VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HOA PRIMARY STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT NHAN PHUC PRIMARY SCHOOL ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC: NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC NHÂN PHÚC M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Hanoi - 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HOA PRIMARY STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT NHAN PHUC PRIMARY SCHOOL ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC: NGHIÊN CỨU CỤ THỂ TẠI TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC NHÂN PHÚC M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Supervisor : Assoc. Vo Dai Quang Hanoi- 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “Primary students’ motivation in learning English: A case study at Nhan Phuc Primary School” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Linguistics.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2013 Nguyen Thi Hoa i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc. Vo Dai Quang, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to my lecturers, my friends, my classmates, my colleagues, my students and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished. Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The research in this minor thesis is carried out to investigate students’ motivation at Nhan Phuc Primary School. By employing questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as research data collection, the study found out that the young learners at Nhan Phuc Primary School have tendency towards intrinsic motivation in learning English.
Also, the researcher explored three main factors affecting the students’ motivation, namely students’ self interest, caregivers’ encouragement and anxiety. In this study, motivational strategies also were discussed. In short, it is hoped that this thesis will help to improve the teaching and studying of English at Nhan Phuc Primary School as well as pave the way for future studies in the field of young students’ motivation in English learning. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality of study project report.
iii Table of contents. iv List of abbreviations .vii Tables and figures. viii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study.
Aims and objectives of the research. Scope of the research. Significance of the research. Structural organization of the thesis .5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis. Motivation in language learning. How children learn foreign languages?. Teaching English to children.
Research - governing orientations .18 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data collection techniques. Data analysis techniques .19 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Primary students’ motivation in learning English in the context of Nhan Phuc Primary School.
Factors affecting student’s motivation in learning English in the context of Nhan Phuc Primary School. Techniques for motivating students at Nhan Phuc Primary School.36 (ii) Concluding remarks on each of the thesis objectives .36 (iii) Limitations of the current research .38 (v) Suggestions for future research .44 Appendix C: Interview questions.46 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment EFL English as a Foreign Language SLA Second Language Acquisition vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1. Population of informants for the study. Students’ responses to 15 questionnaire items.
Students’ preference of motivational strategies. Students’ expectation of teacher’s motivational strategies. Preferred techniques ranked by students. Students' opinions whether they like learning English or not.
Students' interest in English learning. Students’ reasons for studying English. Students' awareness of their own language competence. Summary of students' motivation patterns at Nhan Phuc Primary School.
Factors affecting students' motivation at Nhan Phuc Primary School.32 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study Perhaps, there has been a “global revolution” of learning and teaching English at primary schools nowadays. The term “global revolution” may appear something of an over-statement, but actually the teaching of English has become especially important in recent years. The trend towards an early start in learning English turns out to be a worldwide phenomenon.
The number of countries now introducing English at primary levels has been increasing, including Viet Nam. It is expected that English soon will be compulsory from grade 3 in every part of Viet Nam, though the policy has been implemented in many provinces of the country. Viet Nam has been taking a lot of important actions in an ambitious education reform so that by the year 2020 all students will reach B1 level adopting CEFR standard after leaving high schools. The Ministry of Education and Training is taking a phased approach in which primary English language teaching plays a very important role.
Although it has long been believed that children can learn a second language more quickly and efficiently than adults, in fact, there is no clear evidence for this belief. Obviously, children’s language acquisition and adults’ differ from each other quite a lot in terms of physiological characteristics, cognitive ability, span of attention, faculty of memory, self-consciousness, linguistic capacities, learning style, motivation for studying and so on. Because of learner difference and learning context difference, a varied view on motivation in language learning should be taken by researchers and teachers in order to devise suitable teaching styles that can both enhance language learning and facilitate the achievement of education goals. Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate motivation, which is considered to be one of the most important elements in language learning, however limited research has been done to thoroughly evaluate children’s motivation.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Working as a primary English teacher for nearly three years in a village in Ha Nam made me think about the topics “teaching English to children” and “student motivation” a bit deeper than I probably would. When I first started to work with young learners, it raised fears and questions in my mind as well. For example: “Whether children like to learn English or not?” “How can I inspire them?” “What strategies should be used to fit children’s characteristics?” “What should be done to motivate young learners?” While much attention has been devoted to English teacher education and student motivation at high schools and secondary schools, a little has been paid specifically to children’s motivation in learning English in Viet Nam. Besides, many children living in the countryside generally, in my region particularly are often provided with limited facilities in learning a foreign language.
In other words, these young learners will have to deal with more obstacles in acquiring a foreign language rather than those living in a city. As such, both teaching and learning English at a primary school in a village would create potential dilemmas. The current context inspires me to study the issue of young learners’ motivation in English in rural regions so that I could understand the motives underlying my pupils’ learning process and I myself can better the teaching methods to help them have a foundation of English at their early stage of learning. At the same time, I hope that other teachers who encounter the similar teaching contexts may have some suggestions to improve their own situation.
Aims and objectives of the research The study aims at understanding young learners’ motivation in English learning so that appropriate teaching techniques would be applied to offer them opportunities for absorbing a new language easily. In order to achieve this aim, the research has to fulfill the specific objectives below: 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Identifying children’s motivation in learning English at Nhan Phuc Primary School - Exploring the factors affecting young learners’ motivation in the context of Nhan Phuc Primary School - Suggesting motivational strategies for teaching English at Nhan Phuc Primary School 3. Scope of the research Due to time constraint, the length of the thesis and the researcher’s knowledge, this study only focused on students’ motivation in English learning at one primary school in Ha Nam, where the researcher has been working for nearly three years. Based on the general profile of motivation of primary students at Nhan Phuc Primary School, some recommendations are given to teachers who face the same teaching context so that they can sharpen their pedagogical to some extent.
Significance of the research This study would be very helpful in explaining why young learners are interested in learning English. Although the research is conducted in one primary school in Ha Nam, it is believed to be an attempt to look into the matter of primary students’ motivation in learning English in Viet Nam generally. The result of the study will be of some contribution to inspire primary English teachers to conduct more interesting and effective lessons based on their students’ interest. The researcher hopes that insights into this area will help to address the matter of motivation in other primary schools.
In addition, this study may be of useful suggestions to enhance primary language teachers’ professional skills in Ha Nam and other provinces throughout the country. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Structural organization of the thesis The thesis is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion. Part A is the introduction which reveals the rationale, the aims and objectives of the study, the scope of the study, the significance and the structure of the research.
Part B includes three chapters. Chapter I discusses the theoretical background and previous studies relevant to the study. It is an attempt to review the literature of motivation in foreign language learning, how children learn foreign languages and teaching English to children. Chapter II discusses the research-governing principals and research methods.
This section covers the research questions, the research setting, the approach adopted, and the methods of collecting data, the data collection techniques, and data analysis techniques. Chapter III deals with findings and discussion of the study. It shows the detailed results of the surveys and covers a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from questionnaires and interviews. Part C is the conclusion which summarizes the study with suggestions for further research.
This part also includes concluding marks, implications and limitations of the study. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis In this section, I would like to review the research entitled “Motivation for Learning English as a Foreign Language in Japanese Elementary Schools” by Junko Matsuzaki Carreira who is now working as a PhD candidate at Tsuda College, Tokyo. Her research was published in JALT Journal, Vol.
In this study, she explored the factors underlying Japanese pupils’ motivation for learning EFL.