VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------*****------------------------ ĐỖ THỊ THỦY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AND THEIR OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING STRATEGIES: A SURVEY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN VIETNAM Quan hệ giữa động lực và các chiến lược học tập ngoài giờ học của học sinh: Nghiên cứu khảo sát tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------------*****------------------------ ĐỖ THỊ THỦY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AND THEIR OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING STRATEGIES: A SURVEY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN VIETNAM Quan hệ giữa động lực và các chiến lược học tập ngoài giờ học của học sinh: Nghiên cứu khảo sát tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Việt Nam M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Lê Văn Canh HANOI - 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby assure that this dessertation is my own work and it has not been previously submitted to any institution in application for admission to a diploma or other qualifications Hanoi, 2017 Đỗ Thị Thuỷ i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the lecturers of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their invaluable instructions and assistance. Their step-by-step guidance helps me get closer to scientific researches and equips me with necessary knowledge to be able to carry out research on foreign/ second language (L2) on my own. Especially, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.
Le Van Canh, whose erudite understanding of various fields related to L2 teaching and learning has enlightened me. He himself is not only a great and devoted lecturer but also a famous researcher. I could not have finished my thesis without his supervision. My special thanks also go to my family member, my friends and colleagues who always stand by me to support me and encourage me to complete the course.
Besides, I would like to thank my beloved students in Yen Dinh 3 high school for their contribution to my paper. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to other people working at ULIS for their help. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study focuses on identifying students‟ motivation and their out-of- class learning strategies and investigating whether there is any relationship between them. A total of 90 ten-grade students were asked to complete the survey questionnaires within 30 minutes.
They had to complete 15 sentences on motivation drawn from Attitude/Motivation Test Battery by R.Gardner with 6 point Likert scale and 10 sentences on out-of-class learning strategies extracted from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning by R.Oxford with 5 point Likert scale. The results show that instrumental motivation ranks first and metacognitive strategies are the most frequently used. The majority of the students learned English because they had to take English exams. When they were not in class, they often listened to English songs or played games in English to acquire this language.
Besides, most of motivation types have positive and significant correlations with six categories of learning strategies except for compensation strategies. Intrinsic motivation has the highest coefficients. Also, the more demotivated the students were, the less strategic they were. Base on the findings, it is suggested that students should be encouraged to acquire knowledge both inside and outside classroom context.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES.
viii LIST OF FIGURES. ix PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Research aims and objectives.
Scope of the research. Significance of the research. Organization of the thesis. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.
Definition of motivation. Prominent motivation theories. Dörnyei’s motivational self system .Conceptualizations of learning strategy. Oxford’s language learning strategy inventory.
11 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Out-of-class learning strategies. The role of out-of-class learning in foreign language teaching 15 1. Previous studies on the relationship between motivation and out- of -class learning strategies.
16 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY. The research setting. Data Collection Procedure. 20 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Reasons for learning English. The students’ main types of language learning strategies and activities. Language learning strategies. 22 Table 2: Summary of descriptic statistic for language learning strategy use.
Out – of – class learning activities. Students’ motivation types. The relationship between students’motivation and their out-of-class learning strategies. Major findings of the study.
32 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study .I vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AMTB: Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery EFL: English as Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as Second Language GLL: Good Language Learner L2: Second or Foreign Language SILL: Strategy Inventory for Language learning SPSS: The Statistical Package for Social Science vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Reasons for learning English. 19 Table 2: Summary of descriptic statistic for language learning strategy use.
20 Table 3: Out-of-class activities. 21 Table 4: Motivation types. 22 Table 5: Correlations between motivation types and out-of-class learning strategies. 25 Table 6: Correlations between motivation and out-of-class learning strategies.
27 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A simple representation of the socioeducational model - Adopted from Gardner (2001). 4 Figure 2: Orientation subtypes along the self-determination continuum –Adopted from Ryan & Deci (2000). 5 Figure 3: Students‟ attitude towards the interest of learning English. 24 ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the study Out-of-class study time is essential in students‟ language learning, but few studies in ELT investigate students‟ out-of-class study: the time they spend on out-of-class learning and the strategies they use for this type of learning. Most of the studies on EFL students‟ learning strategies focus on in- class learning strategies, leaving this important area of learning under- explored. Teachers tend to pay more attention to the strategies students use inside than those outside classroom while “Out-of-class activities are also linked with real life applications; this connection is key to fostering more authentic language usage and autonomy” (Pearson, 2004). However,the relationship between motivation and learning strategies in Yen Dinh 3 high school where I work has not been studied, which prevents the application of proper methods of teaching and learning.
