(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) Parents’ roles in motivating primary school students to learn English. M.A Thesis Linguistics 60 140 111

3.What are parents‟ role in motivating primary students in learning English at home?. Although parents play an active role in children‟s learning, there is little research on parents‟ ro

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

********************

NGÔ THỊ HUỆ

PARENTS’ ROLES IN MOTIVATING PRIMARY SCHOOL

STUDENTS TO LEARN ENGLISH

VAI TRÒ CỦA PHỤ HUYNH TRONG VIỆC TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC

TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.01.11

Hanoi - 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

********************

NGÔ THỊ HUỆ

PARENTS’ ROLES IN MOTIVATING PRIMARY SCHOOL

STUDENTS TO LEARN ENGLISH

VAI TRÒ CỦA PHỤ HUYNH TRONG VIỆC TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC

TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.01.11 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D

Hanoi - 2014

DECLARATION

I hereby state that I, Ngô Thị Huệ, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts, accept the requirement of the University relating to the retention and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature:

Date: July 21st, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor,

Dr Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa for her valuable advice, constructive comments, patient support and encouragement in the completion of this M.A Thesis

I would like to send my sincere thanks to my informants in this study, who have provided useful and valuable information for this research Without their enthusiastic contribution and cooperation, this research would certainly not have been completed

In the thesis, it is inevitable that the ideas of many other writers in this field are reflected and developed Their ideas have stimulated my thinking on doing this paper My debt to the authors listed in the references is equally great To all these scholars, I offer my sincere thanks

Finally, I am greatly thankful to my family and friends, who are forever a great source of support and encouragement

ABSTRACT

This study attempted to find out the roles of parents towards their children in learning English at home Specifically, it sought the anwers to the following questions: 1.What are parents‟ attitude about their children‟s English learning at primary school? 2.What do parents often do to encourage their children to learn English? 3.What are parents‟ role in motivating primary students in learning English at home? 4.What are the common barriers for parents to get involved in children‟s learning English at home? The participants of this study were all parents

of third graders in Ngoc Xuyen Primary School, Do Son District The data was collected from the questionnaires and interviews The analysis of the data showed that parents not only had positive attitude towards their children‟s English learning but also expressed strong willingness to be involved in children‟s English learning process Results from the study show that besides school instruction, parents reported various strategies and activities that they used at home to encourage their children to learn English It was revealed that there were four types of roles that parents played in motivating their children to learn English : an advocate, a supervisor, a facilitator and a guider The parents involved in the study also reported that they faced some difficulties when helping their children in English learning, the

most significant of which are the lack of English knowledge and financial condition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART A : INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the research 3

3 Significance of the research 3

4 Scope of the research 4

5 Methodology 4

6 Design of the research 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVEW 5

1.1.Definition of terms 5

1.2 An overview of motivation in language learning 6

1.2.1 Definition of language learning motivation 6

1.2.2 Classification of motivation in language learning 7

1.2.3 The importance of motivation in language learning 10

1.2.4 Parental factor and language learning motivation 11

1.2.5 Characteristics of motivated children 13

1.3 An overview of primary school students 13

1.3.1 Physiological characteristics 14

1.3.2 Cognitive ability 14

1.3.3 Faculty of memory 14

1.3.4 Study ability 15

1.3.5 Self- consciousness 15

1.4 Home learning 15

1.4.1 The importance of home learning 15

1.4.2 Barriers for parents‟ involvement 16

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18

2.1 The context of the study 18

2.2 Research questions 19

2.3 Participants 19

2.4 The data collection instruments 21

2.5 Data Collection Procedures 22

2.6 Data Analysis 23

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND MAJOR FINDINGS 24

3.1 Parents‟ attitudes towards their children‟s English learning at primary school 24

3.2 Parents‟ behaviors 26

3.2.1 Parents‟ interests in involvement in the children‟ English learning 26

3.2.2 Ways and types of parental behaviors 27

3.3 Parents‟ roles 33

3.4 Barriers for parents‟ involvement 34

PART C: CONCLUSION 37

1 Major findings and conclusions 37

2 Some implications 37

REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 IX APPENDIX 3 X APPENDIX 4 XI

