MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY USING E-PORTFOLIOS TO DEVELOP LEARNER AUTONOMY IN A SPEAKING COURSE AT NEWSKY LANGUAGE CENTER Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master s degree in English Language Course code: 60220201 By NGUYEN THI LE TRINH Supervised by DUONG MY THAM, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2020 The thesis entitled Using E-portfolios to Develop Learner Autonomy in Speaking Course at NewSky Language Center was successfully defended and approved on………. at Ho chiminh City University of Technology (HUTECH). Academic supervisor: DUONG MY THAM, Ph.Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair i HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE HCMC, ….… MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: NGUYEN THI LE TRINH Sex: Female Date of birth: 28th Jun 1994 Place of birth: Binh Thuan Major: English Language Student code: 1841900008 I- Thesis title: Using E-portfolios to Develop Learner Autonomy in Speaking Course at NewSky Language Center II- Objectives and contents: The purpose of this research study is to explore the learners’ attitudes towards autonomous learning and the development of learner autonomy learning skills in speaking English courses through using E-portfolios at NewSky Language Center in order to support and give some implications for teachers and students to increase students' self-learning ability.
III- Starting date: 30 Oct 2019 IV- Completing date:. V- Academic supervisor: Duong My Tham, Ph. ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) (full name, signature) ii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: USING E-PORTFOLIOS TO DEVELOP LEARNER AUTONOMY IN A SPEAKING COURSE AT NEWSKY LANGUAGE CENTER In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Ho Chi Minh City,.……………… NGUYEN THI LE TRINH iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN THI LE TRINH, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my Master's Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses. Ho Chi Minh City, Signature …………………. NGUYEN THỊ LE TRINH iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Duong My Tham, my supervisor, for her patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement throughout the whole research process.
Without her support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. I would also like to express my gratefulness to HCMC University of Technology (HUTECH) for giving me the opportunity to make the thesis. I would like to express my deep thankfulness to all the teachers of the Faculty of English Language thank, especially to Dr. Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu for their guidance, advice, and support to help me completing the thesis.
I really express my gratitude to my best friends, Ms. Nguyen Tuong Vy and Ms. Ho Thi Thanh Tien, whose contribution in stimulating suggestions and encouragements, help me in all the time of thesis and writing of this thesis. I owe earnest thankfulness to the manager of NewSky Language Center, Mr.
Bui Quang Trung, who permitted to use all the required equipment and the necessary materials to complete this thesis. Last but not least, thanks a million to my parents and my siblings for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. v ABSTRACT In the context of Vietnam, teacher-centered language teaching and learning approaches have been regarded as a learning and teaching method for a long time. Vietnamese EFL students, therefore, are more passive to gain communicative purposes in learning the target language.
At present, there are a variety of learning tools that are used to enhance the learner-centered model in learning foreign languages. The aims of this study were to explore the learners’ attitudes about learner autonomy and the learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of e-portfolios to develop the learners’ autonomous learning skills as a learning tool in a speaking English course at NewSky Language Center. It was a mixed-methods research in which the main research instruments were questionnaire, interview, reflection, and diary. The quantitative data were collected through the questionnaire administered twenty EFL learners at NewSky Language Center.
Besides, the data gained from the reflections and the dairy made by the teacher-in-charge throughout the course were also gathered. Finally, the semi-structured interview with 5 learners was also conducted. The results showed that the learners agreed they had a positive attitude towards their autonomous learning through using e-portfolios in the EFL speaking class. In addition, the findings also emphasized the learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of e-portfolios to develop the learners’ autonomous learning skills in terms of three major categories (e., self-regulation, self-assessment, and accountability).
It is hoped that the findings of the research may contribute to promoting learner autonomy in EFL contexts by using e-portfolios. Keywords: EFL context, e-portfolios, learner autonomy vi TABLE OF CONTENTS MASTER’S THESIS REPORT.ii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS.vi LISTS OF FIGURES. xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS.xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.1 Background to the study.2 Statement of the problem.3 Aims and objectives of the study.5 Scope of the study.6 Significance of the study.8 Organization of the thesis.
6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.1 Definition of e-portfolios.2 Characteristics of e-portfolios.3 Advantages of e-portfolios in language teaching and learning.4 Disadvantages of e-portfolios.2 Levels of autonomy.3 Autonomous learning skills.4 The role of learner autonomy in EFL education.3 Sample and sampling procedures.2 Semi-structured interview.6 Data collection procedure.7 Data analysis procedure.8 Validity and reliability. 38 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.1 The EFL learner's attitudes towards their autonomous learning through using e-portfolios.2 The learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of e-portfolios to develop the learners’ autonomous learning skills.1 The learners’ attitude towards learning autonomy through using e-portfolios.2 The learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of e-portfolios to develop the learners’ autonomous learning skills. 55 ix CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION.1 Summary of the main findings of the thesis.3 For school administrators.4 Recommendations for further research.72 APPENDIX A: LEARNERS’ QUESTIONNAIONNAIRE.72 APPENDIX B: BẢNG KHẢO SÁT.75 APPENDIX C: LEARNERS’ SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. 78 APPENDIX D: BẢNG CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN.
