Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS a study on the importance of learner ideal self to the success in learning english of the learners at the border guard academy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************************* PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN A STUDY ON THE IMPORT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNER IDEAL SELF TO THE SUCCESS IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF THE LEARNERS AT

THE BORDER GUARD ACADEMY

(Một nghiên cứu về tầm quan trọng của lý tưởng người học đối với sự thành công trong việc học tiếng Anh tại Học viện Biên phòng)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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

PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNER IDEAL SELF TO THE SUCCESS IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF THE LEARNERS AT

THE BORDER GUARD ACADEMY

(Một nghiên cứu về tầm quan trọng của lý tưởng người học đối với sự thành công trong việc học tiếng Anh tại Học viện Biên phòng)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: DR PHẠM THỊ THANH THÙY

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN, hereby certifies that this thesis, which is entitled “A Study on the Importance of the Learner Ideal Self to the Success in Learning English of the Learners at The Border Guard Academy”is created from

my original work I have firmly declared the contribution of others to my thesis such as data analysis, practical strategies,and all other researches that were employed or reviewed in my thesis

This thesis is the result of my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Hanoi, 2015

Phùng Thị Phương Lan

First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Phạm Thị Thanh Thùy,whoseinsightful comments, criticism, direction and kind support were of great assistance to me in carrying out this study

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers and staff of the Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their valuable knowledge and invaluable guidance and help during my two years of study at the Faculty

I am also indebted to my colleagues as well as my students at the Border Guard Academy, who have helped me a lot in my data collection to fulfill this paper

Last but not least, I would like to express my appreciation to my family for their understanding and strong encouragement to me throughout the study

Phùng Thị Phương Lan

questionnaires and individual open-ended interviews The findings show that the

learner ideal self is the key to success in English studying of the learners at the Border Guard Academy Despite the existence of ideal self in the students’ mind, the number of students with ideal self is still humble, which accounts for the border

officers’ inefficiency in solving English using cases The study puts forward practical suggestions to all the academy, the teachers of English and the students with a view to improving English teaching and learning at the academy The most

important proposal is disseminating the role of the learner ideal self to their own

success in English studying and the demand for buiding up, maintaining and

motivating the ideal selffor the learners at the Border Guard Academy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF CHART vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aim of the study 1

3 Objectives of the study 2

4 Research question 2

5 Scope of the study 2

6 Methods of the study 2

7 Significance of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

1.1 Learner ideal self 5

1.1 1 Motivation 5

1.1.2 Learner ideal self 11

1.2 Success in English learning and criteria to measure English learners’ improvement 17

1.2.1 Success in general 17

1.2.2 Success criteria in second/foreign language learning 18

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21

2.1 Research setting of the study 21

2.1.1 An overview of the research site 21

2.1 2 English teachers 21

2.1.3 Students and their background 21

2.1.4 The English teaching and learning in The Border Guard Academy 22

2.2 Research methodology 23

2.2.1 Description of the subjects 23

2.2.2 Data collection instruments 23

2.2.3 Procedures 25

2.2.4 Data analysis 25

2.3 Summary 26

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27

3.1 Data analysis 27

3.1 1 Types of students’ motivation in English learning 27

3.1.2 Factors affecting students’ motivation in English studying 29

3.1.3 Students’ interest in English lessons 31

3.1.4 The ways in which the students learn English 32

3.1.6 The students’ English results after the first year at the BGA 36

3.2 Findings and discussions 37

3.2.1 The learner ideal self - a motivator in English learning 37

3.2.2 The effects of learner ideal self on the students’ attitude to English studying 37

3.2.3 The effects of learner ideal self on the student’s investment in English

studying 38

3.2.4 The effects of learner ideal self on the students’ improvement in English studying 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 41

3.1 Recapitulation of the main ideas 41

3.2 Implications 42

3.2.1 Implications for the Border Guard Academy 42

3.2.2 Implications for the teachers of English at the Border Gard Academy 43

3.2.3 Implications for the students at the Border Guard Academy 44

3.3 Limitations of the study 44

3.4 Suggestions for further research 45

REFERENCES 46 APPENDIXES I APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VIII APPENDIX 3 X

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students’ reasons for studying English 28

Table 2: Factors affecting students’ motivation in English studying 30

Table 3: Students’ studying English 32

Table 4: Students’attitude when reaching a goal in English studying 34

Table 5: Students’attitude when failing to reach a goal in English studying 35

Table 6: the students’ English results after the first year at the BGA 36

LIST OF CHART Students’ interest in studying English 31

\

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

M.A: Master of Art BGA: Border Guard Academy L2: Second language

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

After more than ten years teaching English, I am still in divided mind as to why, from the same background and in the same learning circumstances, some students have succeeded in acquiring a good knowledge of English while others have failed to achieve even the basic level of it About 1 year ago, I accidentally heard one of my student’s mother mentioning the significance of motivation in general and her son’s ideal self in particular to his success I immediately came up

with the idea of doing a study of the importance of the Learner Ideal Self to the