PART A : INTRODUCTION

This part states the rationale of the study, together with the aims, the significance and the scope of the research Above all, it is this part that the research questions are formulated to work as clear guideline for the whole research

1 Rationale

Because of the globalization, English has become an international language

In many countries, English is the primary language or official language; whereas in non- speaking countries, it is often taught as a foreign language and has referred to

as an international language Hence, it is widely taught at all stages of education system in Vietnam According to the Decision No 1400-QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, English is introduced into the primary education curriculum starting from grade 3 in Vietnam As English education is largely promoted in recent years, it has encouraged and influenced many Vietnamese parents‟ decision to place English as

an educational priority for their children They are beginning their children‟s English learning at the earlier age than were common in the past and send them to English language learning center In Do Son, a small district of Haiphong city, there are no such centers English is taught in a classroom context where teachers follow the syllabus and learners have a few hours of English instruction a week In this type of environment, students have little opportunity to articulate English structure that are presented to them When complicated grammatical structures are taught without the opportunity to learn by trial and errors, learners may lose interest in learning English, particularly if their cognition is not mature enough to make sense

of these grammatical structure According to my observation, there are too many students in one class, nearly about 40 students Moreover, the number of English periods per week is only 4 periods In such condition, it is difficult for third grade students to be able acquire English well immediately at school They must learn and practise their English a lot at home with the support from parents Different practices of families in motivating children‟s language learning might exist On the other hand, children with good attitudes may be more likely to be persistent in the

learning of English if they can develop strategies based on their individual characteristics and aptitudes, supported by family, school and other environments

Motivation is very important to the learning process If children are not motivated, they will not learn Children must see and feel the need for learning Unless they see a need for and have an interest in learning, there is little incentive for them to learn There are internal and external factors or psychological factors that affect language learning Ellis (1990) states that internal factors are related to individual themselves The other category is the influence from outside or external factors Two of the important external factors are the parents‟ attitude towards second language learning and parent involvement in that process A lot of parents believe that education is the mere responsibility of school Because of this wrong perception, they tend to ignore the needs of their children‟s education at home Good quality home learning contributes more to children‟s learning than parental occupation, education and income Many researchers have been asserted the influence that parents can have on individual‟s motivation to learn a second language Furthermore, many recent research projects on language learning motivation have included this factor in their studies (Atay and Kurt (2010), Henkel (2009), Ryan (2009)) They have indicated that parents play an important role in maintaining their children ability as well as in participating for the success of learning The influence the parents on the child can be active supporters of their children‟s foreign language learning without themselves having skill in the foreign language

Although parents play an active role in children‟s learning, there is little research on parents‟ roles in education in general and in language learning in particular in Vietnam However, despite growing documents of factors instrumental

to children‟s English learning motivation and achievement, empirical attention focuses on individual characteristics of students, language learning strategies and teachers‟ contributions while neglecting the role of parents that can be shown through their attitudes towards English learning and the way they involve in the learning process All of these reasons did give an account for the researcher‟s wish

of carrying out the study “parents‟ roles in motivating primary students to learn English at home” to investigate parents attitudes towards English learning and the way they act to promote their children to learn English

2 Aims of the research

This study aims to find out parents‟ role in motivating primary students to learn English To be more specific, the objectives of this study are:

- To find out parents‟ attitudes towards their children‟s learning English at primary schools

- To find out what parents do to encourage their children to learn English

- To find out parents‟ roles in motivating children to learn English

- To find out the common barriers for parents to get involved in children‟s learning English at home?

