VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -  - VŨ THỊ THỮ FACTORS DEMOTIVATING ELECTRONICS-MAJOR STUDENTS TO LEARN ESP AT SAO DO UNIVERSITY NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC YẾU TỐ GÂY NÊN SỰ MẤT HỨNG THÚ ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN TỬ TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SAO ĐỎ M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi – 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES -  - VŨ THỊ THỮ FACTORS DEMOTIVATING ELECTRONICS-MAJOR STUDENTS TO LEARN ESP AT SAO DO UNIVERSITY NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC YẾU TỐ GÂY NÊN SỰ MẤT HỨNG THÚ ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN TỬ TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SAO ĐỎ M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương Hanoi – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENT Declaration i Acknowledgements .ii Abstract iii Table of content iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Motivation 1.1.1 Conceptions of motivation 1.1.2 Classification of motivation in language teaching – learning 1.2 Demotivation 1.2.1 Conceptions of demotivation 1.2.2 Student demotivating factors in foreign language teaching – learning 1.2.2.1 Student-related factors 1.2.2.2 Teacher-related factors 1.2.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions 10 1.2.2.4 Course books 11 1.3 Related issues of ESP 11 1.3.1 Definitions of ESP 11 iv 1.3.2 Classification of ESP 12 1.3.3 ESP teachers 13 1.3.4 ESP learners 14 1.3.5 ESP materials 15 1.3.6 Assessment 17 1.4 Overview of study on demotivation 17 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20 2.0 Research questions and design 20 2.1 Situation analysis 20 2.1.1 Setting of the study 20 2.1.2 Subjects 23 2.2 Data collection 23 2.2.1 Questionnaire for students 23 2.2.2 Interview for students 24 2.2.3 Interview for teachers 24 2.3 Data analysis 25 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 26 3.1 Results 26 3.1.1 Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire and interview for students 26 3.1.1.1 Personal information of the students taking part in the survey 26 3.1.1.2 Student-related demotivating factors 26 3.1.1.3 Teacher-related demotivating factors 29 3.1.1.4 Teaching and learning conditions 30 3.1.1.5 The course book 31 3.1.1.6 Solutions to help students overcome their demotivation 32 3.1 Data analysis of the interview for teachers 32 3.2 Discussions of findings on factors that demotivate students to study ESP at SDU 36 3.2.1 Student-related factors 36 v 3.2.2 Teacher-related factors 37 3.2.3 The course book 38 3.2.4 The teachers’ perception of the demotivators in ESP classes 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 Conclusion 40 Pedagogical implications 40 Limitations of the study 41 Directions for further research 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX IX APPENDIX XII APPENDIX XV APPENDIX XVII vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes EOP: English for Occupational Purposes GE: General English L2: Second Language SDU: Sao Do University TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Students’ profiles (Total number of students: 89) 26 Table 2: Student-related demotivating factors 27 Table 3: Teacher-related demotivating factors 29 Table 4: Teaching and learning conditions 30 Table 5: The course book 31 viii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Motivation is one of the crucial learner factors affecting foreign language teaching - learning and therefore has been abundantly explored in the field of English as a Foreign Language teaching and learning Many researchers have also examined motivation and its negative side, demotivation in teaching and learning general English in universities However, few researchers have directed their attention to demotivation students tend to carry in the course of learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) although English continues to dominate as the lingua franca of business, technology, medicine, media, education and research As a result, the demand of ESP is growing rapidly in many countries including Vietnam which has become a member of WTO and has witnessed unprecedented growth in communications with other countries In response to the great demand of English in academic, vocational and professional contexts, more and more universities in Vietnam are offering ESP courses to meet the global trend as well as to meet students’ future career needs Sao Do University is not an exception All students at Sao Do University must pass examinations in ESP to graduate, but many are failing to study it successfully Based on my experience of teaching ESP, English for Electronics, for years, I have found that many Electronics-major students not seem ever to have developed any interest in learning ESP or if they have, they seem to have lost that interest for some reasons, that is, they have become demotivated in ESP classes In both cases, their achievement in ESP classes has been negatively affected For this reason, I decided to study factors demotivating the Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University, so that effective solutions can be found to help my students get better results in learning ESP Aims of the study The study was carried out with an aim to help my students get better results in learning ESP It, therefore, was designed to meet the following objectives: - to identify factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University - to give suggestions and recommendations to ESP teachers/students at Sao Do University, on the basis of the findings, for even better ESP teaching - learning Research questions In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research questions were asked in the study: Question 1: What are the factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University? Question 2: What should be done to minimize these factors and help students overcome their demotivation? Significance of the study The study is the first investigation of demotivators in learning English for Electronics at Sao Do University The proposed study provides students, of English for Electronics in particular, at Sao Do University with solutions to overcome their demotivation in ESP classes In addition, the proposed study will help ESP teachers at Sao Do University to have a deeper understanding of their students in ESP classes Thus, they will be able to make suitable changes and adjustments in their teaching English for Electronics to motivate their students for even better results The proposed study will benefit and help future researchers specializing in ESP and motivation with meaningful insights from the findings Scope of the study The study is limited in scope of finding out factors that demotivate the Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University The subjects chosen for this study were 89 Electronic-major students at Sao Do University who have just finished ESP Thus, it cannot be said that the results of this study are generalized to the demotivation of other non-English-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University as well as in other universities in Vietnam Method of the study The study used mixed methods for data collection and analysis Survey questionnaire for students and semi-structured interviews were used The questionnaire for students and semi- structured interviews were used to get students’ opinions on their demotivation factors in learning ESP Semi-structured interviews for teachers were also used to find out their ideas about factors demotivating their students in ESP classes Organization of the study The study consists of three parts Part A, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, aim of the study, significance of the study, scoG55 pe of the study, method of the study and organization of the study Part B, DEVELOPMENT, includes three main chapters: Chapter 1, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents theoretical background on motivation, and demotivation in language learning The main issues related to ESP are also presented in this chapter Chapter 2, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, presents the methodology used in the study Chapter 3, RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS, gives a detailed presentation of data and detailed description of data analysis The implications of the study are also given in this chapter Part C, CONCLUSION, is a review of the study Furthermore, this part also points out the limitations of the study and provides some directions for further studies Directions for future research Based on the findings, and taking into account the limitations of this study, some recommendations can be made for future research Further studies should have an insight look into other types of English for specific purposes, other aspects of demotivation in ESP such as impact of demotivation, how demotivators are different in terms of levels of impact Secondly, as this study failed to address the differences between male and female students in their demotivation in learning ESP, future research may investigate whether male and female students differ in their demotivation in ESP classes Furthermore, future researchers may specifically evaluate ESP course books in Vietnamese universities because their quality may possibly be not good enough leading to students’ demotivation to learn 42 REFERENCES Brophy, J E (1998), Teachers’ expectations, motives and goals for working with problem students, In Ames, C and Ames, D (Ed.), Research on motivation in education: The classroom milieu, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, pp 175-214 Brown, H Douglas (2000), Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (4th Ed.), New York: Pearson Carter, D (1983), “Some propositions about ESP”, The ESP Journal, 2, pp 131137 Clement, R., Dornyei, X & Noel K.A (1994), “Motivation, self-confidence and group cohesion in the foreign language classroom” Language Learning, 44 (3), pp 417-488 Csikszentmihalyi, M (1997), A thought- provoking, Harper Perennial Deci, E L & Ryan, R M (1985), Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior, Plenum, New York Dornyei, Z (2001), Motivational