Success in Learning English of the Learners at The Border Guard Academy

It is unarguable that motivation plays an important role in the learners’success in studying a second or foreign language Many linguists have spent their invaluable time studying it For instance, Dornyei (2001) puts an emphasis on the teacher’s role of motivating leaners by proposing “teacher skills in motivating learners should be seen as central to teaching effectiveness” Spolsky (1989) also considered motivation as one of the key factors to the learners’ success

in studying a second language According to him, “The more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she will spend learning an aspect of a second language” (p

148) However, the query of how the learner ideal self has effect on English

learning of the learners at the Border Guard Academy still need a careful research to work out the answer

2 Aim of the study

The research is done for the purpose of finding out the role of the learner

ideal self in the success in learning English of the learners at the Border Guard

Academy Depending on the research result, the teachers and learners at the Border Guard Academy can improve their teaching and learning English to achieve the success

3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

- To examine the kinds of motivation that affect the learners’ success in

English learning of the learners at the Border Guard Academy

- To examine the extent of effect of learner ideal self on the success in

English learning of the learners at the Border Guard Academy

- To figure out factors building up the ideal self of the learners at the Border

Guard Academy, and what should be done to maintain and motivate the ideal self of learners at the Border Guard Academy

4 Research question

In order to achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, I have designed the following research question:

- How does learner ideal self affect English studying process of learners at

the Border Guard Academy?

?

5 Scope of the study

Motivation, undeniably, is a wide research area with various trends and theories related This study deals with theories of motivation in general, theories of second/foreign language motivation in particular However, due to the limited time and length constraint of a minor thesis, only one aspect of the new trend of

motivation in second/foreign language is profoundly explored – that is learner ideal

self, which belongs to the framework the L2 Motivational Self System built up by

Dörnyei (2005) and developed so far The subject of the study is the fresh students

only From the findings of the study, suggestions on how to construct learner ideal

self in English learning and teaching at the Border Guard Academy are provided to

make improvement in English

6 Methods of the study

The study adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods The former is used to get data from a great number of participants while the latter is used to gain more profound insight into the study subject The tasks involved are according to a process First, data for analysis are collected through questionnaires and interviews, both of which are carried out on the fresh students Next, data gathered are analyzed, displayed and discussed Finally, all comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusions are made based on the data analyses of questionnaires and interviews

7 Significance of the study

The study when finished will be an important contribution to English learning and teaching at the Border Guard Academy So far, neither the teachers nor the students here have paid attention to this temporary trend of second/foreign language motivation Therefore, it is supposed to benefit both teachers and learners

in some ways

First of all, the teachers are provided with the information of motivation in

general and learner ideal self in particular During their process of teaching English,

together with equipping their students with necessary knowledge of English, they will exploit the methods to create motivation for students, stimulating them to make improvement in English studying

In addition, the findings of the study will lead the students to have a better

understanding of the ideal self of their own They will study English not only

because it is a mandatory subject but because it also opens up a novel horizon to them With ideal imagination of themselves, they will definitely succeed in learning English

Last but not least, this study not only can be applied to English learning and teaching, but should be taken into consideration for people in all walks of life at this academy as well Nevertheless, the success of this study is only a recommendation

to the researchers of other fields In order to have exact results, it is imperative they conduct a lot of research related to this

8 Design of the study

The work is divided into 3 main parts as follows:

Part A: Introduction Part B: Development Chapter 1: Theoretical Background Chapter 2: Methodology

Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Findings Part C: Conclusion

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Learner ideal self 1.1 1 Motivation

In all walks of life, the word ‘motivation’ seems to have been increasingly predominated For example, we always hear of the terms ‘a motivated workforce’,

‘motivated students’, or even ‘motivated buyers and sellers’ However, so far it has not been easy to have a good and detailed understanding of the definition of this popular word although a great many researchers have spent their valuable time trying to define it

1.1.1.1 Definitions of motivation

First of all, according to folk motivation theory, or carrot-and-stick approach,

individuals are motivated by either the prospect of a reward or the threat of punishment It is the simplicity of this concept that makes it easy to penetrate into the people’s consciousness On the other hand, it has failed to come up to people’s expectations for the complexities of human behaviours

Both the rewards and punishments of the carrot-and-stick approach only cover

the external stimuli It is, therefore, imperative for another theory to arise with a view to giving sufficient definition of ‘motivation’ In order to meet this demand,

Deci and Ryan introduced self-determination theory, which is concerned how

individuals translate wants into organized effort In this theory, they also make a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation While the former refers to

“doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable” (Ryan & Deci, 2000b, p.55), the latter has been presented as “pale and impoverished” counterpart

Another motivation theory that should be taken into consideration is mastery

and performance goal orientations, which includes two types of goal orientations

In the mastery goal, people concentrate on mastery of a task and have the desire to

acquire new skills without paying attention to enjoyment of satisfaction of doing

them whereas in the other, individuals engage in tasks to demonstrate their worth in relation to others, especially desiring others’ recognition

