VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ------------------- PHẠM ĐỨC THUẬN PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS THROUGH PROJECT WORK IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY (Tăng cường tính tự chủ cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh thông qua dự án tại một trường đại học ở Việt Nam) Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 9140231.01 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Language Teaching Methodology Ha Noi – 2022 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- PHẠM ĐỨC THUẬN PROMOTING LEARNER AUTONOMY FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORS THROUGH PROJECT WORK IN A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY (Tăng cường tính tự chủ cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh thông qua dự án tại một trường đại học ở Việt Nam) Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 9140231.01 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Language Teaching Methodology Supervisors: Assoc. NGUYỄN VĂN TRÀO Dr. HUỲNH ANH TUẤN Ha Noi – 2022 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this PhD thesis namely “Promoting Learner Autonomy for Non-English Majors Through Project Work in A Vietnamese University” is my own original work and has not been submitted before to any institutions for assessment purposes. Further, I have acknowledged all sources used and have cited in the reference section.
Signature PHẠM ĐỨC THUẬN i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my greatest gratitude to those who have been very supportive to me in my study to gain this doctoral degree. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors: Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Van Trao and Doctor Huynh Anh Tuan who have guided me in my PhD journey and in my thesis writing especially with their experience, knowledge and wisdom. Their thoughtful guidance and critical feedback have helped me to improve my thesis significantly, and their patience, kindness, and encouragement have become great support for me. I feel fortunate and honored to have an opportunity to work with such excellent academics.
I am grateful to receive support from the management board of the university and the leaders, and colleagues of the department where I work. My special thanks go to my friends – the research students in my class at ULIS for their continual encouragement during my study. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all my family members for their support and love for me in my PhD journey. Without their love, the completion of my thesis would not have been possible.
ii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES. x LIST OF ABBREVIATONS.
xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Background to the Study .2 Rationale of the Study .3 Aims, Objectives, and Research Questions .4 Scope of the Study .5 Significance of the Study. 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.1 Defining Learner Autonomy .2 Four Aspects of Learner Autonomy.3 The Conceptual Framework of Learner Autonomy .4 Descriptors of Autonomous Learners .5 Measuring Learner Autonomy .6 Promoting Learner Autonomy .1 Defining Project Work .2 Features and Benefits of Project Work .3 Types and Outcomes of Project Work .4 Stages of Project Work.5 The Working Model of Project Work .6 Theoretical Roots Underlying Project Work .7 Project Work as a Means to Promote Learner Autonomy .4 Previous Studies Using Project Work to Promote Learner Autonomy. 63 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .3 Research Approach: Action Research.1 Definitions of Action Research .2 Potential Pitfalls of Action Research .3 Rationale for Using Action Research.4 The Working Action Research Model .5 The Number of Action Research Cycles .4 Research Context, the English Courses, and Research Participants .2 The General English Courses .6 Data Collection Methods and Administration .7 Research Plan and Data Analysis.1 Students‟ Technical Autonomy .2 Students‟ Psychological Autonomy .3 Students‟ Political-critical Autonomy.4 Students‟ Socio-cultural Autonomy .9 Implementation of Project Work. 119 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .1 Access to Learning Resources .1 Attitudes towards learning English .4 Political-critical Aspect .1 Choices of Learning Contents .2 Choices of Learning Methods .5 Socio-cultural Aspect .1 Recapitulation of the Study .2 The Enhancement of Autonomy and Students‟ Difficulties .3 Contributions of the Study .4 Limitations of the Study .5 Suggestions for Further Research .6 Implications and Recommendations .7 Personal Reflections and Concluding Remarks.
175 THESIS-RELATED PUBLICATIONS. I Appendix A: Informed Consent. I Appendix B: Pre-Project Work Questionnaire. III Appendix C: Research Plan.
X Appendix D: Announcement about doing projects. XII Appendix E: Introduction about Project work and steps to do a project. XIII Appendix F: Suggestions for Topics, Possible Projects, and Outcomes. XIV Appendix G: Project Registration Sheet.
XVI Appendix H: Instruction for Language Used to Present the Projects in Class XVII Appendix I: Post-Project Work Questionnaire. XVIII Appendix K: Semi-structured Interview Questions .XXV Appendix L: General English 2 syllabus description. XXVI Appendix M: Sample of General English 2 Schedule. XXXII Appendix N: Detailed Presentation of Projects.
XXXIX Appendix O: Teacher‟s Diary. XLVII Appendix P: Record of Interactions in the Teacher Diary. LXII vi ABSTRACT The study aims to explore the enhancement of learner autonomy through the integration of the project work in the existing syllabus. The study was conducted with thirty-four first-year non-English majors in a university in the north of Vietnam.
