Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER VARIABLES ON STUDENTS MOTIVATION: A SURVEY AT LUONG VAN TUY SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH 1. Conclusion The study is conducted with the purpose of gaining understanding of LVT school students’ perspectives on teacher variables affecting their motivation. It is undoubted that teacher is a key motivational determinant whose variables are highly influential to students’ motivation. Nevertheless, the extent to which each one influences students’ motivation is quite different. Although the study focused on the students’ perspectives, it has significant implications for the teachers of the school and the teacher trainers. 2. Limitations of the study The study has several major limitations. Firstly, it is a smallscale study with a limited coverage of one third of the students at school. However, the students are representatives of students at the school. Secondly, the study did not have the data from teachers. The main reliance on the use of questionnaires does not provide indepth information reflecting the complexities of English language teaching. Finally, the questionnaire administration can be a problem because the amount of time given to the students is around 40 minutes which may affect their responses. 3. Suggestions for further studies Despite the limitations, the study contributes to the knowledge of the teacher at LVT specialized high school about their impact on their students’ motivation. To overcome the above mentioned limitations and provide indepth information, some further studies are desired. First, another study is to be done at a larger scale which involves greater number of students and data should be collected from the teachers to get higher reliability and validity. Secondly, a study focusing on teacher related factors that demotivate students at is worth being carried out. Thirdly, a study on other factors affecting students’ motivation at the school should be focused on.
Số thứ tự:…… HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES HÀ THỊ THANH THỦY THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER VARIABLES ON STUDENTS' MOTIVATION: A SURVEY AT LUONG VAN TUY SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH (Khảo sát ảnh hưởng yếu tố thuộc giáo viên tới động lực học học sinh trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy, Ninh Bình) (MA MINOR PROGRAM THESIS) Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HÀ NỘI - 2015 Số thứ tự:…… HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES HÀ THỊ THANH THỦY THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER VARIABLES ON STUDENTS' MOTIVATION: A SURVEY AT LUONG VAN TUY SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH (Khảo sát ảnh hưởng yếu tố thuộc giáo viên tới động lực học học sinh trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy, Ninh Bình) (MA MINOR PROGRAM THESIS) Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh HÀ NỘI - 2015 i DECLARATION I, Hà Thị Thanh Thủy, hereby certify that the thesis “The influence of teacher variables on students’ motivation at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school, NinhBinh” is submitted for the partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi I also declare that this thesis is result of my own research and efforts and that it has not been submitted for any other purposes Hanoi, 2015 Signature Hà Thị Thanh Thủy ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my indebtedness and sincere gratitude to my supervisor Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh for his invaluable guidance and great support without which this thesis would not have been completed Besides, I am heartily thankful to all the lecturers and teachers of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable and interesting lectures and assistance during my study at the university Many thanks would go to all the teachers of English and students at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school, Ninh Binh whose active participation and cooperation helped me to fulfil this study Last but not least, I send my special thanks to my husband, my family and my friends who provided abundant assistance and encouragement while this work was in progress iii ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of teacher variables on students’ motivation at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school in Ninh Binh This study adopts the survey design The research made use of narratives and a standardised questionnaire for data collection Initially, a number of students were asked to write a guided narrative to identify teacher variables having effects on their motivation Results of this analysis were used to develop the survey questionnaire, which was administered to a larger number of the students whose responses were analysed quantitatively After the questionnaire responses were analysed, several students were invited to write a free narrative about the teacher that most influenced their learning motivation This aims at further enhancing the results got from questionnaire analysis The findings revealed the teacher variables strongly affecting students’ motivation They are personality, teaching methodology, attitude, and English proficiency iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION PART B: DEVELOPMENT .6 PART C: CONCLUSION 37 APPENDIXES I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LVT school Luong Van Tuy specialized high school L2 Second or Foreign language SD Standard Deviation vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1: Motivating factors from teacher 16 Table 3.2: The most influential motivating factors 17 Table 3.3: The most influential demotivating factors 18 Table 3.4: Description of teacher variables 18 Table 3.5: Students’ rating of the influence of teacher’s personal characteristics on their motivation Table 3.6: Students’ rating of the influence of teacher’s professional skills on their motivation Table 3.7: Student’s rating of the influence of teaching practices on their motivation Table 3.8: Student’s rating of the influence of teacher’s attitude on their motivation Table 3.9: Student’s rating of the influence of teacher’s English proficiency on their motivation 21 23 26 30 32 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 3.1: Students’ motivation affected by teacher’s personal characteristics Figure 3.2: Students’ motivation affected by teacher’s professional skills 21 24 Figure 3.3: Students’ motivation affected by teaching practices 27 Figure 3.4: Students’ motivation affected by teacher’s attitude 30 Figure 3.5: Students’ motivation affected by teacher’s English proficiency 33 29 terms of their competence, personality, learning method as well as other personal characteristics Strategies not exceeding their competence and related to their everyday life would help their learning take place more easily They have no difficulty following instruction Suitable tasks not only get their potential to the fullest but also help them feel self-confident Consequently, they are more motivated to learn 3.3.3 Teacher’s attitude Among teacher variables, teacher’s attitude is of special importance as it primarily affects the teacher and determines teacher’s behaviours, efforts and has strong impact on every aspect of teaching process Then it influences learners The study takes into consideration the influence on students’ motivation of following aspects of teacher’s attitude: enthusiasm and interest, fair treatment among students, respecting students’ ideas, and serious professional behaviour Table 3.8: Student’s rating of the influence of teacher’s attitude on their motivation Attitude Fair treatment among students Interest and enthusiasm Respecting students’ ideas Serious professional behaviour MEAN 4.13 4.14 4.11 3.28 SD 0.757 0.730 0.734 0.815 30 Figure 3.4: Student motivation affected by teacher's attitude As shown in Table 3.8 and Figure 4, the majority of the respondents generally agree that teacher’s attitude is a factor hugely affecting students’ motivation The Mean index ranges from 3.28 to 4.14 Four out of five items whose Mean index is over 4.0, which shows the positive respond of learners to most of the aspects The S.D which is from 0.730 to 0.815 reflects the data reliability The following part further discusses the impact of each aspect Of the attitude-related factors, teacher’s interest and enthusiasm are the most motivating with 85, 8% of agreement and strong agreement The high percentage indicates the strong impact of teacher’s interest and enthusiasm on students’ motivation This can also be seen through little total percentages of disagreement which are 1.2% When being asked why teacher’s interest and enthusiasm affect their motivation to learn, students shared the view that teachers who have strong passion and enthusiasm set good examples for them to follow Those teachers constantly come up with new creative teaching techniques to better their teaching to attract students’ attention Around 13% of the learners not clearly see the influence of teacher’s interest and enthusiasm on their motivation to learn Ranking the second place among the four aspects in terms of level of agreement is “teacher’s respecting students’ ideas” The percentages of agreement and disagreement are almost the same or exactly the same as those of “teacher’s interest and enthusiasm” (84, % and 1, 2%, respectively) Explaining the motivational influence of this activity, students said that they would feel their ideas highly valued and appreciated and have no hesitation to raise their voice and fully aware of their contribution to the lesson This obviously inspires and motivates them to learn Little percentage of opposition further enhances the importance of this aspect Among the four aspects, the only item that does not receive any type of disagreement is “treating students fairly” and relatively high percentage of supporting Table 3.8 indicates over three quarters of the respondents (77.4%) show 31 their approval of this activity It is stated that teacher’s treating students fairly really motivate students as it would make students feel respected and have equal chances of getting their potential fulfilled regardless of their proficiency, personality, and their parents’ social status They believe that they are an integral part of teaching and learning process Teacher’s serious professional behaviour appears to be least favourable Only less than half of the respondents are motivated to learn under the influence of teacher’s serious behaviour While the majority of students neither supported nor protested the behaviour, around 11% of the students responded negatively to this, which is the highest percentage of disagreement recorded through the questionnaire Explaining for their disagreement, learners said that teacher’s serious professional behaviour would create intense pressure and cause unpleasant classroom atmosphere It would make students feel uncomfortable and keep distance from their teachers 3.3.4 Teacher’s English proficiency Teachers’ English proficiency has been recognized as an important qualification for successful English teaching (Butler, 2004) When it comes to the question “How does teacher’s English proficiency influence students’ motivation to learn”, it may sound strange because it is commonly assumed that as a teacher of English, the linguistic competence of the teacher is undoubtedly adequate However, results of recent tests of proficiency which was administered to the teachers working in Ninh Binh by Hanoi-based University showed that out of 