VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE IMPACT OF GENDER AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON LEARNING STYLES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH IN HO CHI MINH CITY A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfilment of the Master‟s degree in TESOL By LƯU HOÀNG ÂN Supervised by Đặng Tấn Tín, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this master thesis is one of the most rewarding achievements that I have received in life. I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to all individuals who have provided their valuable assistance and supports. Firstly, I would like to express my immense gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.
Đặng Tấn Tín, for his generosity of time, his profound knowledge and his assistance to me from the first step to the completion of this thesis. I own my earnest thankfulness to students and teachers of Nguyen Tat Thanh University who have enthusiastically participated and created the supporting conditions to my study. Also I would like to express my thanks to all my classmates at the University of Social Science and Humanity for their constant support and motivation, especially Miss Phuong Nam, Mrs Quynh Chi and Miss Nhu Quynh for their supporting ideas in the final stage of this thesis completion. Notwithstanding all of the above support for this study, any errors or omissions are solely my own.
Last but not least, this thesis is dedicated to my parents without whom this work was impossible. i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare this thesis entitled “THE IMPACT OF GENDER AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON LEARNING STYLES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH IN HO CHI MINH CITY” is the result of my own work except as cited in the reference. I have used no other sources and aids other than those indicated. All passages quoted from publications or paraphrased from these sources are indicated as such, i.
cited and/or attributed. This thesis was not submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Ho Chi Minh City, September 2015 Luu Hoang An ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Luu Hoang An, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, 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 original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes 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, September 2015 Luu Hoang An iii ABSTRACT This thesis is the study of learning styles in the relation to learning environments (in- class and out-of-class) and gender of EFL students in the context of Vietnam. The study aims (1) to understand learning styles preferences among English-majored students at NTT University namely Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic in class and out of class learning environments; (2) to discover the effect of gender in the identified learning styles preferences; and (3) to explore main reasons for shaping students‟ learning styles. Using a mixed method design, the study ultetlized both qualitative and quantitative methods. To attain the aims of the study, one questionnaire with 27 pairs of statements was adopted and developed from the Percaptual Learning Styles Questionniare of Reid (1987).
Vaild reponses was received from 398 EFL undergraduate students majoring English at Nguyen Tat Thanh University. The analyses of questionnaire indicated that there was significant different between between learning styles of EFL students when they are in class and when they are out of class. In the light of this analysis, the in-class learning styles were more visiable and prefereable than the out-of-class one. The patterns of learning styles in class was identified, in which Visual is the most dominant, then Kinethetic and Auditory.
On contrary to this, no pattern was dawn out from the out-of-class learning styles. In the search of impacts of gender to learning styles, the findings from collected data showed that gender has no significant impact to students‟ learning styles. In order to support and make the in-depth look at factors that meadiate students‟ learning styles, a structured and paper-based interview with five questions was conducted to seventeen students. The findings revealed that VAK learning styles (Visual, Auditory, and Kiensthetic) of EFL learners were mainly affected by learning materials; nature of EFL learning elements; teachers and teaching methods; physical and social environments.
These findings call for teachers and learners to take more consideration to identify and provide suitable strategies for EFL learning in the context of Vietnam. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents .i STAMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS .iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v LIST OF TABLES. x LIST OF FIGURES .xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Background to the study. General context of the study. Specific context of the study .1 Vietnamese education and its EFL teaching .2 Description of Nguyen Tat Thanh University .3 Description of Faculty of Foreign Languages. Rationale of the study.
Aims of the study. Significance of the study. Delimitation of the study. Organization of the study.
9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definitions and basic characteristics of “styles” .2 Styles - A mixed and controversial field. From styles to learning styles. Some major models.
Cognitive-centered approaches. Personality-centered approaches. Activity-centered approaches. Perceptual learning styles.
Reid‟s learning styles preferences. VAK learning styles. Gender and learning styles. Conceptual framework of the study .1 Data collection procedure .2 Data analysis procedure.
68 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS. Statistical results from questionnaires. Student‟s learning styles preference in different learning environments. Distribution of sample.
The reliability of the questionnaire instrument. Learning styles in different learning environments. The learning styles trends within each learning environment. The impact of gender to students‟ learning styles preference.
Results from interview questions. Mediating factors of students‟ learning styles preference. Mediating factors of Visual learning style. Mediating factors of Auditory learning style.
Mediating factors of Kinesthetic learning style. Characteristics of students‟ ideal learning environments. The first research question. The second research question.
The third research question. Suggestions for learners. Suggestions for teachers. Recommendations for further research.
106 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE SUTDY. 106 APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW SHEET OF THE SUTDY. 116 APPENDIX 3: REID‟S PERCEPTUAL LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCE QUESTIONNAIRE (1987) .120 APPENDIX 4: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTIC OF 54 ITEMS OF QUESTIONNAIRE. 127 APPENDIX 5: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF EACH ITEM IN SIX GROUPS OF LEARNING STYLES.
