HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES -------------------------- TRAN NHA QUAN EFL STUDENTS’ AWARENESS AND CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES -------------------------- TRAN NHA QUAN EFL STUDENTS’ AWARENESS AND CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. TRUONG VIEN THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ --------------------------- TRẦN NHÃ QUÂN NHẬN THỨC CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ VIỆC NGHIÊN CỨU KHOA HỌC VÀ NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH THỰC HIỆN NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. TRƯƠNG VIÊN THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Signed: Tran Nha Quan Date: 10 / 11 / 2021 i ABSTRACT The purposes of this mixed-methods study were to explore EFL students’ awareness of the importance of conducting research at the undergraduate level and challenges faced by students when conducting research were investigated. In addition, students’ attitudes towards conducting research, students’ perceived practices of conducting research, including the preparation and institutional support for conducting research. The population of the study was EFL undergraduate students studying at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University. The sample consisted of 200 third-year and fourth-year students majoring in English Language Studies and English Language Teaching.
The data was collected through structured questionnaires and in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The results show that EFL students were aware of the importance of doing research at the undergraduate level and showed a positive attitude towards participating in research as student researchers. In terms of the EFL students’ perceived practices of conducting undergraduate research, two issues were investigated. The first one was the preparation for students’ undergraduate research.
The findings reveal that the studied EFL students, with or without research experience, were prepared in a variety of ways to conduct research at the university level. For students who had the experience of doing research, they received considerable support from their institution, especially from their supervisors, when doing research. However, the findings suggest that the reality of conducting undergraduate research does pose some considerable challenges for these students. The most frequently encountered difficulties included choosing an interesting research topic, developing a theoretical framework relevant to the research objectives, and identifying research gaps following a review of prior studies.
These findings imply that, in recognition of the value of undergraduate research, the institution should expand the chances for all students to conduct research during their university years and provide them with more substantial and immediate assistance throughout the research process to assist them in overcoming obstacles and achieving satisfactory outcomes. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I am grateful for the positive learning environment and the valuable opportunity to conduct my thesis with which the school board and the Faculty of English at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University provided me. Second, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Assoc. Truong Vien, who provided me with key considerations throughout the research.
Without his detailed guidance, invaluable advice, and tremendous support, this thesis would not have been possible. I would like him to know how much I value his support. Third, I would like to send my sincere thanks to all the lectures of the MA in theory and methodology of English language teaching course in the 2019-2021 academic year at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University for imparting knowledge and enthusiasm of their respective areas of specification. Fourth, I would like to express my gratitude to third- and fourth-year English-majored students from the Faculty of English at the University of Foreign Languages, Hue University for participating in the survey.
I am especially so thankful to the interviewees who diligently and devotedly worked for the recording of data. Without their enthusiasm, the data recording process would have been impossible. Fifth, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude to my friend Le Trong Thai for his technical and spiritual support as well as proofreading the drafts. I cannot thank him enough for always helping me during this study.
Last but not least, wholehearted thanks go out to my family members and my colleagues for always being by my side, encouraging me, being my source of inspiration and motivation to make this happen. iii iii List of Tables Table 2.1 Five levels of student participation in research Table 3.1 Items categorized in the questionnaire Table 3.2 Mean Score Interpretation Table 4.1 Types of research that students engaged in Table 4.2 Descriptive Statistics on students’ mean scores of five surveyed categories Table 4.3 One-Sample Test of five surveyed categories Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics on EFL students’ awareness of the importance of conducting research Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics on EFL students’ attitudes toward conducting research Table 4.6 Descriptive statistics on EFL students’ perceived practices of preparation for conducting undergraduate research Table 4.7 Descriptive statistics on EFL students’ perceived practices of institutional support for doing research Table 4.8 Descriptive statistics on student-related challenges of conducting research iv List of Figures Figure 2.1 The Research Process Cycle Figure 3.1 Participants’ English proficiency in Reading and Writing v List of Abbreviations EFL English as a Foreign Language HU-UFL University of Foreign Languages, Hue University RSD Research Skill Development SAR Students as Researchers SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics vi TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP. iii List of Tables. iv List of Figures.
v List of Abbreviations. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii Chapter 1: Introduction .3 Objectives of the Study .5 Significance of the Study .6 Scope of the Study .7 Organization of the Study .8 Summary of the Chapter. 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review .1 Definitions of Key Terms .4 Definitions of research and its importance.3 Students as Researchers .4 The Benefits of Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students .5 Challenges faced by Students when Conducting Research .1 Students’ feedback on the practice of doing research at the undergraduate level .2 Challenges faced by students when conducting research in EFL contexts .7 Summary of the Chapter.
