VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNER AUTONOMY AMONG VIETNAMESE EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS DURING THEIR ENGAGEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING E-PORTFOLIOS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYỄN NGỌC ANH TRANG Supervised by Đặng Tấn Tín, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Đặng Tấn Tín, who has always been patient with me and supported me very much with valuable insights and critical advice throughout the hardships of this thesis journey. I am always grateful to him for always being very sympathetic, encouraging and willing to guide me to be on the right track.
Without his guidance, I would never have had enough confidence to continue working on the thesis and reach this destination. My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and big sisters, Ms. Đặng Thị Vân Di and Ms. Lưu Nguyễn Hà Vy for their constant spiritual support during the time I was working on my thesis.
They always spared time to give me academic advice and shared useful learning sources with me. Without their encouragement, I could not have completed this thesis. My grateful thanks also go to my teachers in Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City for their help in broadening my horizons. Especially, my big thanks go to Dr.
Phó Phương Dung. It is her devoted teaching and knowledge that inspired me to come to the world of academics. Furthermore, sincere thanks go to Ms. Nguyễn Kiều Yến Linh, Mr.
Trần Duy Khiêm, and other my TESOL friends for their spending time proofreading my thesis, and willing to share invaluable sources. There were times I really wanted to give up, but they were always by my side to cheer me up. In addition, I owe a special debt to my colleagues for their willingness to share the workload with me. Many thanks also go to the students who participated in this study.
I truly appreciate the time and effort they put in this study. i Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my family for their endless support and encouragement throughout the course and the completion of this study. Their ever- lasting love, constant care and sacrifice have always been a great source of encouragement for me to move ahead in my life. ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that the thesis entitled The Development of Learner Autonomy among Vietnamese EFL Undergraduate Students during Their Engagement in English Language Writing e-Portfolios is the product of my own work.
The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degrees or diplomas in any other institutions. The thesis’s content, except where clearly acknowledged within the text, has not been published by other authors. I hereby state that I approve the requirements of the University for the retention and use of my thesis and that it is accessible for the purposes of study and research. Ho Chi Minh City, May 2019 Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang iii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the originality of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses. Ho Chi Minh City, May 2019 iv ABSTRACT Learner autonomy has been acknowledged to be a desirable educational goal. To date, quite a few studies have been conducted to gain better insights into this phenomenon, particularly in the Vietnamese context. However, very little research, in this context, has been found that explores students’ development of learner autonomy during their participation in e- Portfolios in English writing skills.
Therefore, this study, which employs a qualitative case study approach, is an attempt to explore the development of learner autonomy among eight first-year English major students during their engagement in the English writing e- Portfolios at a university in the South of Vietnam. The data used for this study were mainly collected from the semi-structured interviews which were conducted after the Writing 2 course had finished. The findings of the study revealed how the students’ learner autonomy were fostered in terms of three processes, namely Initiating, Monitoring and Evaluating during their engagement in the English writing e-Portfolios in the Writing 2 course. The findings from the interviews suggested that the students experienced positive changes in their learning behaviours during the course, which demonstrated the developing process of learner autonomy during the students’ engagement in the English writing e-Portfolios.
Nonetheless, not all the attributes in the three processes of learner autonomy were fully developed. Certain reasons were recommended to contribute to the findings. Based on these findings, the pedagogical implications and recommendations are made for further studies in order to foster learner autonomy more in the field of teaching and learning English writing skills. Key words: learner autonomy, development, English language writing e-Portfolios, writing skills v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language EFL: English as a Foreign Language FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages ICT: Information and Communication Technology L2: second language LMS: Learning Management System ZPD: Zone of Proximal Development vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1 Processes of learner autonomy.
18 Figure 2-2 Components of the writing e-Portfolios. 32 Figure 2-3 Conceptual framework of the study. 37 Figure 3-1 A snapshot of the writing e-Portfolio interface. 45 Figure 3-2 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s writing e-Portfolios on the platform.
46 Figure 3-3 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s writing e-Portfolios on the platform. 47 Figure 3-4 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s final submission. 48 Figure 3-5 A snapshot of the interface of student’s reflections. 48 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1 Model of learner autonomy.