These aims are formulated into four following research questions:

1 What are parents‟ attitudes towards their children‟s English learning at primary school?

2 What do parents often do to encourage their children to learn English?

3 What are parents‟ roles in motivating primary students in learning English at home?

4 What are the common barriers for parents to get involved in children‟s learning English at home?

3 Significance of the research

3.1 Theoretical significance

Through this study, theories of motivation are revisited Main definition together with the classification of motivation and the importance of motivation in language learning are represented Besides, an overview of primary students‟ characteristics and their English learning are provided Moreover, the common barriers affecting parents‟ participation in children‟s learning English at home are covered 3.2 Practical significance

This study is expected to find out the parents‟ roles in motivating their children

in learning English Through the result, it is expected that it can give benefit for

parents to know the necessary information about their roles and help them in encouraging their children to learn English more

4 Scope of the research

Parents play an important role in primary students‟ English learning Their roles can be shown by their involvement in school and at home Due to time constraints, the length of the thesis and the research‟s knowledge, this study only focus on find out what roles can parents play in motivating their children in learning English at home

5 Methodology

This study uses survey method which is based on both qualitative and quantitative data collected from parents of all the third grade students at Ngoc Xuyen Primary School in Do Son District by Questionnaire and Interviews

6 Design of the research

The study report is divided into three main parts

Part one is the Introduction featuring the rationale for the study as well as the aims, the significance and the methods employed in the research In addition, it also briefly introduces the scope of the study together with the overall design of the research report

Part two is the Development consisting three chapters:

- Chapter 1 is the Literature review covering main issues and concepts related to motivation, primary students and parental factors affecting their participation in motivating their children to learn English at home

- Chapter 2, Methodology, is devoted to describe the research methodology which comprises the information of the research subjects, settings and data collection instruments and procedures

- Chapter 3, Data analysis, Findings and Discussion, presents the results from the detailed analysis of collected data and provides several discussions related to them Part three is the Conclusion that recapitulates the main contents of the study report Some limitations, implications and suggestions for further study are also represented

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVEW 1.1.Definition of terms

Parents

When discussing parents‟ roles, the most commonly appearing – word will

be “ parents” As Lockette (1999) mentions “ When we use the term “ parents”, we need to remember that “ parents” can also mean other adults who play an important role in a child‟s life” Lunts (2003) includes parents, guardians, stepparents, siblings, members of extended family and any other adults who might carry the primary responsibilities for a child‟s health, development and education into the meaning of “ parents”

Parental involvement

According to Epstein (1995), there are six types of parental involvement which include:

1 Parenting ( helping families with child -rearing and parenting skills)

2 Communicating (developing effective home- school communication)

3 Volunteering (creating ways that families can become involved in activities at the school)

4 Learning at home (supporting learning activities in the home that reinforce school curricula)

5 Decision- making (including families as decision- makers through school- site councils, committees )

6 Collaborating with the community (matching community service with family needs and serving their community)

Parental involvement in type four (learning at home) suggests that the parents can engage in children education through supporting learning activities at home

Attitude

Attitude is a psychological state that is expressed through agreement or disagreement with a certain situation or value (Eager and Chaiken, 1993)

Role

Role is a prescribed or expected behavior associated with a particular position or states in a group or organization

(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/role) Roles correspond to behaviors and vice versa

1.2 An overview of motivation in language learning

1.2.1 Definition of language learning motivation

In education in general and in language learning in particular, motivation has always been considered as essential factor contributing to success Without motivation, any efforts would be almost impossible Therefore, a thorough understanding of this concept is needed

Motivation has been defined in a number of ways by a variety of researchers and scholars According to MacIntyre (2002:16), motivation indicates a thing or a condition Ager (2001:7) defined motivation as a language behaviors Motivation prompts learners‟ desire to achieve the target language learning and provides a stimulus for continuous learning activity Motivation consists of three aspects: goals, attitudes and motives Goal theory, which is one of three main elements to define motivation, consists of three types of goal: ideal, objective and target (Ager, 2001: 11) However, not all motivations can be explained by the goal theory For instance, motives such as parental expectation, imitation and self-esteem are more likely to be explained by needs more than goals So the satisfaction of needs that can explain these motives is one type of goal theory Another linguist, Harmer (2001:51) states that “at its most basic level, motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do something in order to achieve something” More

elaborately, Gardner (1985) remarks “motivation involves four aspects: a goal, effort behavior, a desire to attain the goal and favourable attitudes towards the activity in question”

