4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declarations Acknowledgement Abstract List of abbriviations List of charts Table of contents Part 1: Introduction 1 Rationale Research hypotheis Aims of the study Significance of the study 4.1 Theoretical significance 4.2 Practical significance Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study Part 2: Development Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.1 Overview of motivation in language learning 1.1.1 Definition of motivation 1.1.2 Classification of motivation in language learning 1.1.3 The importance of motivation in language learning 1.1.4 Common factors affecting learners’ motivation in language learning 1.1.4.1 Learners’ factors 10 1.1.4.2 Parents’ factors 11 1.1.4.3 Teachers’ factors 12 1.1.4.4 Learning materials 13 1.1.4.5 Learners’ success in language learning 13 1.1.5 Characteristics of motivated learners 13 1.1.6 General strategies to motivate students in language teaching 14 1.1.7 Maintaining and protecting the students’ motivation 18 1.1.8 Motivational macro-strategies 23 1.2 Teaching listening 26 1.2.1 What makes L2 listening more challenging than L1 listening 27 1.2.2 The importance of listening instruction 29 1.2.3 Component skills for listening 30 1.2.4 Listening ability assessment scales 31 1.2.5 How to motivate students in listening classes 33 Chapter 2: Methodology 35 2.1 The setting of the study 35 2.1.1 The students 35 2.1.2 The researcher 36 2.1.3 The syllabus and learning materials 36 2.2 Research hypothesis 36 2.3 The methods employed in the study 37 2.3.1 Three changes made to the listening course 37 2.3.2 The methods employed 38 2.4 The data collection procedures 41 Chapter 3: Data analysis, Findings, and Discussions 42 3.1 Data analysis 42 3.1.1 Results from classroom observation and analysis 42 3.1.2 Results from the students’ writing journals 43 3.1.3 Results from the survey questionnaires 44 3.1.3.1 Results from pre-treatment questionnaire 44 3.1.3.2 Results from post-treatment questionnaire 52 3.1.4 Results from the informal interviews with students 59 3.2 Findings and discussions 60 3.2.1 Findings 60 3.2.2 Discussions 62 Part 3: Conclusion 63 Recapitulation 63 Limitations 64 Suggestions for further research 64 References 66 Appendix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language FOE Faculty of English HNUE Hanoi National University of Education L2 Second language LIST OF CHARTS Chart Pre-Questionnaire: Student's interest in listening skill Chart Pre-Questionnaire: the relevance of the lesson content to students interest Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' efforts in learning and practicing listening skill Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning English Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning and practicing listening skill Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' desire to learn listening skill Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' attitude to listening courses Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' aptitude to learn listening skill Chart Pre-Questionnaire: students' self-evaluation on ability to master listening skill Chart 10 Post-Questionnaire: Student's interest in listening skill Chart 11 Post-Questionnaire: the relevance of the lesson content to students interest Chart 12 Post-Questionnaire: students' efforts in learning and practicing listening skill Chart 13 Post-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning English Chart 14 Post-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning and practicing listening skill Chart 15 Post-Questionnaire: students' desire to learn listening skill Chart 16 Post-Questionnaire: students' attitude to listening courses Chart 17 Post-Questionnaire: students' aptitude to learn listening skill Chart 18 Post-Questionnaire: students' self-evaluation on ability to master listening skill PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale In the field of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and the English language in particular, motivation has always been playing an essential role to achieve success and improvement In many cases, students are still unsuccessful just because they lack motivation to learn That is why many researchers and educationalists have been sharing the same idea that the best method of teaching is to improve their motivation in the learning process Being an English teacher at a university for nearly three years, the author has always tried best to facilitate the students‟ study of English Through teaching experiences and everyday observation, the author notices that when studying English at university, the author‟s students normally encounter many difficulties in listening skill Moreover, their lack of motivation in learning and practicing this skill has been recognized All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt to carry out this research in order to find out the way to motivate the students in their listening classes Another reason for conducting this research study is the appropriateness of its type, which is action research, in the present situation of the author Being a teacher teaching English at a university, the author has to fulfill the tasks of teaching and doing research at the same time Clearly, carrying out action research to find out the answers to the problems emerging in classrooms can help the author successfully accomplish these challenging tasks Furthermore, an earlier research study was conducted in Beijing and achieved many encouraging results However, the context of Chinese students is clearly different from that of Vietnamese students Besides, the research done in Beijing did have some limitations in the data collection process These did give an account for the author‟s wish of carrying out this research study to gain more reliable findings in the context of these Vietnamese students 10 Research hypothesis This study was designed to verify the following hypothesis: The way applied by the research author in listening classes can enhance the FOE, HNUE second-year English majors‟ motivation in studying the skill of listening Aims of the study The ultimate purpose of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of several changes made during the listening course in terms of boosting the motivation of second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE in acquiring listening skill It specifically aims at:  Looking at the students‟ motivation and the present situation of teaching and training the listening skill to second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE  Investigating changes in the students‟ motivation during and after the application of some changes made in the listening course  Examining the students‟ attitudes towards the changes made during the course  Giving some recommendations for improving the students‟ motivation in learning the skill of listening and