MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- LE KHAI MINH TRI OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING INITIATING CAPACITY: A STUDY ON EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF GROUP COHESION AND GROUP NORMS MASTER THESIS MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021 Tai Lieu Chat Luong MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- LE KHAI MINH TRI OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING INITIATING CAPACITY: A STUDY ON EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF GROUP COHESION AND GROUP NORMS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8 14 01 11 MASTER THESIS MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr. DANG TAN TIN HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: Lê Khai Minh Trí Ngày sinh: 11/8/1988 Nơi sinh: Long An Chuyên ngành: Lý luận & PPGD Tiếng Anh Mã học viên: 1781401110043 Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Ký tên Lê Khai Minh Trí CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc Ý KIẾN CHO PHÉP BẢO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ CỦA GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẪN Giảng viên hướng dẫn: TS.
Đặng Tấn Tín Học viên thực hiện: Lê Khai Minh Trí Lớp: MTESOL017A Ngày sinh: 11/8/1988 Nơi sinh: Long An Tên đề tài: Out-of-class learning initiating capacity: A study on EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group cohesion and group norms. Ý kiến của giáo viên hướng dẫn về việc cho phép học viên được bảo vệ luận văn trước Hội đồng: Đồng ý cho phép học viên Lê Khai Minh Trí bảo vệ luận văn trước Hội đồng. Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, ngày 15 tháng 8 năm 2021 Người nhận xét TS. Đặng Tấn Tín STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, Le Khai Minh Tri, hereby declare that this thesis entitled “Out-of-class learning initiating capacity: A study on EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group cohesion and group norms” is the work of my own.
It is submitted to the Graduate School of HCMC Open University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL. This thesis has not been submitted anywhere before for any degrees or examinations. The reference which is made of the results of other authors is duly acknowledged in the text. Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 LE KHAI MINH TRI i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completing this thesis, I am extremely grateful to a number of people owing to their involvement.
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Dang Tan Tin, for his great kindness and constructive advice for this thesis. Secondly, I specially thank the lecturers at Faculty of Foreign Languages at HCMC University of Technology and Education because of their helping me collect the data for this study. Furthermore, I own this success to students majoring in English from Faculty of Foreign Languages at HCMC University of Technology and Education for their participation and assistance in collecting data.
Finally, I am eternally grateful to my family and best friends, and other close friends for their unconditional love, care, and encouragement throughout the process. ii ABSTRACT Attention to how groups of students in the language classroom affected the development of learning opportunities outside the classroom context was the focus of the study. This study examined the extent to which out-of-class learning initiating was correlated with group cohesion and group norms perceived by EFL undergraduate students in the higher education sector. This study employed a quantitative approach, relying on a 56-item questionnaire instrument to collect the data.
Valid responses were received from 320 EFL undergraduate students in a public university. The analyses revealed that students’ perceptions of group cohesion (i. social cohesion, task cohesion and emotional cohesion) were positively correlated with their out-of-class learning initiating capacity (i. individual, peers and community), despite these correlations being not very strong.
The study also indicated their perceptions of group norms were positively and moderately correlated with their out-of-class learning initiating. More specifically, the analyses from multiple regression tests showed that their perceptions of task cohesion had the largest influence on their out-of-class learning initiating by the individual. In addition, their perceptions of emotional cohesion had the largest effect on two aspects of their out-of-class learning initiating (i. peers and community).
Lastly, their perceptions of group norms affected three patterns of out-of-class learning initiating of EFL students. These findings indicated that EFL students’ out-of-class learning initiating can be fostered thanks to the influence of learning with groups in the classroom. Keywords: Perceptions of group cohesion; Perceptions of group norms; Learning initiating; Out-of-class learning iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of authorship. iii Table of contents.
iv List of abbreviations. vi List of tables. vii List of figure. ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .1 Background to the study .2 Rationale for the study .3 Objectives of the study .5 Significance of the study .6 Scope of the study.
6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Out-of-class learning initiating capacity .1 Definition of learning initiating.2 Definition of out-of-class learning .3 Categories of out-of-class learning initiating .4 Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory .2 Group cohesion and group norms .1 Definition of ‘group’ and its features .4 Group dynamics theory .3 Correlations between perceptions of two group factors (i. group cohesion and group norms) and out-of-class learning initiating. 31 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .1 Research site and participants .6 Issues of reliability and validity. 46 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .1 The correlation between EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group cohesion and their out-of-class learning initiating.2 The correlation between EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group norms and their out-of-class learning initiating.1 The correlation between EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group cohesion and their out-of-class learning initiating.2 The correlation between EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions of group norms and their out-of-class learning initiating.