Atkinson and his colleages also developed the theory of achievement and

attribution In the achievement by Atkinson and Birch, motivation is composed of

two fundamental determinants – a desire to achieve success and the inhibitory drive

to avoid failure The attributional theory by Weiner assumes that individuals make

causal judgements concerning success and failure experiences, which are subjective but it is these subjective interpretations that influence future behaviour rather than actual incomes

Self-efficacy developed by Albert Bandura refers to one’s belief in one’s ability

to get success in specific situation (Bandura, 1977; Bandura, 1997) It lies at the

center of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, in which the role of observational

learning and social experience in the development of personality is emphasized

According to Bandura's theory, people with high self-efficacy, that is, those who

believe they can perform well are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to

be mastered rather than something to be avoided However, these people sometimes encounter the failure because of their poor preparation for the task while those with

low self-efficacy experience stimulus to discover more about an unfamiliar subject

Last but not least, the concept of competence proposed by Elliot and Dweck

tries to infuse individuals with the notion that, “Competence can be seen as a basic psychological need that has a pervasive impact on daily affect, cognition, and behavior across age and culture.” (2007b, p 8) In this case, people should desire to

experience competence and avoid expriencing incompetence

1.1.1.2 The motivation in second/ foreign language learning Motivation has been widely accepted by both teachers and researchers as one of the key factors that influence the rate and success of second/foreign language

(L2) learning Dörnyei (1998) writes: ‘Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often

tedious learning process; indeed, all the other factors involved in L2 acquisition presuppose motivation to some extent.’

There is no doubt that motivation has been a focus of L2 learning research for many years Due to the intricacy and multifaceted construct of L2 motivation concept as well as the role played by the various motivational components in L2 learning, researchers have proposed numerous theories and models, many of which focus on different aspects of L2 motivation

According to Dörnyei, the historical development of L2 motivation theories can generally be divided into four distinct phases The first one is social psychological

approach, which was developed by Gardner and his associates in Canada

throughout the periods of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s; The second one is

cognitive-situated period in L2 motivation research during the 1990s often seen as initiated by

Crookes and Schmidt (1991), the third one is process-oriented period at the end of

1990s, which was initiated by the studies of Dörnyei (e.g., 2001b), Ushioda (e.g.,

2001) and their colleagues in Europe, and the latest one is the socio-dynamic period

(current), characterized by a concern with dynamic systems and contextual interactions In order to have a better and thorough comprehension of these theories,

we have no choice but go into details of them

1.1.1.2.1 Gardner’s social psychological approach to L2 motivation When it comes to motivational theory in L2 language, nobody can negate the significance of the theory that Gardner contributed As Dörnyei (1994b, p 519) puts it: “Having been familiar with the Gardnerian approach for a long time, we may not always be conscious of how much of a “breakthrough” this was; one which rightfully influenced motivation theory for the next decades.” His theory has impregnated our mind with a new element that plays a big part in the success of learning an L2 – that is motivation

Gardner’s work is best known for the identification of two motivational

orientations: integrativeness / integrative motivation and instrumental orientation

The former primarily ‘reflects a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community At one level, this implies an openness to, and respect for other cultural groups and ways of life In the extreme, this might involve complete identification with the community (and possibly even withdrawal from one’s original group), but more commonly it might well involve integration within both communities.’ (Gardner, 2001: 5) On the other hand, the latter focuses on the learners’ pragmatic purpose of learning a language For example, people study a language on the grounds that they want to be promoted in their career or improve their social status

Gardner’s theory took root for a long period because of its dominance over the earlier ones in that ‘it recognizes language learners as social beings and language as

an important element of social identity’ (Ryan, 2009) Besides that, it has attracted ample discussion and comment because of its controversies Firstly, Dörnyei (2005) has pointed out two main areas of terminological difficulty in understanding his

model The first one is the term integrative, which includes integrative orientation,

integrativeness, and integrative motivation The other one is the term motivation,

which appears at two levels: motivation and integrative motivation In addition, although the terms motivation and orientation are affirmed by Gardner to be

different concepts, he himself sometimes used them inconsistently Secondly, many researchers have been opposed to Gardner’s generalization of his theory According

to Dörnyei, “in a multicultural setting such as Montreal, where Gardner first developed his theory, it made sense to talk about potential 'integration', but in learning situations whereas foreign language is taught only as a school subject without any direct contact with its speakers (e.g.teaching English or French in Hungary, China, Japan or other typical foreign language learning contexts), the integrative metaphor simply did not make sense.” This proposal has also been approved by many other scholars (e.g Coetzee VanRooy 2006; Lamb2004;

Yashima 2000) Last but not least, instrumental orientation seems to fail to account for all the utilitarian factors that have emerged in empirical studies, such as

travelling, making foreign friends, and understanding English songs (Dörnyei &

Kormos, 2000; Dörnyei, 2002) In a word, Gardner’s theory has made a great contribution to the second/foreign language motivation research Even now it cannot serve the new motivation research trend, it is still considered a foundation

for the new model proposed by Dörnyei as L2 Motivational Self System, on which I

depend as a theoretical framework for my present study

1.1.1.2.2 The cognitive-situated period of L2 research

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, with a view to widening the horizon of L2 motivation research, researchers (e.g Brown 1990; Crookes and Schmidt, 1991;