other macro skills Significance of the study 4.1 Theoretical significance Through this study, theories of motivation are revisited Main definitions together with leading concepts and notions about motivation are represented with details Moreover, common strategies to improve and sustain students‟ motivation in classroom are also reintroduced Besides, the study also reconfirms the importance of motivation in education and in language learning 11 4.2 Practical significance The study is expected to facilitate better understanding of motivation in foreign language learning in general and in EFL in particular Practically and pedagogically, the findings of the study are strongly believed to help English teachers see more clearly the essential roles of motivation in the teaching of English and to supply them with some basic ideas of how to find suitable ways of motivating their students in learning English, especially listening skill In addition, the author expects that this research study can provide other teachers and those who may be concerned with ideas and fundamental grounds to conduct further research studies in the field of boosting students‟ motivation in EFL Scope of the study An infinite variety of ways can be used to motivate students in learning English However, due to the limit of time and capacity, the researcher only focuses on exploiting the effectiveness of three changes made during the listening course at FOE, HNUE in enhancing the second-year English majors‟ motivation in learning and practicing this challenging skill What was changed during the course is the way to start it, the way in which each lesson is conducted and managed, and the way to assess the students Methods of the study This study was designed in the form of an action research According to Gina (2001), action research is the type of research we carry out with our students in order to try out an idea or innovation, or to test a hypothesis about the students‟ learning and see what would happen Besides, Michael (1998) also points out that action research involves the collection and the analysis of data related to certain aspects of our professional practice In this study, the researcher applied a number of different methods, based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches: classroom observations, students‟ writing journal, interviews, and questionnaires First and foremost, a pre-treatment questionnaire was employed to reveal some information about the students‟ motivation and the work of teaching and learning the skill of listening they had been receiving so far Bearing in mind the hypothesis that some 12 changes made to the course can improve students‟ motivation, the researcher carried out these modifications on the students during the semester In order to investigate the motivational effectiveness of these changes, classroom observation, students‟ journal, and informal interviews together with a post-treatment questionnaire were used to get necessary data In the final stage the data collected were analyzed to verify the hypothesis Design of the study The study report is divided into three main parts Part one is the Introduction featuring the rationale for the study as well as the objectives, the significance and the methods employed in the research In addition, it also briefly introduces the scope of the study together with the overall design of the research report Part two is the Development consisting of three chapters: o Chapter 1, Theoretical background, covers main issues and concepts related to motivation and teaching listening skill Different strategies to boost and maintain motivation in language learning and teaching are also included in this chapter o Chapter 2, Methodology, is devoted to describing elaborately the research methodology which comprises the information of the research subjects, settings, and data collection instruments and procedures o Chapter 3, Data analysis, Findings, and Discussions, presents the results from the detailed analysis of collected data and provides several discussions related to them Part three is the Conclusion that recapitulates the main contents of the study report Some limitations and suggestions for further research are also presented in this part 13 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.1 Overview of motivation in language learning 1.1.1 Definition of motivation In almost all fields of learning and teaching, especially language education, motivation has always been considered an essential factor contributing to success Without motivation, any efforts would be almost impossible Therefore, a thorough understanding of this concept is needed Motivation has been defined in a number of ways by a variety of researchers and scholars According to Williams and Burden (1997:20), motivation is a “state of cognitive arouse” which provokes a “decision to act”; as a result of which, there is “sustained intellectual and/or physical effort” so that a person can achieve some “previously set goal” Sharing the same point of view, Harmer (2001: 51) states that “at its most basic level, motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to things in order to achieve something” Another linguist, Dornyei, (2001: 7) claims that “ motivation explains why people decide to something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are going to sustain their activities.” Additionally, Woolfolk (2001:336) defines motivation as “an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior” More elaborately, Gardner (1985) remarks “motivation involves four aspects: a goal, effortful behavior, a desire to attain the goal, and favorable attitudes towards the activity in question.” Briefly, motivation is a concept that involves attitudes and states influencing the degree of effort that one makes to achieve certain goals It is not only arousing but also sustaining one‟s interest and boosting the investment of time and energy into reaching one‟s goals In second language learning, motivation is a complicated phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two aspects: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community If the learners are in need of using the second language in a wide range of social situations or fulfilling their professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative value of the ... that more highly motivated learners use a greater range of proper strategies than less motivated learners It is advisable that the teacher teach the learners appropriate strategies and assist them... collection and the analysis of data related to certain aspects of our professional practice In this study, the researcher applied a number of different methods, based on both qualitative and quantitative... EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language FOE Faculty of English HNUE Hanoi National University of Education L2 Second language LIST OF CHARTS Chart Pre-Questionnaire: