Using songs to motivate students in ETE listening classes*

Abstract

In Vietnam, many teachers and students of English agree that listening is an essential skill that helps English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students to improve their general background knowledge as well as the other three language skills (reading, speaking, and writing). The situation in the Academy for Journalism and Communication (AJC) where I work is that, when all EFL students should be able to read well in English, yet the data I have obtained from my observation as well as from previous conversations with other teachers and ex-students and current students show that the students lack motivation to listen in their target language (i.e. English), and their listening skill performance is quite low.