The impacts of rhetorical schema on English majors’ listening comprehension in academic situations at ho chi minh city university of technology and education

34 Le T. K. Thu & Nguyen T. Tung. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 34-46 
THE IMPACTS OF RHETORICAL SCHEMA ON ENGLISH 
MAJORS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION IN ACADEMIC 
SITUATIONS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF 
TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION 
LE THI KIM THU 
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam - thultk@hcmute.edu.vn 
NGUYEN THANH TUNG 
 Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy, Vietnam - tungnth@hcmup.edu.vn 
 (Received: September 02, 2017; Revised: September 25, 2017; Accepted: November 29, 2017) 
ABSTRACT 
Listening is a basic language skill which involves the interaction of diverse factors affecting learners’ 
listening comprehension. Learners often encounter various difficulties in listening to an oral text with a little 
knowledge of the reasons why it occurs. Moreover, teachers mainly pay more attention to it as a product rather 
than as a process. Also, the factors about listening strategies have been under-researched although they play a 
significant role in guiding learners through what to listen to and how to listen to it effectively. This study 
sought to investigate the effects of rhetorical schema including note-taking and four listening strategies, and 
the extent to which students change as regards strategy use and listening achievement in academic settings. 
Forty second-year EFL students from the two listening classes, one treated as the experimental group (EG) and 
the other as the control group (CG), at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Ho Chi Minh City University 
of Technology and Education (HCM UTE) were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected in the 
form of a questionnaire administered to EG and listening tests of IELTS part 4 taken by both groups. The 
findings indicate that EG students are more open to use the strategies introduced, so rhetorical schema 
positively enhance their listening comprehension. Notably, the scores of the rank high - distinction - appeared 
for the first time albeit its small percentage in EG. Students also express significant changes in their attitudes 
towards rhetorical strategies in terms of their awareness of its importance, frequent use, and confidence in 
listening to lectures in the future. 
Keywords: Listening comprehension; Listening strategies; Note-taking strategies; Rhetorical schema. 
1. Introduction 
No one can deny the fact that language 
teaching and learning has become one of the 
most common research topics for ages. Of the 
four, listening, the ability to identify and 
understand what others are saying, involves 
an understanding of a speaker’s accent or 
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and a 
grasp of his/her meaning (Howatt & Dakin, 
1974) This ability has emerged as the core 
factor in the process of second language 
acquisition and demands a much greater 
prominence in language teaching (Nguyen, 
2012; Oxford, 1993). 
Notwithstanding its crucial role, within 
the context of language teaching and learning 
in Vietnam, the process of teaching and 
learning listening still suffers from a myriad 
of drawbacks. First, L2 learners are often 
fearful of listening tasks whose purpose and 
context they do not know or whose topics 
they are not familiar with. Second, they lack 
essential strategies to successfully approach a 
task. L2 learners are not taught and provided 
with appropriate strategies to apply in 
different listening tasks. In other words, they 
do not often approach the listening task in the 
most efficient way compared to what they 
 Le T. K. Thu & Nguyen T. Tung. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 34-46 35 
may do in their first language. Third, 
instructions for teaching listening mainly 
target its product instead of its process. 
Teachers still tend to test listening rather than 
teach it. The issue of information retention is 
also another reason making listening difficult. 
Learners say that they can catch the speed and 
understand what the speakers are saying, but 
they find themselves unable to retain contents 
for post-listening questions. Moreover, 
according to Ur (1985), it is apparent that 
learners can govern the speed of what they 
hear but they cannot go back or “rewind” to 
listen to the lost content. Finally, knowledge 
of language, culture and other kinds of 
background knowledge also bring obstacles to 
Vietnamese learners. Ton (2009, p.3) points 
out that 70% of Vietnamese students lack 
necessary function languages. Statistically, 
Nguyen (2012, p.34) has found that 82% of 
Vietnamese learners experience challenges in 
lectures or seminars in which barriers with 
note-taking account for 44%. 
Schemas are very essential not only for 
interpreting information but also for decoding 
how that information is organized. The first 
outline of schema theory was developed in 
1932 by Barlett, who pays much attention to 
the role of memory. He argues that memory is 
an active process, not reproductive, but 
constructive in its operation. Myhill, Jones 
and Hopper (2006) say that schema is a set of 
mental connections we had in our head about 
a particular idea of thing” (p.21). According 
to Edwards and McDonald (1993), the 
development of schema theory is concerned 
with the organization of information in 
memory and how existing knowledge 
influences the encoding of new information 
and its retrieval from memory (p.75). Dunkel 
and Davy (1989) state that applying suitable 
listening as well as note-taking strategies in a 
lecture can consequently be an effective and 
useful tool to increase attention to the 
listening process and enhance retention of the 
content. 
Therefore, the application of listening 
strategies and note-taking strategies should be 
taken into full consideration. This article 
focuses on how rhetorical schema including 
listening strategies and note-taking strategies 
effectively improve students’ listening 
comprehension in an academic setting. It 
details why teachers should introduce these 
strategies in classroom practice in order to 
enhance students’ listening comprehension. 
The article also addresses attitudinally 
positive changes in students’ perception 
toward the application of rhetorical schema. 
2. Listening in EFL learning and 
teaching 
Listening is defined under different 
wording worldwide but widely understood as 
an invisible mental process (Vandergrift, 
1999). As defined by Oxford (1993), “it is a 
complex, problem solving skill” and it is 
“more than just a perception of the sounds” 
(p. 206). Buck (2001) argues that “listening 
involves both linguistic and non-linguistic 
knowledge” (p.247); linguistic knowledge 
relates to “knowledge of phonology, lexis, 
syntax, semantics discourse structure, 
pragmatics, and sociolinguistics, whereas non-
linguistic one refers to “knowledge of the 
topic, the context and general knowledge 
about the world and how it works” (ibid., 
p.247). The general comprehension process, 
therefore, appears in the following stages: 
1. The listener takes in raw speech and 
holds an image of it in short-term memory. 
2. An attempt is made to organize what 
was heard in constituents, identifying their 
content and function. 
3. As constituents are identified, they are 
used to construct propositions, grouping the 
propositions together to form a coherent 
message. 
4. Once the listener has identified and 
reconstructed the propositional meanings, 
these are held in long-term memory, and the 
form in which the message was originally 
received is deleted. 
Besides, awareness of listening orientation 
is far more significant in listening 
comprehension. In its broadest framework, Rost 
(2002) defines some orientation as follows: 
 A receptive orientation: Receiving what 
the speaker actually says 
 A constructive orientation: Constructing 
and representing meaning 
36 Le T. K. Thu & Nguyen T. Tung. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 34-46 
 A collaborative orientation: Negotiating 
meaning with the speaker and responding 
 A transformative orientation: Creating 
meaning through involvement, imagination 
and empathy 
Three models of listening, which have 
dominated language pedagogy since the early 
1980s, can be identified as bottom-up, top-
down and interactive approach. The bottom-
up processing is a linear data-driven fashion. 
Comprehension occurs in the extent that 
listeners decode the sounds they hear, from 
the smallest meaningful units – phonemes – to 
the complete text. Anderson and Lynch (1998, 
p. 9) call this the “listener as tape recorder 
view” for he/she takes in and stores aural 
messages sequentially, one by one, in much 
the same way as a tape recorder. Conversely, 
the top-down processing involves the 
listener’s active construction of meaning 
based on expectations, inferences, and other 
relevant prior knowledge (Nunan, 1991). This 
has been called “listener as model builder” 
(Anderson & Lynch, 1998, p.11). The 
approach totally focuses on interpretation of 
meaning by integrating with contexts and 
situations including knowledge of the topic at 
hand, the speakers, and their relationship to 
the situations instead of recognition of sounds, 
words and sentences. However, meaning does 
not reside exclusively within the words on the 
tape recorder or on the page. Actually, it also 
remains in the head of listeners. It is widely 
accepted that listeners gain good 
understanding not only based on the messages 
they can recall – language schema – but also 
by connecting what they hear with what they 
have already known – knowledge schema. In 
other words, learners need to utilize both 
bottom-up and top-down process effectively. 
Therefore, an interactive approach, which 
wears down the disadvantages of bottom-up 
and top-down processing, is applied to 
enhance comprehension (Fang, 2008). 