strategies in the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press Dornyei, Z (2001), Teaching and researching motivation, Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited Dornyei, Z (2001a), “New themes and approaches in second language motivation research”, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, pp 43-59 Dornyei, Z (2003), “Attitudes, Orientations, and Motivations in Language Learning: Advances in Theory, Research, and Applications”, Language learning Vol 53 S1, pp 3-32 Dornyei, Z (2005), Teaching and researching motivation, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M (1998), Developments in ESP: A multidisciplinary approach, Cambridge University Press Ellis, M & C Johnson (1994), Teaching Business English, Oxford University Press Falout, J., Elwood, J., & Hood, M (2009), “Demotivation: Affective states and learning outcomes”, System, Vol 37, pp 403.417 [Online] Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.03.004 Gardner, R.C (1985), Social Psychology and Second Language Learning, The role of attitudes and motivation, Edward Arnold 43 Good, T.L & Brophy, J.E (1987), Looking in classrooms (4th Ed.), New York: Harper & Row Good, T L & Brophy, J E (1994), Looking in Classroom (6th Ed.), New York: Harper Collins Harmer, J (1992), Classroom Dynamic, Oxford: Oxford University Press Harmer, J (2007), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Pearson Education Limited Nguyen Thi Minh Hang (2010), Investigation of demotivators in English speaking lessons of the 10th grade students at Nam Sach High School, M.A Minor Thesis, ULIS Hutchinson, T., and Waters, A (1987), English for Specific Purposes: a Learning – centered Approach, Cambridge: CUP Hutchinson, T., & Torres, E (1994), “The Textbooks as Agent of Change”, ELT Journal 48(4), pp 315-328 Johns, A., & Dudley-Evans, T (1991), “English for Specific Purposes: International in scope, specific in purpose”, TESOL Quarterly, 25, pp 297-314 Lakawa, A (2007), Revisiting motivation in ESP mass education (an action research study at Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia) [Online] Available: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158800 Lewis, M and J Hill (1993), Course Book for Teaching EFL, Oxford: Heinemann Lightbrown, P M & Spana, N (1999), How languages are learned, Oxford University Press Maclntyre, P.D (1999), Language anxiety: A review of the research for language teachers, In D Young (ed), Affect in Foreign Language and Second Language Learning: A Practical Guide to Creating a Low-anxiety Classroom Atmosphere, USA: MaGraw-Hill College O'Malley, J M & Chamot, A U (1990), Learning strategies in second language acquisition, NY: Cambridge University Press Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, 6th Edition Oxford, R L (1998), The unravelling tapestry: Teacher and course characteristics Associated With demotivation in the language classroom Demotivation in foreign language learning, Paper presented at the TESOL’98 Congress, Seattle, WA 44 Pintrich, P R & Schunk, D H (2002), Motivation in Education: Theory, Research and Applications (2nd Ed.), Columbus, OH: Merrill-Prentice Hall Richardson, V (1996), The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach, In J Sikula, T J Buttery & E Guyton (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education, NewYork: Macmillan Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968), “Teacher expectations for the disadvantaged”, Journal of Educational Psychology Scheidecker and Freeman, J (1991: 138), Gifted Children Growing Up, London: Cassel, Portsmouth, N H.: Heinemann Educational Strevens, P (1988), ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal, In M Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the Art (pp 1-13), Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Centre Sun Yun-Fang (2008), Motivation to speak: Perception and attitude of non-English major students in Taiwan, PhD thesis, Indiana University, USA Wenden, A L (1987a), Conceptual background and utility, In A L Wenden & J Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Wlodkowski (1986), Enhancing Adult Motivation to learn, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Zhao, Lei (2012), “Investigation into Motivation Types and Influences on Motivation: The Case of Chinese Non-English Majors”, English Language Teaching (Mar 2012), pp 100-122 45 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into “Factors demotivating the Electronics-major students to learn ESP at Sao Do University” It is highly appreciated if you could spend a little time completing truthfully the questionnaire All your own information is only used for the thesis purpose and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please write in the space provided, tick a box and/or the column of your choice Thank you very much for your cooperation! Today's date: ……………………………Name: …………………………………… Age: ……………………………………Gender: Female Male How long have you learnt English? - ……… years Please indicate your opinion about each statement by putting a tick (√) in the appropriate column (SD= Strongly