HỒNG ĐỨC UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LÊ THỊ TRANG LÊ THỊ TRANG Motivation and Attitudes of English-majored students GRADUATION THESIS at Hong Duc university towards learning English Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English Language THANH HÓA, 2022 THANH HÓA, 2022 1 HỒNG ĐỨC UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES Motivation and Attitudes of English-majored students at Hong Duc university towards learning English Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English Language Student: Lê Thị Trang Student’ ID No: 1867020053 Class: K21A – English Language Supervisor: Mrs. Hoàng Thị Minh THANH HÓA, 2022 2 LIST OF TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLE OF CONTENT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 ABSTRACT 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 8 1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 11 1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 2.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF ATTITUDE 13 2. Definition of language attitude 13 2. The roles of attitude in learning English 14 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF MOTIVATION 15 2.
Definition of motivation 15 2. Types of motivation 17 2. The roles of motivation in learning English 17 2. THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATION 19 2.
RESEARCHES ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS‟ ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATION IN VIETNAM 22 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 23 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24 3. CONTEXT AND PARTICIPANTS 26 3. INSTRUMENT AND DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 28 3.
Interview 32 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS 34 3 4. ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN LANGUAGES OF HONG DUC UNIVERSITY TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH 34 4. The attitude expressed through behavior 34 4. The attitude expressed through cognitive 36 4.
The attitude expressed through emotions 38 4. THE MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS MAJORING IN LANGUAGES AT HONG DUC UNIVERSITY TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH 39 4. Extrinsic Motivation 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 45 5. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 48 REFERENCES 50 APPENDIX 1 59 APPENDIX 2 62 APPENDIX 3 63 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, allow me to express my sincerest and deepest gratitude to all the lecturers and staffs of the Faculty of Foreign Languages - Hong Duc University, who have imparting valuable knowledge to me in particular and the students of the 2018-2022 class in general in the process of studying and researching at the school in general.
Especially, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Ms. Hoang Thi Minh - who directly helped, cared and guided me to complete the research. I am extremely grateful to her valuable comments and critical and careful instructions. Without her constant guiding support and continuous encouragement, my thesis would have never come out in the present form.
I would also like to thank all the brothers, sisters and friends at the Faculty of Foreign Languages who helped me during the survey. Thanks to everyone‟s valuable contributions, I was able to have the complete research I am today. Finally, I also want to thank my family, who have stood by me, helped and facilitated me throughout the years. Sincerely thank everyone.
Lê Thi Trang 5 ABSTRACT In this report, the study investigated the motivations of English-majored students at Hong Duc University from both lecturers and students. The goal of this study was to discover factors affecting the language teaching and learning process. There were 66 valid survey questionnaires collected from 66 English-majored students at Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hong Duc University. In addition, there were 5 vice monitors from English Language Teacher Education and English Language classes participating in the interview.
The Google Form approach was used with the purpose of collecting the data. From the analysis of responses to the survey, it conveyed the status and motivation of English-majored students towards learning English. The research also showed the important role of attitude and motivation in English learning. There would be practical recommendations and reinforcement on students‟ motivation in learning.
This study was expected to be helpful to English-majored students at Hong Duc University. 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MoET MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING RQ RESEARCH QUESTION BAA BEHAVIORAL ASPECT OF ATTITUDE CAA COGNITIVE ASPECT OF ATTITUDE EFL ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ESL ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE ATMB ATTITUDE MOTIVATION TEST BATTERY ST STUDENT Q QUESTION 7 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 23 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2. SYNTHESIS APPROACH, DATA COLLECTION TOOL OF THE STUDY 25 TABLE 2.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 30 TABLE 4. SURVEY RESULTS ON ATTITUDES EXPRESSED THROUGH STUDENTS‟ BEHAVIOR TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH 34 TABLE 4. SURVEY RESULTS ON ATTITUDES EXPRESSED THROUGH STUDENTS‟ COGNITIVE TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH 36 TABLE 4. SURVEY RESULTS OF STUDENTS‟ EMOTIONAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH 38 TABLE 4.
SURVEY RESULTS OF STUDENTS‟ INTERNAL MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH 39 TABLE 4. SURVEY RESULTS OF STUDENTS‟ EXTERNAL MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH 42 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale There are various factors affecting the language teaching and learning processes of language learners. Among these different factors, motivation plays an important role in the learning process.
Moreover, motivation and attitude have been widely acknowledged by both teachers and researchers as the keys factors that influence the rate and success of the foreign language learning. The purpose of this research paper is to determine the roles of attitude and motivation on learning English of English-majored students at Hong Duc university. Based on research projects such as Hoang (2008); Lincoln (2011); Loi (2011); Trinh (2005); English is regarded as a global language, and has been identified by the Vietnamese government as the most important foreign language in Vietnamese national education at all levels, especially in higher education due to globalization. In the legal documents issued by the Vietnamese government and the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) (MoET, 2003; MoET, 2004), Vietnamese students need sufficient English proficiency in effective communication in global working environment.
