MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ------------------------------------------- NGUYEN THI BICH PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING TO PROMOTE LEARNER AUTONOMY: A CASE STUDY AT THE ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021 Tai Lieu Chat Luong MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------------------------------------------- NGUYEN THI BICH PHUONG THE APPLICATION OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING TO PROMOTE LEARNER AUTONOMY: A CASE STUDY AT THE ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code: 8 140 111 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: DUONG MY THAM, Ph. Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis entitled “THE APPLICATION OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING TO PROMOTE LEARNER AUTONOMY: A CASE STUDY AT THE ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL”. Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 NGUYEN THI BICH PHUONG i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Duong My Tham, my supervisor, for her great patience and careful guidance through the whole research process. Thanks to her advice and instructions, I have gained more understanding of learner autonomy and become more interested in it.
This thesis would have been hardly completed without the guidance and support from her. I am grateful to all of the research participants, students at The Asian International School (AIS), who have contributed to this research study. I extend my thanks to Ms. Pham Hong Hanh, a teacher of English at the AIS, who has helped me greatly to complete the study.
A special thanks also goes to my family, my friends and my colleagues for their understanding, great support, patient care and encouragement. They encouraged me to continue my work when it would have been much easier to give up. Especially, this thesis is like a gift I would like to send to my beloved mother, who has provided me with indirect encouragement and strong spirit to complete it. ii ABSTRACT This mixed-methods research aimed to investigate how AIS students self-evaluated their autonomous learning skills and their attitudes towards the application of project-based learning approach in the Media class.
The participants of the current research were ninth graders at one campus of the Asian International School. The data were collected by employing both a quantitative method (i., a questionnaire) and a qualitative method (i., semi-structured interviews and students’ diaries). The questionnaires and students’ diaries were carried out with thirty-six students and six students conveniently chosen among those involved in the semi- structured interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS 25 in terms of means and standard deviation whilst the qualitative data were analyzed and caterogized in the light of themes.
The findings of the study showed that AIS students took more responsibilities for their own learning after the project-based Media class. Specifically, the improvement in learner autonomy was evidenced in the students’ self-overcoming the learning challenges, self- assessing their learning capacity, expressing more ideas and making plans for project fulfillment. Nevertheless, the students’ setting goals and self-monitoring remained unchanged after the project-based Media class. With reference to the students’ attitudes towards the application of project-based learning, they generally expressed their positive attitudes in terms of cognition, affection and behavior.
It is worth noting that the cognitive dimension was superior in rank to the affective and behavioral dimensions. Given these preliminary findings, it is recommended that both students and teachers should be equipped with adequate project- based learning skills and strategies to effectively carry out projects and to maximize students’ independent learning. Keywords: attitudes, autonomous learning skills, learner autonomy, project-based learning iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv LIST OF FIGURES .vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Background to the study. Statement of the problem.
Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Definition of key terms. Organization of the study.
Definition of learner autonomy. Levels of learner autonomy. Autonomous learning skills. Project-based learning (PBL).
Definition of project-based learning. Project-based learning activities. Principles for project-based learning. Definition of attitudes.
The components of attitudes. Sample and sampling procedures. Semi-structured interview. Data collection procedure.
Data analysis procedure. Validity and reliability. 48 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. AIS students’ self-evaluating autonomous learning skills after the project- based Media class.
Students’ attitudes towards the impacts of project-based learning on learner autonomy. AIS students’ self-evaluation of autonomous learning skills after the application of project-based learning in Media class. AIS students’ attitudes towards the impacts of project-based learning on learner autonomy. 64 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Summary of the main findings of the study. Recommendations for further research. 101 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Jones’ diagram representing scope of the study with adaptations to show self-access. 16 Figure 2: The conceptual framework of the study.
33 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Demographic information of the sampling .2: Description of Media course .3: Research instruments in relation to research questions .4: Reliability of the questionnaire .1: Students’ self-evaluating autonomous learning skills .2: Average mean scores of attitudes towards PBL .3: AIS students’ attitudes towards PBL .4: AIS students’ cognitive attitudes towards PBL .5: AIS students’ affective attitudes towards PBL .6: AIS students’ behavioral attitudes towards PBL. 59 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AERO: American Education Reaches Out AHS: The Asian High School AIS: The Asian International School AP: Advanced Placement Program BIE: Buck Institute for Education CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL: English as Foreign Language ELP: European Language Portfolio GAIE: The Group of Asian International Education IPS: The International Primary School PBL: Project-based learning RQ: Research question SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences WTO: The World Trade Organization ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This introductory chapter presents an overview of the study background, states the problem and the objectives of the study, then formulates the research questions. The subsequent elements consist of the scope and significance of the study, some definitions of key terms used in this research, and the organization of the study. Background to the study In the past few decades, there have been changes in educational approach to English language teaching in many countries.