Julkunen, 1989; Skehan, 1989) brought in alternative research perspectives, the

most dominant of which was called the cognitive-situated period of L2 research by

Dörnyei (2005) He characterized this period as ‘two interrelated trends: (a) the need to bring L2 motivation research in line with cognitive theories in mainstream motivational psychology, and (b) the desire to move from the broad macro perspective of ethnolinguistic communities and learners’ general dispositions to L2 learning to a more situated analysis of motivation in specific learning settings (e.g., classrooms)’ However, he also pointed out the challenge that this theory encountered: ‘Analyzing the temporal structure of motivation has always been a challenge in mainstream motivational psychology, since motivation research has typically relied on theoretical models and corresponding research designs that attempt to measure motivation at a particular point in time and investigate relationships with other variables such as achievement or performance These approaches do not lend themselves to investigating the complex ebb and flow of motivation.’

1.1.1.2.3 The process-oriented period of L2 research

By the turn of the 21st century, the process-oriented approaches to the

analysis of L2 motivation were proposed by Dörnyei (e.g., 2001b), Ushioda (e.g.,

2001), and their colleagues in Europe In this model, they divide the structure of L2 motivation into pre-actional (choice motivation), actional (executive motivation), and post-actional (evaluation) phases, in which two key shortcomings are mentioned: (a) it assumes that we can define clearly when a learning process begins and ends; (b) it assumes that the actional process occurs in relative isolation, without interference from other actional processes in which the learner may be simultaneously engaged Through these shortcomings they also find out that most approaches to motivation in second language acquisition (SLA) to date are limited because they ‘have not taken adequate account of the dynamic and situated complexity of the learning process or the multiple goals and agendas shaping learner behavior.’

1.1.1.2.4 The socio-dynamic period Within the past decade, under the influence of mainstream motivational psychology, in which there has been a move towards more dynamic contextual paradigms for the analysis of motivation, researchers on motivation in SLA have

shifted their thinking to the current new social-dynamic phase This phase is

characterized by a focus on the situated complexity of the L2 motivation process and its organic development in interaction with a multiplicity of internal, social, and contextual factors - that is, a move toward relational or dynamic systems perspectives on motivation (e.g., Dörnyei, 2009a;Ushioda, 2009); and characterized

by a concern to theorize L2 motivation in ways that take account of the broader complexities of language learning and language use in the modern globalized world

- that is, by reframing L2 motivation in the context of contemporary theories of self and identity (Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei and Ushioda, 2009a) Dörnyei (2005, 2009a)

recently outlined a new approach for L2 motivation research, the L2 Motivational

Self System, which reflects the transition to the socio-dynamic period in L2

motivation research It is this model that I rely on for my current study and go into detail in the below section

1.1.2 Learner ideal self

1.1.2.1 The Formation of the ‘Learner Motivational Self System’

In this part, theories of the self and their impacts on language learning

motivation are the center of attention As Baumeister acknowledges, “The self is one of the most actively researched topics in all of psychology” (Baumeister, 1999,

p 1) Besides that, many other scholars have expressed their views of the self in

their own ways Dweck (2000, p xi) defines the ‘self” as the “meaning systems”

that people employ to “organize their world and give meaning to their experiences.”

Norman and Aron (2003, p 500) expand on this by saying that “one’s self-concept

is an important influence in regulating behaviour, functioning to organise an individual’s interpretation of the world, determining what stimuli are selected for attention and what inferences are drawn.” This study primarily focuses on how this self-concept can ‘organize an individual’s interpretation of the world’ and ‘regulate behaviour’ in respect to language learning

Although the self has become increasingly important in mainstream

psychology, it did not attract the attention of the researchers in the field of L2

education until Dörnyei (2005) proposed L2 Motivational Self System Dörnyei

himself (2009) emphasizes “The L2 Motivational Self System represents a major reformation of previous motivational thinking by its explicit utilisation of

psychological theories of the self, yet its roots are firmly set in previous research in

the L2 field.”

Of the contributions of psychology to L2 Motivational Self System by Dörnyei,

Possible Selves and Future Self-Guides are a must to mention Carveret al (1994)

emphasises that possible selves - representing the individuals’ ideas of what they

might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming (Markus &Nurius, 1986) - denote a unique self-dimension in that they

refer to future rather than current self states Having dipped into what researchers

have done to this concept, Markus summarized “Our excitement with the notion of possible selves had multiple sources Focusing on possible selves gave us license to speculate about the remarkable power of imagination in human life We also had room to think about the importance of the self-structure as a dynamic interpretive matrix for thought, feeling, and action, and to begin to theorize about the role of sociocultural contexts in behaviour Finally, the concept wove together our mutual interests in social psychology, social work, and clinical psychology.” Moreover, Markus and Nurius (1986: 954) subdivided possible selves into three main types:

(1) ‘ideal selves that we would very much like to become’, (2) ‘selves that we could become’, and (3) ‘selves we are afraid of becoming’ The other concept that

propelled Dörnyei to build up his L2 Motivational Self System is future self-guides

