VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------ HOÀNG THỊ HÀ A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING SKILLS AT QUANG LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu về động lực học kỹ năng đọc hiểu của học sinh trường THCS Quảng Định) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Hanoi, 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------ HOÀNG THỊ HÀ A STUDY ON STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN READING SKILLS AT QUANG LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL (Nghiên cứu về động lực học kỹ năng đọc hiểu của học sinh trường THCS Quảng Định) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Supervisor: Nguyen Bang, M.A Hanoi, 2011 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 1. LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The reasons for students’ learning reading skills Table 2: Factors affecting students’ motivation in reading Table 3: The frequency of activities used by the teachers Table 4: Techniques used by the teachers Table 5: Results of classroom observation Table 6: Teacher’s comments on the textbook Table 7: Students’ comments on the topics of the textbooks Table 8: Students’ comments on teachers’ employment of activities 2.
LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The relationship between reasons for reading and types of reading. Figure 2: Student’s attitudes towards the importance of learning English reading LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.ii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv PART 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Significance of the study.
Design of the study. 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………….5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical backgrounds of motivation. Definition of motivation.
Main types of motivation in second language learning. Role of motivation in second language learning. Theoretical backgrounds of reading. Definitions of reading.
Reasons for reading. Types of reading. According to ways of reading. According to reasons of reading.
The importance of teaching and learning reading. Motivation in reading. The importance of motivation in reading second language. 15 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Main factors affecting students’ motivation in reading second language. The reading materials. Context of the study. Survey questionnaires for the teachers.
Survey questionnaires for the students. Data collection procedures. 23 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .1 The identification of students’ motivation .1 Types of students’ motivation in learning reading .2 Students’ attitude towards reading .3 Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading. Activities and techniques employed by the teachers .3 Motivational strategies and techniques to motivate students.
33 PART III: CONCLUSION. Summary of the major findings and discussion. Suggestions for further study. 38 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………….39 APPENDICES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the study English has developed with an unprecedented speed in Viet Nam since the Government implemented the open-door policy to the regional and global integration. English proficiency is, then, seen as vital requirement for employment and higher education. As a result, almost learners have to study English as second language for job seeking, job promotion or overseas studies. Nowadays, in lower secondary schools, English becomes one of the compulsory subjects on which Grade-9 students are tested at their State Graduation Examination.
Douglas (2007) wrote that "children who read frequently grow to become skillful readers". Many researchers also argue that reading is one of the most important skills for second language readers. According to these researchers, reading is crucial for learning new information, explaining, interpreting, and combining it based on old information and expectations. Its instrumental use is particularly important at the lower secondary school stage.
From my own observation and involvement as a part-time teacher of Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School since 2007, I realize that almost students find reading lessons tough and boring in which they often feel sleepy. Only a few students get involved in the activities conducted by teachers while others keep silence or do something else. Obviously, one of the biggest challenges to teachers is to find out effective ways to improve their students' reading skills. This study addresses the issue by looking at the students' motivation in learning reading skills as it is widely acknowledged that motivation plays a very important role in second language learning process.
Motivation is one of the key factors that determines the success or failure of language learning. While a considerable amount of research has been conducted to study the motivation and its effects on second language acquisition, little has been particularly taken on students' motivation in learning reading comprehension skills alone. For the above reasons, I would like to carry out ―A study on students' motivation in reading skills at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School” with an attempt to investigate the factors affecting students' motivation in learning reading skills and suggest some ways LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 to motivate them to learn reading comprehension skills better. It is believed that the study will be helpful for those who are facing similar problems and those who want to improve students' motivation in learning reading skills.
Aims and objectives The study aims at investigating the motivation in learning English reading among grade-9 students at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School. To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain four specific objectives as follows: 1. To examine types of motivation possessed by the grade-9 students at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School. To identify the main factors affecting the students’ motivation in learning English reading.
To examine activities and techniques used by the teachers to motivate their learners in reading lessons. To recommend how to use reading materials and suggest some motivational strategies and techniques to enhance the grade-9 students’ reading comprehension skills. Research questions (i) What types of motivation do the grade-9 students have in learning English reading? (ii) What are the main factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading? (iii) What are motivational activities and techniques employed by the teachers in reading lessons? What are teachers and students’ opinions on the reading materials? (iv) What motivational strategies and techniques should be applied to improve students’ reading skills? LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Scope of the study Recent researchers show that motivation is the key factor which determines the success or the failure of second language learning among many factors in the second language acquisition process.
