MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M. THESIS AUTONOMY IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF FIRST-YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJORS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HA NOI (Tự chủ trong việc học tiếng Anh của sinh viên năm thứ nhất khối không chuyên ngữ tại một trường đại học tại Hà Nội) VU THI THUY NGAN Field: English Language Code: 8.01 Hanoi - 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M. THESIS AUTONOMY IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF FISRT-YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJORS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Tự chủ trong việc học tiếng Anh của sinh viên năm thứ nhất khối không chuyên ngữ tại một trường đại học tại Hà Nội) VU THI THUY NGAN Field: English Language Code: 8. LE THI MINH THAO Hanoi - 2023 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “AUTONOMY IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF FIRST-YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJORS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HA NOI” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2023 Vu Thi Thuy Ngan Approved by SUPERVISOR Dr. LE THI MINH THAO ……………………. Date: September, 2023 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I, first, would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.
Le Thi Minh Thao, who spent strenuous efforts in guiding me with the writing of my thesis. I have benefited a lot from her insightful views and scientific methods for academic research. Besides my advisor, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my lecturers at Hanoi Open University, especially the lecturers at the Faculty of English, for their enthusiasm and tremendous knowledge, as well as for their insightful comments and encouragement. A special word of thanks also goes to my colleagues, who were willing to offer a lot of help in collecting quantitative and qualitative data.
In addition, a thank you to the hundreds of my students who have attended my survey and contributed to the success of this research. My hearty thanks are also extended to my leaders at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment, who have given me the chance, support, and encouragement to study. I would also like to thank my relatives for always standing behind me and willingly offering me a lot of help when it is needed. The kindness, tolerance, understanding, and support of my husband and my children have greatly encouraged me, listened to my complaints, and supported me during my study at Hanoi Open University.
ii ABSTRACT According to the results of relevant research, the learner autonomy of students at Vietnamese universities plays an important role and is a key factor in determining learners’ learning progress. In this current study, the learner autonomy of first-year non-English major students in learning English at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment is investigated to address the research gap. Two objectives of this study needed to be obtained: a) to determine the current situation of HUNRE first-year non-English major students’ learner autonomy in the context of credit-based training; b) to show factors affecting HUNRE freshmen non-English majors’ learner autonomy and propose approaches to promoting it. A mixed method was employed in this study.
Quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS 20. Meanwhile, qualitative data was obtained by interviewing three English language lecturers. The research results were found. Students understood the important role of learner autonomy for their learning English progress; identified the objectives of learning English; and many of them could not carry out the autonomous learning skills.
The majority of the students were passive in their learning progress; they could not study autonomously and depended too much on their teachers. The factors affecting the freshmen students’ learner autonomy were also explored. First and foremost, it was the factor of the learner. The factors of teachers and the learning environment were found to influence the students’ learner autonomy.
From the results found, some solutions were given to promote learner autonomy in learning English. These solutions relate to three main groups of factors that strongly influence the students’ learner autonomy in studying English: the learners, the teachers, and the learning environment. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI Artificial Intelligence EFL English Foreign Language HUNRE Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment LA Learner Autonomy PDCA Planning, Developing, Checking and Acting SDT Self-Determination Theory SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2. Levels of learner autonomy (Nunan, 1997)……………………… 23 Table 3.
The allocation of participants taking part in the survey…………. The importance of learner autonomy according to students’opinion. Students’ abilities to autonomous learning skills ………………. Students’ purposes of learning English ……………………… 39 Table 4.
The students’ learning activities in the English classes ……… 42 Table 4. The students’ learning activities outside of the English classes … 45 Table 4. The teachers’ role according to students’ view …………………. The factors affecting to students’ learner autonomy…………….
Components and domains of autonomy by William Littlewood (1996) ……………………………………………………………………… 20 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of Abbrrviations iv List of tables and figures v Table of contents vi CHAPTER 1. Aims and objectives of the study ………………………………………. Method of the study ……………………………………………………. Scope of the study ……………………………………………………… 4 1.
Significance of the study ………………………………………………. Structure of the study…………………………………………………… 5 CHAPTER 2. Review of previous studies……………………………………………. Studies conducted by Vietnamese researchers……………….
Studies conducted by foreign scientists…………………………. Autonomy and language learner autonomy ……………………. The characteristics of learner autonomy………………………… 19 2. Levels of learner autonomy……………………………………….
Affecting factors to learner autonomy……………………………. Chapter summary……………………………………………………… 26 CHAPTER 3. Chapter summary……………………………………………………… 32 vi CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 34 4.
The findings of the research……………………………………………. The situation of learning autonomy in learning English …… 34 4. Learner autonomy’s importance………………………………. The students’ abilities to carry out …………………………….
