MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- NGUYEN THI THAO LY A STUDY ON VOCATIONAL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- NGUYEN THI THAO LY A STUDY ON VOCATIONAL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: PHAM HUU DUC, Assoc. Dr HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: Nguyễn Thị Thảo Ly Ngày sinh: 03/01/1992 Nơi sinh: Rạch Giá – Kiên Giang Chuyên ngành: LL&PPDH bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã học viên: 1881401110024 Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Ký tên (Ghi rõ họ và tên) Nguyễn Thị Thảo Ly CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc Ý KIẾN CHO PHÉP BẢO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC sĩ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DÃN Giảng viên hướng dần:.
Học viên thực hiện:. JỈEíQT'ÍLỚp:. CjíailCỊ Tên đề tài:. LÃ^ữiaãEữãUStUAX.
Ý kiến của giáo viên hướng dẫn về việc cho phép học viên. được bảo vệ luận văn trước Hội đồng:. Thành phổ Hồ Chí Minh, ngày .23 Người nhận xét DECLARATION The thesis entitled “A STUDY ON VOCATIONAL STUDENTS' MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP)” is conducted under the supervision of Assoc. Pham Huu Duc, a teacher at the School of Languages, International University, VNU – HCMC.
Except for references made in the thesis, no part of the thesis has been published or used to award another degree. No materials published by someone else were used in the thesis without proper attribution. The thesis has not been submitted to any other university or institution for the award of a degree or diploma. Ho Chi Minh City, 2023 Nguyen Thi Thao Ly i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The present study has been completed with the support and encouragement of many people.
I am deeply indebted to all of those who have contributed to the success of my study. Without their help, this research study would have been impossible. I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all of them. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.
Pham Huu Duc who teaches at the School of Languages, International University, VNU – HCMC. During the time I was conducting the present research, he provided me with useful materials, shared with me valuable experiences, and offered me precious advice. He also loaded me with enlightenment and continuous encouragement whenever I was stressed or confused. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers of the TESOL program at Ho Chi Minh City Open University for their helpful instruction and dedication from 2018 to 2022.
I am grateful to my colleagues, teachers, and administrators at Kien Giang Vocational College who offered their responses on baseline interviews, sympathies, and willingness to accept substitutions or changes in work for my absences from school. Besides, I profoundly acknowledge all my school students who had seriously completed the questionnaire and expressively participate in interviews with their enthusiasm. Last but not least, my recognition and gratitude are addressed to my family for their help, sympathy, and encouragement. Without their support, I could not have had the motivation to complete this thesis.
ii ABSTRACT Learners need proper motivation for successful learning in contexts of English as a second or foreign language, specifically English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The purpose of this study was to (1) investigate the levels and types of motivation for learning ESP among second-year vocational students, and (2) discover whether they are more instrumentally or integratively motivated to learn ESP. Another goal was to (3) determine whether there were differences in these levels among these students due to different majors. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied.
First, all sophomores in second-year vocational courses at Kien Giang Vocational College were given 30-item questionnaires with a 5-point Linkert scale adapted from Gardner's (1985) modal; 235 responses were then collected. A week later, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 randomly selected participants from the sample to gain more insight into these fields. The quantitative data revealed that (1) the learners' overall motivation was relatively high but statistically different from the level of 4.0, and they had both instrumental and integrative motivation. However, (2) they were motivated by instrumental rather than integrative factors.
And (3) there were differences in these levels based on major. Furthermore, qualitative data shed more light on learners' motivations for learning ESP. The findings contributed some field information about learners of this type to the literature in general, and significant insight into learners' aspects of motivation can be gained; thus, chances to improve these levels for better ESP learning become more attainable and less challenging if more attempts are made by this school's teachers, administrators, and students in particular. Key words: motivation, instrumental, integrative, English for Specific Purposes iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF FIGURES. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Objectives of the study. Significance of the study.
Organization of the study. 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. English for specific purposes (ESP). Definition of ESP.
Types of ESP. The role of ESP. Definition of motivation. Motivation in Second/Foreign language learning.
Types of motivation. The role of motivation. Ways to enhance learning motivation. The elements of motivation.
Attitudes toward learning ESP. Definition of attitudes. The role of attitudes in language learning. The elements of attitudes.
Previous studies on learners’ motivation for learning English and ESP. Previous studies on learners’ motivation for learning English and ESP in other countries context. Previous studies on learners’ motivation for learning English and ESP in Viet Nam. 30 CHAPTER 3: RESEACH METHODOLOGY.
