ACADEMIC WRITING ASSIGNMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF ‘LEARNING’ SKILL FOR

MASTERING ENGLISH
Lecturer :
Ratna Rintaningrum, S.S., M.Ed., Ph.D

By :
Kamila Islamiati (5005201060)

DEPARTEMENT OF BIOLOGY
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND DATA ANALYTICS
SEPULUH NOPEMBER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SURABAYA
2021
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of The Study

Language is the primary source of communication. It is the method through which
we shared our ideas and thoughts with others. There are many languages in the world
like Urdu, Chinese, Hindi, English, and many more. English is an international
language which means a language that can be used by people all over the world. When
we meet and communicate with people abroad, the only way is by using English, other
than the native language of their country. Therefore, the ability in English must
continue to be improved.
The English language serves different roles in different countries. In some
countries, English is identified as the first language, while in other countries English
is identified as the second language. In such countries the second language is used
actively together with the first language. Some parts of the world, such as Indonesia,
Korea, Thailand, China and Japan identify English as a foreign language. Generally,
a foreign language is a language that is learnt at school and a part of the curriculum.
However, there is little opportunity to use the language (Rintaningrum, 2016).
Mastering English is very important, especially for engineering students. It is
undeniable that English is the language of science, the language of technology, the
language of business between non-native speakers of English, the language of the
Olympics and the language of international conferences (Rintaningrum, 2015).
Almost all books at university are written in English in all subjects.
To learn a language in order to use it as a means of communication, we need to
deal with the four language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
By mastering these elements, they are expected to be able inegrate then in
communication acts. Although speaking is the most common form of communication,
due to several reasons, listening is the first skill to master in order to be proficient in
a language.
1.2 Problem Statement
1. What is listening?
2. Why listening is important for mastering English?
3. Why listening skill is difficult among students?
1.3 The Purpose of Study
1. Describe about what listening is.
2. Explanation about the importance of listening for mastering English.
3. Describe about the difficulties of listening skill among students.
 CHAPTER 2

DISCUSSION

2.1 What is Listening

English has undoubtedly become both the most prominent means of global
communication and the most important means for acquiring access to the world’s
intellectual, cultural, and technical resources. Although it does not have the largest
number of native speakers, English is far more worldwide in its distribution than all
other spoken languages (Kurniasih, 2016).
Listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying. This
involves understanding a speaker’s accent or pronounciation, his grammar and his
vocabulary, and grasping his meaning (Howatt & Dakin, 1974). Listening
comprehension is the most forgotten skill in second language learning because
listening was the least attention of the four language skills. An able listener is capable
of doing these four things simultaneously.
Basically, humans cannot speak before listening, we can observe this in the
development of children under five. They generally derive their vocabulary from
what they hear and what they see when interacting with mothers and the people
around them. However, listening is not a simple process. A person listening must
distinguish between sounds, perceive and understand vocabulary and grammatical
structures, interpret stress and meaning, remember and interpret them all at the same
time (Kurniawati, 2016).

2.2 Why Listening is Important for Mastering English

Wilis (1981:134) lists a series of micro-skills of listening, which she calls enabling
skills. They are:
 Predicting what people are going to talk about
 Guessing at unknown words or phrases without panicking
 Using one’s own knowledge of the subject to help one understand
 Identifying relevant points; rejecting irrelevant information
  Retaining relevant points (note-taking, summarizing)
 Recognizing discourse markers
 Recognizing cohesive devices
 Understanding different intonation patterns and uses of stress, etc., which give
clues to meaning and social setting
 Understanding inferred information
Listening skills are very important skills because these skills allow humans to gain
insight, understanding, knowledge and information, and achieve success in
communicating with others. Therefore, listening skills are very important skills in
language. Despite its importance, listening to a foreign language sounds usually the
most difficult skill for the learners. This is quite natural since the sound they hear are
unfamiliar. To get the message sent through an expression, they always feel under
unnecessary pressure to understand every word.
Listening is a vital primary stage of language acquisition. If students do not listen
or learn to listen well, then le latter stages of the complex pattern of language
acquisition within a productive framwwork (in other words, Speaking and Writing)
in the communicative classroom will be difficult.

2.3 Why Listening Skill is Difficult Among Students

First, Problems with student learning concentration. Lots of students feel not
concentrated when listening to words or sentences uttered by the Native Speaker
(Ummab, 2012). Of all the respondents in this study, on average they mentioned that
the concentration in learning Listening Comprehension was very important because
the Listening subject matter was all related to human hearing aids. If from the
beginning the student is not concentrating on the material he is going to listen to, then
the student will have difficulty understanding the material he is discussing. The
following is an example of excerpts from student questionnaire answers.
Second, the problem of talking about "native speakers" is too fast. Another
problem that usually becomes an obstacle for students in learning Listening
Comprehension is the talk of native speakers who are considered too fast for them.
The level of understanding among students varies greatly from one another. So for
students whose listening comprehension level is low, they are very difficult and even
confused to understand the sentences uttered by the Native Speaker. This is a big
problem for them in learning Listening Comprehension. However, if students have a
high level of understanding in listening, they will find it easier to understand the
expressions uttered by native speakers.
Third, the problem with the limited meaning of "new English vocabulary". Most
students also face problems with the limited meaning of "new English vocabulary"
in learning Listening Comprehension. In this case, it seems that students must
understand every meaning of the words uttered by the Native Speaker. Students
assume that everything said by the native speaker contains important information.
Yet trying to understand everything often results in ineffective understanding,
confusion, and failure.
Fourth, the problems with sound (English sound). In general, students have
problems understanding the expressions or conversations uttered by native speakers.
This happens because they often misunderstand the pronunciation in the first
language and the second language.
Fifth, the problem of fatigue, laziness, and no interest in learning. Learning is said
to be successful if it starts from ourselves (Ummab, 2012). Therefore, if someone is
no longer interested in the material to be studied, the learning outcomes will not be
optimal or in other words, not successful. Many students consider this Listening
Comprehension material less interesting and monotonous in the learning process.
 CHAPTER 3
CLOSING

Conclusion

However, listening is not a simple process. A person listening must distinguish

between sounds, perceive and understand vocabulary and grammatical structures,
interpret stress and meaning, remember and interpret them all at the same time. Listening
skills are very important skills because these skills allow humans to gain insight,
understanding, knowledge and information, and achieve success in communicating with
others. Listening is a vital primary stage of language acquisition. If students do not listen
or learn to listen well, then le latter stages of the complex pattern of language acquisition
within a productive framwwork (in other words, Speaking and Writing) in the
communicative classroom will be difficult.
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