VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN HỒNG NHUNG DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ LEARNING AUTONOMY THROUGH PROJECT WORK AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI (Phát triển tính tự chủ trong học tập của học sinh thông qua làm việc dự án ở một trường cấp hai tại Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology (applied programme) Code: 8140231.01 HANOI - 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN HỒNG NHUNG DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ LEARNING AUTONOMY THROUGH PROJECT WORK AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI (Phát triển tính tự chủ trong học tập của học sinh thông qua làm việc dự án ở một trường cấp hai tại Hà Nội) Field: English Teaching Methodology (applied programme) Code: 8140231. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn HANOI – 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY I, Nguyễn Hồng Nhung, declare that this thesis and the work presented it are my own and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research. It has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially. Hanoi, July 2019 Nguyễn Hồng Nhung i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr.
Huynh Anh Tuan, who gave me a lot of valuable guidance, encouragements, criticisms and correction throughout my thesis writing. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever he thought I needed it. I would also like to thank fifty grade six students at a secondary school in Hanoi. Without their passionate participation and input, the research could not have been successfully conducted.
Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family, my colleagues and my friends for their support and encouragement that help me to complete my work. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The present study was conducted to address two issues: investigating the influence of project work on students‟ learning autonomy and exploring students‟ evaluations of the using project work in developing their learning autonomy. The instruments employed for data collection and analysis of the study included two questionnaires, an interview with ten students, students‟ diaries, and observation. The findings showed that project work was beneficial to help students to improve their learning autonomy.
It also revealed that students highly recommended doing projects to enhance learning autonomy though they faced up with some difficulties in doing the projects. Based on the findings, some implications would be suggested for both the teacher and the students. With all this information, this study is expected to be significant to both teachers and students in teaching and learning process. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vii LIST OF FIGURES. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.
Statement of the problem and rationale for the study. Aims, objectives, and research questions of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Organization of the thesis. 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Types of autonomy.
Characteristics of autonomous learners. Roles of learning autonomy. Types of project work. Features of project work.
Stages of project work. Roles of project work. Roles of project work in developing students’ learning autonomy. 24 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Related studies in promoting students‟ learning autonomy through project work. 29 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Research approach: Action research. English textbook, English syllabus and the projects used in the study.
Procedure of the study. Instruments for data collection. Semi-structured interview. Data collection procedure.
Semi-structured interview. Data analysis procedure. Data from the questionnaires. Data from the semi-structured interview.
Data from the students’ diaries. Data from the observation. 52 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The extent to which the students‟ learning autonomy can be enhanced through project work.
Findings from the questionnaires. Findings from the interview .58 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Findings from students’ diaries. The students‟ evaluations of the projects assigned to them to develop their learning autonomy.
Findings from interview. Findings from observation. Major findings of the study. Contribution of the study.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further studies. I APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENGLISH LEARNING PROCESS. I APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROJECT WORK.
V APPENDIX 3 DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES. V APPENDIX 4 SAMPLE OF A PROJECT PLAN. VIII APPENDIX 5 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. XI APPENDIX 6 INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS .XII APPENDIX 7 T-TABLE .XXVI APPENDIX 8 SAMPLE OF TEACHER‟S FIELD NOTE FROM OBSERVATION .XXVIII APPENDIX 9 SAMPLES OF STUDENT‟S DIARY .XXIX vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.hanoi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The project used in the study .2: Procedure of the study .3: Overview of the questionnaires .1: Statistical test result in determining objectives.2: Statistical test result in choosing contents .: Statistical test result in selecting methods and techniques to be used .4: Statistical test result in monitoring acquisition procedure .5: Statistical test result in evaluating what has been acquired .6: Students‟ activities in the project work.7: Students‟ attitudes and behavior when doing the projects .1: Problems and solutions in doing project work.
69 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Action research cycle .2: One tailed test distribution .3: Data analytical framework .1: Mean scores of students‟ learning autonomy in .2: The extent of the changes of students‟ learning autonomy. 58 after doing the projects. 58 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.hanoi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the background to the problem and the reasons for choosing the topic are mentioned. As a result, the necessity of delivering the research as well as the importance of the application of project work in teaching and learning process is revealed.