Participants for questionnaire. Participants for interview. Group interview design. Data collection procedure.
Data analysis procedure. Validity and reliability. 42 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Findings from the questionnaire surveys.
Level of vocational students’ motivation for learning ESP. Types of vocational students’ motivation for learning ESP. Differences in motivation for learning ESP among the students of different majors. Findings from the group interviews.
Level of vocational students’ motivation for learning ESP. Types of vocational students’ motivation for learning ESP. 66 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Summary of the findings.
Implications for students. Implications for teachers. Implications for school administrators. Recommendations for further research.
90 Appendix 1: Questionnaire survey (English version). 90 Appendix 2: Questionnaire survey (bilingual version). 95 Appendix 3: Interview questions (English version). 105 Appendix 4: Câu hỏi phỏng vấn (Vietnamese version).
106 Appendix 5: Reliability test for questionnaire. 107 Appendix 6: Tests for data analysis. 109 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. A modified AMTB of Gardner (1985).
24 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Student’s background information for questionnaire. Student’s background information for interview. Interpretation of score results in terms of. The Cronbach’s Alpha index of the questionnaire.
Learners’ desire to learn ESP (n = 235). Attitudes towards learning ESP (n = 235). Descriptive statistics of Motivation for learning ESP (n = 235)51 Table 4. Students’ Instrumental and Integrative motivations.
Differences in Levels of motivation, Instrumental motivation and Integrative motivation based on Major. Comparisons between Instrumental and Integrative motivations among the students of different majors. Students’ reports on Instrumental reasons for learning ESP. Students’ reports on Integrative reasons for learning ESP.
65 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AMTB: Attitude / Motivation Test Battery BA: Bachelor of Arts EAOP: English for Academic and Occupation Purposes EAP: English for Academic Purposes EBE: English for Business and Economics EGAP: English for General Academic Purposes EGP: English for General Purposes EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching EOP: English for Occupation Purposes ESAP: English for Specific Academic Purposes ESL: English as a Second Language EST: English for Science and Technology ESS: English for Social Science ESP: English for Specific Purposes M: Mean MA: Master of Arts N: Number SD: Standard Deviation SL/L2: Second Language ix 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The chapter begins with the rationale and objectives of the study, followed by the research questions of the study. In addition, the hypotheses about the results and the significance of the study are highlighted. Finally, the organization of the thesis is presented. Rationale of the study Nowadays, when considered a genuine lingua franca in various fields of the profession globally, English is used more and more frequently.
Moreover, in the context of worldwide globalization and integration, when many foreign companies have been directly investing in Vietnam, Vietnamese learners desire to master English specifically in their particular areas. Consequently, the great demand for English in academic, vocational, and professional subjects has been growing rapidly. English for Specific Purposes (ESP), therefore, has been offered in college and university curricula to meet the learners’ need to obtain English in specific contexts. Especially, ESP is extensively used in the area of commerce, foreign economic relations, and academic and so on to deal with the trading affairs or transactions, widen the public relations or further their education.
Consequently, learning of ESP is essential for both occupational and educational purposes (Strevens, 1977). In the scope of occupational, ESP taught must meet the learners’ requirement for pre-experience. Particularly, vocational college students who essentially learn both the language of the job and about the job must learn ESP in order that they can use it to communicate and work in the field that relates to ESP utility. Therefore, learners’ communication ability and proficiency should take the first place in the ESP courses’ objectives.
Besides, the current approach of education focuses on learning rather than teaching; and learners centered rather than teacher centered. This new teaching approach couples a focus on individual learners (e., experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, interests and needs) which are most effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning and achievement for all learners (McCombs, 2000). Thus, paying much attention to learners is essential. Moreover, with the ESP approach, analysis of 2 learners’ needs and learners’ characteristics at least should be taken into consideration since “need analysis” is and always will be important and fundamental part of ESP (Bruton, 2009).
Moreover, in the literature of language acquisition, it is clear that language acquisition involves environmental characteristics and learners’ characteristics (Gardner, 2005). On the one hand, socio-cultural milieu or opportunities to use the language in reality, for example, EFL context where language is taught belong to environmental characteristics. Learner’ own ability such as intelligence and language aptitude or personality variables such as learning style are the learner’s characteristics. They are objective affective factors, which are difficult to be tailored, by teachers or learners in the learning process.
These variables are assumed to be out of their control. On the other hand, the quality of instruction, for example, teacher’s methodology and curriculum belong to environmental characteristics.