficulties in listening test are presented in the table 4:

29
 Table 4

Difficulties in Listening Test

S.N. Areas No. of Students Percentage

1. Lectures 12 30%
2. Class discussion 12 30%
3. Conversation 16 40%

Table 4 indicates the difficult part which student face in listening. It

shows that 30% of students felt difficult in lecture section and class discussion,
whereas 40% student felt difficult in conversation. From this, it can be inferred
that student felt problems and difficulties in conversation. It indicates that in
IELTS listening section students are not good in conversation part.

Analysis of Strategies Applied in IELTS Test. The analysis of

students strategies applied in IELTS test are tabulated and presented below:

Table 5

Strategies Applied in IELTS Tests

S.N. Areas No. of Students Percentage

1. Listen word by word 12 30%
2. Listen for detail information 14 35%
3. Focus on new words 14 35%
4. Others - -

Table 5 shows the strategies applied by students in IELTS tests. It shows

that 30% of student listens word by word. Similarly, 35 % of student listens for
detailed information and they focus on new words. It can be generalized that
the most of the students focus on new words and they listen for detailed
information. Thus, the overall analysis of strategies applied by IELTS

30
candidates in listening skill is not good. Many students feel difficulty in each
section.

Analysis of the Responses from Open Ended Questions

Besides the test items, I also asked them to fill some open-ended
questions to the students during the data collection. I asked them different
questions about what types of problems they faced during listening test, which
section they feel difficult to understand and so on. So, the responses given by
the students to these questions have been analyzed in the form of item analysis.

Problems Faced by the Students during Listening Test. Students can

have different difficulties in order to solve the problems given to them.
Regarding the difficulties in listening test, I asked them a question:

Question no. 1. What types of problems did you face during listening test? And
do you think audio-visual materials can be a good tool in developing listening
proficiency? In response to this item,

S1: Time management is a major problem for me and sometimes the pace of
lecture causes me difficulty to understand. Yes, they can be very beneficial. If
we use them continuously and daily such as if we watch English movies, BBC,
they enhance our listening proficiency.

My View: Test of IELTS or in any discipline time management is the biggest

challenge for any test taker. The test authority throws a curveball at students
and wanted to test their ability. In IELTS listening test, audios are played a
time only, due to the cause of audio pace, tone, intonation, juncture, tempo and
accent students get problem to understand the ideas of what the speaker wants
to convey their message. This is the main issue for the test taker in listening
section of IELTS. In similar vein, to overcome this problems students start
watching English TV series, Movies. Listen to lectures in English on Youtube,
Watch CNN news.

31
S2: During listening test in classroom discussion section and time management
is very difficult for me. I never scored good marks in listening section. I feel
difficulty in pronunciation too. Yes, of course, audio-visual materials are very
useful for me. I use them daily such as listening English news, IELTS materials
in YouTube.

My View: Students need more organized, keeping a watch and marking, what
needs to be done and by when, and getting started on the practice tests as soon
as fast, rather than putting it off. If they are involved in practicing the listening
test it definitely enhance their listening skill better. It also means being more
disciplined and making maximum productive use of the time. Different audio
visual resources are found in internet like: BBC news, CNN, Al Jazeera and
IELTS materials, these resources will make students more familiar with
different accents.

S3: Time management, high speed of audio tape and confusion of

pronunciation was my problems during listening test. Yes, audio-visual
materials is very beneficial.

My View: Almost all students face the problem of time management during
IELTS test to overcome with this problem student engage themselves in
practicing with different listening resources. Likewise, understanding an inner
circle English speakers' tone can be a challenge for the outer and expanding
circle English speakers. English pronunciation is complex. There are over 20
different vowel sounds and they can difficult to tell apart. It gets harder to
acknowledge with fast speech for the students of IELTS. Two words may differ
by a single sound but have a very different meaning (minimal pairs). Native
speakers have speech patterns that is hard to understand for the learners. It’s
different from textbook or written English and of course, using resources of
English audio visual are beneficial for the test of IELTS and good tool in
developing listening proficiency.

