Foundation Studies Department

ROOM 207 - BUILDING C HANOI UNIVERSITY

TEL: 04 5535728
Km 9 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan Bac, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi – Vietnam
LISTENING SYLLABUS – Telephone:(84 4) 8544338, Facsimile:(84 4) 8544550;
TERM I http://www.hanu.edu.vn

1. Course Overview
The Listening course (Term 1) is for first-year students of the Foundation Studies Department at Hanoi
University. The students have a chance to get exposed to and get familiar with numerous topic-based English
dialogues and monologues. The Listening component consists of two sub-components namely Conversation
and Dictation Listening. With regard to Conversation Listening, special focus has been put on the
development of learners’ listening skills and strategies to be able to comprehend daily life conversations and
talks made by native speakers with various accents. Meanwhile, Dictation Listening puts more emphasis on
promoting students’ capacity of listening and perceiving the accurate written forms of oral sounds, words and
simple sentences so that they can confidently dictate (write down exactly what they hear) from speakers.
Listening proves to be very essential and indispensable for students during their language study, it is not an
easy task though. To be successful listeners at this level, students are expected to make full use of not only
class hours but also their self-study sessions to constantly sharpen their listening skills by reviewing and
applying the practical learnt listening techniques and skills into practice. It is crucially important to bear in
mind that patience and regular daily practice will be key success factors for a good and effective listener.

2. Course Objectives and Outcome

The curriculum materials of this course are selected to accomplish the following:
 Develop students’ comprehension of daily life conversations and talks of academic context made by native
speakers with various accents
 Enhance students’ capability of listening and dictating exactly what can be heard from the speakers.
 Build up students’ both bottom-up and top-down listening skills in a systematic way
 Increase students’ confidence when listening to different types of spoken English
We seek the following outcome:
Students will be able to improve their English
listening ability and develop key listening skills
through a great variety of listening activities at intermediate level

3. Books and Materials

 Textbooks for classroom activities and homework (student use):
 BEL Listening team (2016) Conversation Listening Book (for class use) [LC]. Compiled from
- Naber, T. & Blackwell, A. (2004) Know-how 2. OUP
- Richards, J.C. (2004) Developing Tactics for Listening. OUP.
- Conversation Listening Homework Book [1]
- Other sources

 BEL Listening team (2016) Dictation Listening Book (for class use) [LD]. Compiled from
- DeFilippo, J. & Sadow, C. (2003). Dictations for Discussion. Pro Lingua Associates Publishers.
- VOA Special English (2016)
- Dictation Listening Homework Book [2]
- Other sources
 Suggested Reference Materials (to be purchased separately, if needed):
 Advanced Learners Dictionary, such as the Oxford Dictionary
 Richards, J.C. (1996) Expanding Tactics for Listening. OUP
 Materials for lesson planning and handouts (teacher use):
 Ur, P. (1984) Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge University Press, UK.
 Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983) Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge University Press, UK.
 Short, J. (2012) Get ready for IELTS listening. HarperCollins Publishers.
 Aish, F. & Tomlinson, J. (2011), Listening for IELTS. HarperCollins Publishers.
4. Proposed Class Time Schedule
Listening (Term 1) will meet twice a week, for a total of 5.0 Academic Hours. The time will be equally
allocated for both Conversation Listening (2.5 hours) and Dictation Listening (2.5 hours).

Syllabus, 2019 || HANU/ESPD – Listening-Term 1 || rev.28-AUG-2019, page 2

5. Assessment
 Homework Assignments: Homework will be assigned and checked for every class session. Completion
of the homework is compulsory. Students who have not completed all homework will be marked absent.
Students who are absent for more than 20% of class time are not permitted to receive marks for the term.
Examinations: TWO exams will be administered to student in the mid-term and at the end of the term.
The examination will match the course materials in focus and style. A specific outline is below:
Mid-term Examination End-of-Term Examination
a two part exam: a two part exam:
(1) Conversation listening tasks (1) Conversation listening tasks
(2) Dictation listening tasks (2) Dictation listening tasks

6. Methodological Principles
Listening plays an essential part in the communication process as obviously conversations will take place only
when we can understand what speakers say. Hence, in-class listening activities of the selected materials are
designed to get students involved in and get acquainted with necessary listening skills and strategies, which
are useful to enhance their listening comprehension ability in general (daily life) and academic contexts. For
example, students are able to learn how to gain good sense of concentration while listening, to make possible
guess, to listen for key words and details and to identify proper spoken language uses for better understanding
and comprehending the given oral messages.

Research has shown that successful learners are autonomous, reflective, and are actively involved in their
learning. These learners are aware of how learning takes place and the best learning strategies for themselves.
With this understanding, students should try their best to make full use of given opportunities to practice
listening through a wide range of activities namely fulfilling assigned homework, actively listening to their
teachers and their peers speaking English, learning English through songs, stories and other useful resources
so that they can fully improve and gradually master their listening skills.