79 APPENDIX E: E-PORTFOLIO REFLECTIONS. 81 APPENDIX F: PHẢN HỒI TỪ E-PORTFOLIO. 84 APPENDIX G: LEARNERS’ E-PORTFOLIO REFLECTIONS EXAMPLE. 86 APPENDIX H: TEACHER’S DIARY.
88 x APPENDIX I: NHẬT KÝ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN GIẢNG DẠY.89 APPENDIX J: TEACHER’S DIARY EXAMPLE. 90 xi LISTS OF TABLES Table 3. Participants’ personal information ………………. The adaption of the students’ questionnaire ………………….
Research instruments and data analysis tools concerning research questions ………………………………………………………. The reliability of the questionnaire ………………….1: The elements of learners’ attitudes towards learner autonomy ……….2: The learners’ attitudes towards self-regulation ………………….3: The learners’ attitudes towards self-assessment ………………….4: The learners’ attitudes towards accountability ………………….…42 xii LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 2. Conceptual framework of using e-portfolio to promote learners autonomy…………………………………………………………………….1 Teaching procedures……………………………………………………27 Figure 3. Data collection procedures…………………………………………….33 xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS EFL English as a Foreign Language ICT Information and Communication Technology M Mean SD Standard Deviation SPSS Statistic Package for Social Sciences L1 Learner 1 L2 Learner 2 L3 Learner 3 L4 Learner 4 L5 Learner 5 R1 Reflection in week 2 R2 Reflection in week 4 R3 Reflection in week 5 R4 Reflection in week 8 R5 Reflection in week 10 xiv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Since Holec (1981) conducted research for the Council of Europe and proved that autonomy was a key element to language teaching and learning, learner autonomy has become a very popular term in language education and brought considerable benefits in education.
First, it helps learners enhance their independence in their learning behavior (Hammond & Collins, 1991). According to Benson (2001, p.40), autonomy “as an attribute of the learners’ approach to language learning” and, autonomous learners are expected to take their own responsibility and independence to achieve task outcomes. Moreover, learner autonomy is an active way to facilitate the learning process and improve learners' ability in learning autonomously. Following the findings of Rivers and Golonka (2009), active and independent learning is considered learner autonomy.
The literature reflects a widespread belief that learners in Western countries are more adept at establishing course aims, engaging the content, and undertaking self-assessment. Learners play a role as active participants in the learning process in which they are aware of their responsibility and independence in managing their own learning. As opposed to the Asian context, according to many earlier studies (Littlewood, 1999; Nakata, 2004), the East Asian learners tend to favor teacher-centered learning styles in which students are a passive and reticent participant and teachers play a centered-role during the lesson time. According to Wang (2011), most Chinese EFL students are passive and indirect in language classrooms due to the teacher-centered approach.
Sanprasert (2010) also emphasized that Thai EFL learners made progress on reactive autonomy. They tend to be quiet and attentive during class time. By comparison with European circumstances, learner autonomy is a relatively new concept in the context of Vietnam. Vietnamese researchers (Dang Tan Tin, 2010; Duong My Tham, 2017; Nguyen Thi Cam Le, 2008; Trinh Quoc Lap, 2005) have 1 started to focus on autonomy in higher education that offers learners more freedom towards their learning based on the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training's Decision 43/2007/QD-BGD&DT in 2007.
However, Dang Tan Tin (2010) stated that learners lack enough opportunities to practice learning management because of the long-standing teacher-centered learning approaches. As a result, learners tend to be passive and use memory strategies to remember and learn the language. Moreover, fear of making mistakes in public prevents learners from answering teachers' questions although they know answers. Therefore, increasing learner autonomy plays an essential role in learning process in Vietnamese EFL contexts since this will create an interactive environment for students to boost their motivation and confidence to achieve the expected results in language learning.
To promote learner autonomy, a variety of learning tools (e., game, video, learning contract, smart whiteboard, (e-)portfolio, etc.) have been employed in the learning process. An electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) is also one of these learning tools. The main role of e-portfolios is encouraging students to make decisions and participate in the evaluation of their works; therefore, they will be able to become autonomous learners (Gosselin, 1998). According to Goldsmith (2007), e-portfolios make students responsible for organizing and producing materials for a specific purpose, self-evaluating their work, and reflecting the achievements of their learning process.
More importantly, an e-portfolio is identified as a powerful educational tool that helps students develop self-directed learning and monitor their own learning process (Bolliger and Shepherd, 2010). This thesis focuses mainly on implementing e-portfolios as an educational tool for enhancing learner autonomy in an EFL speaking class.2 Statement of the problem For many years, traditional assessments like multiple-choice tests have been used to evaluate learners' performance at school, but these assessments are not effective in showing the real performance and behavior of students. Therefore, traditional assessments are not efficient enough to evaluate the learners' skills in different courses. Accordingly, the modern assessment methods, particularly e-portfolios, are hopefully used for assessing language learning.
E-portfolios can be defined as electronically collected works and students' reflections, which are used to show their development during the learning process. Moreover, e-portfolios enhance learners' awareness about their responsibility for their own learning from the beginning to the end (Gülbahar &Tinmaz, 2006). However, the use of e-portfolios as an assessment tool in developing learner autonomy has not been researched much in the English language teaching and learning. In the context of the current research, the use of e-portfolios to develop learner autonomy in a speaking class has not been happening in Newsky English Center.