Generally speaking , these two concepts are merged, but strictly speaking, they still contain inconsistent points This concept comprises two key components of

Higgins’s (1987) self theory are the ideal self and the ought self According to Higgin, the ideal self refers to the representation of the attributes that one would ideally like to possess (i.e representation of hopes, aspirations, or wishes), while the

ought self refers to the representation of attributes that one believes one ought to

possess (i.e representation of someone else’s sense of duties, obligations or moral responsibilities) and which therefore may bear little resemblance to one’s own desires or wishes He also points out that both of these two selves can derive from either the individual’s own or someone else’s views It is Dörnyei that distinguishes between Higgins’s and Markus and Nurius’s conceptualisations of the future-oriented self dimensions in that ‘while the latter authors talk about multiple possible selves, including, for example, more than one ideal self, Higgins talks about a single ideal and a single ought self for each individual, viewing these as composite self-guides that sum up all the relevant attributes.’

Another aspect of psychology known to be closely related to motivation is imagery/imagination In fact, this notion originated from the ancient Greeks

Aristotle, for example, defined imagination as ‘sensation without matter’ and

claimed that ‘There’s no desiring without imagination’ (Modell, 2003: 108)

Interestingly and fortunately, the contemporary definitions of imagery quite resembles those in the past Kosslynet al.(2002), for example, define it as‘the ability

to represent perceptual states in the absence of the appropriate sensory input’, on which Markus and Ruvolo’s (1989) depended to claim that ‘imaging one’s own actions through the construction of elaborated possible selves achieving the desired goal may thus directly facilitate the translation of goals into intentions and instrumental actions’ (p 213) Some other researchers share Marjus and Ruvolo’s viewpoints in their analysis of the ideal self are Boyatzis and Akrivou (2006) They figure out the important role of imagination to the whole history of the human beings: humans are driven by their imagination and their ability to see images of the desired future

Dr Le Van Canh, in his research on the importance of motivation, put a lot of

emphasis on the concept of ‘imagined community’ Derived from his findings, he

gave some suggestions to the English teachers that they “can reimagine their classrooms as places of possibilities for learners that are adaptable to a variety of investments and aspirations for the future so that classrooms become a special place for imagined communities to flourish.”

It is undeniable that the researchers ranging from the ancient time to the

modern one pay their attention to the roles of the self to human’s advancement It is vitally necessary that Dörnyei apply predecessors’study to his own forming L2

Motivational Self System, which is prevalent in the temporary trend of L2

motivation research

With a view to calling for a general rethinking of the concept of integrativeness,

he wrote in his research 2002 that:

.the term may not so much be related to any actual, or metaphorical,

integration into an L2 community as to some more basic identification process within the individual’s self-concept Although further research is

needed to justify any alternative interpretation, we believe that rather than

viewing ‘integrativeness’ as a classic and therefore ‘untouchable’ concept, scholars need to seek potential new conceptualizations and interpretations that extend or elaborate on the meaning of the term without contradicting the large body of relevant empirical data accumulated during the past four decades (Dörnyei & Csize ´r, 2002: 456)

It is obvious that deriving from the self theories, Dörnyei was ready to move beyond integrativeness, which was first proposed by Gardner and brought about

numerous controversies among researchers mentioned above After many years of doing research with a lot of ups and downs, he has step by step approached the secret of successful learners which he attributed to ‘their possession of a superordinate vision that kept them on track’ He himself compared language learning to the training of professional athletes whose career is considered to be motivated by imagery and vision In accordance with both empirical findings and theoretical considerations, he reconceptualised L2 motivation as part of the

learner’s self system Through the data collected and the new theoretical approach,

he was convinced that ‘future self-guides - more specifically, the ideal and the ought selves - are central components of this system.’ (Dörnyei, 2009) In 2005, after careful consideration for previous theories and his own research on L2 motivation, he decided that ‘L2 Motivational Self System’ was made up of the following three components:

(1) Ideal L2 Self, which is the L2-specific facet of one’s ‘ideal self’: if the

person we would like to become speaks an L2, the‘ideal L2 self’ is a powerful motivator to learn the L2 because of the desire to reduce the discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves Traditional integrative and internalised instrumental motives would typically belong to this component

(2) Ought-to L2 Self, which concerns the attributes that one believes one

ought to possess to meet expectations and to avoid possible negative outcomes This dimension corresponds to Higgins’s ought self and

thus to the more extrinsic (i.e less internalised) types of instrumental motives

(3) L2 Learning Experience, which concerns situated, ‘executive’ motives

related to the immediate learning environment and experience (e.g the impact of the teacher, the curriculum, the peer group, the experience of success) This component is conceptualised at a different level from the two self-guides and future research will hopefully elaborate on the self aspects of this bottom-up process

1.1.2 2 The importance of the learner ideal self in second/ foreign language learning

