VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ TUYẾT MAI MOTIVATIONAL CHANGES IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI DURING PREPARATORY PROGRAMS (Những thay đổi động lực học tập sinh viên tiếng Anh Khoa Quốc tế - Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội trình học dự bị tiếng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field Code : English Teaching Methodology : 601410 HÀ NỘI, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ TUYẾT MAI MOTIVATIONAL CHANGES IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI DURING PREPARATORY PROGRAMS (Những thay đổi động lực học tập sinh viên tiếng Anh Khoa Quốc tế - Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội trình học dự bị tiếng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 601410 Supervisor : Ass Prof Dr TRẦN XUÂN ĐIỆP HÀ NỘI, 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv APPENDICES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Objectives of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II DEVELOPMENT Chapter Theoretical background of motivation Definition and the nature of motivation Roles of motivation in language learning Types of motivation 3.1 Integrative motivation 3.2 Instrumental motivation 3.3 Integrative vs Instrumental motivation Factors affecting student motivation in L2 learning 10 4.1 Learner’s factors 10 4.2 Course Material Factors 11 4.3 Teacher Factors 12 Chapter Literature review 13 Chapter Methodology 16 v Subjects of the study 16 Data collection instruments 17 2.1 Questionnaire for students 17 2.2 Interviews for teachers 18 Data analysis 18 Data analysis and Findings 18 4.1 Questionnaire data 18 4.1.1 Multiple choice questions 18 4.1.2 Open-ended questions 24 4.2 Interviews with teachers 26 Discussion of the findings 32 Pedagogical implications 33 6.1 Maintain their instrumental motivation and enhance their integrative motivation 35 6.2 Care for students’ needs and interests 34 6.3 Have students participate 34 6.4 Give compliments and rewards 35 6.5 Be enthusiastic, helpful, friendly and tolerant 35 PART III CONCLUSION 36 Recapitulation of the main ideas 36 1.1 Summary of the theories 36 1.2 Summary of the research procedure 36 1.3 Summary of the findings 37 1.3.1 Students’ motivational changes 37 1.3.2 Techniques and activities used by teachers 37 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 38 vi APPENDICES APPENDIX A III APPENDIX B VII SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH In an attempt to investigate motivation and motivational changes among students of Preparatory Programs at International School (IS), VNU, the main purposes of the research were to find out (1) the current situation of being without motivation of many students when they first come to International School, (2) causes of such a situation, (3) changes in the levels of motivation after students have studied there for a certain time and (4) suggestions to raise students’ levels of motivation The subjects of the study were 50 students and teachers of Preparatory Programs The teachers were asked to join in an interview and students to answer a survey questionnaire As the findings show, students’ levels of motivation have changed after they have learned at IS for a certain time, many students, from being unmotivated, have found interest and goals in learning in here, that is because of a number of factors relating to their self-awareness, teachers’ support, learning environment, etc Finally, the study recommends that in order to maintain students’ interest in learning, teachers should vary teaching methods, adapt textbooks, focus on students’ needs, provide students with a variety of appropriate tasks and activities and be enthusiastic, friendly and tolerant as well The result will be presented in three parts The first part, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods, design of the study and definition of key terms The second part, DEVELOPMENT, includes three chapter: Theoretical Background presents concepts relevant to the topic; Literature Review looks at previous studies into motivation; and Methodology provides the methodology underlying the research site which includes the general information about the study subjects and the situation of motivation at IS This chapter also focuses on the method of data collection The last part, CONCLUSION offers a recapitulation of the main ideas, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies 2 PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study From a centre-sized school, International School, VNU has developed both in size and quality with more and more students each intake every year However, it does not necessarily mean students have found their motivation in here They come to IS for a variety of reasons, but above all, IS does not take students through University Entrance Exam so it is a second chance for the majority of those failing other Universities Therefore, it is a fact that when students first come to IS, many of them lose selfconfidence, either because of embarrassment of failing the university entrance exam or low level of English or unfamiliarity with foreign teachers and so on, which makes class environment and teacher-student relationship stressful Authority and lecturers at IS have gone different length to encourage students to learn, with a hope that their students can find their confidence, and develop both instrumental and integrative motivation Therefore, an analysis of their motivation and motivational changes during their study at IS will be conducted to determine whether instrumental or integrative motivation is the preference of IS students, thus eventually give some suggestions to make IS students more confident and eager in