VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** ĐÀO NGUYỄN THÚY HÀ A STUDY ON ENGLISH LEARNING GOALS AND MOTIVATION OF THE SECOND – YEAR STUDENTS AT MILITARY ACADEMY OF LOGISTICS (Nghiên cứu về mụ ti u v g học tiếng Anh của si h vi ăm hai tại Học viện Hậu cần) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI, 2016 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐÀO NGUYỄN THÚY HÀ A STUDY ON ENGLISH LEARNING GOALS AND MOTIVATION OF THE SECOND – YEAR STUDENTS AT MILITARY ACADEMY OF LOGISTICS (Nghiên cứu về mụ ti u v g học tiếng Anh của si h vi ăm hai tại Học viện Hậu cần) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Asso. L Vă Ca h HANOI, 2016 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. Hanoi, 2016 Đ o Nguyễn Thúy Hà i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge with great attitude to the support, guidance and invaluable critical feedbacks which I have received from my supervisor Dr. Le Van Canh in completion of this research.
I would also like to express my thankfulness to all the teachers at English Department, Military Academy of Logistics (MAL) for their help in completing the survey questionnaire as well as for their willingness to share the ideas on the accomplishment of the study. My sincere thanks are also extended to the second – year students at MAL who have actively participated in the study when I collected the data for this thesis. Without their help, this project could not have been completed. Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of my family who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to carry out the thesis.
Hanoi, 2016 Đ o Nguyễn Thúy Hà ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is aimed at investigating learning goals and motivation of the second- year students in learning English at Military Academy of Logistics, Hanoi. The main purposes of this study were to find out: (1) the student‟s learning goals regarding English learning; (2) the relationship between learning goals and motivation. The subjects of this study were 120 second – year students at Military Academy of Logistics. These students were invited to answer the questionnaire and some of them joined in the interview.
The study consists of three main parts. The first one is an introduction including the rationale, aims, research questions, significance, scope, methods, and design of the study. The second part contains four chapters. Chapter I focuses on the theoretical background of the study, which is about learning goals and motivation.
Chapter II is about the methodology of the study. Chapter III deals with data analysis. Chapter IV presents major findings based on data analysis. The last past offers the summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further research.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Table 1: Common Reference Levels: self-assessment grid (Level B1) Table 2: Common Reference Levels: Qualitative aspects of spoken language use. Table 3: Student‟s goals toward learning Speaking skill Table 4: Student‟s goals toward learning Listening skill Table 5: Student‟s goals toward learning Writing skill Table 6: Student‟s goals toward learning Reading skill Table 7: The frequency distribution of items measuring extrinsic motivation (n = 120) Table 8: The frequency distribution of items measuring intrinsic motivation (n=120) Table 9: Student‟s desire to learn English Chart 1: Students‟ level of English Chart 2: Frequency distribution of items measuring extrinsic motivation Chart 3: Frequency distribution of items measuring intrinsic motivation. Chart 4: Students‟ attitude toward English learning Chart 5: Students‟ attitude toward the need of English learning iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABBREVIATIONS L2: Second language MAL: Military Academy of Logistics SDT: Self-determination theory SD: Strongly Disagree D: Disagree U: Undecided A: Agree SA: Strongly Agree v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES.
Rationale of the study. Aims of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study.
Design of the study. 5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of learning goals and motivation. Adopting the Common European Framework (CEFR) at Military Academy of Logistics……………………………………………….
The relationship between learning goals and motivation. 14 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Expectancy – value theory. Achievement goal theory.
Self-determination theory. Context of the study. Subjects of the study. Data collection instruments.
Data collection procedures. 24 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Learning goals and motivation. The relationship between learning goals and motivation.
Summary of the chapter. Summary of the findings and discussions. I Appendix 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE. I Appendix 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
IX Appendix 3: Schmidt et al. (1996) intrinsic-extrinsic motivational questionnaire. XI vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study In the globalization era, English has become more and more important as an international language; therefore, in many countries all over the world, students are requires to learn English through compulsory programmes at educational institutions.
