The impacts of edpuzzle mobile app on listening skill for non-English major students at Saigontech College

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

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DINH TRAN THUY LIEU

THE IMPACTS OF EDPUZZLE MOBILE APP ON

LISTENING SKILL FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

STUDENTS AT SAIGONTECH COLLEGE

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

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DINH TRAN THUY LIEU

THE IMPACTS OF EDPUZZLE MOBILE APP ON

LISTENING SKILL FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR

STUDENTS AT SAIGONTECH COLLEGE

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Major code: 8 14 01 11

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. NGUYEN NGOC VU

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM

THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc

KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC

GIẤY XÁC NHẬN

Tôi tên là: Đinh Trần Thúy Liễu

Ngày sinh: 01/5/1993 Nơi sinh: Lâm Đồng

Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh

Mã học viên: 1981401111012

Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản

quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường

đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn

tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành

phố Hồ Chí Minh.

Ký tên

Đinh Trần Thúy Liễu

(Ghi rõ họ và tên)

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the thesis “The impacts of Edpuzzle mobile app on listening

skill for non-English major students at SaigonTech College” is my original work.

In the thesis, there is no other person’s work referenced without acknowledgment.

The work has not been submitted for any degree or diploma in any tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2022

Dinh Tran Thuy Lieu

ii

RETENTION AND USE OF THIS THESIS

I hereby state that I, Dinh Tran Thuy Lieu, the learner for the degree of Master in

TESOL, accept the requirement of the university relating to the retention and use of

the Master’s theses deposited in the university library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the

university library should be accessible for the purposes of the studies and research, in

accordance with the normal condition established by the library for the care, loan,

and reproduction of the thesis.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Without the support, encouragement, and contribution of many people during

the process of carrying out this study, I would not have completed my thesis.

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor,

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu for his persistent support and invaluable

advice to me from the beginning to the end of the study. Without his

dedicated instructions, my thesis would not have been finished.

Second, I am thankful for the approval and support from the SaigonTech

College and the ESL Department who offered me the opportunity and the best

condition to carry out the research.

Third, I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic participation of the

students at SaigonTech College. Thanks to their participation, I could collect

the data for the thesis successfully.

Last but not least, my special thanks go to my beloved friends and family who

had given me great care, support, and encouragement during the time I do this

research.

iv

ABSTRACT

In the current scenario characterized by increased online learning, Mobile-Assisted

Language Learning (MALL) has drawn significant attention from both researchers

and teachers of English. In this trend, the emergence of mobile apps which offer tools

to make interactive videos has shown their usefulness and practicality in assisting

teachers to engage with students in effective language lessons, especially in listening

activities. The objective of this study was to critically investigate the impacts of the

Edpuzzle app on the improvement of students’ listening skills. Participants consisted

of first-year non-English-majored students at SaigonTech College in Ho Chi Minh

City (n=52) with an elementary level of English skills. Using a mixed-methods

design, the study including three data collection tools tests (pre-test and post-test), a

questionnaire, and an interview. The results collected from the post-test indicated that

the experimental group had better achievement in listening skills compared to the

control group. In addition, the data from the questionnaire and interview show that

the students in the experimental group had a positive perception of the use of

Edpuzzle in listening activities. It can thus be concluded that the combination of

MALL and interactive videos in the Edpuzzle app facilitates good learning outcomes

and is, therefore, a successful approach. Recommendations to teachers and

researchers are suggested at the end of the paper.

Keywords: mobile learning, MALL, listening comprehension, Edpuzzle, interactive

video

v

ABBREVIATIONS

CG: Control Group

EG: Experimental Group

IV: Interactive Video

M: Mean

MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning

Max: Maximum

Min: Minimum

N: Number

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Ss: Students

TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. An Example of a Result Report ................................................................18

Figure 2. An Example of Individual Student Report ...............................................19

Figure 3. Listening Activity with Edpuzzle .............................................................20

Figure 4. Participants’ Years of Learning English...................................................29

Figure 5. Normal Q-Q plots for CG's listening tests results ....................................45

Figure 6. Normal Q-Q plots for EG's listening pre-test and post-test scores...........47

Figure 7. Comparison of means of pre-test and post-test scores .............................51

Figure 8. General perceptions of learning experience with Edpuzzle .....................53

Figure 9. Attitudes about listening activities through Edpuzzle treatment..............55

Figure 10. Behavioral perceptions toward Edpuzzle ...............................................57

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Correlations of the AV2 Course, CEFR, and TOEIC Test Scores.............26

Table 2. AV2 Course's Summary Syllabus and Listening Objectives.....................26

