VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ PHƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT PHUONG DONG UNIVERSITY, HANOI (Nghiên cứu đô ̣ng lƣ ̣c học tiếng Anh của các sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh tại Trƣờng Đại Học Dân Lập Phƣơng Đông, Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 6014.0111 HANOI, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ PHƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AT PHUONG DONG UNIVERSITY, HANOI (Nghiên cứu đô ̣ng lƣ ̣c học tiếng Anh của các sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh tại Trƣờng Đại Học Dân Lập Phƣơng Đông, Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 6014. Mai Thị Loan HANOI, 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work.
Documented references have been fully provided. I have not been submitted this thesis for assessment in any other formal course of study. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, D. Mai Thi loan for her support, encouragement and valuable guidance through out the process of conducting this study.
My special thank is for D.r Le Van Canh and all my other lecturers for their useful and valuable lectures that I got at the MA course at the University of Languages and international studies, VNU. I am indebted to them for basic knowledge on teaching methodology and research methodology. This study would not have been completed without the participation of non-majored students and teachers of English at Phuong Dong University. I am grateful for their sharing time on English learning with me.
Finally, I would like to thank all authors and linguists who have provided me with a treasure of knowledge about motivation, so that I can have basic theoretical background for the study. Without all their help, this thesis would not be completed as expected. Hanoi, 2013 Bui Thi Phuong ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Motivation has been a concern of so many linguists and scholars for its essential role in language learning. Discovering learners‟ motivation will help teachers and educationalists have best methods to help their learners succeed.
The study was conducted with the participation of 300 non-majored students at the same psychological age group (18-22) from different faculties and 10 teachers at Phuong Dong University. It is an investigation of non-majored students‟ motivation at Phuong Dong University with the aim of finding best methods to improve their motivation in English learning. In order to gain this aim, the study has found out students‟ desire for learning English, the reasons they are learning English, their difficulties and their favourite activities and teaching methods in the classroom as well as teachers‟ suggestions for useful methods. The result showed that non majors at PDU possess different kinds of motivations with a majority of students learning English for their future career.
Not many of them are satisfied with teaching facilities and teaching methods at school. They prefer motivational activities such as games, songs, pictures and some of communicative activities such as listening and speaking. They also want to practice exercises in the final exams for high marks and a good degree after graduation. Useful methods applied by teachers are also investigated for the basis of the most appropriate implications on teaching and learning English at PDU.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Students‟ attitude on English learning at PDU Chart 2: Students‟ attitude on English Table 1: Students‟ desire to learn English Table 2: Students‟ reasons for learning English Table 3: Factors of learning environment and facilities Table 4: Factors of teachers and teaching methods Table 5: Factors of learners‟ problems Table 6: Students‟ favourite activities and tasks Chart 3: Teachers‟ roles Chart 4: English skills focused Chart 5: Motivational teaching methods iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABBREVIATIONS L2: Second language PDU: Phuong Dong University v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Method of the study. Organization of the study.
4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Motivation in language learning. Classification of motivation. Factors affecting students’ motivation.
Strategies to motivate students in the classroom. Summary of the chapter. 13 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY. The context of the study.
Data collection and analysis procedure. Summary of the chapter. 17 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. Data analysis of questionnaire for students.
Factors affecting students’ motivation. Learning environment and facilities. Teachers and teaching methods. Students’ favourite activities and tasks.
Data analysis of questionnaire for teachers. Summary of the chapter. Teachers’ roles, responsibility and awareness. Teachers’ enthusiasm and responsibility.
Teachers’ awareness of students’ interest and expectations in the class. Motivational teaching methods. Warm-up activities and visual aids. Variety of activities.
The revision book. Focus on listening and speaking skills. Further activities and worksheets. Clear instruction and explanation about the goals of each activity and lesson.
Some other proposals to improve students’ motivation in English learning at PDU. 39 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Teacher education programs. English contests, outdoor activities and English club.
Summary of the chapter. Summary of the study. Recommendations for further researches. I viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Rationale English, as an international language, is widely used in most fields in most countries in the world nowadays. Among them, Vietnam has been aware of the importance of English to improve economic development and enhance international relationships. It is undeniable that English is the bridge to introduce Vietnamese culture and people to others in the world. In the first place, Vietnamese people started learning English as a requirement of their job and nowadays they learn for different purposes.
