VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THÚY LAN ANH A SURVEY ON LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO TAKE EXTRA COURSES IN ENGLISH NGHIÊN CỨU ĐIỀU TRA ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ THAM GIA CÁC LỚP HỌC THÊM TIẾNG ANH M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ` Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI, 2018 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 THÚY LAN ANH A SURVEY ON LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO TAKE EXTRA COURSES IN ENGLISH NGHIÊN CỨU ĐIỀU TRA ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ THAM GIA CÁC LỚP HỌC THÊM TIẾNG ANH M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Le Van Canh HANOI, 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that the minor study entitled “A survey on lower secondary school students‟ motivation to take extra courses in English” was conducted by me for the degree of Master in English teaching methodology at University of Languages and International Studies under the guidance and supervision of Dr.
Le Van Canh, University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam. The interpretations of the collected data were based on my reading of the target topic and they are not published in any form of books or articles. For this study, no degree or diploma has been conferred on me before. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am so grateful to University of Languages and International Studies and the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies for making it possible for me to study here.
I would like to heartily express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all the Professors and lecturers of the university, especially my supervisor, Professor Le Van Canh who encouraged and directed me to finish this paper. I am also thankful to all of the students at PCT Secondary schools who helped me to do the survey as well as the interviews despite their busy time studying for their examination at school. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .ii LIST OF TABLES. v LIST OF CHARTS .vii CHAPTER ONE.2 General statement of the problem .3 The significance of the study .5 Context of the study .6 Organization of the thesis.1 Definition of motivation .2 Motivational orientations in language learning .3 Motivation and the social context .1 The intergroup model .2 Situated language identity .3 Social theory of motivation .4 Motivational impact of learning situation .4 Role of motivation in language learning .3 Data collection procedures .4 Data analysis procedures.
16 iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER FOUR. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .2 Limitation of the study .3 Recommendations for future and further research. 44 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 4. Number of students in extra English classes.
Teacher(s) in extra English classes. The frequency of English extra classes. Length of each class session. Reasons for participating in English extra classes.
Additional reasons for choosing English extra classes. Evaluation of English extra classes. Students‟ comments on English extra classes. 30 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.
Reasons for preferences of English extra classes. Reasons for preferences of English class at school. Reasons for choosing both classes. Reasons for disliking both classes.
Evaluation of English extra classes. 29 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT English is more and more essential in the modern world because this language supports people a lot in their academic career or jobs. For students, English is vital if they want to get scholarships for studying abroad or it is the important factor which provides learners access to gifted schools. Although teaching and learning English are improved a lot in Vietnamese schools, many students find extra courses to help them promoting their English proficiency.
I wonder if English teaching now in public school is fit with their needs or not. Hence, I conducted the study with the purpose of finding out what motivates students joining extra English classes. The findings of the study investigate students‟ needs as well. Thanks to information on the paper, I could benefit my teaching at the secondary school where I am working now.
In this study, a questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data. Findings showed that students‟ motivation participating in English extra classes mostly resulted from social impact. Moreover, there is a casual relationship between English teaching at school and students‟ motivation to take extra classes. Additionally, the findings of the study also describe factors that attract students in classrooms.
Results from questionnaire and findings from interviews can be used as resources of English teaching and learning at lower secondary schools. vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER ONE.1 Background In the context of this globalized world, English has become the leading language that rolls the wheel of international communication (Phillipson, 1992). It is generally learned as a second language and used as an official language of many countries and world organizations. Vietnam is not the exception which is influenced on the expansion of English.
With the development of international businesses and trades, the capacity of communicating in English plays a key role in all fields. To meet the new trends, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has made national projects on education, especially on English subject. The latest national project is the Decision N0 1400/QD-TTg on approving the 10-year National plan for “Teaching and Learning Foreign Language in the national Formal Education System in the Period of 2008 – 2020” which was issued on September 30th, 2008. However, until now, the effort of changing in public education system is still not as good as it was expected.
