BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI -----***----- BÁO CÁO TỔNG KẾT ĐỀ TÀI NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC CẤP CƠ SỞ SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY (CÁC GIẢI PHÁP NHẰM NÂNG CAO ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI) Mã số: CS16 - 45 Chủ nhiệm đề tài: ThS. Phạm Thị Tố Loan Thành viên: ThS. Phạm Thị Phương Liên HA NOI, May, 2017 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI -----***----- BÁO CÁO TỔNG KẾT ĐỀ TÀI NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC CẤP CƠ SỞ SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY (CÁC GIẢI PHÁP NHẰM NÂNG CAO ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHO SINH VIÊN ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI) Mã số: CS16 - 45 Chủ nhiệm đề tài: ThS. Phạm Thị Tố Loan Thành viên: ThS.
Phạm Thị Phương Liên Xác nhận của Trường Đại Chủ nhiệm đề tài: học Thương Mại ThS. Phạm Thị Tố Loan HA NOI, May, 2017 Abstracts The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English at Thuongmai university, then put forth some solutions to improve the current situation. Two instruments namely questionnaires and interview were employed to collect the data for the study. The questionnaires which focused on classroom activities, teaching methods, classroom atmosphere, praise and reward, and cooperative learning were delivered to 108 second year students and eight of those were then selected for interviewed for detailed exploration.
The result showed that relaxing classroom atmosphere, varied teaching activities, and teachers’ special care to individual student were among the most highly rated motivators in promoting students’ learning. Solutions and further suggested studies are presented in the final part of the research. Tóm tắt Đề tài nhằm mục đích nghiên cứu các nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến động lực học tiếng Anh của sinh viên trường đại học Thương Mại, từ đó đưa ra một số giải pháp nhằm cải thiện tình hình. Hai công cụ nghiên cứu là câu hỏi điều tra và phỏng vấn đã được sử dụng để thu thập dữ liệu cho nghiên cứu.
Bảng câu hỏi tập trung vào các yếu tố tạo hứng thú học tập như: hoạt động trên lớp, phương pháp giảng dạy, không khí lớp học, khích lệ và khen thưởng, và hợp tác học tập. Bảng hỏi được phát cho 108 sinh viên năm hai và 8 em trong số này đã được chọn ra để phỏng vấn nhằm tìm hiểu vấn đề chi tiết hơn. Kết quả chỉ ra rằng không khí lớp học thoải mái, hoạt động giảng dạy đa dạng, và sự quan tâm đặc biệt của giáo viên đến từng sinh viên là các yếu tố được các em đánh giá cao nhất trong việc tạo động lực học tiếng Anh. Giải pháp và gợi ý về các nghiên cứu liên quan sẽ được trình bày trong phần cuối của bài.
i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstracts. i TABLE OF CONTENTS. ii List of Tables. Aims of the study.
The research questions of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Design of the study.
2 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Motivation and language learning. Theories on motivation. Types of motivations.
Factors affecting motivation in second language learning. The importance of motivation in language learning. 16 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. The context of the study.
Procedures of data analysis. 22 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Students’ attitude towards learning English. Praise and rewards.
Solutions to enhance student’s English learning at Thuongmai university 34 2. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research. 39 iii List of Tables Table 3.1: Motivators relating to classroom activities 24 Table 3.2: Motivators relating to teaching methods 25 Table 3.3: Motivators relating to praise and rewards 26 Table 3.4: Motivators relating to classroom atmosphere 28 Table 3.5: Motivators relating to cooperative learning 29 iv INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale Research has shown that there are various factors affecting English language learning such as: age, motivation, learning methods, attitude, interest, will power, personality, etc. Guanjie (1996) posited that motivation (accounting for 33%) is identified as one of the main factors in the acquisition of English. Other elements include: aptitude (33%), intelligence (20%) and others (14%). Unmotivated student exhibit behaviors of being unengaged, distracted and unwilling to make efforts in learning.
Conversely, motivated students demonstrate strong will and persistence to pursue successful learning. Apparently, motivation is of great importance in language acquisition, thus teachers always place strong emphasis on motivating students which in turn leads to their high performance. However, the current situation at Thuongmai university reveal the fact that students lack motivation in learning English. Most of them show little interest in English lessons which results in their low engagement in learning.
Specifically, instead of concentrating on the lesson, many students chat, send messages, read novels, surf the net, facebook, etc. Low motivation in learning English has a correlation with their achievement; as a result, graduates at Thuongmai university are said to have low level English proficiency at workplace. They are unable to use English properly and precisely in daily communication, negotiation, presentation and email writing. This problem poses a need to raise their language competency at university and one of the urgent action is to increase students’ motivation in learning English.
Thus, this study is an attempt to give an insights into motivation and its key role in language learning, simultaneously, put forth some solutions to motivate students to learn English at Thuongmai university. The study hopefully serve as a good reference to enhance students language skills, assist them to become global citizen with good expertise and fluent English to confidently join the world of jobs after graduation. Aims of the study The main aims of the study are as follows: 1 - explore the factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English. - propose some recommendations to enhance students’ motivation in learning English.