Therefore, it is noticeable that both language 
schema and knowledge schema are crucial in 
teaching listening (Nunan, 2007; Wolvin and 
Coakley, 1993) 
3. Schema theory 
Researchers have given a large number of 
different definitions of schema (plural of 
schemas or schemata). Brewer and Nakamura 
(1984) explain that “schemas are the 
unconscious cognitive structures that underlie 
human knowledge and skill” (p.136). Cohen 
and Oakes (1993) define schemas as “packets 
of information stored in memory representing 
general knowledge about objects, situations, 
events, or actions” (p.28). Cook (1997) 
regards schema as “a mental representation of 
a typical instance” (p.86). 
Schemata are categorized into two types: 
content schemata and rhetorical schemata 
(Carrel, 1983; Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988). 
The former refers to “background 
information” on the topic and the latter relates 
to “knowledge about how discourse is 
organized with respect to different genres, 
different topics, or different purposes, 
including relevant sociocultural knowledge” 
(Celce-Murcia & Olshtain, 2000, p.102). In 
addition, Juan and Flor (2006) insist that 
“content schema are networks of knowledge 
on different topics and rhetorical schema are 
derived from our knowledge of the structure 
of discourse being listened to make it easier to 
engage in top-down processing strategies such 
as predicting and inferencing” (p.93). 
According to Lingzhu (2003), activating the 
content schema is of great importance in order 
for learners to access their prior knowledge. 
4. Rhetorical schema in developing 
listening comprehension 
4.1. Note-taking strategies in academic 
situation 
Taking notes in academic listening 
situations is commonly considered as an 
effective strategy with regard to student 
attention to the lecture and retention of 
academic discourse (Dunkel, 1988; Dunkel & 
Davy, 1989). O’Hara (2005) identifies another 
aspect of note-taking which involves active 
listening, connecting and relating information 
to the ideas learners already know, and 
seeking answers to questions that arise from 
the material. Since note-taking strategies can 
ease learners’ challenges in retaining 
academic discourse and support their learning 
process, Vesta and Gray (1972) and Dunkel 
and Phyllis (2005) discuss their distinctive 
 Le T. K. Thu & Nguyen T. Tung. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 34-46 37 
features in terms of two postulated functions: 
the encoding function and the external 
function. 
According to Dunkel and Phyllis (2005), 
Kiewra (1989), and Vesta and Gray (1972) the 
encoding function is divided between listeners 
who daydream, read other material, doodle, 
and lose concentration and note-takers who 
attend the listening carefully in order to avoid 
missing critical points, and compare new 
information to what is already stored in their 
head. Another activity of note-takers during 
the listening is to create a new and larger 
structure of information where all pieces of 
information are now linked and related to 
each other and used for the long term by 
encoding new knowledge and translating 
lecturers’ words into learners’ own words. In 
1978, Hartley and Davis contrasted these 
functions and suggested that encoding 
facilitates learning and retention by activating 
intentional mechanisms and engaging 
learners’ cognitive processes of coding, 
integrating, synthesizing, and transforming 
the aurally received input into a personally 
meaningful form. Equally importantly, the 
significance of the external storage function is 
served as an external repository of 
information which permits later revision and 
review to stimulate information recall. 
Additionally, Carrier and Titus (1979) named 
the external storage versus encoding 
hypotheses in relation to the utility of the 
product versus process dichotomy. 
The process value of the encoding 
function 
Some researchers view the encoding 
function of note-taking as the more important 
of the two (Barnett, Vesta, & Rogozinski, 
1981; Howe, 1970). They argue that close 
dependence on notes as an external tool can 
lead to ineffective learning if the process of 
note-taking fails to happen. Howe (1974) 
stipulates that learners’ familiarity of the 
knowledge they are attempting to assimilate 
and a great processing of information are 
assured thanks to the aids of taking notes. 
Moreover, in the vast effort theory of note-
taking (Peper & Mayer, 1978) and Craik and 
Lockhart’s (1972) principle of levels of 
processing, learners should put more efforts 
and become part of the learning process rather 
than just listening, and that material which 
requires deeper levels of activity is encoded 
more deeply. 
