VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------------- ĐINH THỊ HỒNG THƯƠNG THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF TOEFL-ITP ON FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH (ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KỲ THI TOEFL-ITP ĐẾN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------------- ĐINH THỊ HỒNG THƯƠNG THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF TOEFL-ITP ON FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH (ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KỲ THI TOEFL-ITP ĐẾN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Trần Thanh Nhàn HANOI - 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work for the Degree of Master in TESOL at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institution in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications.
Hanoi,2017 Đinh Thị Hồng Thương i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Trần Thanh Nhàn for her helpful suggestions, invaluable critical feedback and encouragement in the writing of this study. Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been completed. My sincere thanks go to all the staff at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master's course for providing me with valuable knowledge.
I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to all students, whose participation in and dedication to the research remains invaluable. Without their precious support, the thesis would not have taken shaped. I am also indebted to my colleagues at Thai Nguyen University of Technology for their enthusiastic assistance and co-operation. Finally, the support extended to me by the members of my family has been immeasurable.
I would also like to express my thanks to my parents and my husband for their wholehearted encouragement. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABTRACT Test of English as a Foreign Language - Institutional Testing Program (TOEFL-ITP) is believed by authority makers to have positive influence on teaching and learning English. However, as observation of the author and belief of teachers, TOEFL-ITP has negative consequence in students‟ learning English. This paper explores the relationship between TOEFL-ITP requirements for graduation and program entrance and students‟ motivation in learning with regards to students‟ different learning background and various educational contexts and time schedule pressure of the test.
A sample of 147 students from two learning programs was approached to take questionnaire responses and ten students and three teachers were interviewed for more intensive data. Both positive and negative impacts of TOEFL- ITP on students‟ motivation were clarified in the research. Limited source of data, sampling procedure and length of the survey period in this study suggested other data collection source, sampling method and more longitudinal time for data collection for later research. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 2.
1: Students from Advanced program. 2: Students from standard program. 3: Students take part in interview section. 4: Teachers participated in interview.
5: Students‟ responses to Motivation intensity items. 6: Students‟ responses to Integrative motivation .7 Students‟ responses to Desire to learn English .8: Students‟ responses to Interest in learning English items. 9: Students‟ responses to Attitude towards learning English item. 10: Students‟ responses to Instrumental motivation items.
11: Students‟ responses to Attribution about past failures item. 12: Students‟ responses to Need for achievement items .35 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .Rationale of the study .Purposes and significance of the study .Scope of the study .Method and procedure .Data collection method .Data analysis procedure.Organization of the study.
5 PART II: DEVELOPMENT. 7 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .Definition of language test .Nature of language tests .Definition of motivation .Components of motivation .Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation .Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation .Role of motivation in foreign language learning .Review of literature. 15 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .The context of the study .Data collection procedure. 22 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .Demographic information of participants .Questionnaire survey respondents .Effect of TOEFL-ITP examination on students‟ motivation .Integrative motivation sub-system .Desire to learn English .Interest in learning English.Attitude towards learning English .Instrumental motivation sub-system .Attribution about past failures .Need for achievement .Findings and discussions.
35 PART III: CONCLUSION .Summary of methodologies .Summary of findings .Limitations of the study and suggestion for further research. I vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study Testing plays a significant role in education. The vital importance of testing is revealed in the way test results are used to make decisions on curriculum, on teaching and learning, and on students‟ future studies and career opportunities (Shohamy, 1992, p.
This is especially true in the context of teaching and learning English as a foreign language with a desire to foster students‟ English competence, increasing their competitiveness in the international market. In several countries, English proficiency tests as graduation requirements and program selection criteria were adapted in the curriculum, forcing students to study, teachers to teach and administrators to renovate the curriculum. That implementation can have negative, positive or no impacts on teachers, learners and policy makers. Of all participants influenced by such test scores, students or learners are directly affected from multiple aspects, especially their motivation in learning English.