7. Course Team Members

The following instructors will contribute to the development of this EAPa Listening Course. Roles as noted:

Full Name Role E-mail Phone

Trần Thu Hằng Team Leader tthang11883@yahoo.com 0904 504 916

Syllabus, 2019 || HANU/ESPD – Listening-Term 1 || rev.28-AUG-2019, page 3

 Framework for Conversation Listening Syllabus ◘ 1 lesson // 2.5 academic hours per week
Week
Topic / Theme Lesson Focus Tasks
Class
- Orientation & Expectations - Listening for gist
WK 1 Discussion: Learning issues
- Unit 1: Education - Listening for attitudes
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 1 [1]
- Prediction
WK 2 Unit 2: Work and Leisure Discussion: Childhood
- Listening for key words
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 2 [1]

- Listening for details

WK 3 Unit 3: Food Discussion: Food quiz
- Listening for signals
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 3 – [1]

- Listening for opinions

WK 4 Unit 4: Movie and Television Discussion: Movie-making process
- Listening for information

Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 4 – [1]

- Listening for key words

WK 5 Unit 5: Memory Discussion: Memory
- Listening for inferences
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 5 – [1]
- Listening for details
WK 6 Unit 6: Describing things Role play: Giving descriptions
- Listening for descriptions
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 6 – [1]

WK 7 At-Home Review // No Class Meetings

MID-TERM TEST
- Analyzing the context
Unit 7: Relationships Quiz on personality
WK 8 - Listening for comparisons
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 7 – [1]
Unit 8: Money makes the world go - Listening for specific information Role play: Transactions
WK 9
round - Listening for emphasis
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 8 – [1]
- Listening for gist
WK 10 Unit 9: Travel and Exploration Discussion: Travel experience
- Listening for details
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 9 – [1]
- Listening for key words
WK 11 Unit 10: Environment Discussion: Clean-up the world
- Listening for emphasis
Homework for Next Class Session: Unit 10 – [1]
- Revision
WK 12 Unit 11: Revision + Pilot test - Pilot test + class check

Homework: Review for End-of-term Examination

WK 13 At-Home Review // No Class Meetings

END-OF-TERM EXAM

Syllabus, 2019 || HANU/ESPD – Listening-Term 1 || rev.28-AUG-2019, page 4

 Framework for BEL Dictation Listening Syllabus ◘ 1 lesson // 2.5 academic hours per week
Week
Topic / Theme Lesson Focus Tasks
Class
- An overview to Dictation Listening
- Orientation & Expectations Discussion: English as a global
WK 1 - Understand ways to learn English
- Unit 1: Learning a foreign language language
Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 1: Immigration Statistics [2]
- Develop prediction skills
WK 2 Unit 2: Vitamins – essence of health - Get to know benefits of different vitamins Discussion: Health and nutrition
towards human health
Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 2: Three little words [2]
- Make full use of the contextual clues
- Build up background knowledge about Discussion: Roles of women & Family
WK 3 Unit 3: Family matters
family-related issues and women roles nest

Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 3: Election day in the USA [2]
- Recognize correct pronunciation of –s
endings - Discussion: Life experiences of
WK 4 Unit 4: Childhood - Learn about lives of children across the children at different parts of the world
world
Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 4: The Olympic Games [2]
- Recognize correct pronunciation of –ed
endings Discussion: Pros and Cons of watching
WK 5 Unit 5: Television
- Learn how TV influences our life TV
Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 5: Birthdays around the world [2]
- Highlight vocabulary problem parts
- Learn about secrets for true happiness
WK 6 Unit 6: Happiness and dreams Discussion: Happiness and dreams
and interesting facts about dreams

Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 6: Want to stay warm – think COLD [2]

WK 7 At-Home Review // No Class Meetings

MID-TERM TEST
- Understand the sounds linking rules
WK 8 Unit 7: Superstitions - Learn about superstitions across countries Discussion: Religious beliefs

Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 7: Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce [2]
- Identify main ideas and supporting details
- Discussion: Rainforests and noise
WK 9 Unit 8: Environment - Learn about current environmental issues
pollution

Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 8: Expressions with numbers [2]
- Develop basic note-taking skills
- Learn how science and technology Discussion: Online education and the
WK 10 Unit 9: Technology
change the world greatest technological advances
Homework for Next Class Session: Wordlist + Unit 9: Writing college papers [2]
- Review learnt skills Discussion:
WK 11 Unit 10: Careers - Learn about different aspects of job - Social media as tools for job search
searching - Factors for a successful interview
Homework for Next Class Session: Revision + Wordlist
- Revision
WK 12 Unit 11: Revision + Pilot test - Pilot test + class check

Homework: Review for End-of-term Examination

WK 13 At-Home Review // No Class Meetings

END-OF-TERM EXAM

Syllabus, 2019 || HANU/ESPD – Listening-Term 1 || rev.28-AUG-2019, page 5