10 teachers of the school achieved the targeted proficiency level Their low proficiency level is partly due to poor initial training but mostly because of teacher’s work conditions in which they not have exposure to the target language or opportunities to interact in English with more capable peers This is a great concern because teacher’s English proficiency affects their teaching methodology As discussed in the preceding part, teaching methodology consequently affects 32 students’ motivation so teacher’s English proficiency obviously indirectly influences students’ motivation In the context where the main linguistic input is the teacher of English, the two important aspects are teacher’s English proficiency in general and teacher’s English pronunciation in particular Table 9: Students’ rating of the influence of the teacher’s English proficiency on their motivation Attitude Adequate English proficiency Standard English pronunciation MEAN 4.14 4.18 SD 0.88 0,79 Figure 3.5: Student’s motivation affected by teacher’s English proficiency The relatively high Mean indexes (4.14 and 4.18) and other indexes shown in Table 3.9 as well as Figure 3.5 indicate that two aspects are great motivating contributors The adequacy of English proficiency strongly affects students’ motivation, which is illustrated through the percentage of total agreement up to 81% Among the rest, only 4.8% of respondents not share the same view with the majority It may sound unnatural to take this criterion into consideration because it is assumed that as a teacher of English, his pronunciation is undoubtedly standard 33 However, as a matter of fact the pronunciation of non-native teachers is affected by not a few factors, which leads to the inadequacy of pronunciation of some teachers It is note-worthy that teacher’s pronunciation is of great importance It has great influence on students as it is what students are directly exposed to daily When being asked how influential of this factor on their motivation, 85, % of the respondents confirmed that teacher’s standard pronunciation was highly significant and motivated them to learn English Only 2, 4% said that the pronunciation of their teacher does not have any motivating impact on them Overall, the adequacy of teacher’s pronunciation obviously has positive influence on students’ motivation 3.4 From free narrative The final phase of the study, students were asked to write a free story about one of their teachers of English who either motivates them or demotivates them to learn English They are simply to write in Vietnamese to get valid reflection The purpose of having this type of narrative is to further clarify the results of the questionnaire The six most typical stories are chosen as prime examples of the influence of teacher on students’ motivation to learn English (The original ones are in Appendix 1C) 3.4.1 Story 1, and The story 1, and are about the influence of teacher’s personality, attitude, teaching practices upon the students’ motivation More specifically, they are his/her intimacy, and encouragement that have direct influence The teacher formed close relationship with the students, encouraging them, sharing with them and having proper method The students in the three stories all found learning English so challenging and boring at first and then experienced the changes in their motivation due to their teacher’s encouragement and teaching practices Below is what they wrote: Student 1: “Cơ người mang lại cho tơi động lực đó, người giúp tơi hiểu rằng: phải u thích làm tốt điều đấy” (My 34 teacher was the one that motivated me to learn She helped me realize that passion is the key to the success) Student 2: Nhưng lên cấp 2, suy nghĩ em với tiếng Anh thay đổi hẳn Nhờ vào cách cô giúp chúng em suy nghĩ tương lai ngơn ngữ Anh đóng vai trị người bạn, cơng cụ làm việc Cái cách tâm sự, trị chuyện nghề nghiệp tương lai mà thú vị Bằng cách giúp chúng em tiếp cận, tìm hiểu sâu, tìm hiểu kĩ tiếng Anh, tình yêu với tiếng Anh em lớn dần lên (When I entered secondary school, my attitude toward English changed due to my teacher’s words She emphasized the importance of English as a friend, a tool The way she talked to me about the future job was so impressive Student 3: Lúc đầu, em không ý đến tiếng anh học để thi Sau lên lớp em bị ấn tượng cách dạy với vui tính Dz, sau em thích tiếng Anh học (At first, I did not pay much attention to learning English I just learned it as it was compulsory Then I got to th grade, impressed by the humour and the teaching manner of Ms Dz, I became more serious about learning English My interest in English as well as learning the language increased) 3.4.2 Story 4: The story is about the impact of the above discussed variables of a certain teacher on the story teller The student is now 12th form one at LVT specialized high school She had not found learning English interesting until she was taught by the teacher named TD when she started secondary school The teacher was humorous, enthusiastic, and her English was quite good The way she delivered lectures was rather creative Therefore, the writer felt motivated to learn the language and she made quite a lot of progress However, when she was in grade 11 th, she lost the motivation because of the teacher There was almost no interaction between teacher and students The class atmosphere was very dull due to the students’ passiveness Many students failed to engage in the classroom activities even when they could perform very well if they 35 tried Some showed not much interest to the subject and learning the language as expected 3.4.3 Story and The two stories are examples of teachers demotivating students because they lacked variables that have been discussed Story 5: English used to be his favourite subject and he had been trying to pursuit it