The research questions of the study In order to achieve the aforementioned aims, the study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What are the factors affecting students’ motivation to learn English? 2. What are the solutions to enhance their motivation in learning English? 4. Scope of the study The study focuses on identifying solutions to enhance English competence for Thuongmai non-English majors.
It was carried out in the second semester of 2016- 2017 academic year with 108 second year students. The impacts of different methods to boost students motivation are taken into account such as: classroom activities, teaching methods, praise and rewards, classroom atmosphere, and cooperative learning. Significance of the study The study is intended to shed light on the factors affecting non English major students’ motivation in learning English. Then, possible solutions are recommended to boost their motivation in language learning which in turn enhance their competence.
Thus, it is beneficial for both learners and teachers in the way that teachers will have some insights into how to motivate students to learn better, and learners will be equipped with necessary methods and conditions to develop their English skills. The study hopefully lay a solid foundation for English teaching at Thuongmai university in the pursuit of effective and high quality education. Design of the study The study is organized as follows: 2 INTRODUCTION specifies the background of the study which covers a wide range of information such as rationale, aims, research questions, scope, significance, and design of the study. Chapter 1 provides an overview of literature on motivation in language learning.
Chapter 2 discusses the research methods of the study. Chapter 3 deals with the findings and discussion of the study. CONCLUSION summarizes the main issues of the study, accompanied by limitations and suggestions for further study. Additionally, some possible implications for language teaching and learning are presented.
3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Motivation and language learning 1. Definition Motivation is considered as an influential factor in the success of any activity. It has positive contribution to the learning process in any educational context.
In the learning process, motivation plays a vital role in providing energy to continue and achieve the desired goal. Therefore, initiating any goal needs first to be preceded by desire or wish that provides this action with necessary means for implementation and accomplishment. In second language learning acquisition, there are a lot of research focusing on type and factors affecting motivation. First of all, Gardner (1985) sought to investigate how the language learners’ attitudes towards the second language speaking community affects their desire to learn.
He also made the distinction between two kinds of motivation. The first one is integrative motivation which means that someone learn a language to achieve a higher level of integration and assimilation in the target language community. The second kind of motivation is instrumental motivation where a student learns a language to achieve some kind of benefits. The interest in this case focused on the product of the language and not on the language itself.
The second phase of motivations began in the 1990s and it has been based on cognitive theories (Dornyei, 2009). Many concepts have been formed in this phase as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, attributions, self-efficacy and situation-specific motives related to the learning environment such as courses, teachers, peers. The third phase of motivation research has been conceptualized with temporal aspects. This trend has been based on a process oriented approach to motivation that pays more attention to the dynamic nature of motivation.
It investigates the complicated processes of motivation and how motivation works, starting with intention formation and ending with realizing the goals (Dornyei, 1994) 4 As there are many phases of research on motivation, its definiton also varies. According to Harmer (1991), motivation is an “internal drive” that make somebody to desire to do something. If people think that their goal is worth doing, then they make every effort to reach that goal. Gardner (1985), in his socio-educational model, stated that motivation encompasses three elements, namely effort, desire and affect.
Effort refers to the time the learner spends studying the language. Desire demonstrates how much the learner wants to become proficient in the language, and affect means the learner’s emotional reactions related to language study. Research in motivation and language learning by Dornyei (1994) and Williams (1994) revealed that there are a number of motivational strategies in langauge classroom such as: teachers should act as a role model, class atmosphere is relaxed and pleasant, tasks are properly relevant to students, good teacher-student relationship should be maintained, teachers know how to increase students’ self confidence, learner autonomy should be promoted, teachers take care of individual student’s needs, etc. For the purpose of this study, the authors adopt the definition of motivation developed by Dornyei (1994) in which it is the willing to learn as influenced by teachers, classroom atmosphere, teacher-student relationship, etc.
Theories on motivation and conceptual framework of the study For a long time, aptitude and intelligence had long been considered the most important factors of learners’ success or failure (Nakata, 2006). However, Gardner and Lambert (1959) later prove that motivation also plays a crucial role in learning a language. Gardner and Lambert’s research has triggered many subsequent studies relating to language motivation. Up to now, there are four main motivational theories namely, the socio-psychological, cognitive-situated, process-oriented and socio-dynamic perspectives.
5 The socio-psychological theory According to Gardner and Lambert (1959:193), learning a second language “must be viewed as a central social psychological phenomenon and is different from learning academic subjects such as Maths and Physics”. Accordingly, those researchers believe that motivation to learn a second language is different from motivation to learn other subjects. Learners not only learn new knowledge such grammar, vocabulary and pragmatics, but also are willing to integrate with community speaking that language. In this theory, two types of motivation are identified: integrative and instrumental motivation.