their study Objectives of the study This study is carried out to meet the following objectives: 1) Analyze the reasons why many students not have motivation 2) Analyze changes in the levels of motivation 3) Offer options to raise students’ levels of motivation Scope of the study The study only focuses on an overview of current situation of English learning among students of Preparatory programs at IS Methods of the study To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher uses survey research and both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in completing the following tasks: - through a questionnaire from 50 students of Preparatory Programs - through interviews from teachers teaching at Preparatory Programs All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion are based on the data analysis 4 PART II DEVELOPMENT Chapter Theoretical background of motivation Definition and the nature of motivation Motivation is not easy to understand or explain; whenever we feel a desire of need for doing something, we are motivated Different people are motivated by different things and motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action (Harmer 1991: 3) Although there are numerous different definitions of motivation (by Gardner, Wlodwoski, Ellis, etc.), it is commonly thought of as “the process of arousing, directing, and maintaining behavior” (Burden 1994:261) Roles of motivation in language learning Motivation and learning is the study of how to harness learners’ intrinsic interest – their inherent curiosity and sense of wonder about the world – to help them learn (Lepper 1998: 2) - According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), motivation to learn a language is grounded in positive attitudes towards the language community and in a desire to communicate with valued members of that community and become similar to them - Littlewood (1995: P53) noted that in language learning as in every other filed of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on task at all, how much energy he devotes to it and how long he perserves It is a complex phenomenon which includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on Gardner (1985: P10) defined motivation for language learning as “the extent to which an individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity” 5 Types of motivation - Integrative motivation: a favorable attitude toward the target language community; possibly a wish to integrate and adapt to a new target culture through use of the language - Instrumental motivation: a more functional reason for learning the target language, such as job promotion, or a language requirement Factors affecting student motivation in language learning According to Cottrell, 2001, whether students are motivated or demotivated are due to the following factors: 4.1 Learner’s factors - The Self-belief - Vagueness about the Objectives of Learning - Past experience of learning - Inefficient Learning Strategies - Attitudes: 4.2 Course Material Factors 4.3 Teacher Factors Chapter Literature review There have been quite many researches into integrative motivation, the definition and its roles in language learning Persson and Ljungman (2009) carried out a study in Thailand and it was shown that integrative motivation is prominent The effect of integrative motivation appears to be weaker in other situations, where learners hardly have chances to use the language outside classrooms Lukmani (1972) found that female Marathi speakers in Bombay were more related to instrumental motivation than integrative motivation Berwick and Ross (1989) conducted a study among a group of 90 first-year Japanese university students who enrolled in an international commerce and a compulsory English course It was found that those student have instrumental motivation as they hoped to pass the university entrance exam, but as soon as learners achieve their goals, there is no reason for them to continue learning In contrast, those with integrative motivation can keep their interest for long However, in some studies, the learners’ reasons for studying cannot be labeled either integrative or instrumental motivation, like in the study of Benson (1991) 7 Chapter Methodology Subjects of the study The subjects of the study consist of 53 participants in groups: The first group includes 50 students of Preparatory Programs, IS with different levels of English (from Beginning to Upper-intermediate levels) The second group involves teachers aged from 26 to 34 They have been teaching English in Preparatory Programs, IS for at least years Data collection instruments 2.1 Questionnaire for students The questionnaire is aimed to find out about students’ experience in learning English at IS and their notice of how their levels of motivation have changed after some time at IS 2.2 Interviews for teachers The 20-minute interviews were structured with a list of open-ended questions and aimed to get their evaluation of their students’ motivation to learn in English classes Also, it is hoped to collect their ideas of how to best motivate students as well as what to avoid if teachers would like to encourage students’ interest in learning English Data analysis The quantitative data gathered has been classified and converted into percentage to compare responses to the items The qualitative analysis has been carried out to analyze the data via the open-ended questions of the questionnaire, and interview 8 PART III CONCLUSION Recapitulation of the main ideas 1.1 Summary of the theories The study presented concepts relevant to the topic such as definition of motivation, roles of motivation in language learning, types of motivation, factors affecting motivation It also looked at previous