As mentioned above, learner ideal self in second/ foreign language learning

or learner ideal L2 self is the first component of ‘L2 Motivational Self System’

proposed by Dörnyei (2005) This concept refers to the representation of the attributes that L2 learners would ideally like to possess The concept is represented

at two levels (macro and micro) of the ideal L2 self The macro ideal L2 self: This

concept measures learners’ perception of how clearly they are able to imagine the

level of their L2 attainment long after they graduate from university The micro

ideal L2 self : This concept measures learners’ perception of how clearly they can

imagine their level of L2 attainment while at university

According to Dörnyei (2009), learner ideal L2 self offers new avenues for

motivating language learners through generating a language learning vision and through imagery enhancement It is future directed and refers to the individual’s aspirations This result has been proved by the combination of theories, emprical experiments and world-wide research

Besides that, discussing the importance of the learner ideal self, Tayloret

al.(1998) and Berkovits (2005) shared the opinion that imagery has definite educational potential Berkovits (2005) was in favor of the idea that imagery is the ideal way to work with children:

When a child uses imagery to find solutions to problems in her current life or from the past, she obtains a sense of autonomy and confidence in her ability to resolve situations she may have felt controlled her These situations run the gamut of the child’s experience, pertaining to her relationship with herself, her peers, her parents, siblings, teachers, authority figures, and learning situations in school, to name a few Using imagination to find solutions to these situations has the added advantage of improving the child’s verbal ability, because the images are clear and precise, and they lend themselves to clarity and precision of expression

(Berkovits, 2005: xvii)

In summary, the learner ideal self plays a very important part in education

on the whole and in second/foreign language in particular Therefore, it is imperative that the educators make most use of it when carrying out their work

1.1.2.3 Construction of the Ideal L2 Self

It was Dörnyei (2009) that refered to the construction of the learner ideal L2

self by creating their vision Many other researchers have common ideas with

Dörnyei In detail, Dunkelet al.(2006) explain that during the formation of their identities, adolescents produce a wide variety of possible selves as potential identity alternatives to explore and ‘try on’ without full commitment Zentner & Renaud (2007) pointed out that parents hold the ideals for themselves and for their children

Boyatzis &Akrivou (2006) mentioned the impact of role models that the students have seen in films, on TV or in real life

Dörnyei (2009) also emphasizes that ‘igniting the vision involves, in effect, increasing the students’ mindfulness about the significance of ideal selves, guiding them through a number of possible selves that they have entertained in their minds

in the past, and presenting powerful role models.’

Oyserman et al (2002) stresses the significance of helping students to synthesise the potential hypothetical images with what they know about themselves,

their own traits and abilities, as well as their past successes and failures in order to capitalise on existing strengths and avoid weaknesses

In response to the idea of ideal L2 Self construction are some programs such as

‘Best Possible Selves’ writing project developed by Sheldon and Lyubomirsky’s (2006) in which The L2 Motivational Self System students were directed to outline their ‘ideal future life’ in as much detail as they could or another programme developed by Hock et al (2006) for demotivated elementary to post-secondary students in the US which includes three phases: the first phase includes a series of activities designed to help students identify areas in which they have interest and skills and feel good about themselves; the second phase is a semi-structured interview with a teacher or counsellor,either individually or as part of a group, in which the students were asked to identify words or phrases that described them in targeted areas (as a learner, a person, a worker, and in a strength area), and to define their hopes, expectations and fears for the future in each area; the third phase is drawing a ‘Possible Selves Tree’ with branches and other elements (e.g lightning, termites) representing both their desired and feared possible selves

In conclusion, the ideal self can be built up to promote the learners of L2

However, in order to be effective, for each subject, an appropriate approach should

be taken into account

1.2 Success in English learning and criteria to measure English learners’

improvement

1.2.1 Success in general

Business dictionary defines success as the achievement of an action within a specified period of time or within a specified parameter Success can also mean completing an objective or reaching a goal Success can be expanded to encompass

an entire project or be restricted to a single component of a project or task It can be achieved within the workplace, or in an individual's personal life For example, if an

individual's personal goal is to be accepted in a new career, success would occur after the individual has been officially accepted into his or her new place

of employment

1.2.2 Success criteria in second/foreign language learning

According to The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning of the United States of America, students studying a second/foreign language are necessary to meet the following demands

Applications of Learning

Through Applications of Learning, students demonstrate and deepen their understanding of basic knowledge and skills These applied learning skills cross academic disciplines and reinforce the important learning of the disciplines The ability to use these skills will greatly influence students' success in school, in the

workplace and in the community

Solving Problems

It is imperative that the L2 learners recognize and investigate problems;

formulate and propose solutions supported by reason and evidence Learning a foreign language develops the tools for dealing with various types of survival challenges, technical skills and interpersonal exchanges across and among cultures

In detail, students are supposed to apply their language skills and their knowledge

of cultures and global affairs to forming a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis, eliminating nonessential information and drawing conclusions

recreational and professional Furthermore, they must learn the language for specific purposes to make sure that they have the full ability to convey their ideas in those realms of knowledge For such reasons, it demands that curricula designed should reflect the significance of students developing simultaneously all four communication skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing

Using Technology

When it comes to using technology, it requires that the L2 learners use appropriate instruments, electronic equipment, computers and networks to access information, process ideas and communicate results

It is apparent that accessing to a wide range of technolgy brings a lot of benefits to the L2 learners when they take advantage of invaluable sources of material in the target language as well as the chance of interacting directly with native speakers Moreover, with the latest technology, the learners can reinforce their knowledge not only in their foreign language classroom but also outside it

Their process of studying becomes increasingly exciting because it has been turned into an adventurous journey that learners are exploring

Working on Teams

Together with the ability to learn and contribute productively as individuals, the L2 learners also have to prove to be efficient at working in a group Group learning activities at the core of foreign language learning are one component of actual communication in the target language With these, the L2 learners can use the target language to engage themselves in the group discussions and research projects not only within the classroom but also outside it

Making Connections

Recognizing and applying connections of important information and ideas within and among learning areas are aslo requirements that the L2 learners have to meet when studying a foreign language

Students of foreign languages make four types of connections throughout their study First, they learn how to transfer skills and content of the foreign

language in ways to better understand skills and content of the first language

Second, students make subject-matter connections, reinforcing content and skills of other areas such as science and fine arts Third, students explore issues and themes which cross disciplinary lines, and fourth, students use the target language for making connections to vocabulary and processes important in the world

Success in English learning at the Border Guard Academy

Border Guard Academy is an armed-force unit training officers and cadets working at the frontier areas where relations with neighboring countries take place

Because it is an academy, first and foremost, it meets all the training and education requirements fixed by Ministry of Education Besides that, it belongs to the army, therefore, it also has to conform to the particular regulations by Ministry of Defense English has become a mandatory subject However, since this academy does not specialize in English, English requirements for its students are not high, just to have the ability to communicate in English with the foreigners at the border

Besides that, on account of the significance of technology to English studying, the learners are encouraged to study and apply it In addition, a learner of English considered successful is the one that reaches the points 6 or 6.5 for IELTS, the prerequisite for studying abroad In conclusion, the demands for a learner of English

at this academy are those mainly relating to communication However, a really successful learner of English should meet all the requirements by The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning of the United States of America so that they can have a better chance of promotion

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Research setting of the study

2.1.1 An overview of the research site

The study was conducted at the Border Guard Academy (BGA), the army institute responsible for training officers working in the frontier areas The whole academy has 400 teachers of all subjects and around 2000 learners from the age of

18 to 45, 300 among whom are freshmen Since the school officially became an academy in 2007, it has been entrusted with training learners from bachelors to doctors In the past, Russian and Chinese used to be two main foreign languages taught in this institute However, since English became the international language, it has been the compulsory subject for the learners of all levels

2.1 2 English teachers

Of all 400 teachers, only 15 are teachers of English, 4 of whom are masters

of English, another 4 are in the process of gaining their M.A degrees and the others all graduated from the universities of foreign languages, English faculty Almost all the English teachers are young and active, therefore, they are available to get access

to new methods of teaching English in the world Besides that, they always have a tendency to continuously equip themselves with the latest knowledge of the English language As for the older teachers, they always prove themselves to be experienced In addition, they never set in their own ways; they try their best to keep up with the changes and innovations of the new English world instead In a word, all the teachers of English in my academy are not only experienced in teaching English but also attentive to the new trend in development of English worldwide What’s more, They are always highly appreciated because of their dedication and enthusiasm to their students

2.1.3 Students and their background

First of all, in the Border Guard Academy, it is necessary to mention that the subject of students in my school is diversified: they come from all parts of the country and their age ranges from 18 to 45; many are experienced in their work while others are green However, they have one thing in common – none of them specializes in English English is a requirement in their curriculum and a tool in their work In recent years, English has increasingly been paid much attention because of its role in the work as well as in the study, especially the study abroad

The students have invested more in their studying English Nevertheless, because they live and work in the army, they encounter a lot of difficulties, particularly those related to the lack of material resources and time

2.1.4 The English teaching and learning in The Border Guard Academy

2.1.4.1 The syllabus of English teaching and learning

The main syllabus applied in the BGA is New Headway with 3 levels:

elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate Although this book was written a long time ago, it still meets the current requirements of teaching and learning English It focuses on developing all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing At the level of bachelor, the students only complete the book elementary for a duration of 150 periods, each of which lasts 40 minutes and 60 periods of English for Specific Purposes (in the BGA, it is English for the Border Guards).The books pre-intermediate and intermediate are used for postgraduate students Besides that, other books like PET, TOEFL, and IELTS are also used as reference ones for exams In a word, our academy has made great efforts to put forward a satisfactory syllabus of English for the students However, mistakes are inevitable, especially for the textbook English for Specific Purposes because it was designed and written

by the teachers of English in the academy, whose knowledge of border issues is insufficient