The product value of the external 
storage function 
There is a wide range of empirical studies 
that support the conclusion that a combination 
of taking and reviewing notes yields 
maximum immediate and delayed recall 
(Fisher & Harries, 1973). It is convinced that 
learners gain superior performance on both 
immediate and delayed tests of recall in lights 
of four significantly important points of the 
storage claim: (1) learners are given an 
additional learning trial when reviewing 
notes; (2) note review inhibits recall of 
irrelevant material; (3) learners who review 
their notes apparently are able to focus their 
retrieval efforts more effectively; and (4) 
notes cue reconstruction of parts of the lecture 
not initially recorded in them. 
4.2. Listening strategies in academic 
situation 
According to Dunkel and Davy (1989), 
the quality of notes is considerably influenced 
by their target listening proficiency and the 
performance on the listening sub-skills that 
particular test items are designed to measure 
(Dunkel & Davy, 1989). An operational-
ization made of the component micro-skills 
that constitute learners’ competence as 
listeners is designed by Richards (1983). 
Within the framework of this research, only 
four are purposefully chosen, synthesized and 
adapted in order to be comparable with test 
items given in the listening test. 
Listening to topic and big picture of a 
lecture 
At the beginning of a lecture, the lecturer 
usually tells learners the topic, or what the 
lecture is going to be about. He/She also tells 
learners the big picture, or the general plan of 
the lecture. It is a kind of map for them to 
follow that shows how he/she will present the 
material in the lecture. Listening for words or 
expressions and recognizing lecture language 
that she/she uses to signal the topic and big 
picture significantly help learners to obtain the 
38 Le T. K. Thu & Nguyen T. Tung. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 34-46 
scope as well as purposes of the lecture as a 
whole (Powers, 1986; Salehzadeh, 2006; 
Wong, 2009). 
Listening to signals of transition in a 
lecture 
After the topic and big picture of the 
lecture, the lecturer will tell learners at the 
beginning of a lecture how information will 
be organized. During a lecture, he/she will 
give them signals to help them follow this 
organization. A variety of specific words and 
phrases is introduced when they move from 
one idea to another. These transitions tell 
listeners that a new idea is coming or that they 
have finished one idea and are beginning 
another idea (Powers, 1986; Salehzadeh, 
2006; Wong, 2009). 
Listening to main ideas and supporting 
ideas in a lecture 
It is apparent that the main ideas of a 
lecture often follow signals of transitions. 
Whenever the lecturer uses lecture language 
to indicate the starting or ending of an idea, 
he/she afterward presents the main 
information. Therefore, listening to signals of 
transitions crucially gives ways to grasping 
the whole ideas of a lecture (Rilling, 1996; 
Wong, 2009). Besides, during a lecture, the 
lecturer will often communicate that he/she is 
making an important point and that listeners 
should pay special attention to it (Powers, 
1986; Salehzadeh, 2006). 
Listening to definition, example, and 
explanation in a lecture 
Strategies that present definition, 
examples as well as explanation play a vital 
role in identifying the supporting and the 
minor ideas in a lecture (Riling, 1996). During 
the lecture, it is inevitable to encounter some 
specialized and new words; the lecturer often 
uses words and phrases to explain information, 
meaning or ideas. Moreover, he/she also gives 
a plenty of examples during a lecture. These 
examples of specific things help students 
understand general ideas. Additionally, many 
explanations which are undeniable are also 
given during a lecture to describe complex 
processes and ideas in a way that makes them 
easier to comprehend (Powers, 1986; 
Salehzadeh, 2006; Wong, 2009). 
4.3. Rhetorical schema and listening 
comprehension 
Notes taken from lectures may be good 
indicators of test takers’ L2 academic 
listening comprehension proficiency and 
performance ((Hayati & Jalilifar, 2009; 
Narjaikaew, Emarat, & Cowie, 2009; Song, 
2011). Barron (2006, p. 67) states that by 
learning to take better notes when listening to 
lectures, learners will have the information 
they need to respond to the listening 
comprehension questions. Moreover, the 
effectiveness of note-taking is also examined 
in a “Study Guides on Note-taking Strategies” 
by Penn State University (2002). It is stated 
that using an outline to take notes is easy to 
review by turning main points into answers 
for comprehension questions and reduces 
editing. The application of visual formats, for 
example mapping or charting method, in 
taking notes also helps listeners to avoid