An Investigation into Difficulties in Listening Comprehension Encountered by English-Majored Freshmen at Dong Nai Technology University and Recommendations

Listening is one of the crucial skills in learning English as well as communicating in daily life. As we know listening to a message is not as simple as hearing it, the listener must comprehend the message and respond properly. In Vietnam, from primary schools to high schools, many of them place more emphasis on grammar, reading and vocabulary rather than speaking and listening. Students do not have many chances to practice listening in class and outside class as well. As a result, many English majors have problems in listening comprehension, especially freshmen who lack experience and do not have suitable learning methods. Thus, this paper aims to investigate difficulties in listening comprehension faced by students as well reasons of these difficulties. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the study to collect data. The study results reveal the difficulties and causes which are related to listening materials, listeners, and facilities. It is recommended that students should be exposed to a wider range of listening techniques and applying listening strategies. In addition, teachers play a crucial role in determining the listening techniques to use and how to adapt them in order to help students overcome the listening challenge.