32
S4: I feel problems in unfamiliar topics and fast pronunciation while listening
the audio tape. Obviously, audio-materials can be very good and effective tool
in developing listening skill.

My View: The IELTS Listening test will feature a range of accents to reflect the
international nature of English. Candidates in the IELTS test hear a variety of
accents, from regional British accents to North American and Southern
Hemisphere accents such as Australian and South African English some times
in fast pace. It makes difficult to understand the speaker conveyed message.
Similarly, there are four section in IELTS listening module. In the first section
there is a conversation between two speakers. Similarly, the second section is a
monologue. It is set in an everyday social context. In the same vein, section
three is a conversation between up to four people and the final one is another
monologue. Their complexity is progressively increased in each section. In this
way sometimes students have to face the unfamiliar topic and it causes to
students understanding level lower and difficulty in IELTS listening test. It’s
vital that practice listening skills regularly and strategically with the help of
audio visual resources to score high.

On the basis of the above points, it has been concluded that the main
problems at the time of listening test were pronunciation, managing time in
answering, pace of speech, difficulty to deal with unfamiliar topics, feeling of
being afraid and so on.

Student’s Views on the Best Way to Develop Listening Proficiency. I

asked them to suggest some ways to develop listening proficiency and the
responses given by them have been summarized in the form of points below:

i. Listen carefully the instruction

ii. Watching English movie
iii. Listening BBC news
iv. Focus on practice

33
 v. More concentration on test

From the responses given below, the students provided the suggestions
to develop listening proficiency as focusing upon the practice, watching
English movie, listening news and so on.

Strategies Applied in the Listening Tests. The students may use

various strategies for developing a good proficiency in listening test. After
analyzing the views expressed by them, the following responses were provided
by the informants:

i. By listening recorded tape

ii. By going to online resources
iii. By focus on listen for detailed information
iv. By listening English songs

The above points present the students applied the strategies like listening
recorded tape, listening English songs and online resources made them easy in
IELTS tests.

Results

The major concern of this study was to identify the listening proficiency
of the IELTS candidates. The data were tabulated on the basis of various
variables according to the objectives. The findings of the study based on the
analysis and interpretations of the data. This section is the focal point of the
research report which deals with analysis and interpretation of the data
obtained by primary source and which consists all the main aspects of research
study. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted taking the objectives of
the study into consideration.

The research was carried to find out the strategies applied by IELTS
candidates in listening skills. The researcher made questionnaire and test tools

34
as research tools to collect the primary data. She selected forty students of
different institutions of Kathmandu valley. The researcher has listed the major
findings and implications of the study after the rigorous analysis of the
collected data. Both descriptive and statistics methods have been used to
analyze the data. On the basis of the analysis and interpretation, the findings of
this study are as follows:

i. It was found that 10% students faced the problems in unfamiliar

topics, 27.5% students found difficulty in time management and 35%
students faced problems in pronunciation.
ii. Almost all of the students used YouTube for their better
improvement in listening. They used audio video materials, listened
English news etc.
iii. Nearly 40 percent students felt that IELTS test is difficult.
iv. Students felt problems and difficulties (40%) in conversation.
v. It was found that 35% students focused on new words and they
listened for detail information in IELTS test.
vi. 35% students felt easy in listening section whereas they felt difficult
in speaking section (17.5%).
vii. Almost all of the students agreed that YouTube enhances and
motivates them. They found many learning materials from YouTube
and that was very beneficial for them.
viii. Most of the students faced the problem of time management during
the test and the speed of the speech also major problem while
listening the text.

35
 Chapter V

Conclusion and Implication

In this chapter, the research has presented the conclusion of the research
and recommendations of the study on the basis of presentation, analysis and
interpretation of the study. The implications of study are recommended for
three different related levels or areas viz. policy related, practice related and
further research related level.

Conclusion

The present research work entitled as “Strategies Applied by IELTS

Candidates in listening Skills” is an attempt to find out the strategies used by
IELTS pupils and to suggest some challenges faced by IELTS test-takers. The
researcher selected forty students of four different institutions of Kathmandu
valley, to whom were providing IELTS course. This thesis consists of five
chapters.