Recently, in Vietnam, for instance, English proficiency tests, such as the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language - Institutional Testing Program (TOEFL-ITP) have been used as exit requirements in various universities and colleges and as selection criteria for some learning programs. Among those educational institutions, Thai Nguyen University of Technology (TNUT), a technical university in Northern part of Vietnam, also adopts the TOEFL-ITP as a prerequisite condition for first year students to pursue their majors in Advanced Program (AP) and for other undergraduates to be accredited in this university. AP is the program that TNUT was granted from Vietnamese Government to offer two Bachelor of Science programs, major in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The two courses have been implemented in English and established to meet the increasing trends of globalization on engineering items.
As the medium of instruction of AP is 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com English, AP students have to obtain required TOEFL-ITP score according to the regulation of the program before starting learning their major and getting the Degree of Engineer. Additionally, in line with the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project, TNUT has set a minimum score in TOEFL-ITP for undergraduates who study other programs that do not use English in teaching (referred as other undergraduates in this study) as a graduation requirement since 2014. Policy makers or school administrator generally believe that tests have much power and therefore quite often try to use them to manipulate or implement educational policies (Shohamy, 2001a, 2001b). Not aside this perception, it is believed by the authorities of the university that TOEFL-ITP is a valuable and accurate instrument to measure students‟ English proficiency sufficient to students‟ learning in English environment and future profession chances, meanwhile, it is not that beneficial from teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives.
Considering the relation between testing and its influence on learners, especially in terms of motivation in learning English, and the context of English teaching and learning at TNUT, there emerges a need to conduct this research on „The washback effects of TOEFL-ITP on first year non-English major students’ motivation in learning English‟. Purposes and significance of the study The study aims to investigate the washback effects of TOEFL-ITP on motivation in learning English of students under two different educational policies (selection policy to study in English teaching-learning environment and graduation requirement policy), and different required test result agendas (in the first year for AP freshmen and before graduation for other undergraduates). The following research questions are addressed: 1) How does TOEFL-ITP affect first year AP students and other undergraduates‟ motivation in learning English? 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2) Does washback effect of TOEFL-ITP on motivation in learning English of AP freshmen differ from that of other undergraduates? The study is believed by the researcher to provide a reliable and profound background on the relation between testing and English learning motivation, which can be used as reference for other studies on similar topics. Furthermore, this research depicts entire picture of this test in relation to students‟ incentive to learn English for the university leaders to consider when making policies.
Moreover, it helps the researcher gain more knowledge and skills in this field during the research process. Scope of the study Language testing and its effects are extensive issues. Due to limitation of time and references l and the context of the study, the researcher only focuses on washback effects of the TOEFL-ITP on English learning motivation of non-English major freshmen rather than other tests, other participants (i. teachers, policy makers, and so on), processes and products.
Method and procedure 4. Subjects The technical university recruited in this Survey Research has two types of programs namely the advanced and the standard program. The former consists of two educational majors, and all subjects included in the curriculum of this program are taught in English. Therefore, it is obligatory for AP students to have good English proficiency in order to utilize study materials in English and to embrace and implement all the knowledge transferred from either foreign lecturers or Vietnamese ones.
These students have an entire year to learn and improve their English proficiency regardless of their low or high entrance scores. The latter, different from the former in terms of language used in teaching-learning environment and curriculum, includes seven majors. While AP‟s curriculum and syllabus are imported and adapted from the United States, the standard program has 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com its own curriculum and syllabus with the utilization of Vietnamese in teaching. Consequently, students from this standard program are not required to be proficient in English.
They have to submit TOEFL-ITP results before graduation. The quality of a research depends not only on appropriateness of methodology and instrumentation but also on the suitability of the sampling strategy adopted (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p. Base on the time available and the accessibility to the subjects when conducting the study, the researcher employed survey questionnaire as the major research method with a sample size of 147 participants. Convenience sampling was implemented.
Although this method of sampling may limit generalizability, it can both identify important issues and trends and eliminate researcher‟s subjective ideas on the content of the questionnaire. With regard to the differences in language used learning environment and test targets, two subgroups of population was created, the group of AP freshmen, and the group of freshmen from the standard program who did not need to have this certificate immediately. Data collection method This study consists of two phases, a survey phase followed by a semi- structured interview phase. In the first phase, participants were asked to fill in questionnaires translated into Vietnamese.
By this way, the researcher expected to eliminate misunderstanding of language used in the questionnaire and to put the respondents at ease (McDonough, J.