Disagree; D= Disagree; U= Undecided; A= Agree; SA= Strongly Agree) I felt demotivated in learning ESP because … Statements SD I had no need to study ESP My English ability was not good enough to handle ESP course requirements I did not have enough specialized background knowledge when I studied ESP I had difficulty in memorizing specialized words and phrases Teachers’ pronunciation of English was poor Speed of teaching was too fast I got lost in how to self-study for ESP lessons I U A SA (1) D (2) (3) (4) (5) I got low marks despite having studied seriously I was not confident in ESP classes and often felt left behind my classmates 10 I failed to answer the teacher’s questions 11 Teaching and learning facilities were insufficient 12 My friends did not like ESP 13 The number of the students in the classes was too large 14 Teachers’ explanations were not easy to understand 15 Specialized reading texts in the course book were boring 16 Specialized reading texts in the course book were too long 17 Teachers did not have enough specialized knowledge 18 Teachers used translation method too often 19 Teachers shouted or got angry when students kept making mistakes 20 Teachers were lack of care and enthusiasm 21 Teachers only focused on teaching specific lexicon and explaining specialized knowledge 22 There were too many new words in the lessons 23 It was difficult to understand the content of specialized reading texts in the course book 24 Grammar points in the course book were difficult 25 Teachers were strict and inflexible 26 Teachers demonstrated favoritism 27 ESP course did not come up to my expectations If not, please explain why so that we can further improve the course ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… II ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… 28 In your opinion, what solutions can help you to overcome your demotivation? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… 10 …………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your co-operation! III APPENDIX PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA CHO SINH VIÊN Phiếu điều tra thiết kế cho nghiên cứu “Nghiên cứu yếu tố gây nên hứng thú sinh viên ngành điện tử học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Trường Đại học Sao Đỏ.” Rất mong bạn dành thời gian để trả lời câu hỏi cách trung thực Tất thông tin bạn sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu bạn tin tên bạn không đề cập đến nghiên cứu Các bạn viết vào khoảng trống, tích (√) vào trống cột mà bạn chọn Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! Ngày: ……………………………… Họ tên:…………………………………… Tuổi:………………………………… Giới tính: Nữ Nam Bạn học tiếng Anh bao lâu? …………… năm Hãy cho biết ‎iđ‎nauqểm bạn lời phát biểu cách tích (√) vào cột tương ứng (SD= khơng đồng ý; D= khơng đồng ý‎;U‎= ‎ khơng có ý kiến; A= đồng ý; SA= đồng ý ) ‎ Tôi cảm thấy hứng thú việc học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành vì… Lời phát biểu Tơi khơng có nhu cầu học mơn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Khả tiếng Anh khơng đủ tốt để đáp ứng u cầu khóa học tiếng Anh chun ngành Tơi khơng có đủ kiến thức chun ngành tơi học môn tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Tôi gặp khó khăn việc nhớ từ cụm từ chuyên ngành Giáo viên phát âm IV D U A SA (1) SD (2) (3) (4) (5) Tốc độ giảng giáo viên nhanh Tôi bị phương hướng việc tự học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Tôi bị điểm thấp học hành nghiêm túc Tôi không tự tin tiếng Anh chuyên ngành thường cảm thấy bị bỏ lại đằng sau bạn lớp 10 Tôi không trả lời câu hỏi giáo viên 11 Trang thiết bị dạy học chưa đủ 12 Các bạn không thích học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành 13 Số lượng sinh viên lớp học đông 14 Giáo viên giải thích khơng dễ hiểu 15 Những đọc hiểu giáo trình nhàm chán 16 Những đọc hiểu giáo trình q dài 17 Giáo viên khơng có đủ kiến thức chuyên ngành 18 Giáo viên sử dụng phương pháp dịch thường xuyên 19 Giáo viên tức giận quát tháo sinh viên liên tục mắc lỗi 20 Giáo viên thiếu quan tâm nhiệt tình 21 Giáo viên tập trung vào việc dạy thuật ngữ chuyên ngành giải thích kiến thức chuyên ngành 22 Có nhiều từ học 23 Nội dung đọc hiểu vể chuyên ngành khó hiểu 24 Kiến thức ngữ pháp giáo trình khó 25 Giáo viên nghiêm khắc cứng nhắc 26 Giáo viên thiên vị 27 Khóa học tiếng Anh chun ngành khơng diễn mong đợi Nếu không, bạn giải thích để chúng tơi V hồn thiện khóa học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… 28 Theo bạn, giải pháp giúp bạn vượt qua hứng thú việc học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… 10 ………………………………………………………………………………… Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! VI APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWING STUDENTS I Lead-in - What’s your name? In which class are you in? How old are you? - In your opinion, is English for Electronics important? Why or why not? - What you think about learning English for Electronics? Is it difficult or easy? II Testing and exploring ideas Main questions Possibly additional questions Have you ever been Clarifying questions - If yes, when? demotivated in learning English for Electronics? - How you think