VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TẠ THỊ THƯƠNG A SURVEY OF FACTORS THAT DEMOTIVATE EFL TEACHERS AT VINH PHUC TECHNICAL - ECONOMIC COLLEGE Khảo sát các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú của giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Vĩnh Phúc M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ---***--- TẠ THỊ THƯƠNG A SURVEY OF FACTORS THAT DEMOTIVATE EFL TEACHERS AT VINH PHUC TECHNICAL - ECONOMIC COLLEGE Khảo sát các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú của giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Vĩnh Phúc M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code:60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Đức Hoạt Hanoi – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I certify that the minor thesis entitled: “A Survey of Factors that Demotivate EFL Teachers at Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College” is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the result of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any part of the same had not been submitted for a higher degree to any other universities or institutions.
Hanoi, 2014 Tạ Thị Thương i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS The completion of this thesis would never have reached an end without the help and love of many people. I wish to express my most heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors, Doctor Nguyen Duc Hoat from Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam. I have been so lucky to be guided by my supervisor in this difficult but interesting topic. He has spent lots of time reading my work, and giving comments and advising on how to make my thesis much better than it would be.
I would like to convey my thanks to all my teachers of the Post graduate course 21 whose fundamental knowledge about language teaching and learning is of great importance to the achievement of my academic study. I would like to express my indebtedness to Mr Nguyen Viet Hung from Center of Language Education and Quality Assurance Research, ULIS - VUN for his great help and the favorable conditions he gave me during my time of using SPSS to analyze data. My sincere thanks go to my dear husband and my babies, for sharing my life and being a great source of support in my difficult time. I am thankful to my parents for their continuous encouragement, and trust in my ability over the years since I started school.
I also want to thank all my sisters for their help, encouragement and care. I thank the English staff at Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College for completing the survey questionnaires, for their constructive suggestions to this research, and for their willingness to share their relevant problems with me during the interviews. Without them, my research would never have become a reality. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Although demotivation constitutes an important factor, only a limited number of studies were conducted on teacher demotivation.
The purpose of this paper is to determine the sources of demotivation and the most salient demotivation factors among seven EFL teachers at Vinh Phuc Technical - Economic College (VTEC). In addition, it attempts to explore the possible differences on demotivating factors in term of gender. The study used a survey design involving a five - point Likert questionnaire and semi - structured interview techniques to obtain information. The findings of the study revealed that, firstly, in term of three main themes, students were found the main source of demotivation in which "students forget doing homework" demotivated the respondents most.
However, when analyzing them in aspect of sub-categories, items related to professional life, administrative pressures and workload tend to demotivate the participants most. Moreover, there were some differences in respondents' demotivating factors in relation to gender. Some pedagogical recommendations for both teachers and administrators were also discussed based on the findings. Key words: EFL teachers, demotivation, demotivational factors, teacher demotivation iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate‟s statement i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of content iv List of abbreviations v List of tables and figures vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 1.
Rationale for the study 1 2. Aims of the study 2 3. Scope and significance of the study 2 6. Structure of the study 3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1.
Definition of motivation 4 1. Some motivation theories 4 1. Gardner‟s theory of L2 motivation in language learning 4 1. Cognitive – situated approaches 5 1.
Process – oriented approach 6 1. Current L2 motivation perspectives 6 1.2 Demotivation in L2 learning 7 1. Definition of demotivation 7 1. The impact of demotivation 7 1.
Factors that demotivate teachers in teaching 8 1. Student - related factors 9 1. Working environment 9 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 Previous research on teacher's demotivation 12 1. In foreign countries 12 1.
Teacher‟s demotivation in ESL context 12 1. Teacher‟s demotivation in EFL context 14 1. In Viet Nam 15 1.4 Need of the study 17 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 18 2.1 Research questions restated 18 2.2 Justification for the use of Survey Research design 18 2.3 Research setting and participants 18 2.4 Data collection instruments 19 2.5 Data collection procedures 21 2.6 Data analysis 22 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 23 3. Demotivating factors of EFL teachers 23 3.
Student – related factors 23 3. Facilities and materials 24 b. Family life 32 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Other factors for teacher demotivation 32 3.
The most salient demotivating factors of EFL teachers 33 3. Comparison of de – motives on the basis of gender 34 3. Demotivating factors among EFL teachers at VTEC 36 3. The most significant demotivating factors among EFL teachers 36 3.