Briefly, motivation is an undoubtedly complicated phenomenon that has many definitions in many ways Although those researchers use different statements

to define motivation, all definitions would not contradict its important in language learning and the nature of how motivation is defined similar Simply speaking, if an individual wants to do something, it is necessary for him or her to have the motivation or desire to complete the task Therefore, language learning motivation

is very important for people to learn a target language

1.2.2 Classification of motivation in language learning

When employed in education and language learning, the following different types of motivation can be differentiated:

- Integrative motivation: the desire to identify with and to integrate into the target language culture It is a “ motivation to learn a second language because of positive feelings towards the community that speaks that language” (Gardner, 1985) The integrative motive is a composite construct made up of three main components: integrative orientation, interest in foreign language and attitudes towards second language community

- Instrumental motivation: the wish to learn the language for more utilitarian purposes such as meeting the requirement for school or university graduation, applying for a job or achieving higher social status

- Intrinsic motivation: the urge to engage in the learning activity for its own sake

- Extrinsic motivation: motivation that is derived from external incentives such as high marks or compliments from teachers, friends and parents

- Global motivation: the overall orientation of the learners towards the learning of the foreign language

- Situational motivation: it has to do with the context of learning ( classroom, learning environment)

-Task motivation: the motivation that the learners get when they are performing particular tasks in learning performance

- Resultative motivation: according to Ellis (1990), “ it is likely that the relationship between motivation and achievement is an of interactive one A high level of motivation does stimulate learning, but perceived success in achieving second language goals can help maintain existing motivation and create new types” When learners succeed in learning, they may be more or some times less motivated to learn

- Developmental or personal motivation: the motivation relating to “ personal development or personal satisfaction” (Cooper and Fisherman, 1997) This includes such activities as watching movies and reading books in English

Among these types of, the most well-known types are discussed in the following section

1.2.2.1 Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to “ motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake”( Wordkowski, 1991) He means that the activity itself is for its own benefit Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak (1994) suggest that such behaviors as curiosity, the need to know and feelings of competence or growth reveal a learner‟s intrinsic motivation, the needs that exist within the learners Intrinsically motivated students are willing to learn the language in the purpose of fulfilling of their curiosity, the need to know and feeling of competence They also enjoy the learning process for the interest, they do not need other kind of rewards or punishment The factors of support of intrinsic motivation include competence (the feeling that you know how

to do things), autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself) and relatedness (connection with your social environment like helping others)

Three types of intrinsic motivation are classified by Valler (1997) as follows:

- To learn: involving in an activity for pleasure, satisfying one‟s curiosity and exploring the world

- For achievement: engaging an activity for suppressing or accomplishing something

- To experience stimulation: referring to the learners‟ engagement in an activity to experience pleasant sensation

In contrast to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is defined as a motivation that stems from external stimulus These motivators are unrelated to the subjects being learnt and they exist outside the individual dong the task ( Cheryl L Spaulding, 1992:4) There are four different types of extrinsic motivation depending on the degree

of self – determination that learners have in it ( Deci and Ryan, 1985)

- External regulation: referring to a behavior that is determined through means external to the individual such as reward or punishment

- Interjected regulation: representing reasons for performing an activity in respond

to some kind or pressure that the individual has internalized

- Identified regulation: the individual decides to perform a behavior because he or she views the activity as personal worthwhile

- Integrated regulation: involving choiceful behavior that is fully assimilated with the individuals‟ other values, needs and identity

In short, intrinsic motivation produces more potential benefits than extrinsic motivation Intrinsically motivated students tend to try harder and think more deeply than extrinsically motivated ones

1.2.2.2 Instrumental and integrative motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) first made the most famous distinction between

two types of motivation: integrative and instrumental

Integrative motivation is the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community According to Garner and Lambert (1972, cited in Ellis, 1997:50), motivation is strongly influenced by integrative orientation to language learning In their words, "an integrative orientation involves

an interest in learning a second language” because of a sincere and personal interest

in the people and culture represented by the other group" In addition, “the integratively motivated student”, wrote Masgoret and Gardner (2003), “is one who

is motivated to learn the second language, has openness to identification with the

other language community and has favourable attitude toward the language situation.”