An analysis of literature was provided, mainly focused on discussion of

the listening comprehension strategies, listening proficiency, problem faced by
the students while in IELTS listening test. Questionnaire was to use as a
measuring tool to gathering students' opinions about general issues surrounding
listening test. The study focused on what strategies were applied to improve
their listening skill in International English Language Testing System by
students themselves.

There were several issues during listening test for students regarding
better understand of what the audio speaks. The problems involved like tone,
intonation, juncture, pitch, differentiate between minimal pare, pace of audio
etc. not only these factors, but also time management was also a great burden
for IELTS test - takers. Allocated 30 minutes was not enough for the 4 sections
in listening test of IELTS for the students to complete their given task.

36
 In order to help the students make better their listening skill, especially
in IELTS listening test, student must have familiar with different accent of
English language, if they have conscious knowledge about prosodic features at
word and sentence level of English, it helps to listening comprehension of
IELTS examinees. Maximum attention should be paid by the students while
engaging in listening test of IELTS to better know about the speech rate,
accent, tone, intonation etc. Likewise, beside different approaches to improve
listening skill of IELTS, audio video materials can be one of the relevant
reference resources to maximize the understanding level at the audio of IELTS
listening test. On the other hand, improve listening skill of IELTS, it is
mandatory to continuous study English, practicing English pronunciation of
letter and numbers in various accents by using different resources in the same
way, practicing mock tests, involve on online mock test, online listening
exercises can also helpful for upgrading listening skill as well. Similarly,
listening to everyday exchanges ideas between people or more than that, either
in person or on video, can assists students a great deal about listening skill.

At last, it is expected that this research may offer IELTS test-takers

some implications on how to make improvements in terms of IELTS listening
test and may also shed some new lights for students who are involve in
classroom listening too.

Implication

This section deals with the recommendation given for the

education/pedagogical implications and further study. Based on the findings
and conclusions, I would like to provide the following points of
recommendation for the policy related, practice related and the further
researcher related level of application.

Policy Related. Policy is protocol or principle to guide and achieve

rational outcomes. It is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure

37
or protocol. The main implications at this level are as follows:

i. By using the result of the study, from the school level the policy makers
should focus on listening section.
ii. It can be significantly applicable for creating plans to conduct new
forms of test items to test students’ listening proficiency.
iii. Additional listening class should be included along with textbook. By
this students can have more chances for practicing.
iv. Extra English listening practice periods should be made available to
make English environment and to develop the students’ proficiency.

Practice Related. From the findings of this study, I include some

recommendation related to practice level.

i. The students should focus on all skills required to have good proficiency
in listening comprehension.
ii. The difficulties faced by the students in listening skill. So, teacher
should facilitate the learners to overcome those difficulties.
iii. It is deemed important that teachers explicitly explain why the strategy
should be learned and used.
iv. As the findings of this study shows the average level proficiency of the
students in listening tests, it can be suggested that the teachers and
students should pay special attention on listening skill.

Further Research Related. Some of the related field and area suggest
the researcher as follow:

i. The study demonstrated what techniques students used and what types
of difficulty they encountered during listening.
ii. It suggests new research areas which are left to be investigated.
iii. This research provides a valuable secondary source for the researchers.
iv. This research is delimited to the study of strategies applied by IELTS
candidates in listening. Similarly, in others areas can be investigated.

38
 References

Adhikari, S. (2009). A study on reading comprehension based on IELTS. An

unpublished M.Ed. thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Barrass, R. (1982). A Guide to Better Learning. London. Rutledge.

Brito, J.D. (2015). The effects of listening comprehension on English language

learners writing performance while taking notes. An unpublished M.A
(TEOSL). Thesis, Bridgewater state University, Bridgewater.

Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to

Language Pedagogy. New York:Prentice Hall.

Buck, G. (2001). Assessing Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chapagain, R. (2001). Proficiency in listening comprehension of grade nine

students. An unpublished M.Ed. thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Cohen, L. Manion, L. & Merrison, K. (2010).Research methods in Education.

