VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS THE CURRENT STATUS OF USING THE INTERNET FOR LEARNING OF ENGLISH -MAJORED STUDENTS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE THỰC TRẠNG SỬ DỤNG INTERNET TRONG HỌC TẬP CỦA SINH VIÊN NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student: NGUYEN VAN THUAN Major: ENGLISH Supervisor: LE THI HONG LAM, M.A NGUYEN THI KIM QUE, M.Ed HÀ NỘI - 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “The current state of using the internet for learning of English-majored students at Vietnam National University of Agriculture” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in the English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2021 Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGMENT Throughout my thesis work, I received enthusiastic support and guidance, which guided and encouraged me to overcome all obstacles and bring this difficult but meaningful time to a close First of all, I would like to thank Supervisor Ms Le Thi Hong Lam (MA) for wholeheartedly guiding us through each lesson as well as talks and discussions about creativity in scientific research Second, I'd like to express my gratitude to Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Que, who assisted me in correcting spelling and grammar errors in my thesis Third, I'd like to thank the teachers at Vietnam National University of Agriculture's Faculty of Foreign Language Education for enthusiastically imparting valuable knowledge that will help me throughout my studies at the university In addition, I'd like to thank my juniors and classmates for assisting me with the survey and assisting me in passing the thesis Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family for providing the best conditions for me to study and complete the study program at the lecture hall after four years of university Finally, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who assisted me in completing this internship report ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi ABSTRACT vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.2.1 Aims of the study 1.2.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.6 DESIGN OF THE STUDY PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (at home/abroad) 1.1.1 Review of previous studies in Viet Nam 1.1.2 Review of the previous studies abroad 1.2 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 10 1.2.1 Internet definition 10 1.2.2 Uses of the Internet 14 1.2.3 The role of the internet 16 1.2.4 University students and the Internet 17 1.3 SUMMARY 19 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21 2.1 RESEARCH GOVERNING ORIENTATION 21 iii 2.2 RESEARCH METHODS 21 2.2.1 Theoretical research methods 21 2.2.2 Questionnaire method 21 2.2.3 Data analysis 22 2.3 SUMMARY 22 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 23 3.1.THE LOCATION OF THE STUDENTS’ INTERNET ACCESS 23 3.2 THE LENGTH OF TIME STUDENTS SPEND ON THE INTERNET 25 3.3 FREQUENCY OF USING THE INTERNET FOR STUDYING 26 3.4 THE PURPOSES OF STUDENTS' INTERNET ACCESS 27 3.5 STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNET 31 3.6 STUDENTS’ MONTHLY SPENDING/PAYMENT ON THE INTERNET 32 3.7 SUMMARY 33 PART 3: CONCLUSION 34 3.1 RECAPITULATION 34 3.2 CONCLUDING REMARKS 34 3.3 LIMITATION OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH 35 3.4 RECOMMENDATIONS 35 3.4.1.Recommendations for Vietnam National University Of Agriculture 35 3.4.2 Recommendations for the professors and academic advisors 36 3.4.3 Recommendations for the students 36 REFERENCES 37 QUESTIONNAIRE 39 iv LIST OF TABLES Table3.1.1 Locations of the students’ Internet access 23 Table 3.4.2: The purposes of accessing the Internet 28 Table 3.4.3: Solutions when having problems in learning 29 Table 3.4.4: Differences in top priority activities chosen by students of different courses when using the Internet 30 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1.2 Students’ electronic devices to access the internet 24 Figure 3.2.1: The length of time students spend on the internet 25 Figure 3.3.1 Frequency of using the Internet for studying 26 Figure 3.4.1 Students use any websites to study online or not 27 Figure 3.5.1: Students’ perceptions of the importance of the Internet 31 Figure 3.6.1: students’ monthly spending on the internet 32 vi ABSTRACT Almost every student nowadays has access to the Internet The Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a tool for students to use for learning, research, and entertainment, etc This study aims to find out the current state of using the internet for learning of English-majored students at Vietnam National University of Agriculture This study was carried out using a questionnaire with 14 questions to ask students about their purposes, duration, frequency and contents of their internet access According to the survey results, all students stated that the Internet is important to them This allows us to observe the effects of Internet use in the lives of students and evaluate the factors influencing their Internet use vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY In recent years, people have witnessed dramatic changes in the media, one of the leading services today is the Internet It is an indispensable means of humanity, a service "fast, compact, convenient", not only that, the Internet has been penetrating almost every field from economics, politics, culture, society and all human activities belonging to all classes of society, especially students' learning The benefits that the Internet brings to students is great: It helps them to have extensive insights in all fields, update information in the fastest way, be convenient in the learning process and bring results high The Internet is a huge source of information in which all knowledge in all fields is available to help students if they know how to choose and receive information It is also a factor that promotes the exchange of learning information and social knowledge In addition, the Internet also helps relieve stress and stress in studying, has more joy, confidence in life can meet and talk to relatives, friends from far away, make friends With many people not only