Instrumental motivation, on the contrary, is something which concerns the practical value and advantages of learning a new language (Lambert 1974: 98, cited

in Ellis, 1997), and which is characterized by „the wish to learn the language for purposes of study or career promotion‟ (Ur, 1996: 276, cited in Lan, 2008) and the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson, 2000) In other words, instrumental motivation is the learner‟s desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as employment/travel/exam purposes)

in the context of language learning

While both kinds of motivation are essential elements of success in learning a second language, it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long-term success when learning a second language Ellis (1997) In some of the early research by Gardner and Lambert (cited in Ellis, 1997), integrative motivation was viewed more importance in a formal learning environment than instrumental motivation Integrative motivation was regarded as superior to instrumental motivation for predicting the success of second language learning (Gass, 2001, cited

in Vaezi, 2008: 54) The reason is that if students respect the target culture, they may read literature or practice the language and thereby be able to improve their language skills (Cook, 2001, cited in Vaezi, 2008:54) However, from another perspective, instrumental motivation is meaningful for the learner who has had limited access to the L2 culture, or foreign language settings (Oxford, 1996, cited in Vaezi, 2008:55) Dornyei (1996, cited in Vaezi, 2008:55) opposed Gardner by claiming that instrumental motivation is more important than the integrative motivation It is important to note that instrumental motivation has only been acknowledged as a significant factor in some research, whereas integrative motivation is continually linked to successful second language acquisition

1.2.3 The importance of motivation in language learning

The importance of motivation in enhancing language learning is undeniable Lifrieri (2005:4) points out that “ when asked about the factors which influence

individual levels of success in any activity- such as language learning- most people would certainly mention motivation among them” Brown ( 2000: 160) states that”

it is easy in second language learning to claim that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation”

With similar view, Gardner ( 2006: 241) posits that “ students with higher levels of motivation will do better than students with lower levels” “If one is motivated, he/she has reason for engaging in the relevant activities, expends effort, persists in the activities, attends to the task, shows desire to achieve the goal, enjoys the activities” Reece and Walker (1997) express that motivation is a key factor in the second language learning process They stressed that a less able student who is highly motivated can achieve greater success than the more intelligent student who

is not well motivated

Among the things that do clearly affected the mastery of a second language is the kind of motivation that a learner has (Finegan, 1994:466).Students who are in some way “motivated” do significantly better than their peers despite using methods which experts consider unsatisfactory and being in unfavorable conditions (Harmer, 1991:3)

Motivation is the driving force in determining whether or not the learning will be successful Therefore, motivation is very crucial in language leaning and it is important for parents and teachers to motivate the children in the process of learning foreign language

1.2.4 Parental factor and language learning motivation

It is found that second language learning are learnt in diverse context Learners have a range of external factors associated with the significant others on motivation including parents, teachers and peers Parents are considered as a factor

of extrinsic motivation that cannot be fully influenced by the teacher In any case, parents remain an important motivating factor that affect learners in the very front line (Lumsden 2) As an extrinsic motivational factor, if well oriented, parents become an unforgettable source of confidence, which returns in self-esteem and eventually as intrinsic motivation Also, parents are fundamental in the development

of affective relations and emotional stability, factors that are again, closely related

to intrinsic motivation Parental influence on second language motivation was a major component of Gardner‟s model because parents were seen to “ act as the major intermediary between the cultural milieu and the student” (Gardner, 1985: 109) Parents can play an active or passive role in the second language learning Parents play active role when they display positive attitude about language learning, taking interest in the material and schoolwork Visible expressions of attitudes parents hold about language learning are shared when parents describe those who speak English with praise and admiration and enjoy being in their job Then they have behaviors to motivate their children in learning such as encouraging their children to do well, assisting them to learn, reinforcing any successes identified by the school The passive role involves parents‟ indirect modeling and communicating attitudes related to second language learning and the community They can show no interest in language learning or making no attempt to learn It can send passive negative message about the importance of knowing a second language This may expressed by encouraging their child to spend more time in other subjects