Some learn English for their future jobs; some learn English for their desire to discover knowledge and some may want to learn English for their interest. For university students, English is a compulsory subject as well as job requirement after graduation. However, as my experience at PDU, not all my students like English and not many of them satisfy with English lessons in the classroom. It is obvious that the effectiveness of teaching and learning English in schools should be taken into account.
It is said that teaching is one of the easiest jobs in the world but teaching well is one of the most difficult. It is no doubt that everyone can tell others what he or she knows but not so many can become good teachers because teaching in general and teaching language in particular always requires a large effort from the teacher. In fact, teachers always have to face with a number of problems in the class. One of the difficulties most English teachers have experienced when teaching is students‟ passivity to learn the language in the class.
The answers to some questions such as how to counter with students‟ lack of effort, desire and motivation in learning English, how to get don‟t want to learn learners involved in classroom activities need to be based on students‟ expectations in language classes. Moreover, an understanding about their motivation to learn and factors negatively affecting their motivation will be the key to this problem. Motivation is not a new term in the language-teaching field and many studies by scholars, linguistics and educationalists have proved that motivation is an important 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com aspect of successful learning. Therefore, they attempt to find out the most useful ways to motivate students in the class.
However, effectiveness and application of these methods always vary in different contexts. In fact, up to now, there has not been any research on non-majors‟ motivation at Phuong Dong University, one of the oldest private universities in Ha Noi in which, as my experience, students‟ motivation in learning English is quite different from other schools. For all the reasons above, this study is hoped to reveal student‟s motivation as well as factors influencing their motivation in the class so that pedagogical implications can be drawn to help students more interested in learning English. Aims of the study The study aims at investigating non-English major students‟ motivation in English learning at PDU and proposing professional implications on how to support teachers in motivating non- English learners to learn English.
Research questions To achieve above aims the study will answer following questions 1) What kinds of motivation do non-English major students at PDU possess? 2) What factors negatively affect non-English major students’ motivation in English learning at PDU? 3) What are their favourite activities and tasks in the English class? 4) What implications can support teachers to improve students’ motivation to learn English? 4. Scope of the study The study is an investigation of motivation in English learning of first year and second year non- English major students at PDU only and then some useful implications for teachers to make students more motivated in the English class will be suggested. Method of the study To achieve the aim of the study, the study is carried out by following steps: 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - First, a survey questionnaire for students was conducted to investigate students‟ motivation in English learning, factors affecting motivation and expectations in the English class at PDU. - Second, a survey questionnaire for teachers was delivered to investigate teachers‟ opinions about some motivational tools as well as useful methods they are applying to motivate their students in the classroom.
- Then data were collected, sorted and analyzed quantitatively to explore non- majors‟ motivation - Last, some pedagogical implications for improving students‟ motivation in learning English were suggested at the end of the study. Organization of the study The thesis consists of three main parts: PART A- Introduction: provides general introduction of the study with the rational, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the method and the organization of the study. PART B- Development: is divided into four chapters: Chapter 1 discusses theoretic backgrounds that are relevant to the study such as different views on motivation in language learning, the importance of motivation in language learning, kinds of motivation, factors affecting learners‟ motivation and strategies enhancing motivation in foreign and second language learning. Chapter 2 presents the context of the study, data collection instruments and procedure of data collection.
Chapter 3 describes the process of collecting data and the detail analysis of the collected data from which some findings, explanation and interpretation of the findings of the study are presented. Chapter 4 discusses some pedagogical implications on how to motivate non- majored students in learning English at PDU. PART C: Conclusion: summarizes what have been done in the study and presents some possible suggestions for the further researches. The references and appendices are also included in this final part.
3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, a review of some of the aspects of the concept of motivation such as definition, classifications, roles and factors affecting learners‟ motivation will be provided. Several motivating tools for language learning suggested by various theorists and practitioners will be also briefly presented and discussed. Motivation in language learning Motivation is something internal to human beings. It drives human beings to act.