VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING ENGLISH TEXTS: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY IN EFL CONTEXTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE ĐỘNG LỰC CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGỮ NĂM NHẤT KHI ĐỌC VĂN BẢN TIẾNG ANH: NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỊNH LƯỢNG TRONG BỐI CẢNH EFL TẠI HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student : VU HONG NGOC Student code : 621252 Major : ENGLISH Supervisor : PHAM THI HANH, M.A Hanoi – 2021 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING ENGLISH TEXTS: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY IN EFL CONTEXTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE ĐỘNG LỰC CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGỮ NĂM NHẤT KHI ĐỌC VĂN BẢN TIẾNG ANH: NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỊNH LƯỢNG TRONG BỐI CẢNH EFL TẠI HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student : VU HONG NGOC Student code : 621252 Major : ENGLISH Supervisor : PHAM THI HANH, M.A Hanoi – 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “First-year English major students’motivation in reading English texts: A quantitative study in EFL contexts at Vietnam National University of Agriculture” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2021 Vu Hong Ngoc Approved by SUPERVISOR Pham Thi Hanh, M.A Date: 01/07/2021 i ABSTRACT Reading is a very important skill in English. However, first-year English major students at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) still need many motivation to read English texts.
In order to have an overview onto this problem, the researcher decided to do a study on “first-year English major students in reading English texts: A quantitative study in EFL contexts at VNUA”. With a wide variety of Internet, EFL learners at VNUA like reading English texts by online materials. They can approach extensively and easily reading English texts to support for their subjects and work. In this study, 115 participants was collected and analyzed.
This study is to investigate first–year English major students’ motivation in reading English texts at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA). This study answers two questions: What types of motivation do first-year English major students have in reading English texts? And what are the main factors affecting students’motivation in reading English texts? The main purposes of the study are to examine types of motivation possessed by first-year English major students at VNUA and to identify the main factors affecting first-year English major students learning to read English texts at VNUA. The results of the study reveal that these percentages of first-year English major students’ motivation in reading English texts and factors affecting the students’ motivation at Vietnam National University of Agriculture. The ultimate of the study is to investigate into VNUA first-year English major students’ motivation in reading English texts in order to help them to be more motivated in reading English texts.
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to acknowledge my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. Pham Thi Hanh, M.A for her valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical comments throughout research, without which my research could not been completed. I would like to send my sincere thanks to the lecturers in the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages at VNUA for their useful advice on this study. Finally, I wish to send my sincere thanks to all first-year English major students at VNUA for their participation and assistance, without which this study could not have been successful.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS. vi LIST OF TABLES:.
vi LIST OF CHARTS:. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION. vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. DESIGN OF THE STUDY. 3 Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME AND ABROAD). REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Overview of motivation. Overview of reading:.
Reasons for reading:. Types of reading:. Overview of reading English texts:. RESEARCH GOVERING PRINCIPLES.
Research questions revisited. 22 Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. THE IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION. Types of students’ motivation in reading English texts.
FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING ENGLISH TEXTS. The factors related to reading materials (topics, level of challenges). The factors related to teacher (Enthusiasm, reward, request). The factor related to family and friends.
The factor related to students’ working. LIMITATION OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. 47 v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS LIST OF TABLES: Table 1.1: Students’ intrinsic motivation in reading English texts .2: The average scores of students’ intrinsic motivation in reading English texts .1: Students’ extrinsic motivation in reading English texts .2: The average scores of students’ extrinsic motivation in reading English texts .1: Factors related to reading materials.
The factors related to teacher. The factor related to family anf friends. The factor related to students’ working. 36 LIST OF CHARTS: Chart 1.1: The average scores of students’ intrinsic motivation in reading English texts (S: Statements) .1: The average scores of students’ extrinsic motivation in reading English texts (S-Statement).
32 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION A : Agree D : Disagree DK : Do not know EFL : English foreign language SA : Strongly agree SD : Strongly disagree VNUA : Vietnam National University of Agriculture. vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION This part shows the rationale of the study, aim and objectives of the study, research questions, scope of the study, the significance of the study and design of the study to help readers have a general view of this research.RATIONALE Nowadays, English is known as a global language. We use English to communicate with people from all over the world. People widely believe that English is one of the most important things in our life.