28 Chapter 3: Research Methodology .4 Data Collection Procedure .1 Questionnaires administration procedure .1 Data collected from the questionnaires .2 Data collected from the interview .7 Summary of the Chapter. 42 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion.1 Characteristics of Participants .2 Students’ Mean Scores of five Surveyed Categories .3 EFL Students’ Awareness of the Importance of Conducting Research .4 EFL Students’ Attitudes towards Conducting Research.5 EFL Students’ Perceived Practices of Conducting Research .1 EFL students’ perceived practices of preparation for undergraduate research 51 4.2 EFL students’ perceived practices of institutional support for doing research 55 4.6 EFL Student-Related Challenges of Conducting Research .1 EFL students’ awareness of the importance of conducting research .2 EFL students’ attitudes towards conducting research .3 EFL students’ perceived practices of conducting research .4 EFL students’ challenges of conducting research .8 Summary of the Chapter. 69 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications .1 Summary of the Findings .1 Implications for students .2 Implications for teachers .3 Implications for institutions .3 Limitations of the Study .4 Suggestions for Further Studies .5 Summary of the Chapter. 9 ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Introduction This chapter gives a brief overview of the background of the study and problem statements.
The objectives, research questions, the scope and significance of the study are presented in detail. The chapter ends with the organization of the thesis.1 Rationale It is inevitable that research has a prominent role to play in human and social development and contributes significantly to the advancement of our lives. Without research, there would likely be no development, as these two are inseparable (Abun, Magallanes, Lalaine Foronda, & Joy Incarnacion, 2019). Regarding this matter, Novick (1965) suggested that “we should stop talking about research and development as though they were an entity and examine research on its own and development as a separate and distinct activity” (p.
In other words, the ultimate purpose of research is to facilitate better human life (Ariola, 2006). Only by conducting research can one find answers to things that are unknown, work towards practical solutions to unsolved problems, and fill in the gaps in human knowledge. Zarah (2019) pointed out some reasons why research is important. Firstly, research is a means to increase knowledge and to assist in the progress of learning.
Secondly, it helps ones to understand issues and increase public awareness, and to achieve success in business and careers. Thirdly, it is important to note that conducting research would allow us to “disprove lies and support truths”. Acknowledging the significance of research in the development of humans and society, a considerable number of countries have long formulated national educational research policies. As reported by a world survey conducted by Debeauvais (2000), most investigated countries introduced measures to enhance the growth of the research areas that are considered to likely improve education policy-making and educational practice (Healey and Jenkins, 2009).
In educational contexts, research is no longer a subject matter only for educators or teachers, but also a business for students themselves, especially those at higher education levels. In 2005, the Council of Undergraduate Research and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research issued a joint statement acknowledging undergraduate research as “the pedagogy for the 21st century” where an inquiry-based model is nurtured within a collaborative enterprise between mentee and mentor (Walkington, 2015). Healey and Jenkins (2009) claimed that “all undergraduate students in all higher 1 education institutions should experience learning through, and about, research and inquiry” (p. They also emphasized that in research, undergraduate students “learn and are assessed in ways that come as close as possible to the experience of academic staff carrying out their disciplinary research” (p.
In line with this argument, Abun et al. (2019) highlighted that the vital role of education is to instruct students on how to conduct research. Therefore, as soon as students set foot at university or college, they should be taught how to do research. As a consequence, research methodology, which is officially introduced as a compulsory course to students, is considered a crucial part of the undergraduate curricula throughout the world (Hussain, Qayyum Ch, Akhter, & Sabir, 2016).
Numerous study results revealed the benefits of undergraduate research, including increased critical thinking, refined communication skills, clearer organizational skills, a healthy sense of self-efficacy and competence, and collaborative learning (Badura, Ware, Davis & Smith, 2000; Laursen, Hunter, Seymour, DeAntoni, De Welde, & Thiry, 2006; Lopatto, 2006; Seymour, Hunter, Laursen & Deantoni, 2004). Walkington (2015) took “students as researchers” in a higher education context to mean “a pedagogic approach” to provide students with support in their undergraduate research involvement “within and/or beyond the formal curriculum”. She also emphasized that the term “students as researchers” is regarded as a “pedagogic approach, rather than the students themselves”, and it aims to extend students’ own knowledge and understanding, and in some cases, make a major contribution to “the broader knowledge base of their discipline” (p. Nevertheless, undergraduate research is not a straightforward task for every student, as several studies point out the barriers and challenges that students as researchers encounter when they do research.
Papanastasiou (2005) stated that undergraduate students generally tend to think about research methods courses negatively.