Differences in relation to gender 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 38 1. Some suggested measures to reduce teachers‟ demotivation 38 2. For college administrators 39 3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research 40 REFERENCES 42 Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers I Appendix 2: Interview questions for teachers IV Appendix 3: Interview questions for former teachers V Appendix 4: One - way ANOVA analysis of demotivating factors between VI genders vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language L2 : Second language N : Number OECD : Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences VTEC : Vinh Phuc Technical - Economic College VSO : Voluntary Service Overseas vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures: Figure 1.1: Basic model of the role of aptitude and motivation in second language learning Figure 3.1: Workload for teacher demotivation Figure 3.2: Salary for teacher demotivation Figure 3.3: Professional life factors for teacher demotivation Figure 3.
Means for demotivating factors in sub-categories Tables: Table 3.1: Student – related factors for teacher demotivation Table 3.2: Facilities and material for teacher demotivation Table 3.3: Colleague relationship for teacher demotivation Table 3.4: Administrative pressure for teacher demotivation Table 3.5: Family life factors for teacher demotivation Table 3.6: Means for Demotivating factors in theme and subcategories viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly become an international language. To meet this requirement, English has been taught almost everywhere in Vietnam, especially in schools, colleges, universities as a compulsory subject. During language teaching and learning process, teachers are considered as one of the most influential factors affecting directly the students‟ personality, their major and their progress in studying and determining the quality of education system.
Besides professional knowledge and teaching experience, another key criteria which ensures teaching quality is motivation in working. There appears, however, to be mounting concerns that high proportions of teachers working in many schools in general, and EFL teachers in Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College (VTEC), in particular, are poorly motivated. Although there is no exact statistic number about this, from our observation and discussion on many forums or websites, we can realize that there has been deterioration in morale, commitment, motivation and professionalism of teachers. The fact that teachers were highly demotivated could have contributed to deterioration of commitment to work and student academic achievement.
Low motivation in both students and teachers is a pressing problem in education that is facing Viet Nam today. Demotivation is a relatively new issue in the field of Foreign Language teaching but is attracting a growing interest from many researchers and educators. Demotivating factors negatively influence the teacher‟s attitudes and behavior and hence lead to undesired teaching outcomes. According to Dörneyi (2001), demotivation refers to the specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or ongoing action.
Undoubtedly, studying the concept of demotivation will be great importance for not only researchers but many teachers who becoming demotivated in their daily classrooms in different educational levels. Despite the importance of demotivation in general, only a limited number of studies are available on student demotivation, and even much less on teacher demotivation. In Viet Nam, the researcher could only find some studies on student demotivation but could not find any relating to teacher demotivation. At VTEC teaching context, basing on class observation and examination result, English teaching and learning quality was considered to be not effective 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com enough and the researcher has recognized the existence and effect of demotivation.
There is a big gap that need to fulfill - what are the factors leading to teachers‟ demotivation? How to sort out these problems? The reality of English teaching and learning at VTEC prompts the researcher to conduct “A Survey of Factors that Demotivate EFL Teachers at Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College”. Aims of the study The first aim of the study is to investigate demotivating factors among EFL teachers at VTEC. The second aim is to find out the order of significance of these demotivating factors. The third and final aim is to explore the possible differences in demotivating factors among EFL teachers in terms of gender.
Research questions To achieve the above aims, the following questions are addressed: 1. What are demotivating factors among EFL teachers at VTEC? 2. What factors most significantly demotivate EFL teachers at VTEC? 3. What are differences of demotivating factors among EFL teachers in terms of their gender? 4.
Research method This study is a survey research work in which both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in order to find out the factors that demotivate EFL teachers. Quantitative research provides readers with “numbers, logic and the objective, focusing on logic, numbers, and unchanging static data” (Babbie & Earl, 2010). And the goal of qualitative study has historically been “to explore, explain, or describe the phenomenon of interest” (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). To collect data, a questionnaire and semi- structured interviews are used to gain more in- dept information concerning on the demotivating factors for EFL teachers.
Scope and significance of the study The study only focuses on finding out the factors that demotivate EFL teachers and examining differences in demotivating factors between male and female teachers at VTEC. The results of the study cannot be generalized to all EFL teachers in Vietnam. It is only useful for the colleges which have similar economic, social conditions and teacher staffs. This study is of great importance.