A clear example is found to prove is that many parents sendd their children to English classes due to the fact that they think that English can create for children the opportunities to get a good job in the future and develop their career. In Vietnam, English has been taught as a foreign language (EFL) in schools from primary schools to universities. EFL in schools has numerous advantages. Many studies have emphasized the effectiveness and benefits of reading English texts in EFL contexts.
Generally, researchers agree that reading English texts in EFL contexts have positive changes in motivation. It is undeniable that reading is one of the four important language skills for academic success and professional development. There is no doubt that reading is crucial for learning new information, explaining, interpreting and combining between old information and expectations. On the other hand, there are many factors affecting students’ motivation in reading English texts when students study at schools, such as: achievement motivation, incentive motivation, competence motivation and creative motivation.
Therefore, motivation is a key factor in learning to read English texts for students. At Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) contemporary, English major students have to read English texts a lot to serve the subjects, such as: Reading, English Literature, etc…, but they also have a lot of difficulty in reading English texts. A clear example being found to prove is that there are many factors affecting their motivation on reading English text in their major. 1 To conclude, in this study, the author will investigate students’ motivation on reading English text, especially, will conduct a quantitative study in EFL for first year English major students at VNUA.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The ultimate of the study is to investigate into VNUA first-year English major students’ motivation in reading English texts in order to help them to be more motivated in reading English texts. The study includes two main objectives as follows: 1. To examine types of motivation possessed by first-year English major students at VNUA. To identify the main factors affecting first-year English major students learning to read English texts at VNUA.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to achieve these aim, the study is guided by the two main following questions: 1. What types of motivation do first-year English major students have in reading English texts? 2. What are the main factors affecting students’motivation in reading English texts? 1.SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study focuses on reading English text skill of first year English major students, and students’ motivation on reading English texts. And then, some motivations will be shown in order to help students read English texts better.
The study will include 130 students from 5 classes (K65ENGA, K65ENGB, K65ENGC, K65ENGD and K65ENGE) when they are learning the subject: reading 2 in the second term at university year 2021-2022 at Vietnam National University of Agriculture. Factors affecting students’ motivation will be revealed in order to help first year English major students in reading English texts at VNUA. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The researcher found out the motivation of the first-year English major students when they are reading English texts in university. It is hoped that the study’s result will help students to learn in reading English texts with good motivation.
This is also the significance of the study.DESIGN OF THE STUDY The study is organized in three parts Part 1: Introduction includes: Rationale of the study, aim and objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, design of the study. Part 2: Development: consists of three chapters Chapter 1: Literature review focuses on review of previous studies (including 2 studies at home and one study from abroad) and review of theoretical background (overview of reading, overview of motivation and overview of reading English texts). Chapter 2: Methodology reveals research method used in the study including the research questions revisited, research design, participants, research instrument, data collection and data analysis. Chapter 3: Findings and discussion show the detailed results together with a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaire.
Part 3: Conclusion concerns about: Recapitulation (Summary of the main points presented in the thesis) Concluding remarks on each of the thesis objectives: It is required that this section provides conclusions on the objectives set forth in the Introduction part of the thesis. Limitations of the current research. Recommendations for further research. 3 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT The theoretical background for my study is focused on this chapter with the theories of motivation and English reading.
In this chapter, I will reveal three main parts: theoretical background of reading, the theoretical background of motivation and theoretical background of reading English texts. Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME AND ABROAD) 1. Related research Firstly, the researches related in Vietnam. H (2011) conducted an experiment with interview and survey questionnaires for 65 students at Quảng Định secondary school.
The study described the issue by looking at the students’ motivation in learning reading skills as it is widely believed that motivation plays an important role in the second language learning process. Motivation is one of the key factors that determines the success or failure of language learning. This study will be helpful for students who are facing problems about motivation in reading skills and want to improve motivation in reading skills at Quang Dinh Secondary School. In conclusion, she claimed that some types of motivation in English reading skills are integrative and instrumental ones and found the main purpose of learning English was to get a good job in the future.
While students’ motivation in reading comprehension was affected by teachers, students and the reading material. In research by Lục, T.