VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS INFLUENCING VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE ORALLY IN EFL CLASSROOMS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By HOANG THI KIM OANH Supervised by Assoc. LUU TRONG TUAN HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2023 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of my thesis would have been an insurmountable challenge without the indispensable guidance, support, and encouragement of many individuals to whom I owe my sincere gratitude. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my esteemed supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Lưu Trọng Tuấn, who provided invaluable assistance during my most trying times when I had to start from scratch.
His unwavering guidance and advice were instrumental not only in completing my thesis, but also enhancing my learning strategies and project management skills. He continuously motivated me to aim for excellence, both in my academic and personal pursuits, which has significantly contributed to my personal development. I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Lê Hoàng Dũng, the Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, who permitted me to conduct my survey at Thu Duc campus and instructed me to prepare necessary documents for the official survey.
I would also like to thank all EFL teachers, learners, and administrative staff who assisted me in the data collection. I would like to appreciate the dedicated instructions of all lecturers who provided me with invaluable knowledge about the theory and practice of teaching English, as well as the precious teaching experience shared during the lessons. I would like to express my appreciation to my family, including my parents, my husband, brothers, and my two little daughters, for their assistance, encouragement, and support in my pursuit of higher education. I would like to express my special gratitude to my friends, Thạch Thị Quyên and Trần Thanh Nga, my classmates in the Master of TESOL program.
They are people who gave me much motivation, inspiration, support, and positive reinforcement for my present thesis. Without them, my thesis would not have been completed successfully. ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS INFLUENCING VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE ORALLY IN EFL CLASSROOMS” is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution.
Ho Chi Minh City, May 2023. Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh iii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the theses. Ho Chi Minh City, May 2023.
Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. iii RETENTION OF USE. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
v LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES. Background of the study. Rationale of the study.
Research aims and research questions. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Organization of the thesis.
Willingness to communicate (WTC). Characteristics of WTC. WTC in L2 context. WTC in EFL context.
The importance of WTC orally in language classrooms. Model of WTC. Factors influencing WTC. Language class risk-taking.
Conceptual framework of the thesis. Rationale of choosing a context in Vietnam. The overview of research site. Rationale of choosing non-English major students as the sample.
The overview of population. Description of the research instrument. Reliability and validity. The main study.
Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The results of Cronbach’s Alpha analysis .