Some researchers such as Dörnyei (2005), Gardner (2007), Gao and Zhang (2011); Murray (2011) proves that learners with positive attitude and high motivation are more likely to achieve higher language proficiency than learners with negative attitude and low motivation, because attitude and motivation are important factors in foreign language acquisition. Some people think that positive attitudes and high motivation among learners may promote second language learning (Eshghinejad, 2016). When learners show interest in language and willingness to further study, they will take a positive attitude towards English learning. Under strong motivation, learners are more likely to succeed in acquiring a second or foreign language, and have a stronger willingness to make more efforts, although they may encounter obstacles.
Whether learners can master English successfully depends on their attitude towards language. In the process of English learning, students have different 9 perceptions of their own classrooms, teachers and courses. It is an important factor affecting English learners, because such ideas will be responsible for their attitudes. According to Fakeye (2010: 206), students‟ attitude towards language is one of the personal variables that affect English learning.
Moreover, positive language attitude makes learners have a positive orientation towards English learning (Karahan, 2007: 84), and students‟ attitudes are related to their proficiency in the language they want to learn (Ghazali, 2008). Therefore, people also realize that a person‟s attitude can affect the acquisition of language proficiency. Motivation is also another factor that affects students‟ learning English. It plays a very important role in someone‟s successful learning of English.
Conceptual motivation is an important factor that has a positive impact in any educational learning process, especially in second language learning (Rehman et al, 2014: 254). Another explanation holds that motivation is one of the main forces affecting second language learning (Othman and Shuqair, 2013 : 126). In addition, it can guide learners to continue learning even after completing specific goals. Learners are willing to learn a second language or a foreign language with sufficient motivation, and indeed, motivation is a prominent factor that needs attention in order to successfully learn a language (Tu and Zhou, 2015).
Consequently, if students have strong motivation, they will like to learn a language and study it hard. There have been many studies by researchers to find out the factors that affect students‟ English proficiency. The results of studies show that there are many factors that influence students‟ English learning. Currently, in Vietnam, universities with international training programs are increasingly popular.
However, the quality of graduates, especially English proficiency, varies widely among students. Unlike international students in English-speaking countries, international students who study with the main language of English are English, but in daily communication, Vietnamese is still the main language religion. In this context, attitudes and motivation play an important role in a student‟s learning English. Motivation and attitude give learners a goal and direction to follow.
Therefore, it has an important role to play in language learning. Not having enough motivation and negative attitudes will cause difficulties for learners to learn the language. Without the desire 10 to learn, it is very difficult for learners to achieve effective learning. As Huitt (2001) states, paying attention to the importance of language helps learners improve their motivation even when they don‟t have enough intrinsic motivation.
In addition, in the process of building an English teaching plan for English teachers, it is extremely important that teachers are aware of and identify the attitudes and needs of students‟ motivation, it contributes to teachers develop learning materials, and select appropriate classroom activities and tasks to make the most of students‟ positive attitudes and motivation (Midraj et al. When conducting a research with the topic Motivation and attitudes of English-majored students at Hong Duc university towards learning English, the researcher wishes to discover the role of attitudes and motivation in the study of students studying English at Hong Duc University. Purpose of the study The study was conducted with two aims. The first objective was to explore the attitude of English language students of Hong Duc University towards learning English.
The study‟s second aim is to explore the motivation of English language students of Hong Duc University towards learning English. Research questions In order to achieve the set research objectives, the study poses the questions for this study include: RQ1: What is the attitude of English-majored students at Hong Duc University towards learning English? RQ2: What is the motivation of English-majored students at Hong Duc University to learn English? 1. Significance of the study The research conducted exploring the role of academic English attitudes and dynamics of students at Hong Duc University makes sense both in theory and in practice. 11 Theoretical significance: The research contributes to systematizing the theoretical bases on the attitudes and motivations of learners who are English language majors towards learning English.
The study‟s theoretical framework can be a valuable reference for future research. Practical significance: The research contributes to determining the role of learners‟ English language attitudes and dynamics. At the same time, it provides educational managers, English language teaching education and English language at Hong Duc University with awareness of students‟ attitudes and motivation to learn English. Teachers can develop appropriate teaching methods to promote students positive attitudes and learning motivation.
12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Theoretical background of attitude 2. Definition of language attitude According to Crystal (1997), attitude is the main concept of social psychology, in which attitude towards language is the feeling of one person‟s language and another person‟s language, so language behavior can be explained by language attitude. The restoration, preservation or extinction of language fundamentally depends on people‟s attitude towards language (Baker, 1992).
Many studies focus on three components of attitude, including cognition, emotion and behavior. According to Baker (1992); Rajecki (1982), the cognitive element was any information, fact, or knowledge related to the thoughts, beliefs, and values of language. The component emotion was a comment on language (positive or negative). The third component was behavior, a kind of behavior intention or action that could be taken (possible behavior) against language.
Wenden (1991) asserts that these three components interact.