Gardner suggests that when parents have positive attitudes towards the community, they would serve to support an integrative motive in the student In order to support Gardner‟s hypothesis, Sarojani Devi Krishnan conducted an interview to examine the role of parents in language learning motivation The findings showed that among all the factors, parents‟ encouragement play the most important role in motivating students to learn the English language To young learners, due to their developmental stage, they are likely to be particularly susceptical to the influence of parents Therefore, parents play an important role in young learners‟ motivation to learn English Successive models of language motivation have also included the role of parents in learners‟ live “ When parents are involved in their children‟s education at home, they do better in school” (Hendeson and Berla, 1994) Success at school is guaranteed if children are supported by parents attitudes and involvement at home (Simsek and Tanayd, 2002)

In the context of Vietnam where English is learnt as a foreign language, most children do not have immediate needs to use English in their daily life On the other hand, children do not always have a choice about learning English, they are often forced to learn it because of parental pressure Therefore, the emphasis parents place

on learning is a key incentive for children Parents‟ positive attitude and behaviors can be another motivation orientation Thus, in children‟s English learning, it is necessary for parents to promote children‟s motivation Internalizing their perception of parents‟ expectation , children may consequently generate their own volition to learn English

1.2.5 Characteristics of motivated children

A motivated learner here means the one who participates willingly and actively in the learning activities They often show certain characteristics associated clearly with motivation as follows:

- Positive task orientation: the learner is ready to deal with the task and challenges and has confidence in his/ her success

- Ego-involvement: the learner has a need to achieve, to overcome difficulties, and

to succeed in what he/she sets out to do

- High aspirations: the learner goes for demanding challenges and high proficiency

- Goal orientation: the learner is very aware of the goals of learning and directs his

or her efforts towards achieving them

- Perseverance: the learner consistently invests a high level of efforts in learning and

is not discouraged by setbacks or apparently the lack of progress

- Tolerance of ambiguity: the learner is not frustrated by a temporary lack of understanding; he/she should think it will come clear later

1.3 An overview of primary school students

Primary school children in Vietnam are basically aged from 5 to 11 yearsold and included 5 grades They are called young learners The children in this research are third graders in primary school system; thus, their age is about 9 years old They have the following common characteristics:

1.3.3 Faculty of memory

Children‟s memory is weak Children cannot control what they are taught, the younger the learner, the patchier storage and recall, which again makes recycling activities necessary, whereas age improve second language capacity Memory consists of three phrases: register, storing and recalling In order to be able

to say that they have learnt a given item successfully, all three stages must be available

Moreover, children‟s memory is more mechanical They do not have access

to the memory techniques and other strategies Children have short –term visual memory and forget things quickly It is difficult for them to retain memory over a long period of time Therefore, children should revised at home what they have learnt at school

1.3.4 Study ability

With regard to language learning, children have good ability to recognize and imitate sounds from individual to individual Children are less self-disciplined and self-directed for study They need more teachers‟ and parents‟ guidance and push

1.3.5 Self- consciousness

According to Stephen Krashen (1982), most children do not feel nervous about attempting to use a new language, even when their proficiency is quite limited They are not afraid of taking the risk of making mistakes They do not always monitor their second language speech Children tend to be more awareness of being noticed and praised by teachers, peers and parents

1.4 Home learning

1.4.1 The importance of home learning

English education for children can be done everywhere, not only at school but also in other environment outside school Children‟s English learning environment outside school can be at home Actually, children have more time at home rather at school Therefore, they are supposed to have more learning with their parents Moreover, children cannot master all lessons taught at school once at a time They need to repeat the lesson at home continuously They have to make the continuity between school and home learning because it is very important in motivating children to keep learning their English without stopping These are why parent play an important role to learn at home with children Children‟s interest in home learning is built depending on how parents show their attitude and how they act to help them to learn Parents can improve their children‟s English learning by providing encouragement, reviewing English lessons or providing supporting materials and facilities which can enable their children in their study Through parents‟ attitude, children can realize the importance of English in their future life meeting the need of globalization From that point, their English learning motivation may be enhanced By doing home review, parents can explain more to their children what they have learnt at home Parents can check whether their children understand the lesson, remember vocabulary and sentence patterns or not