15 Table 2-2 Index of learner autonomy attributes in three processes. 16 Table 2-3 Six types of e-Portfolios categorised by IMS Global Learning Consortium (2005). 25 Table 3-1 Schedule for writing assignments on writing e-Portfolios. 49-50 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
I STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. III RETENTION OF USE. V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .VI LIST OF FIGURES. VII LIST OF TABLES.
VIII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY. AIM OF THE STUDY. THE RESEARCH QUESTION.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. SCOPE OF THE STUDY. ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS. 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.
LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION. Definitions of learner autonomy. Perspectives of learner autonomy. Technical perspective of learner autonomy.
Psychological perspective of learner autonomy. Socio-cultural perspective of autonomy. Political – critical perspective of learner autonomy. Models of learner autonomy development.
Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to foster learner autonomy. E-PORTFOLIOS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION. Definitions of e-Portfolios. Classification of e-Portfolios.
Effects of e-Portfolios. E-PORTFOLIOS AND LEARNER AUTONOMY. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY. Qualitative research paradigm.
PLATFORM AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS OF WRITING E- PORTFOLIOS. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE. DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE. Data coding and analysis.
TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH. 54 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Students’ development of learner autonomy in the Initiating process. Setting goals and making study plans.
Looking for resources. Students’ development of learner autonomy in the Monitoring process. Maintaining agendas and taking actions based on the agendas. Employing suitable strategies.
Selecting appropriate materials. Concentrating on learning. Collaborating with others. Negotiating and expressing one’s opinions.
Students’ development of learner autonomy in the Evaluating process. Reflecting critically and evaluating learning outcomes. Discussion on the development of learner autonomy in the Initiating process. Discussion on the development of learner autonomy in the Monitoring process 74 4.
Discussion on the development of learner autonomy in the Evaluating process. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. 83 APPENDIX 1: SYLLABUS FOR WRITING 2.
99 APPENDIX 2: CONGRUENCE OF THE COURSE SYLLABUS AND WRITING E-PORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENTS. 102 APPENDIX 3: GOAL SETTING TEMPLATE. 104 APPENDIX 4: GUIDELINES FOR REFLECTION. 105 APPENDIX 5: GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION.
106 APPENDIX 6A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH STUDENTS (ENGLISH VERSION). 110 APPENDIX 6B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH STUDENTS (VIETNSMESE VERSION). 111 xi APPENDIX 7: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM IN VIETNAMESE. 112 APPENDIX 8: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR STUDENTS.
113 APPENDIX 9: EXCERPT OF THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT. 114 xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The chapter provides the background to this study, which was conducted at a public university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from January to April 2018. This research is a case study adopting qualitative method, to explore the English-major students’ development of learner autonomy. In this chapter, brief background information about the context in which this case study is undertaken will be presented.
This introduction then leads to the researcher’s motivation for choosing the present topic and carrying out this research which will be clarified in the aim of the study. From then, the research question in the following part will be addressed. Finally, the significance of the study and the overall structure of this study will be presented. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY In the field of English language learning and teaching, it has been claimed that writing skills are obviously crucial during the school years and beyond (Nippold, 2000).
However, English writing skill is also considered to be one of the most difficult and challenging skills due to its demands for cognitive activities (Nunan, 1989; Kellogg, 2008). This might be one of the reasons that make learners less interested in writing skills. Observing English-majored students over the past few years, the researcher has realised that they are quite reluctant to learn when it comes to writing. In the Vietnamese context, another factor that is likely to hinder university students from enjoying writing activities might be their learning habits in secondary school and high school.
In fact, there seems to be a mismatch between the goals set in the curriculum and the practice of teaching and learning English in high school in Vietnam (Bui, T. Despite the fact that the second language writing (hereafter abbreviated as L2 writing) is stated in the curriculum to be one of the four major language skills, this skill is often ignored during the practice since it is rarely tested in the Graduation examination for high school students. Then as a result, the main focus of English language learning and teaching (ELT) at the majority of secondary and high schools in Vietnam is put on grammar and reading instead of 1 productive skills including writing and speaking. Consequently, a great number of Vietnamese students do not have opportunities to learn writing skills in English although they have spent rather much time learning grammar and vocabulary.
The students then find it very difficult to write in English. Some students shared that they never wrote anything in English until they started learning at the university. From the researcher’s own experience, the students only learn what they are taught and do what they are told to do. It can be judged that students appear to depend too much on the teacher’s instructions and “lack the ability to direct their own learning” (Le, X.