However, the teacher teaching him English at th grade demotivated him He stated reasons why the teacher demotivated him “Vì khơng biết cách truyền dạy kiên thức, tồn tập không tầm làm cho chúng em chán ngán môn tiếng Anh chúng em cần nâng cao dạy kiến thức khơng trọng tâm, khơng có kinh nghiệm giảng dạy, khơng biết quản lý lớp (she didn’t have proper teaching practices, lacked teaching experience and class management skill) Gradually, he lost interest in learning the language Story 6: In her opinion, a good teacher makes learning process interesting and stimulates students’ motivation to learn However, there are teachers demotivating students The teacher that demotivated her was the one in charge of her class when she was 8th form student She had been a teacher of Russian and then she changed her major to English Her English was not adequate; her teaching practices were traditional ones mostly getting students to learn by heart This made her students fed up with learning English Summary: Chapter presents discussion on the influence of teacher variables on students’ motivation to learn English at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school In short, students’ motivation is affected by a wide variety of factors namely personality, teaching methodology, attitude, and English proficiency The findings of the study are basic for recommendations which will be put forward in the next chapter 36 CHAPTER 4: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 4.1 Summary of main findings The findings of this study reveal variables related to the teacher that affect students’ motivation to learn English at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school, Ninh Binh Those are teacher’s personality, teaching methodology, teacher’s attitude as well as teacher’s English proficiency The influence of those variables can be either positive or negative depending on specific characteristics belonging to each one Being rated by overwhelming of students, typical motivation contributors are open manner, creative and effective teaching methods, appropriate professional behaviours, positive attitude and adequate linguistic competence Other ones which are reported to be the causes of demotivation among students are being strict and distant from students, traditional and ineffective teaching methods, negative attitude and inadequate English proficiency The findings of this study lend are similar to the results reported in the literature that teachers are of great importance to students’ motivation Not only does the teachers’ professional competencies such as proficiency in English and classroom methodologies, but also their personal traits and attitude towards teaching and towards the students are motivation contributors 4.2 Implications The findings of this study inform not only classroom teachers but also teacher trainers of the competencies that teachers need to acquire if they agree that students’ motivation is the key to learning success This implies that teacher education and teacher development should aim to develop the competencies that are defined in the Competency Framework for English Language Teachers by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training The Framework consists of five domains, which are knowledge of subject, knowledge of teaching, knowledge of learners, attitude and values, and learning in and from practice and informed by context (National Foreign Language 2020 Project & Vietnam National Institute for Educational Sciences, 2013) 37 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion The study is conducted with the purpose of gaining understanding of LVT school students’ perspectives on teacher variables affecting their motivation It is undoubted that teacher is a key motivational determinant whose variables are highly influential to students’ motivation Nevertheless, the extent to which each one influences students’ motivation is quite different Although the study focused on the students’ perspectives, it has significant implications for the teachers of the school and the teacher trainers Limitations of the study The study has several major limitations Firstly, it is a small-scale study with a limited coverage of one third of the students at school However, the students are representatives of students at the school Secondly, the study did not have the data from teachers The main reliance on the use of questionnaires does not provide indepth information reflecting the complexities of English language teaching Finally, the questionnaire administration can be a problem because the amount of time given to the students is around 40 minutes which may affect their responses Suggestions for further studies Despite the limitations, the study contributes to the knowledge of the teacher at LVT specialized high school about their impact on their students’ motivation To overcome the above mentioned limitations and provide in-depth information, some further studies are desired First, another study is to be done at a larger scale which involves greater number of students and data should be collected from the teachers to get higher reliability and validity Secondly, a study focusing on teacher related factors that demotivate students at is worth being carried out Thirdly, a study on other factors affecting students’ motivation at the school should be focused on 38 REFERENCES Alison, J 1993 Not bothered Motivating reluctant language learners in Key Stage London: CILT Ausubel, D P., Novak, J.D., & Hanesian, H (1978) Educational psychology: A Cognitive View (2nd ed.) New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston Balman, L & Palmer, A (1996) Langaguage assessment in practice Teacher College, Colombia University working papers in TESOL &Applied Linguistics, 2010, Vol.10, No.2 Book