75 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .1 Summary of key findings .4 Recommendations for future research. 141 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL English as a Foreign Language HCMUTE Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education IELTS International English Language Testing System M Mean p page PPGNQ Perception of Peer Group Norms Questionnaire SCT Sociocultural theory SD Standard Deviation SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ZPD Zone of Proximal Development vi LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Distribution of gender and years of candidature in the sample………………….2: Number of items and Cronbach’s alpha of the seven sub-constructs………….3: Positive correlation coefficients between group cohesion perception and out-of- class learning initiating……………………………………………………………………… 53 Table 4.4a: Correlation coefficient between three aspects of group cohesion perception and out-of-class learning initiating by the individual; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 1)…………………………………………………………………………… 56 Table 4.4b: The significance of the regression in Model 1………………………………….4c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating by the individual….5a: Correlation coefficient between three aspects of group cohesion perception and out-of-class learning initiating with peers; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 2)…………………………………………………………………………… 58 Table 4.5b: The significance of the regression in Model 2………………………………….5c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating with peers……….6a: Correlation coefficient between three aspects of group cohesion perception and out-of-class learning initiating in the community; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 3)…………………………………………………………………………… 60 Table 4.6b: The significance of the regression in Model 3………………………………….6c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating in the community…61 Table 4.7: Positive correlation coefficients between group norm perception and out-of-class learning initiating…………………………………………………………………………….8a: Correlation coefficient between group norm perception and out-of-class learning initiating by the individual; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 4)…………………………………………………………………………………………….8b: The significance of the regression in Model 4……………………………….8c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating by the individual.9a: Correlation coefficient between group norm perception and out-of-class learning initiating with peers; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 5)…….9b: The significance of the regression in Model 5……………………………….9c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating with peers……….10a: Correlation coefficient between group norm perception and out-of-class learning initiating in the community; and the proportion of variance in dependent variable (Model 6)…………………………………………………………………………………….10b: The significance of the regression in Model 6……………………………….10c: The significant predictor of out-of-class learning initiating in the community.11: Correlation coefficients and multiple regression between perception of two group processes (i. group cohesion and group norms) and out-of-class learning initiating……… 68 viii LIST OF FIGURE Figure 2.1: The conceptual model of correlations between perceptions of two group factors (i. group cohesion and group norms) and out-of class learning initiating.
22 ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION The introductory chapter will provide an overview of the thesis. It starts with the background to the study and the rationale of the study. It continues with the objectives of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, and the scope of the study. This chapter concludes with the organization of the thesis.1 Background to the study Much attention has lately emphasized the importance of what is termed ‘lifelong education’ as a means of stimulating learners to gain English knowledge (Hyland, 2004).
It is believed that language learning mainly happens in the classroom where there is the support of the teachers and peers. As emphasized by Hyland (2004), language learning is not limited to the class. In other words, it can happen anytime and everywhere after class. In many parts of the world, most learners draw attention to learning languages outside the institutional settings (Murray & Kojima, 2007).
Language learning outside the classroom probably contributes to developing the target language for countless learners (Nunan, 1991). Learners can develop English learning opportunities when engaging in specific local contexts (Norton & Toohey, 2001). Therefore, context plays a fundamental role in the studies of language learning outside the classroom (Hyland, 2004). However, some researchers indicate that language learners have not been good at out- of-class activities and have not concentrated on their self-initiative (Yang, 2007).
In the Asian context, although learners of English are believed not to take advantage of using English outside the classroom, they are actively engaged in out-of-class learning activities (Hyland, 2004). Despite participating more actively in in-class learning activities, Vietnamese learners do not make sufficient efforts to learn English outside the classroom context (Nguyen, 2009). In addition, learning initiating outside the classroom context is still weak among Vietnamese learners. Learners’ ability to generate more learning opportunities is relatively low, and they 1 met difficulties in looking for enough active learning opportunities for themselves (Dang, 2012).
It seems that learning a foreign language in Vietnam pushes them to a restricted learning space, almost having no chance to develop their ability to foster learning L2 outside the class. Their reliance on teachers, additionally, much exceeds for instructions and guidance, together with the explanation for their trust in teachers causing them more dependence. Also, they likely have incomplete awareness of the paramount importance of learning after the class time (Lai, Zhu, & Gong, 2014). Noticeably, studies on perceptions of group cohesion have been receiving an increasing concern from a considerable number of educational researchers.
Meanwhile, studies on perceptions of group norms have not focused much on this field. Chang (2006) indicates that learning with group members at school through the manifestation of group cohesiveness and group norms perceived by EFL students has affected the development of individual learning outside the classroom. Therefore, group cohesion and group norms play a critical role in developing individual learning.