about your aptitude of memorizing In your opinions, what specialized vocabulary? makes you feel - Have you ever been not able to demotivated in learning complete ESP exercises? English for Electronics? - What you think about the text Or book? (difficult, easy, long or Can you tell me about boring) demotivating factors - Have you ever been not able to - Can you expand a affecting you in ESP understand classes? instructions? your teacher’s little on this? - Can you tell me - Do you think that you have anything else? enough specialized knowledge in - Can you give me Vietnamese to understand some examples? specialized text in the textbook? - Do you have any comments about your ESP teacher’s teaching method? VII - Do you think that what you learnt in ESP course will be helpful for your future career? In your opinion, what are solutions to help you overcome demotivation in learning English for Electronics? Or According to you, what needs doing to motivate you in ESP classes? III Conclusion - Are there any other demotivating factors that we have not discussed? - Thank you very much for your all ideas So, I can summarize your all opinions as follows…… Is it true? VIII APPENDIX QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWING TEACHERS I Lead-in “Hello As I told you on the phone yesterday, as part of my study about demotivating factors demotivating Electronics-major students in ESP classes, today I’d like to ask you some questions It will probably take about 20-25 minutes, is that OK? Thank you.” How long have you been teaching English for Electronics? II Testing and exploring ideas Main questions Possibly additional questions Clarifying questions - Do you think that your students have In your opinion, demand to study ESP? what demotivated - In your opinion, does that students’ English your students to ability learn ESP? is not good affect students’ demotivation in learning ESP? - Do you think that specialized texts in ESP - Can you expand a course book are long or boring or too little on this? difficult for your students to understand or - Can you tell me include many new words? anything else? - In your point of view, are teaching and - Can you give me learning facilities sufficient? Do they some examples? motivate your students in ESP classes? - Does this factor - Do you think that grammar points in ESP affect your students course book are not too difficult for your in ESP classes? students to understand? - Do you think this - Do you often encourage your students? If demotivates your yes, how? students in learning What you - How you warm up your students? ESP? often in ESP - How you often teach specialized texts? IX periods? - Do you often give your students other materials, not in the course book, such as videos, pictures? - Have you ever team-taught with subject teachers? - How tolerant are you when students keep - Can you expand a making mistakes? (Silent until they finish little on this? their task, smile and help them realized - Can you tell me correct mistakes/ silent but not willing to anything else? smile and supportive/ get angry…)/ How - Can you give me you feel when students keep making some examples? mistakes? And what you often in that - Does this factor case? affect your students - have you ever had difficulty in explaining in ESP classes? the content of the specialized texts in the - Do you think this textbook? How often? demotivates your - How often you increase speed of students in learning teaching in order to cover all parts of units? - Do you think that translation method is a good one in teaching ESP? How often you use translation method? - In your opinion, students have to learn by heart new words? How often you ask your students to learn by heart new words? Can you tell a - Where did you collect the data to design the little bit about the course book? Or you wrote them by process in which yourself? you designed the - What did you base on to choose/ write X ESP? English for specialized texts? Electronics course - How long were you given to design the book? course book? - How much were you paid? Do you analyze your students’ needs when you designed the course book, while you taught and after finishing each ESP course? In your opinion, what solutions can help your students to overcome their de-motivation? III Conclusion - Do you want to add any demotivating factors? - Thank you very much for your all ideas So, I can summarize your all opinions as follows…… Is it true? XI ... STUDENTS TO LEARN ESP AT SAO DO UNIVERSITY NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC YẾU TỐ GÂY NÊN SỰ MẤT HỨNG THÚ ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN TỬ TRONG GIỜ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SAO ĐỎ M.A MINOR THESIS... students in ESP classes at Sao Do University were In this study, factors demotivating the students in ESP classes were divided into categories: student-related factors, teacher-related factors and... cares to students 35 3.2 Discussions of findings on factors that demotivate students to study ESP at SDU The original research question asked what factors demotivating the Electronics-major students