Review Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P., & Chik, A (2014) Narrative inquiry in language teaching and learning research New York: Routledge Boyatzis, R.E (1998) Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development Thousand Oaks, London, & New Delhi: SAGE Publications Brown, J D (2001b) Using surveys in language programs New York, NY: Cambridge University Press Butler, G (2004) What level of English proficiency elementary school teachers need to attain to teach EFL? Case studies from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan TESOL Quarterly, 38(2), 245-278 Brophy, J., & Kher, N (1986) Teacher socialization as a mechanism for developing student motivation to learn In R Feldman (Ed.), The social psychology of education: Current research and theory (pp 257-288) New York: Cambridge University Press Callahan, S (1966) Successful Teaching in secondary schools Glenview, 111, Scott Chambers, G (1999) Motivating language learners Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Christophel, D (1990) The relationship among teacher immediacy behaviours, student motivation, and learning Communication Education, 39, 32334 39 Council of Europe, 2001 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Deci, E L (1975) Intrinsic motivation New York: Plenum Deci, E L., & Ryan, R M (1991) A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality In R Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: Vol 38, (pp 237-288) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press Dörnyei, Z (1998) Motivation in second and foreign language learning Language teaching volume 31 Dörnyei, Z (2001) Teaching and research motivation Essex, England: Person Dörnyei, Z (2002) The motivational basis of language learning tasks In P Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp 137158) Amsterdam: John Benjamins Dörnyei, Z (2003) Questionnaire in second language research: Construction, Administration, and Processing Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Dörnyei, Z (2005) The Psychology of language learner: Individual differences in second language Acquisition London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Dörnyei, Z (2007a) Research methods in Applied Linguistics Oxford: Oxford University Press Dornyei, Z (2007b) Motivation in second and foreign language Language Teaching, 31, 117 - 135 Dörnyei, Z (2009) The psychology of second language acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press Dörnyei, Z & Csizer, K (1998) Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study Language Teaching Research 2, 203- 229 Dörnyei, Z., & Tseng, W T (2009) Motivational processing in interactional tasks In A Mackey & C Polio (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on interaction: Second language research in honour of Susan M Gass (pp 117-134) London: Routledge 40 Ellis, R (1997) The study of second Language Acquisition London: Oxford University Press Ely, C (1986) Language learning motivation: A descriptive and causal analysis The Modern Language Journal, 70(1), 28-35 Gardner, R C & Lambert, W.E (1972) Motivational variables in second language acquisition In R.C Gardner & W Lambert (eds.) Attitude and motivation in second language learning Rowley, MA: Newbury House Gardner, R C (1985a) Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude & motivation London: Edward Arnold Publisher Juvonen, J & Nishina, A (1997) Social motivation in the classroom: Attributional accounts and developmental analysis In P.R Pintrich and M L Maeher Advances in Motivation and Achievement, Vol 10 (pp 181-211) JAI Press Lambert, W E (1974) Culture and language as factors in learning and education In F F Aboud & R D Meade (Eds.), Cultural factors in learning and education Bellingham: Western Washington State University Lewin, K., Lippitt, R & White, R (1939) ‘Patterns of aggressive behaviour in experimentally created “social climates”’, Journal of Social Psychology 10: 271-99 Liu, E Z, Lin, C Jian, P, P & Liou, P (2012) The dynamics of motivation and learning strategy in a creativity supporting learning environment in higher education The Turkish online Journal of Educational Technology, 11 (1) 172- 80 Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) 2006 Chuong trinh giao duc thong mon tieng Anh [English Curriculum for the Secondary School] Hanoi: Education Publishing House M Keller (1983) Motivational design for learning and performance Springer Noels, K., Clement, R., & Pelletier, L (1999) Perceptions of teacher communicative style and students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Modern Language Journal, 83, 23-34 41 Pintrich, P R & Schunk D.H (1996) Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall Trang, T.T.T., & Baldauf, R B (2009) Demotivation: Understanding resistance to English language learning: The case of Vietnamese students The Journal of Asia TEFL, (1), 79-105 Ushioda, E (2009) A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity In Z Dörnyei & E Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self Bristol: Multilingual Matters William, M & Burden, R (1997) Psychology for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ... SURVEY AT LUONG VAN TUY SPECIALIZED HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH (Khảo sát ảnh hưởng yếu tố thuộc giáo viên tới động lực học học sinh trường THPT chuyên Lương Văn Tụy, Ninh Bình) (MA MINOR PROGRAM... examines the effects of teacher variables on students? ?? motivation at Luong Van Tuy specialized high school in Ninh Binh This study adopts the survey design The research made use of narratives and... SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 4.1 Summary of main findings The findings of this study reveal variables related to the teacher that affect students? ?? motivation to learn English at Luong Van