2.1.4.2 The English teaching and learning in the BGA

While in the past, mentioning studying English, the students always kept in their mind that they necessarily acquired the grammatical rules with the book

streamlines, nowadays, both of the students and teachers have turned to the new

trend of teaching and learning English, that is developing the all 4 skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing Therefore, during the lesson, the students have become the centre of attention They actively take part in the lesson and use English even outside the class, which has no precedents before The teachers play the role of instructing, controlling and encouraging the students As a consequence of this, the lesson has become increasingly appealing and all the students have the chance to participate in learning activities However, a number of students profoundly affected by inherent passive learning habits and obeying attitudes in the army have been unavailable to adopt the new method of teaching and learning This requires the teachers to pay much attention to make sure that all the student have the equal opportunities in the class

2.2 Research methodology 2.2.1 Description of the subjects

The participants in the questionnaire survey are 100 fresh students in 4 different groups, who has sufficient typical features of the students in the BGA

They all graduated from high school and has served in the army for more than 1 year At high school, they did not take English seriously because they did not study

it as a subject for the university entrance examination, therefore, their level of English seems to be the same The participants in the interviews are 12 students, all

of whom are randomly chosen from the students taking part in the questionnaire and three of whom are considered the best students of English in the BGA who got from 5.5 to 6.5 for IELTS

2.2.2 Data collection instruments

2.2.2.1 Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series

of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents Since invented by Sir Francis Galton, it has proved to have advantages over others in that it is cheap and time-saving More importantly, it can help researchers to gather information from many people regardless of distance because

it can be conducted through emails or other indirect means of telecommunication

Of course, it cannot avoid drawbacks, the most prominent of which is its inauthenticity Many respondents, especially the uneducated ones, hesitate to read and think over the questions; therefore, their answers seem to be rash However, in

my study, this drawback can be easily removed because the strict regulations in the army do not allow the students to be careless and dishonest in their answers As a result, this instrument was used to get information of the students’ attitudes to and ways of learning English More importantly, it gave more insights into the existence

of learner ideal self in the mind of the learners when studying English A set of

questionnaires was handed out to the students when they had started their English subject

2.2.2.2 Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewees For a long time, it has been employed in qualitative research, assisting the researchers to have a deep comprehension of reseach questions and discuss for further information about the items raised in the questionnaires In my study, with a

view to finding out the motivational factors, especially the role of learner ideal self

that lead to their success in English studying, the interpretive traditional and narrative email interviews (Clemente & Ramírez, 2008; Holliday, 2005; King &

Horrocks, 2010; Lamb, 2009; Spolsky, 2000; Ushioda, 2001, 2009) were applied to

12 students, 3 of whom got from 5.5 to 6.5 for IELTS, other 4 students have got good scores for the English exams and the others got the bad scores for the English exams at the academy

Narrative study has received increased attention in the fields of applied linguistics (Pavlenko, 2002) According to Pavlenko (2002), learner narratives allow the researcher to “gain rare insights into learners’ motivations, investments, struggles, losses and gains … that guide their learning trajectories” (p 214)

Pavlenko, among others, favors the use of narrative inquiry as a research method inquiring social identity She states that,

L2 learning stories …are unique and rich sources of information about the relationship between language and identity in second language learning and socialization It is possible that only personal narratives provide a glimpse into areas of private, personal, and intimate…and at the same time at the heart and soul of the second language socialization process (p 167)

2.2.3 Procedures

Questionnaires were distributed to the students of the BGA, who agreed to take part in the research in July, 2014 After one week, all the figures from the questionnaires were gathered and presented in tables for analysis

Having collected the questionnaires, I chose the students who had distinguishable answers for interviews, both through emails and in person, which were carried out in August, 2014 Each personal interview, in which both interviewer and interviewees had a feeling of comfort and enthusiasm, occurred outside the classroom and lasted about 7 minutes The communications between the interviewer and interviewees are like asking, telling about and listening to the learners’ stories of English studying Some participants who are fluent in English responded in English, the others were allowed to respond in Vietnamese and recorded for later summary and judgment

2.2.4 Data analysis

The analysis is totally based on the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews While analyzing, I tried to prevent my subjective opinions from interfering in the research results and judgment

2.3 Summary

This part has discussed the methodology with details of research setting and research methods All information of research objects and their relations have been clearly presented Besides that, methods and procedure of research have also been mentioned In the next chapter, data will be analyzed and findings will be discussed

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

In this chapter, all the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews were presented and analyzed in response to the research questions The major results

of questionnaires were expressed in the form of tables Interview transcriptions were presented in the form of reflective notes and summaries of field notes

3.1 Data analysis 3.1 1 Types of students’ motivation in English learning

As mentioned above, there have been four main phases of motivation study

However, in this study, the socio-dynamic period is particularly concerned

Therefore, motivation here is categorized as three main components (Dörnyei,

2005): ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience

The students’ reasons for studying English

Strongly agree

1 Ideal L2 self

A You think it is necessary for you in your job after you graduate from school

10% 33% 20% 33% 4%

B You want to communicate with foreigners in English

17% 24% 15% 41% 3%

C You are interested in English culture and people

9% 19% 28% 36% 8%

D You want to go abroad to study further

19% 17% 20% 37% 7%

E You want to get good marks and/ or positive

20% 25% 13% 39% 3%