studies into two types of motivation: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation 1.2 Summary of the research procedures The study permitted an investigation of Motivational changes among students of English at International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi during Preparatory Programs with a view to analyzing the situation of students’ demotivation when they first come to IS, finding reasons for this situation, noticing any changes after students have studied there for a certain time to finally offer suggestions to raise their levels of motivation The study gave an overview of what motivation is, its roles in language learning, types of motivation, and factors affecting motivation Also, the study looked at previous studies by famous researchers which investigated carefully two types of motivation: integrative and instrumental In the study, the participants were 50 students and teachers of English Preparatory Programs at IS Special care was taken to select a mixture of students from all levels, from beginner to upper-intermediate The three teachers were chosen in interviews to see students in the eyes of the instructors In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, questionnaire for students, interviews for teachers were used The questionnaire included multiple choice questions Open-ended questions were also added Then, the data was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods In the light of the analyses made, the following implications and suggestions were made 1.3 Summary of the findings The findings of the study will be summarized on the following aspects: 1.3.1 Students’ motivational changes It was concluded from students’ responses in the questionnaire and teachers’ evaluation in the interviews that students themselves and teachers noticed certain changes in students’ motivation to learn English From being demotivated as a result of failing University entrance exam, many students have found their interest in IS, VNU, with foreign teachers, devoted teachers, good friends, modern facilities, etc However, it is observed that there still remain quite a number of students who cannot find the joy of learning, no matter what teachers and the school have done Anyway, the major kind of motivation for IS students to learn English is instrumental motivation Most of them are learning to pass exams, complete the Preparatory Programs and move forward to University Programs, some good students are trying hard to get scholarships from the school A necessity for communicating with English speaking people was not regarded as their main reason, though some students said that they are keen on meeting and speaking to foreigners 1.3.2 Techniques and activities that should be used by teachers In order to stimulate students to learn English, teachers at IS should try different ways Firstly, it is important to encourage students to develop both integrative and instrumental motivation Also, the teachers should maintain the students’ interests by integrating games between lessons to relieve students from stress and tiredness, and creating interesting topics to suit students’ needs Materials are also adapted to match their levels of English At the same time, a variety of activities like team work, group discussions, and role plays should be carried out frequently Moreover, teachers are ready to give students 10 compliments and praises if they volunteer answers or something right and try to avoid complain or criticism if they give wrong answers Above all, the teachers need to give their students the impression that they are tolerant, friendly and enthusiastic Limitations of the study Since the study has been confined to the scope of an M.A thesis, much remains to be done First, the study only carries out an investigation into the motivation changes in students of Preparatory Programs, not in a larger scale Thus, to some extent, the findings may not be generalized to all students at IS Second, there are many types of factors affecting student motivation, and thus, many ways for teachers to motivate their students to learn but the number of factors and techniques in this study are still limited Third, all the findings are based on the responses of students and teachers in the questionnaire and interview, so they may not be as vivid and reliable as the researcher’s observations of real classes Suggestions for further studies The mentioned limitations call for further research The first suggestion for those interested in motivation of IS students is to carry out a larger-scale research in the whole school, including Preparatory Programs and University Programs to have more general findings and conclusion It is also recommended that the further study take a deeper investigation into techniques used by teachers to motivate students to learn, especially tips in organizing and conducting activities in a language class 11 Besides, in order to have a more objective and vivid look, researchers can observe some classes to eyewitness how motivated the students are and what the teachers then counter check what they response in the questionnaire and interviews  .. .VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ TUYẾT MAI MOTIVATIONAL CHANGES IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT INTERNATIONAL. .. VII SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH In an attempt to investigate motivation and motivational changes among students of Preparatory Programs at International School (IS), VNU, the main purposes of the research... motivation and instrumental motivation 1.2 Summary of the research procedures The study permitted an investigation of Motivational changes among students of English at International School, Vietnam