To supply a service which meets students‟ needs, many English institutions mushroom all over the country, especially in big cities. As a matter of fact, these institutions attract a lot of students at varied ages.2 General statement of the problem When teaching English for lower secondary students, I recognized that a lot of students at PCT Secondary school took private English courses after school although at the time I conducted this research, students did not need to take part in an English test for their graduation exam. I wonder what motivates them to take those courses. I would like to find out whether there is any causal relationship between the formal teaching of English at the school and the students‟ motivation to take extra courses.
The 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com understanding can be helpful to teachers and school administrators in their efforts to improve the teaching and learning of English at the school.3 The significance of the study The study makes benefits for English teaching and learning at lower secondary schools. From the result of the paper, teachers may adjust their teaching ways to meet students‟ needs in the international globalization. The findings of this study may enrich the theory of teaching and learning English at secondary schools. The result of the research can also be used as a reference for those who want to conduct a research in English teaching and learning process.4 Research question The research study was conducted to survey secondary students from grade 6 to grade 9 in the academic year 2017-2018 at PCT Secondary school, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Its objective was to find the answers to the following question: - What motivates students to take extra courses in English? 1.5 Context of the study The study was conducted at PCT Secondary public school in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a public school which follows Ministry of Education and Training‟s programs. There are nearly 1700 students in total from grade 6 to grade 9. The average number of students in each class is 45 students.
Students have three English class sessions every week.6 Organization of the thesis This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one covers the background, the significance of the study, the research question, the context of the study and the organization of the thesis. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter two includes four main categories of literature: Definition of motivation, different motivational orientations in language teaching, motivation and the social context, and role of motivation in language teaching. Chapter three comprises of the methodology including participants, instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures.
Chapter four presents the findings of collected data consisted of survey results and interview findings. In the last chapter, the paper covers the conclusion interpreted from collected data. Discussion, limitation of the study, pedagogical implications and further and future research are also mentioned in this chapter. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER TWO.1 Definition of motivation Motivation is an essential component which has effects on teaching and learning process.
The effectiveness of this component is attested by a variety of theorists and scholars. Dörnyei (2004) proved that “motivation is one of the main determinants of second/foreign language learning achievement”. Spolsky (1989) had the similar view when he assumed that motivation is one of 74 conditions for success in second language learning. According to him, motivation is an important link to students‟ learning and “the more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she will spend learning an aspect of a second language”.
It explains the reason why some learners pay much attention to lessons or try their hard to finish all tasks with high quality while others do not. Therefore, many theorists have put their time and effort into searching motivation which is a complex concept and is defined in multiple ways. However, the definition of motivation often becomes confusing because researchers do not provide a uniform definition of motivation (Dörnye, 2001). In fact, there is little consensus and much disagreement among researchers who involve in the study of motivation.
Dörnyei and Ottó (1998) defined motivation as “the dynamically changing cumulative arousal in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritized, operationalised and (successfully or unsuccessfully) acted out.” Gardner (2010) was in agreement with Dörnye (2001) when he considered that motivation is a difficult-to-define construct. He defined motivation as referring to a combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language. Motivation is operationally defined by Gardner and his associates in a slightly different way for the purpose of 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com measurement, as consisting of desire to learn the language, motivational intensity, and attitudes towards learning the language. Pintrich & Schunk (1996:4) identified motivation as “the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained”.
According to them, motivation is a process which cannot be observed directly but can be inferred by behaviors as a choice of tasks, effort, persistence, and verbalizations. They explain that motivation involves goals that provide an impetus for and direction to action and that motivation requires physical or mental activity geared towards attaining goals. Finally, these authors claim that motivation is an activity that is instigated and sustained; that is to say, starting toward a goal is important and often difficult since it requires taking the first step. However, they suggest that motivational processes are critical to sustaining actions.
Although researchers have different views of motivation; most of them agree that this component concerns the direction and magnitude of human behavior like the choice of a particular action, the persistence with it or the effort expended on it. Additionally, motivation is responsible for why people decide to do something, how long they are willing to sustain the activity, and how hard they are going to pursue it (Dörnyei (2001)).