Children will also have more opportunity to ask with their parents because of their closed relationship From this review time, parents can help them to learn from books or to read and write the vocabulary and sentences for practice They can also accompany and check children to do homework In addition, they can give their children facilities such as tape recorders or DVD players to help them improve their pronunciation and listening skill

The benefits of enhancing learning at home

- Parental understanding: Parents will understand the material their children are responsible for knowing

- Attainment of goals: Parents can assist their children with attainment of learning goals

- Positive attitude: Students develop a more positive attitude about homework

Effects of learning at home:

For students: - Skills, abilities and tests scores limited to homework and class work

- Homework completion

- Positive attitude about homework and school

- View of parents as more similar to teacher and of home as more similar to school

- Self- confidence in ability as learners

For parents: - Knowledge of how to support, encourage and help student at home

- Discussion of school, homework and future plans

- Understanding of instructional program at what a child is learning

- Awareness of child as learners

( Cited in A toolkit for family involvement in education- Oregon Department of Education)

1.4.2 Barriers for parents’ involvement

According to Comer (1993), in spite of the agreement that parents‟ attitude and involvement has positive impact on children‟s learning result, parents have reported barriers for them to get involved According to Chen (2008), time constraint is the top reason that parents give for not participating more in their

children‟s education Lack of time is also cited by school personnel as a result for not seeking parental support more actively (Chen, 2008) Parents‟ financial condition and educational background are what shape parental behaviors, their opportunities to be involved and their own orientation toward education The parental financial condition affects the children‟s success at school (Hargreaves, 1991) Unlike the children from financially capable families, low income families have a hard time in providing their children with sufficient number of books, extra-curricular activities, or computers to support their learning process Because of that, the children are likely to participate less in academic life which may result in poor academic achievements On the other hand, children from high income family could easily get the access towards books, computers and other facilities

The high awareness of learning needs can also be reflected from the parents‟ level education background supporting children academically These are usually visible from the parents who come from higher education or college graduate in contrast to parents from low education level such as elementary graduate or drop out They tend to ignore their children‟s academic development at school They rarely check the children‟s homework Parents with higher education level would hope that their children would have higher achievement and thus, pay more attention to their children‟s academic Moreover, their English proficiency level would affect the level of their involvement and how they help their children in English learning If parents do not know English, they cannot assist their children with school work at home

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter gives a brief view on the setting of the research then discusses the methodology of the study related to subjects of the study, research instruments, data collection and data analysis

2.1 The context of the study

English language teaching at primary level has been actively implemented at almost school since 2010 according to Project "Teaching and learning of foreign languages in the national education system in the period 2008 – 2020” Decision No 1400/QD-TTg 30/9/2008 of the Prime Minister The Ministry of Education and Training is taking a phased approach in which primary English language teaching plays a very important role

Ngoc Xuyen Primary School is in Do Son Districts, Haiphong city The students population is the biggest among three primary schools in Do Son It has for many years to be the most reliable address for students and parents of the district In the school year of 2013- 2014, Ngoc Xuyen Primary School had three third-grade classes Each class had an average of 39 students The biggest class had the maximum of 42 and the smallest had the minimum of 36 Like other primary schools in Haiphong city in general and in Do Son in particular, English teaching has been applying for third graders in Ngoc Xuyen Primary School since 2004 For the past ten years, it used to be an optional subject from grade 3 with the time allocation of two periods per week and using the textbook “Let‟s learn English book

1, 2, 3” (The Educational Publishing House & SNP Panpac Publishing House, Singapore) Because of the implementation, English has become a compulsory subject A new program is applied and the number of periods increased from two periods per week to four periods per week since 2010 The initial result is the

textbooks Tieng Anh 3, which was published by Ministry of Education and Training Tieng Anh 3 consists of twenty units and four review ones for two terms

Each unit focuses on competences, sentence patterns, vocabulary and phonics

Thanks to the globalization and the new policy of the Ministry of Education and Training, parents in Do Son have realized the importance of English for their

children more and more and they seem to pay more attention on their children‟s English learning

Question 4: What are barriers for parents to get involved in their children‟ learning English at home?