This study investigates motivation as a separate factor in learning English reading. The result of the study will be applied to enhance the reading comprehension skills of grade-9 students at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School. Methods of the study This case study is carried out on the basis of material collection, classroom observation, survey questionnaires and interview. The use of data striangulation insures that the information about the subject is tested in more than one way, so the most reliable data will be gathered.
In theoretical part, a lot of reference materials on motivation and reading have been gathered and analyzed. In practical part, classroom observation, survey questionnaires and interview are carried out to collect the most reliable data for the study. Significance of the study The study focuses on the importance of motivation and identifies the factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading skills. Its findings are believed to help teachers of English to be aware of vital role of reading materials to students’ motivation in reading lessons.
Since then, the study suggests some motivational strategies for better reading comprehension. Design of the study The study is designed with three parts as follows: PART 1: INTRODUCTION The part presents the rationale of the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study and the significance. PART 2: DEVELOPMENT LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 Chapter 1: Literature review The chapter provides theoretical backgrounds of motivation and reading. In this chapter, the theories for motivation, nature of reading, motivation in reading and main factors affecting motivation in English reading learning are discussed.
Chapter 2: Methodology The chapter presents the methodology used in this study including data collection, the procedure of data analysis and instruments. Chapter 3: Data analysis and findings The chapter shows the results of the data analysis based on the classroom observation, survey questionnaires and interview. PART 3: CONCLUSION The part summarizes the major findings and discussion, implications, recommendations as well as suggestions for further study and some limitations of the study. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is concerned with the theories of motivation and second language reading.
Three main features will be presented: theoretical background of motivation, theoretical background of reading and motivation in second language reading. Theoretical backgrounds of motivation 1. Definition of motivation Despite the divergence of the approaches used to study motivation, its definitions are surprisingly uniform. In simple terms, motivation, based on the Latin verb for ―move,‖ is the force that makes one do something.
It is a process that involves goals, physical or mental activity, and is both instigated and sustained (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996: 4-5; Williams, 1997). It is characterized in terms of direction, duration and intensity. Earlier theorists tended to portray motivation mechanistically, related to needs satisfaction (Maslow, 1987; Owens, 1987), while the more recent cognitive psychologists portray motivation as a product of conscious decision (Williams, 1997). However, the definition of motivation used in second language (SL) studies is less uniform.
As Crookes and Schmidt (1991) point out, even though almost every text has a chapter on motivation, it is used more as a general catch-all rather than a precise construct. They quote McDonough in pointing out that ―motivation‖ is used ―as a general cover term – a dustbin – to include a number of possibly distinct concepts‖ (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991). Whatever the case, it has been traditionally corresponded with and measured by proficiency. It is also defined as producing ―engagement in and persistence with the learning task‖ (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991).
This is especially true among teachers rather than second language researchers, who ―would describe a student as motivated if he or she becomes productively engaged in learning tasks and sustains that engagement, without the need for continual encouragement or direction‖ (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991: 480). A summary of definitions offered by Mitchell (1982: 81), even though he is not an SL researcher, is succinct, modern, and seems to cover the definitions offered in both fields. It is, in fact, quite similar to the definition offered by Williams and Burden (1997), LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 who are SL researchers. Mitchell’s definition is: "Motivation becomes those psychological processes that cause arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal- related".
According to Gardner, a highly motivated individual will want to learn the language, enjoy learning the language, and strive to learn the language. The Gardner’s theory of second language learning motivation is based on the definition of motivation as ―the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity‖ (Gardner 1985). In this definition, motivation is described as goal-directed; the learners’ immediate goal is to learn the language. Gardner proposed that in order to understand why learners were motivated, it is necessary to understand the learners’ ultimate goal or purpose for learning the language.
Gardner refers to this as the learner’s orientation. He identified two distinct orientations for learning a language: integrative and instrumental. Main types of motivation in second language learning The types of motivation are controversial and there has been many distinctions made in the literature so far.