Therefore, I have carried out this research with the desire to find suitable teaching methods and know how to motivate the students to learn better, especially outside classroom. Research aims and objectives - Aims: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between students‟ motivation for language learning and their choice of learning strategies, especially the choice of out-of-class learning strategies. Objectives: - To investigate the students‟ motivation in learning English as a school subject; - To explore their choice of learning strategies, especially out-of-class learning strategies; 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - To gain understanding about the influence of motivation on out-of-class learning strategies choice. Research questions: The study focuses on the following research questions: 1) What is the students‟ language learning motivation? 2) How do they learn English outside class? 3) What is the relationship between students‟ motivation and their out - of class - learning strategies? 4.
Scope of the research This study focuses on measuring the students‟ motivation including intrinsic, extrinsic, integrative, and instrumental as well as amotivation; their choice of out-of-class learning strategies and the relationship between the two factors. Significance of the research The research result can help teachers determine the types of motivation amongst students and help students know about the importance of motivation as well as learning strategies in acquiring a foreign language. Moreover, the research aims at assisting teachers to find suitable teaching methods so as to motivate their students to learn English better. Organization of the thesis The thesis is organized as follows: Part A - Introduction: Provides the rationale of the study, aims, objectives, research questions, scope and significance of the study.
Part B - Development: Consists of three chapters Chapter I – Literature review: Briefly introduces the theoretical backgrounds related to motivation, language learning strategies, out – of – class language learning as well as previous research on the relationship between motivation and out - of - class learning strategies 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter II – Methodology: focuses on research setting, research design, research methods and introduces the participants, instruments and procedure of data collection and process. Chapter III – Findings and discussion: presents the results of the study and some discussion. Part C – Conclusion: summarizes the main points of the study, compares the results with previous research in the field, points out the limitations and suggests further study 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 1.
Definition of motivation Despite a lot of researches done with motivation, its exact definition has been a challenge even among great researchers. Dörnyei (1998: 117) commented, “Although motivation is a term used in both education and research contexts, it is rather surprising how little agreement, one can find in the literature with regard to the exact meaning of the concept”. On examining research studies conducted in relation to motivation, it was found that the concept of motivation was defined in different ways. Keller (1983) defined motivation as “the direction of effort making a student willing to learn and as an intrinsic power”.
Relating motivation to learn a second language (L2), Gardner (1985) proposed, “Motivation is a term which is often used with respect to second language learning as a simple explanation of achievement”. Schunk (1990) defined it as “inclining towards a process of behaviour oriented to a certain goal and sustaining it”; Brown (1994) gave the definition of motivation as “the extent to which you make choices about (a) a goal to pursue and (b) the effort you will devote to the pursuit.” It is a well established belief among most researchers that motivation is crucial in students‟ learning. However, the concept of motivation proves complex since it takes respectable number of different disciplines to arrive at a reasonable understanding of its different facets. Prominent motivation theories.
The four main theories to be reviewed here are Gardner‟s motivation theory, the Self-determination theory, Goal theories and Attribution theory. In 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com addition, there is a critical reference to one of the most common model on language learning motivation - Dörnyei‟s motivational self system 1. Gardner’s Motivation Theory The most influential model of language learning motivation in the early sixties through the eighties of the previous century was that developed by Robert Gardner, a Canadian social psychologist. The model came to be known as the Socioeducational Model (Gardner, 1985).
Gardner defined motivation as a „combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes towards learning the language.‟ In his model, he introduced two components of motivation: attitudes towards the learning situation and integrativeness The most developed and researched facet of Gardner‟s (1985) motivation theory has been the integrative aspect. The significant of this concept is attested to by its appearing in Gardner‟s theory in three different forms - integrative orientation, integrativeness, and the integrative motive (Dörnyei, 2003).