1, 91 valid parent questionnaires were returned The 91 participants included 62 mothers

and 29 fathers as in Table 2

Table 1 Validity of Returned Questionnaires

Background information requested on the questionnaires included 3 items: 1) parents‟ age, 2) parents‟ English proficiency level, 3) Parents‟ educational background

As seen in Table 3, most fathers ages mainly fell in the group of 40-49 years old, and mother‟s ages were distributed mostly among 30- 39 years old It means that most participants took part in this study were quite young

Table 3 Age of participants

Age Frequency Percentage

Table 4 English proficiency level and educational background of participants

English proficiency level Frequency Percentage

I do not know English 19 20.9%

Educational background Frequency Percentage

Some college or associate degree 51 56%

Bachelors‟ degree as much as higher 11 12%

2.4 The data collection instruments

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to give qualified background data for investigating the role of parents in motivating their children in learning English In this study, the qualitative data (interviews) was conducted after the quantitative data collection to deepen understanding and interpretation of the results

In order to get detailed data, the study used a variety of research instruments, namely questionnaires and face to face interviews

Instrumentation one: Questionnaires

Questionnaires are considered to be useful for exploration and confirmation One of the strengths of questionnaires is measuring attitudes and eliciting participants‟ ways of thinking “Questionnaire was opted with consideration for its apparent multi-advantage and particular suitability for quantitative research” (Dörnyei, 2003) One set of questionnaire was given to parents All the questions were written

in Vietnamese to make sure that the parents properly understood and express their ideas fully Parental questionnaires consisted of four types of information Firstly, parents were asked to give answer to four questions relating to their background which included their age, educational background and English knowledge The next three questionnaires aimed to collect information about parents‟ attitudes towards the importance of English and the importance of their involvement in their children‟s English learning There were eight questionnaires aimed to explore parents‟ behaviors to help their children in learning English at home and then decided what roles parents played in motivating children in learning The last three

questions were given to parents to collect the data relating to their barriers when helping children in English learning process

Instrumentation two: Face to face interviews

The interview questions structured with a list of 4 open-ended questions were based

on the survey questionnaires to get a more comprehensive view of the matter Nine parents were chosen randomly to clarify information about the items raised in the questionnaires All the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese in order for the participants to fully express their views without being constrained by the use of a second language They were then recorded and then translated into English

2.5 Data Collection Procedures

Data collection started by contacting the principal of the primary school informing her about the purpose of the study and asking for her consent for the research to take place I also took about one hour to discuss with the third grade teacher of English about the situation of English learning in this primary school and got third graders‟ school transcripts of English subject The procedures of collecting data in this study involves two main phases as follows:

1 The researcher distributed the questionnaire to the third grade students‟ parents at the parent meeting at the end of the school year Before the questionnaire was delivered, the researcher took time to explained the purpose of the questionnaire and answer any questions made by the respondents into Vietnamese The respondents were also encouraged to ask if there was anything in the questionnaires they did not understand

2 After collecting questionnaires, I asked permission for interviews at home Basing on their background information on questionnaires, I chose nine of them Five of the interviewees graduated from at least colleges and were quite good at English Most of their children had high performing at English class The others including a farmer, a worker, a hairdresser and a fish seller graduated high school or lower level

2.6 Data Analysis

The data of questionnaires was presented by the frequency and in the form of percentages system It would be used to describe the parents‟ responses towards their attitudes and behaviors to motivate children to learn English

To sum up, this chapter provides an overview of the English teaching and learning context at Ngoc Xuyen Primary School The participants in this research are parents of third grade students To gather the necessary data, parental questionnaires and interviews are used as the instrumentations to seek answers to four research questions given earlier