Table 3. Description of the Listening Pre-Test and Post-Test .................................31

Table 4. Listening Activities for The Control Group...............................................36

Table 5. Listening Activities for The Experimental Group......................................37

Table 6. Reliability of the questionnaire and constructs..........................................42

Table 7. Descriptive Statistics of CG's Pre-test and Post-test..................................44

Table 8. Test of Normality for CG's Listening Pre-test and Post-test Scores..........45

Table 9. Descriptive Statistics of EG's Pre-test and Post-test ..................................46

Table 10. Test of Normality for EG's Listening pre-test and post-test scores .........46

Table 11. Descriptive Statistics of the CG and EG's Pre-test Scores.......................47

Table 12. Results of Independent Samples t-test for listening pre-test scores.........48

Table 13. Descriptive Statistics of CG and EG's listening post-test scores........49

Table 14. Results of Independent Samples t-test for listening post-test scores .......50

Table 15. Descriptive Statistics of EG's general perceptions of the learning

experience with Edpuzzle .........................................................................................51

Table 16. Descriptive Statistics of EG's attitudes about listening through Edpuzzle

treatment....................................................................................................................54

Table 17. Descriptive Statistics of EG's behavioral perceptions toward Edpuzzle..56

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ......................................................................... i

RETENTION AND USE OF THIS THESIS......................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... iii

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. iv

ABRIVATIONS.........................................................................................................v

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ vi

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................1

1. Background and Context..................................................................................1

2. Problem Statement............................................................................................2

3. Research Questions...........................................................................................3

4. Relevance and Importance of the Research. ..................................................3

5. Delimitations and Limitations of the Study....................................................4

CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................6

1. An Overview of Listening Comprehension.....................................................6

1.1. Definition of Listening Comprehension ......................................................6

1.2. Listening in Second Language Learning .....................................................8

1.2.1. The Importance of Listening in Second Language Learning................8

1.2.2. Second Language Listening Difficulties...............................................9

2. Mobile-Assisted Language Learning.............................................................10

2.1. Mobile Learning.........................................................................................10

2.2. Mobile-Assisted Language Learning .........................................................11

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2.3. MALL in teaching English in Vietnam......................................................12

3. Interactive Video (IV).....................................................................................13

3.1. What is Interactive Video?.........................................................................13

3.2. The Use of Interactive Video in the Classroom.........................................15

4. Edpuzzle Mobile App......................................................................................16

4.1. Introduction of Edpuzzle............................................................................16

4.2. Functions of Edpuzzle................................................................................18

5. Related Studies................................................................................................20

6. Research gap in existing knowledge ..............................................................22

7. Chapter Summary...........................................................................................23

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................24

1. Research Design ..............................................................................................24

2. Research Site and Participants......................................................................25

2.1. Research Site..............................................................................................25

2.1.1. The School ..........................................................................................25

2.1.2. The AV2 Course .................................................................................25

2.2. Research Participants.................................................................................28

3. Instruments......................................................................................................30

3.1. Tests (Pre-Test and Post-Test)...................................................................30

3.2. Questionnaire .............................................................................................32

3.3. Interview ....................................................................................................34

4. Data Collection Procedures............................................................................35

4.1. Before the Experiment ...............................................................................35

4.2. During the Experiment...............................................................................35

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4.3. After the Experiment..................................................................................38

5. Data Analysis...................................................................................................39

6. Reliability and Validity...................................................................................41

6.1. Validity.......................................................................................................41

6.2. Reliability...................................................................................................41

7. Researcher’s Roles and Potential Ethical Issues..........................................42

8. Chapter Summary...........................................................................................43

CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS ....................................................................................44

1. TOEIC Listening Tests Results .....................................................................44

1.1. Listening Pre-test and Post-test Results of Control Group ........................44

1.2. Listening Pre-test and Post-test Results of Experimental Group...............45

1.3. Pre-test Results of Control Group and Experimental Group .....................47

1.4. Post-test Results of Control Group and Experimental Group....................49

2. Results from Questionnaire............................................................................51

2.1. Results from Closed-ended Questions.......................................................51

2.1.1. General Perceptions of Learning Experience with Edpuzzle .............51

2.1.2. Attitudes about Listening Activities through Edpuzzle Treatment.....53

2.1.3. Behavioral Perceptions toward Edpuzzle ...........................................56

2.2. Results from Open-ended Questions..........................................................57

3. Results from Interview ...................................................................................59

3.1. Students’ general perceptions about the use of Edpuzzle in listening

activities ............................................................................................................59

3.2. Students’ perceptions about the usefulness and impacts of Edpuzzle on their

listening abilities ...............................................................................................60