In the study, learner autonomy is conceptualized as a multi-faced concept with four aspects: technical, psychological, political-critical, and socio-cultural. Learner autonomy was researched based on the empirical evidence of its benefits to learners in language learning. Meanwhile, project work was argued to be potential to promote learner autonomy. As a result, eight different projects created by the students were implemented in the learning process.
The study employed action research approach with three different data collection tools (questionnaires, interviews, and the teacher‟s diary). Content analysis was applied for the data in the study. The findings reveal that the enhancement of learner autonomy was evident in all the four aspects. Technically, the students were found to have more access to the learning resources and used more learning strategies.
Psychologically, the students were identified to exhibit highly positive attitudes and to be motivated in learning. Political-critically, the students reported that they had more choices in learning contents and methods. Socio-culturally, the students demonstrated more interaction and collaboration. KEYWORDS: Learner autonomy, aspects of learner autonomy, promoting learning autonomy, project work, action research, non-English majors, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.
Definitions or frameworks of learner autonomy and aspects. Measurement tools of learner autonomy. Tangible outcomes of project work. Four phases of the working model of project work.
Hypothesized manifestation of learner autonomy elements in the project work phases. Previous studies using projects to promote learner autonomy. Phases and activities of the working model of action research. Academic year system and credit-based system.
Description of English courses. General description of the used questionnaires. Focused aspects of the question items. Extract of the spreadsheet of responses.
Data analysis framework. Sample of counting occurrences of venue of learning activities. Generating categories and sub-categories. Students‟ access to learning resources before project work.
Use of learning skills/strategies before project work. Descriptive statistics of motivation before project work. Students‟ choices of the learning contents before project work. Students' choices of the learning methods before project work.
Students' interaction before project work. Students' collaboration before project work. Arrangement for project work in the GE 2 schedule. Results of grouping.
Results of choosing topics and titles for projects. Results of determination for project outcomes. Summary of the projects. Students' access to learning resources during project work.
Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' exploitation of the learning environment before and during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' use of additional learning materials before and during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' employment of learning tools before and during projects. Students' use of learning skills/strategies during project work.
Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' use of cognitive skills/strategies before and during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' use of metacognitive skills/strategies before and during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' use of social/affective skills/strategies before and during project work. Contrasting the responses for attitude towards learning English before and during project work.
Students' attitudes towards learning English during project work. Descriptive statistics of students' motivation during project work. Contrasting the mean scores for motivation items before and during project work. Students' choices of learning contents during project work.
Contrasting the occurrences of the students' choices of learning contents before and during project work. Students' choices of learning methods during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' choices of learning methods before and during project work. Students' interaction during project work.
Contrasting the occurrences of data for the students' interaction before and during project work. Summary of interactions from the teacher's diary. Students' collaboration during project work. Contrasting the occurrences of data of collaboration before and during project work.
155 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. The conceptual framework of learner autonomy. Procedures of content analysis. Students ' attitude towards learning English before project work.
Students' desire to achieve goals in learning English before project work. Students' efforts in learning English before project work. Students' satisfaction in learning English before project work. Students' attitudes towards learning English during project work.
Students' desire to achieve learning goals during project work. Students' efforts in learning English during project work. Student's satisfaction with learning activities during project work. 141 x LIST OF ABBREVIATONS BA: Bachelor of Arts CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning EAP: English for Academic Purposes EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English LA: Learner Autonomy MA: Master MOET: Ministry of Education and Training PhD: Doctor of Philosophy ZPD: Zone of Proximal Development xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview of the study.
It begins with discussions on the background to the study. Then it focuses on the rationale of the study, followed by the aims and research questions. The rest of the chapter centers on the scope and the limitations of the study and the significance of the study. And the chapter ends with the presentation of the thesis structure.1 Background to the Study In higher education in Vietnam, English is introduced nationally in two categories: as a discipline and as a subject.
In the first category, students study English as a major to get a BA, and MA or a doctoral degree in English. These students are trained to be teachers, translators, interpreters, or researchers either in English linguistics or in English language teaching methodology. In the second category, university students study English as a means of communication and a requirement for graduation. And these students are termed non-English majors.
As a compulsory tertiary subject, the curriculum framework for this language is from 10 to 15 credits in undergraduate programs. This policy is applied across the tertiary level (Hoang Van Van, 2011). Along with the booming of economic development, teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at tertiary level in Vietnam receives great attention (Lam Thi Lan Huong and Albright, 2019). During the last few decades, The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has made considerable efforts to improve the quality of English language education at the tertiary level.
The launch of National Foreign Language Project 2008-2020 (the project 2020) is among those attempts. The project was officially introduced in 2008 in Prime Minister‟s Decision No.