in the country but also extending around the world, creating relationships that give these people more opportunities to work after graduation Nowadays, In the context of globalization with the remarkable development of science and technology, many communication technology services are born to meet the needs of people One of the current leading means of mass communication is the Internet The strong development of the internet system has contributed to the rapid integration of our Vietnamese people into the world and become " International citizens are "equal on social networks According to the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC), our country is proud to have an internet penetration rate of 35.6% as of November 2012 The number of internet users in our country has increased significantly in the past 10 years from 2.1 million in 2003 to 31.1 million by the end of 2012 According to a report from We Are social, as of March 2015, there are 41 million internet users Equivalent to 41% of the population Today, with the help of the Internet, the world of information and communications is now on the screen of a computer or a smartphone The Internet has crept into every lane the niche of human life, strongly impacting on human life using many different aspects, has become indispensable in social, economic, and security development In the latest report of marketers shows that in Vietnam the number of online visitors is between 15 and 24 years old How is Internet use related to today's young people? Especially students of a particular social population group, are young intellectuals in society, they are the most active and sensitive to the development of technology as well as the Internet Internet to study for English language students at Vietnam National University Of Agriculture is also necessary to build students a good study path So the research topic is: "The current status of using the internet in the learning of English majored students at Vietnam National University Of Agriculture " Table 3.4.3: Solutions when having problems in learning What you usually when you're having problems Mean SD Look up documents or answers on the internet 4.12 0.76 Discuss the problems with friends 3.96 0.77 Search the answers/ solutions by yourself in textbooks 3.85 0.73 Inquire the teacher 2.96 0.77 with your study? To better understand the purposes of students' internet use, we try to find out what students usually when they have problems with their study, and the data is shown below: Looking at Table 3.4.3, it can be seen that students have often used the internet to search for documents and materials to answer their learning problems (Mean: 4.12) Second in the table is students discussing the problems with friends to ask their friends to help answer the difficult and unclear areas in the lesson (Mean: 3.96) It can be seen that students trust their friends and find it easy to share their learning difficulties In third place in the data of the table, students find their own answers in books and study materials (Mean: 3.85), it can be seen that textbooks and reference materials have helped students a lot learning Conclusion: According to the above research results, there is a lot of content students search for when using the internet, including information related to studying, learning English through reading news and watching movies, searching documents , exchange learning information with teachers online Through this, we see that the internet plays a very important part in learning, it helps us connect closer together, learn many things outside the big world and especially it is also a teacher to help children learning in learning English such as pronunciation, practice speaking, as well as searching materials 29 The Internet has brought a lot of benefits to us, has opened up a new world for us, making it possible for us to capture everything in the fastest and most convenient way Table 3.4.4: Differences in top priority activities chosen by students of different courses when using the Internet K62 Priorities in activities K63 K64 K65 Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD 1.84 0.59 1.82 0.58 1.83 0.6 1.85 0.59 You use the Internet to search learning materials, study online,or research Looking at the table above, we can see that there is not much difference in the evaluation of priority activities when using the Internet between students in the previous and later classes With the phrase "You use the Internet to lookup study materials, study online, or research" at a low level, it shows that students of the courses still not know how to take advantage of the internet as a teacher, a library with a huge knowledge base giant The highest percentage is K65(1.85), which shows that the new students have been more conscious in learning when entering a new environment that is far different from the high school environment Next is K62(1.84) who have concentrated Searching for documents on the Internet is more because it is in the process of doing graduate thesis, so the search for documents is very high Through this we see that the use of the internet in learning in courses is still very low Students should take advantage of the Internet in learning, if we know how to focus on online learning, it is also a teacher that helps us a lot in knowledge, skills as well as developing close friends 30 Conclusion: For students majoring in English at VNUA, the need to broaden their knowledge is still low They should take advantage of the Internet to get a better and more effective result when the world is in the 4.0 era, the technology era 3.5 STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNET The Internet was officially made available to the people of the country on November 19, 1997 After 20 years of development, Vietnam now has 64 million Internet users, accounting for 67 percent of the country's population; with this number, Vietnam is the world's 12th largest user base worldwide, and ranked sixth out of 35 Asian countries/regions, The Internet has transitioned dramatically from dial-up to broadband and has continued to grow at a breakneck pace Today, The Internet has become an indispensable part of almost all