132 APPENDIX 6A: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF IN-CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL1). 135 APPENDIX 6B: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF IN-CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY1). 136 APPENDIX 6C: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF IN-CLASS KINESTHETIC GROUP (KINESTHETIC1). 137 APPENDIX 6D: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF OUT-OF-CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL2).
138 APPENDIX 6E: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF OUT-OF-CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY2). 139 viii APPENDIX 6F: THE RELIABILITY TESTS OF OUT-OF-CLASS KINESTHETIC GROUP (KINESTHETIC2). 140 APPENDIX 7: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIBTION OF THE FIRST QUESTION. 141 APPENDIX 8A: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN IN- CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL1).
147 APPENDIX 8B: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN IN- CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY1). 148 APPENDIX 8C: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN IN- CLASS KINESTHETIC GROUP (KINESTHETIC1). 149 APPENDIX 8D: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN OUT- OF-CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL2). 150 APPENDIX 8E: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN OUT- OF-CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY2).
151 APPENDIX 8F: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM VALUE IN OT- OF-CLASS KINESTHETIC GROUP (KINESTHETIC2). 152 APPENDIX 9A: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN IN-CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL1) ACCORDING TO GENDER. 153 APPENDIX 9B: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN IN-CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY1) ACCORDING TO GENDER. 154 APPENDIX 9C: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN IN-CLASS KINESTHETIC GROUP (KINESTHETIC1) ACCORDING TO GENDER.
155 APPENDIX 9D: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN OUT-OF- CLASS VISUAL GROUP (VISUAL2) ACCORDING TO GENDER. 156 APPENDIX 9E: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN OUT-OF- CLASS AUDITORY GROUP (AUDITORY2) ACCORDING TO GENDER. 157 APPENDIX 9F: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF EACH ITEM IN OUT-OF- CLASS KINESTHETIC (KINESTHETIC2) ACCORDING TO GENDER. 158 ix LIST OF TABLES Table .1: Number of Articles with Titles Including Search Terms, Divided by Decades .2: Learning styles instrument in the cognitive structure family .3: Principle characteristics of a field-dependent and field-independent cognitive style .4: Elements of Learning Style from the Dunn and Dunn Model .5: Summary of philosophical perspectives .6: Summary of theoretical frameworks and models .1: The distribution of males and females in the sample .2: The distribution of participants according to age .3: The distribution of participants according year of study in university .4: Students‟ preferences of physical elements .5: An extract of the designed questionnaire .1: Internal consistency of the six groups of learning styles (1st time) .2: Internal consistency of the six groups of learning styles (2nd time) .3: Cronchbach‟ Alpha if item deleted in six groups of learning styles .4: Reliability Statistics of all groups of learning styles .5: Paired-Sample T-Test of learning styles groups in two learning environments (in-class and out-of-class environment) .6: Descriptive data of six groups of learning styles .7: Paired-Sample T-Tests of in-class learning styles .8: Paired-Sample T-Tests of out-of-class learning styles .9: Descriptive data of six groups of learning styles according to gender .10: Independent Samples T-Tests of learning styles and gender.11: The results of the first interview question .12: The results of the second interview question .13: The results of the third interview question .14: The results of the fourth interview question .15: The results of the fifth interview question.
84 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure .1: An illustration of Curry‟s “Onion” model .2: Families of Learning Styles.3: An illustration of Field and field in dependence test .4: Model of Multiple Intelligences .5: Kolb‟s Four Learning Styles .6: The Experiential Learning Theory of Growth and Development .7: The conceptual framework of the study .1: Analytical framework of the study. 67 xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides background information on the role of learning styles to teachers, researchers and learners; research on learning styles in contexts of Vietnam and the context of the current study. The focus of this research is discussed and justified. Together with that, the overall research rationale, research aims, research questions, significance of the study, delamination of the study are identified.
Finally, the organization of the study is provided. Background of the study 1. General context of the study Veronica Rothin in her 2011 novel Divergent has introduced the idea of a post- apocalyptic Chicago in which the world is divided into five factions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intellectual. In this world, a person has to choose which faction he or she will belong to, based on the result of a personality test.
For many people, the idea that we belong to a particular type of person has been captured for long. Each individual is different and they have something that is considered unique and unchangeable. To Confucius, a junzi ("gentleman" or "superior person"; Vietnamese: Quant tu) holds the functions of government and social stratification through his ethical values (Vietnamese: 1 Tu than, te gia, binh quoc, tri thien ha) (“Junzi”, n. Self-consciousness, thus, is not only something constant but also an urgent need in each human being.
Not dissimilar beliefs were held by the scholars who have been searching for the nature of this uniqueness.