London: Rutledge.

Farrokhi, M.A. (2015). An analytical investigation of listening performance of

IELTS candidates. Indian journal of applied research,5(3).

Harmer, J. (2007). The practices of English language teaching. London:

Pearson Longman.

Heaton, J.B. (1988). Writing English Language Tests. London: Longman

Itani, L. (2012). Listening proficiency of the bachelor’s level students .An

unpublished M.Ed. thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Jackman, V. & McDowell, C. (1999). Insights into IELTS. U.K: Cambridge

University Press.

K.C, R.K (2011).Use of the internet for language learning. An unpublished

M.Ed. thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.
Khanal, L.N. (2008). Attitude of higher secondary teachers towards the use of
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Kathmandu.

Khanal, P. (2018). Research methodology in education. Sunlight Publication.

Khania, T.R. (2005). Examination for enhanced learning. Lalitpur: Millennium

Publication.

Kumar, R. (2011). Research methodology. Delhi: Pearson Education. Retrieved

From www.sociology.kpi.ua/wp.

L, Jing. (2014). IELTS listening test strategy research: Chinese students’

strstegy use with the lecture-based questions in the IELTS listening
paper. An unpublished thesis. University of Warwick, U.K.

Nufai, J. (2012). Effects of prossing strategies on listening comprehension in

English at middle schools. An unpublished M.A. thesis, prince of
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Nunan, D. (2012). Research Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Phuyal, A. (2005). Use of www for learning English. An unpublished M.Ed.

thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Prasain, L.P. (2007). Listening proficiency of grade IX students: a comparative

study. An unpublished M.Ed. thesis, T.U., Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Rokaya, G.B (2018). Use of Information and Communication Technology in

English Language Learning. An unpublished M.Ed. thesis, T.U.,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu.

Rost, M. (1994). Introducing Listening. Hardmondsworth: Peinguin English.

Singh, N.K. (2000). A Study on Listening Comprehension of Grade Eight

Students in Listening Test and their Problems and Difficulties. An
M.Ed. Thesis. T.U.

Underhood, M. (1989). Teaching listening. London: Longman.

W, Xiaoli. (2017). On the evaluation of IELTS listening test and its wash back
effects on listening teaching and learning. International journal on
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2347-3126.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/proficiency-test.
Retrieved on 11/09/2016

https://www.ielts.org/what is ielts/ielts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_impact_of_YouTube15 January, 2015.

 Appendix I
Participant Consent Form
Supervisor
Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel, Professor
"Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates in Listening Skills"
I …………………………………… agree to take part in this research study. In
giving my consent, I state that:
1. I understand the purpose of the study, what I will be asked to do, and
risks/ benefits involved.
2. I have read the Participation Information Statement and have been able
to discuss my involvement in the study with the researcher if I wished to
do so.
3. I have got answers to any questions that I had about the study and I am
happy with the answers.
4. I understand that my participation is completely voluntary.
5. I understand that I can withdraw from this study at any time before I
submit the response to the given questionnaire.
6. I understand that personal information about me that is collected over
the course of this study will be limited to this use or other research
related usages as authorized by Tribhuvan University.
7. I understand that personal information about me that is collected over
the course of this study will be kept more confidential in the secure
position of the researcher.
8. I understand that the data I will provide will not be used to evaluate my
performance anyway.
9. I understand that personal information about me will not only be told to
others with my permission, except as required by law.
10. I understand that the results of this study may be published, and that
publications will not contain my name or any identifiable information
about me.

I consent to:
Completing questionnaires
Yes
No
Name: …………………………….
Signature: ………………………...
 Appendix II

This questionnaire is a research tool for gathering information for my

research study entitled “Strategies Applied by IELTS Candidates in Listening
Skills” under the supervision of Dr. Purna Bahadur Kadel, Reader and Head
Department of English Education, T.U., Kritipur. Your cooperation in
completion of this test will be of great value to me. I am interested in your
personal answers. Please feel free to put your responses required by the test. I
answer you that the responses made by you will be exclusively used only for
the research.

Researcher
Laxmi Adhikari