classes of people's socioeconomic – cultural - social lives, particularly for current student class study Figure 3.5.1: Students’ perceptions of the importance of the Internet 31 According to the chart, the role of the Internet in student life is very important, with 79 percent of the majority believing that the Internet is very important in student life for learning and entertainment Following that, 20% believe the Internet is necessary, indicating that the Internet is important to students Finally, only 1% of the 100 respondents thought the Internet was of average importance Conclusion: In today's world, students are the future of the country We live in the 4.0 revolution, the digital world, and the Internet is an indispensable part of your life, bringing you a plethora of benefits However, there are advantages for you in terms of learning, entertainment, and relaxation 3.6 STUDENTS’ MONTHLY SPENDING/PAYMENT ON THE INTERNET Figure 3.6.1: students’ monthly spending on the internet The figure shows that the payment of using the internet ranges from 30,000 to over 70 thousand VND per month In which, the cost of more than 70,000 VND per month accounts for the highest rate of 33 percent It was discovered that students who signed up for 3G and 4G network packages dominated significantly The following is approximately 30,000/month, 32 accounting for 29 percent of the total; from this, we can see that the use of the Internet via Wifi accounts for a fairly high rate because you are now receiving digital technology, so the hostel Every room has wifi, so spending only 30,000 is reasonable Conclusion: From this, we can see that students spend some money each month to pay for internet use, which is reasonable when compared to other students Signing up for 3G and 4G network packages allow you to access the internet from anywhere and at any time 3.7 SUMMARY In conclusion, we researched and discovered the following outstanding characteristics of students regarding internet use: the places where students use the internet are primarily cafes or gathering places with friends Following that, the most common device used to connect to the Internet is a smartphone The maximum amount of time spent on the internet in a day is more than hours The highest dominance is to play games The findings of the preceding studies indicate that the Internet is an effective tool for supporting the learning process and the lives of students However, while it has changed the way students learn, the magnitude of this effect is not as large as expected It is necessary to provide students with access to the Internet for them to learn However, it must be accompanied by a shift in students' attitudes toward internet use We discovered that students frequently use the internet to study, watch movies to learn English (Mean: 2.64), read news in English to improve their English (Mean: 2.61) use the internet to study, exchange lessons with teachers and friends (Mean: 2.41), search for materials, or study online (Mean: 1.83) The Mean scores of students' learning activities are quite low, as can be seen As a result, students have not used the internet to study And, with such frequent Internet access, students must pay around 70,000 VND per month We can see that the internet has a stronghold on students, who regard it as extremely important 33 PART 3: CONCLUSION 3.1 RECAPITULATION The topic "The current state of using the internet for learning of English majored students at VNUA" is carried out using domestic and foreign research, with valid arguments and arguments The steps to conducting the research are as clear and detailed as described above, and the results are obtained through the process of analyzing research contents via survey questionnaires Simultaneously, conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses to identify and clarify the actual situation of internet use in school student practice, to understand the importance and selection of appropriate methods for internet access To draw conclusions and suggestions for the topic based on the research conducted 3.2 CONCLUDING REMARKS With the rapid development of the internet in recent years, the use of the internet for students has grown in popularity, and the internet has also had an impact on aspects of students' lives According to survey results, all survey participants used the internet Analyzing the current state of students' internet use reveals that the main purpose that governs students' internet use activities today is entertainment, which includes watching movies, shopping for goods, and playing online games, etc Using the internet to find information and learn new things is not the primary reason that students use the internet Students use the internet not only at their residence but also at internet access points in cafes, as well as places to hang out with friends and classes Particularly concerning is the birth rate Internet access in the classroom is also fairly common thanks to 3G-enabled phones Every day, most students spend time on the internet We have highlighted the positive and negative aspects of students' use of the internet to guide to help students avoid negative activities 34 3.3 LIMITATION OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH The limitation of this study is that we studied the target group of students majoring in English in a short period of time, not yet representing students of the Vietnam National University of Agriculture We have only looked at the current state of students' internet use and have yet to investigate the negative and positive effects of the internet on students' lives and learning We hope to continue studying these topics in future studies 3.4 RECOMMENDATIONS It can be said that the Internet's importance in all aspects of human activity has demonstrated that for a society to develop based on information technology, the Internet becomes an effective tool in that process The Internet has an impact on every aspect of students' lives Because of the Internet's positive and negative effects, we need effective and practical measures in place to help students understand the nature of this type of communication It is necessary for the