In correspondence to this trend, the importance of English as a language of international communication has been acknowledged by the government, English teaching and learning have been given more and more priority in Vietnam. According to Canh (2004, p.167), learning English can “contribute to students‟ personal, linguistic, social, and culture development”. The study of Dornyei (2001) has shown that there are many factors involved in setting learning goals and motivation. That‟s why the influences of learning goal and motivation on learning English should be investigated carefully to solve the above-mentioned problem.
In the process of teaching and learning English, motivation and setting goals, as indicated by research, are two essential elements in learning the second/ foreign language. Furthermore, as a lecturer of English at Military Academy of Logistics, I have realized that although English is considered one of the main subjects at Military Academy of Logistics (MAL) with a lot of time and effort spent on learning, most of students in general and the second – year students in particular seem not to be successful in learning English. After I talk with those students as well as observation, most of them lack of motivation and do not set their own learning goal during the process of learning. However, up to now, there has not been any research conducted to investigate into this issue at MAL.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com This is the reason why I choose “A study on learning goals and motivation of the second-year students in learning English at Military Academy of Logistics.” is the topic for my minor thesis. It is hoped that this study will figure out a concrete picture of learning goals and motivation of the second- year students at MAL, which can help teachers who want to motivate their students in learning English. Aims of the study The aims of the study are to investigate the factors affecting learning goals and motivation of the second-year students in learning English at Military Academy of Logistics. The main purpose covering the study is to identify how students’ learning goals are related to their motivation.
Research questions To achieve these aims, the study sets out to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the students’ learning goals regarding English learning? 2. To what extent are their learning goals related to their motivation in learning English? 4. Significance of the study The study indicates types of learning goals and motivation which are possessed by most of the second-year students at Military Academy of Logistics, which is of benefit to English teachers at this university.
It also describes the factors affecting the learning goals and motivation. Furthermore, it shows the relationship between learning goals on motivation of the students. Hopefully, this study can help their English learning as well as the teachers to upgrade their teaching methods. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Scope of the study There are three levels of training at Military Academy of Logistics named as College level, Junior College level and Vocational Training level. Within its scope, the study is limited only to the second – year students at College level. Learning goals and motivation as well as their effects on the second language have been paid attention by many researchers. In fact, it is a broad topic with many different aspects.
Thus, because of the limited time and within an M.A minor thesis, I limited myself to focus on making a brief view of the second-year students‟ learning goals and their motivation in English learning as well as the factors affecting them. The reason I choose the second-year students for this study is that at that time they start the English course at school. In term of the students‟ motivation, I also intend to focus on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Design of the study The thesis consists of three parts: the introduction, the development, and the conclusion.
Part One – Introduction: provides rationales, aims of the study, research questions, significance, and the scope of the study and its design. Part Two – Development: is organized around three chapters as follows: Chapter 1: Literature review: conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussion of the issues and ideas on theories of learning goals and motivation, and the relationship between them. Chapter 2: Methodology: presents the context, the methodology used in this study including the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions: consists of a comprehensive analysis of the data and a discussion on the findings of this study.
Part Three – Conclusion: offers a summary of the findings, recommendations, limitation, and future directions for further study. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Definition of learning goals and motivation 1. Definition of learning goal Goal Theory is a social-cognitive theory of achievement motivation developed by Dweck (1986).
Goal Theory became a particularly important theoretical framework in the study of academic motivation in the late 1980s. Whereas other motivational theories examine students' beliefs about their successes and failures, goal orientation theory examines the reasons why students engage in their academic work. Miyamoto and Nasu (1995) states that individual behaviors are thought to be rational and economic so as to achieve certain goals. Therefore, based on what kind of goals an individual student has, Goal Theory can be used to make predictions about that student‟s learning behavior and learning outcome (Dweck, 1986).
Latham and Locke (2006) highlight “a goal is a level of performance proficiency that we wish to attain, usually within a specified time period. Thus goal setting is first and foremost a discrepancy-creating process, in that the goal creates constructive discontent with our present performance”. Accordingly, goals that are specific and challenging lead to better performance than goals that are vague such as doing your best. They also indicate that when people are confronted with a goal, they tap into their knowledge and skills; they use deliberate planning, and develop task strategies using both cognitive and behavior mechanisms that serve to direct attention and effort towards goal relevant activities (Latham & Locke, 2002).
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