While the ideas of teaching grammar, vocabulary or separate skills are in endless controversy, becoming fashionable or unfashionable, the concept of “learner autonomy” which is described by Holec (1981, as cited in Little, 2007, p. 15) as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” has been a prevailing term among scholars, educators and language teachers in many parts of the world as it is considered one of the best practices in language education. Holec’s (1981) definition has laid a foundation for other variations of definitions of learner autonomy. Another variation of its definition, for instance, is the capacity to take responsibility for one’s own learning.
Learner autonomy, according to this variation, has no difference in meaning in comparison to Holec’s definition, but words. The core of the concern is the decision-making skill of the students. Agreeing with this point of view, Benson (2003) viewed students’ choices and decision-making meaningful and informed to the students themselves, and crucial to the development of learner autonomy regarding both to the classroom learning and outside the classroom. Littlewood (1996) supported that learner autonomy is the “learner’s ability and willingness to make choices independently”.
In other words, autonomous learning capacity is a combination of two interdependent components: ability and willingness, providing students with the knowledge of possible choices and skills for conducting appropriate choices or decisions. Motivation and confidence are essential factors affecting students’ willingness to take responsibility for necessary choices. Generally, Littlewood suggested that a learner needs the four subcomponents below to successfully become autonomous; that is, knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence; and that these subcomponents should be given an emphasis in the development of learner autonomy. In another example, Dickinson (1993) took the notion of autonomy as an attitude to language learning that can be found in a number of autonomous learners’ characteristics, such as the 1 capability to formulate their own learning objectives, to plan, select, implement appropriate learning strategies and monitor their own learning.
It can be seen that, from literature review of different studies, no one can deny the importance of learner autonomy to language teaching and learning. Its importance was shown in Little’s (1991) introduction to the benefits it brings to the language education; they can be summarized into three main aspects (as cited in Nguyen, 2014). Firstly, “learning should be more focused and purposeful, and thus more effective both immediately and in the long term” when the learning involves students’ participation in decision-making process (Little, 1991, p. Secondly, as it is “learner’s responsibility for their learning process, the constraints between learning and living that are often found in traditional teacher-centered educational structures should be minimized” (Littlewood, 1997, p.
Dickinson (1987) added that learning effectiveness could be increased in case the learners are responsible for their learning, setting their goals and planning their study. With autonomous learning, learners are more active and freer to make decisions in parallel with the responsibilities they need to accomplish, stated by Joshi (2011). Benson (2001) considered learner autonomy as a human right and Waite (1994) suggested that learners need to take the responsibility for their own learning to make use of a wide range of available resources, especially outside the context of the classroom. Lastly, when the learners are autonomous for their own learning, they will be responsible in other areas surrounding.
As a result, they will be a useful, significant, and valuable member of the society. Moreover, language learner autonomy plays a vital role when it can “move to the central of language teaching theory and practice”, stated by Little (2007, p. To his point of view, there exists a close connection between the development of language proficiency and the growth of learner autonomy. His idea has been supported by other research studies.
Dafei (2007) conducted an investigation with non-English majors at a China teacher college and found that the language proficiency of the participants and their learner autonomy are interconnected, as the result of the study showed that when the participants had no significant differences in their language proficiency, their learner autonomy was not statistically different. The correlation between the two above-listed terms is considered significant by Myartawan and Latief (2013) after their study in Indonesia with the participation of more than 100 English-majored students. The findings showed a strong and positive relationship between language proficiency and learner autonomy. Besides, the fundamental role of learner autonomy is emphasized when McDevitt (1997) stated “the end product of education is an independent learner” (p.
When learners attain knowledge during classes they attend and get no more knowledge when they do not take any classes; autonomy should be taken into consideration as a goal; it is worth 2 considering as a crucial aspect in language teaching and learning, and for life-long learning development. Another key value of learner autonomy is learner differences. Each student comes to class different from one another; they bring their own social variables, such as levels, characteristics, learning styles, learning needs, and the like. Sun (2013) suggested that, with the limitation of class time and fixed curricular, one of the best ways to maintain learner differences in terms of needs and preferences is to teach students autonomous learning skills.