family, school, society, and students themselves to properly orient themselves on the role of the internet, to know how to choose and exploit information in a useful way, and to limit and repel negative influences The extreme that internet abuse brings is extremely important and very necessary in today's world Following the conclusion of this topic's research, the following recommendations are made: 3.4.1.Recommendations for Vietnam National University Of Agriculture The school will work together to organize similar sessions and seminars to teach students how to effectively and appropriately use the internet to benefit their studies 35 3.4.2 Recommendations for the professors and academic advisors Faculty and academic advisors advise students on how to use their skills Academic advisors should hold a seminar at the start of the year to advise students on how to effectively use the internet 3.4.3 Recommendations for the students Students must also set a time limit for themselves when using the internet so that it does not interfere with their daily lives; additionally, they must strike a balance between the purpose of study and entertainment when using the internet At the same time, it is necessary to understand how to select good and bad information for yourself, to prepare the right attitude when exposed to a large amount of online information, so that accessing and using the internet brings the greatest efficiency, and to become a healthy socializing environment for a student 36 REFERENCES REFERENCES IN VIETNAMESE Đặng Thị Nga (2013), Nhu cầu sử dụng mạng xã hội sinh viên Cao đẳng Sư phạm Thái Bình, luận văn thạc sỹ Tâm lý học, trường Đại Học KHXH &NV Hà Nội Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo (2013), Tác động Game online việc học tập nâng cao kiến thức học sinh đô thị (Nghiên cứu trường hợp thành phố Ninh Bình) luận văn thạc sỹ xã hội học, Trường Đại Học KHXH &NV Hà Nội Nguyễn Quý Thanh (2011), Internet- sinh viên- lối sống môṭ nghiên cứu xã hội học về phương tiêṇ truyền thông kiểu mới, NXB Đại Học Quốc gia Hà Nội Nguyễn Thị Hậu (2013), Mạng xã hội với giới trẻ thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, NXB Văn hóa- Văn nghệ thành phớ Hồ Chí Minh, Hồ Chí Minh REFERENCES IN ENGLISH Evgeny Morozov (2012), The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedon, Publisher PublicAffairs, Reprint edition Petter Bae Brandtzaeg Ida Maria Haugstveit (2014), Facebook Likes: A Study of Liking Practices for Humanitarian Causes Journal of Int.J of Web Based Communities, Vol.10, No 3, Pg 258 – 279 Petter Bae Bradtzaeg (2012), Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications- A Longitudinal Study Barry Wellman” (1996) “Computer Networks As Social Networks: Collaborative work.Telework and Virtual community” REFERENCES ON WEBSITE Trần Phương Thùy, Đánh giá tình hình sử dụng Internet niên Việt Nam,http://luanvan.net.vn/luan-van/nghien-cuu-hanh-vi-su-dung-manginternetcua-thanh-thieu-nien-ha-noi-5568/, 11/3/2008 37 Phạm Loan, Vai trò Internet đời sống xã hội, https://phamloanpt30.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/vai-tro-cua-internet-trongdoisong-xa-hoi/ (20/8/2012) Tráng Thị Lan Hương, (2013), Tác động ảnh hưởng internet học sinh, sinh viên địa bàn tỉnh Hà Giang Thanh Nguyên, Báo động về tình trạng nghiện Internet giới trẻ, http://songkhoe.vn, http://songkhoe.vn/bao-dong-ve-tinh-trang-nghien-internetogioi-tre-s2964-0-142275.html, 05/04/2016 Internet đã vào Việt Nam nào? http://dantri.com.vn/may-tinhdidong/internet-da-vao-viet-nam-nhu-the-nao-1418677222.htm (8/12/2014) 38 QUESTIONNAIRE Hello friends, We are conducting a research project on The current status of using the internet for learning of English-majored students at VNUA Here are some completely objective questions for which I eagerly await your responses Part 1: Please mark your answer with an X Can you rate the importance of the Internet?  Extremely important  Necessary  Medium  Unnecessary  Very unnecessary How often you use the Internet to study?  Everyday  - days per week  2-3 days per week  1-2 days per week  3-4 days per month How much time per day you spend on the Internet? (estimated or based on Phone Time)  Less than hour  From hour to less than hours  From hours to less than hours  From hours to less than hours  From hours or more What is your primary Internet access device? (Select only one answer)  Smartphone 39  Tablet  Laptop  Desktop  Computers outside the net shop The location of your Internet access is your place of residence  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree The location of your Internet access is your classrooms  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree The location of your Internet access is a café or a place to hang out with friends  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree You search learning materials, study online, or study-related work on the Internet  Strongly Disagree  Disagree 40  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree 9.You use the internet to study, to exchange lessons with teachers and friends  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree 10 You watch English movies on the Internet to learn English  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree 11 You read online news in English to improve your English  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree 12 How much money you spend on the Internet each month?  About 30,000 VND  About 40,000 VND  About 50,000 VND  About 60,000 VND  About 70,000 VND or more 41 13 Do you study online on any websites ?  Yes  No 14 What you usually when you're having problems with your study? Look up documents or answers on the internet  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree Inquire a teacher  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree Discuss the problems with friends  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree  Strongly Agree Search the answers/ solutions by yourself in textbooks  Strongly Disagree  Disagree  Neutral  Agree 42  Strongly Agree Part 2: You mark your answer with an X You are a course participant: K62 K63: K64: K65: Thank you very much for taking the time to complete the questionnaire! 43