The students’ purposes of learning English…………………… 38 4. The students’ learning activities in the English classes……… 40 4. The students’ learning activities outside ……………………… 43 4. The teachers’ role according to students’ pointviews……… 46 4.
The affecting factors to students’ learner autonomy…………. Teachers’ view point …………………………………………. Regarding the students' perception ………………………………. In terms of the abilities to implement …………………………….
In terms of learning activities of English………………………… 60 4. Regarding the affecting factors……………………………………. The recommendations and solutions from the teachers………. The solutions to foster learner autonomy in English…………………… 65 4.
Focusing on the learner factor……………………………………. Concentrating the role of the teacher factor……………………. For Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 72 5.
Limitation of the research………………………………………………. Recommendations for further research…………………………………. 74 REFERENCES APPENDICES vii CHAPTER 1. Rationale Recently, English is becoming a popular international language widely spoken worldwide, especially in the information era and process of global integration.
It is used for all aspects of life: business, education, politics, entertainment etc. Therefore, gaining and mastering the English language is, nowadays, one of the desires of most generations. To compete in the globalization process, the Vietnamese Government has focused on developing English language education and implemented many educational reforms. It can be listed some Governmental policies related to this issues as followings: The project “Dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2008-2020” (Teaching and Learning foreign language in the National Education System for the period 2008-2020) was approved by Prime Minister of Vietnam Government in 2008 with the overall objective to comprehensively reform the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the National Education System (đổi mới toàn diện việc dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân).
The decision No. 2080/QĐ-TTg on 22 December 2017 issued by Prime Minister of Vietnam Government on “Điều chỉnh, bổ sung Đề án dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2017-2025” (Adjusting and supplementing the project on teaching and learning foreign language in the National Education System for the period 2017-2025). The decision No. 2658/QĐ-BGDĐT on 23 July 2018 issued by Minister of the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training on “Kế hoạch triển khai Đề án dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân giai đoạn 2017- 2025” (Plan to implement the project on teaching and learning foreign language in the National Education System for the period 2017-2025).
Accordingly, learner autonomy of learners has recently been recognized as a necessary element of changes in higher education in Vietnam. Moreover, most universities in Vietnam have employed the credit-based system that requires learners to take responsibilities for their learning. 1 It can be said that learner autonomy recently seems to be compulsory requirement for each individual, each organization, even each country, and its importance already has been stated not only in official documents issued by governmental agencies, but also in lectures, presentations, talking shows in schools, universities, companies.with the aim to improve the effectiveness of work, learning in general, and in National Education System of Vietnam particularly. Learner autonomy in learning the English language at university level has been researched by a number of scientists.
Their research results proved that learner autonomy in learning English has brought many benefits for both learners and teachers. To realize the National Foreign Languages Project, Vietnamese universities need to make detailed plans for developing the activities, including teaching and learning English with a variety of activities to inspire the students’ autonomy in learning a foreign language; however, many students cannot use English as a tool of communication and research serving for their learning at university and for their daily activities. Recently, there have been many studies on autonomy of learning foreign languages of tertiary students. However, research on the learner autonomy in a multidisciplinary university like Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment (HUNRE) has not been conducted yet.
In addition, at HUNRE, currently, there is no research related to this problem, so to address the research gap, this research named “Autonomy in learning English of first-year non-English majors at a university in Ha Noi '' is needed to investigate. Aims and objectives of the study 1. The aim of the research Improving the quality of learning English for non-English major students at HUNRE through analyzing the data collected from this study in general and gaining more understanding of the development of learner autonomy in learning English among students at HUNRE particularly. The objectives of the research The objectives of this study are as follows: 2 (1) To identify the situation of learner autonomy in English among first- year non-English major students at HUNRE currently.
(2) To explore the main factors affecting learner autonomy in English of first-year non-English majors at HUNRE, then propose some solutions to promote students’ learner autonomy. To have an overview of learner autonomy in learning English among HUNRE first-year non-English major students and the affecting factors, a survey using a designed questionnaire is conducted directly with the participation of two hundred and eight (208) freshmen non-English major students. The specific aspects related to learner autonomy, including students’ understanding of the importance of learner autonomy, students’ purposes of learning English at university, their abilities to carry out the autonomous learning skills, their learning activities inside and beyond class, and the affecting factors, are concretized by sixty-five (65) questions. To verify the current status of learner autonomy in learning English among first-year non-English major students, a semi-structured questionnaire is used to interview three teachers of English who are teaching English directly to the first-year non-English major students at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment.
Research questions For the objectives mentioned above, the research questions below are addressed: - What is the situation on autonomy in learning English for first-year non-English majors at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment? - What are the factors affecting the autonomy in learning English for first-year non-English majors at HUNRE? 1. Method of the study According to John W.