The aims and the significances of the study are also stated. The final section will present the scope, methods and organization of the study. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Being a part of Eastern culture with the great influence of Confucianism, the Vietnamese traditional pedagogy emphasizes on absorbing and memorizing rather than experimenting and producing knowledge (Dang, 2012: 6). In other words, the students‟ ability in applying knowledge learnt at school to real life situations is not the main aim of schooling.
In traditional classrooms, teachers are the class authorities, and students who are known as passive learners are expected to obey their teachers. Standardized examinations are an important feature of the education system that shapes classroom interactions. Several standardized examinations are run by the Department of Education and Training in each local area every semester. Therefore, classroom teaching and learning activities are often regulated by these examinations.
Teachers are normally required to follow certain classroom procedures and students are expected to learn from textbooks and their teachers. As a result, negotiations and collaborations between teachers and students or among students are rarely seen. Consequently, there is no opportunities for learners to be more independent in the learning process. Referring to the issue above, students‟ learning autonomy, which is defined as the responsibility for all the decisions concerned with a student‟s learning and the implementation of those decisions (Dickinson, 1987: 11), is considered an important aspect of successful learners in globalized world, has been a new terminology to Vietnamese learners 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.hanoi and educators so far.
There should be solutions to enhance Vietnamese students‟ learning autonomy. One of the favorable answers for this problem is applying project work on the learning process. According to Ramírez (2014: 56), project work fosters active roles for students in which the learners can engage in authentic and interesting tasks to achieve a common goal by means of collaborative work and the teacher provides them with opportunities to improve language skills for communicating successfully. Although a large body of research now exists on enhancing learners‟ autonomy through project work, relatively few researchers have explored this controversial issue in the subject of adolescent learners, especially in the context of Vietnam.
Drawing on previous studies, and based on the obvious concerns as mentioned above, the present study is undertaken to investigate how doing project work raises students‟ awareness of being responsible to take control their learning process. Aims, objectives, and research questions of the study This action research aims at examining whether secondary school students can develop their learning autonomy through participating in project work. To achieve this aim, the study has to obtain the following two objectives: - Investigate the extent to which the students‟ learning autonomy can be enhanced through their participation in project work. - Explore the students‟ evaluations of the projects assigned to them to develop their learning autonomy.
In accordance with these two objectives, the research tries to answer the following research questions: 1. To what extent does project work enhance the students‟ learning autonomy? 2. What are the students‟ evaluations of the projects in view of the impact of the projects on developing their learning autonomy? 1. Significance of the study 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.hanoi Recently, research on learners‟ autonomy has been conducted in a variety of contexts all over the world, including some Asian countries (Barfield & Brown, 2007; Gardner, 2007; Lamb & Reinders, 2008; Miller, 2007), but the volumne of research in this field carried out in the Vietnamese context is not very substansive.
Although it can be argued that the Vietnamese English-foreign-language classroom stereotype is rather similar to its Chinese or Japanese counterparts, it has its own educational context which makes it unique. Furthermore, in Vietnam, there is no previous study thoroughly discussing the development of students‟ learning autonomy through project work among Vietnamese adolescents. Therefore, this study potentially plays a role in contributing other understandings of the examined construct in education. It is hoped that secondary school teachers and students can get some insightful implications from the findings of the study, especially those who wish to choose project work as an alternative activity in their English teaching and learning practices.
Scope of the study The research is carried out in eighteen weeks of the second semester in the school year 2018-2019 (from December 25th to May 24th). The study limits itself to the investigation of the effects of project work on the students‟ learning autonomy as well as students‟ evaluations on developing their learning autonomy through project work. The number of participants of the study is quite small – only fifty students in grade six. As a study on one teacher and one class at one school, the conclusion of the study may not be valid to be generalized to apply to any other contexts.
It may be useful to serve as an intensive source of information to refer to or to provide hypothesis for further studies. Methods of the study The study adapts action research approach. According to Ferrance (2000: 1), action research is regarded as one of the most common research methods applied in current educational circumstances. With the choice of this method, data collection 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.hanoi instruments including questionnaires, artifacts, observation, and interview are used in order to have a deep investigation into what is being studied.
Organization of the thesis This research consists of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter aims at stating the research problems, the significance, the aims, the scope, and the methods of the study. Chapter 2: Literature review This provides elaboration of key definitions as well as the review on related studies. Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter issues the description of research approach, research participants, data collection methods and data analysis methods.