An investigation into the motivation of in service english majors as ussh

However, the matter of quality of the English classes in the evening in – section of public universities is controversial with high-demand, low quality state of the reality of teaching a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINHCITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEÃN THÒ KIEÀU THU,Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2006

INTRODUCTION

“The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing, but man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air “

(Rabindranath Tagore)

After the long closing door period, the Vietnamese government has recognized some dozens of year backward circumstance of higher education, knowledge and wisdom A higher education reform is obviously necessary for itself as well as for the enhancement of the economy and the economic transition from the planned economy into the market one

In the hope that the country could participate in the nowadays globalization in which knowledge plays an important role, the university and college learners are given an optimal range of choice with the flexibility of training programs in order

to raise the learners ‘level of specialty with a profound background knowledge and their reliability of new jobs which require new knowledge, competence and skill This was a criterion for students before 1993, though the Vietnamese have traditionally desired for studying and furthering their study if they have chances, because their study was usually confined within the walls of their own major

Since the adoption of “Doi Moi “policy in 1986 it has constructed an important role of the English language towards our integration into current trends

of the world development For people who work with science and technology or going to work in foreign organizations as the students at the In-service section, English is a helpful tool to obtain the knowledge of the field from advanced countries in the world As a result, the changes in the role of language have demanded our students to acquire the ability of using the language rather than the knowledge of the language usage

Recognizing the emergence of English, the institutional administrators have made great attempts which are in line with the general educational policies, to satisfy the above mentioned demands and to improve the English learning environment

The very first significance of higher education is that the policy helps to satisfy a great demand of people who want to get a university degree and seek opportunities for working in open-door time of that market economy Because of the traditional monopoly of the public higher education, a very strict national entrance examination into public universities was administrated to keep high selectivity; candidates with outstanding performance were able to get admission into university

Thus they were not able to adapt themselves to the economic changes in the opening time when they graduate Moreover, the number of MA or BA degree holders was too small to compare with the growing demand of the blossom of private enterprises in the market economy time

As a result, in the second significant place of the higher education that carters opportunities of learning to the students’ desire, not only are the candidates given a range of choice to have access to higher education based on individual merit and capacity, but also are graduates offered opportunities to continue their learning on other majors Macro higher education has naturally required the expansion of the national scale education by adding some new training programs and establishing other private institutions when the governmental development used to be based on the government subsidize for a long time

As a matter of fact, Vietnamese students in general, especially majored English students have intrinsically recognized the importance of English not only for a future well-paid job, a better social position, but also for their study at

universities and colleges The general impact of English is described by the statistics of a survey done by Do Huy Thinh for his research as follows:

“86.9% of respondents disagreed or strong disagreed that English does not help higher education { } thanks to English competence, , Vietnamese higher education has more faulty studying in countries where English is required, gets more access to science and technology and cooperates with the outside world As a matter

of fact, English is attracting more students than before Vietnamese students want to have more English proficiency not only to better their lives but also to improve higher education They believe knowing English might be the shortest way to achieve these goals “ (Do Huy Thinh, 1994)

The number of semi-private and public founded universities as well as evening in- service classes has increased approximately up to 20 in our country The existence of this model, though it cannot be compared with the public one, helps to solve the government burden of restricted educational budget The change

in the educational system has led to the sharply growing enrolment into universities

However, the matter of quality of the English classes in the evening in – section of public universities is controversial with high-demand, low quality state of the reality of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam is defined

service-in a term created by Le Van Canh (1997) “ Educational paradox “, service-in which the pedagogical contexts are described as both supportive of and constraining the teaching practices The researcher suspects whether the paradoxical state is of the characteristics of the English foreign language teaching and learning in evening in-service extension of public universities

Students learn a language, because they want to acquire, use, and communicate with those who speak the language, or perhaps they want to get to know their culture and learn about the country where the language is spoken

However, what is going to happen if school insists students learning a second language that school chooses whether they wish to learn it or not It is obvious that students who don't want to learn the language will not be able to do well in class

If we take a look at a situation in our country, English is set to learn as a second language from junior high school, so that means at least four years of compulsory study for all Vietnamese If we go onto process high school, we will have to learn English for another three years It is also in the process of implementing in elementary school in the near future With all the hard work we put into learning English, many of the students will not be able to acquire the skills

we need to communicate I believe motivation to learn has something to do with this situation Motivation determines the degree of effort you put into foreign or second language learning The more motivation we may have, the more effort we tend to put into learning the language It leads to success in learning Many believe motivation to learn is the key element in language learning However, if we take a look at researches in motivation, it is hard to say what motivation is

From this point of view, it is quite important to motivate students to learn a second language It is therefore necessary to investigate

The idea of the research comes from a very simple question: How is it that some adult learners in evening in-service section can learn a foreign language quickly and expertly while others, given the same opportunities to learn, are utter failures? Certainly a lot of answers may be provided for this question such as the influence of the teaching method, the aptitude of each individual as well as his/her socio-linguistic background However, the first reason seems not to be persuasive enough because some students of languages develop high level skills relatively easily while others following the same pedagogic procedures show little or no progress The second factor - individual differences in language learning attitude - might very well account for the individual feasibility in achieving in language

study Still we are not convinced that attitude is the completed answer That makes

a lot of researchers think of another possible answer: the difference in the language - learning motivation of each individual

There is a very difficult question, which so many learners and teachers have

to discover Although, many studies have been carried out about the role of motivation and attitudes upon second language performance inside and outside class, not many similar researches have been done in Vietnamese context with Vietnamese university students as research’s subject Therefore, it is necessary for this research to be done to fill this existing gap in the field of language learning motivation

It is undeniable that motivation is very crucial in schools /universities, because of its powerful influence on learning Theoretically the motivation that students bring to school is the biggest single factor affecting their success, Marshall (1987) defined motivation as “ the meaningfulness, value and benefits of academic tasks to learner regardless of whether or not they are intrinsically interesting “ Does it really matter whether students are primarily intrinsically or extrinsically oriented toward learning?

CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In a survey, Asia Week (1999) ranked the Vietnam National Universities at

75th out of 79 of the best national institutions in East Asia according to their quality

of education and training, so foreign language education at universities is no exception, because of its high demand, low quality state of the reality of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam

It is therefore necessary to survey the background at the In-Service Section and the factors have had such influence on the tendency of learning motivation Among the factors that may have influence on students’ motivation, there are the background of the school - the condition of school facilities that has a considerable impact on student performance and teacher effectiveness, the teaching staff, the background of the students, the teaching curriculum and materials they use at NTT Linguistics Research Institute In this chapter, the researcher would like to present some related information for an understanding of the issues discussed in this research

1.1 Physical conditions at the in-service section ( Nguyen Tat Thanh linguistic research institute branch )

It is very important to learn about the physical conditions of the universities because it is one of the factors affecting the students’ intrinsic motivation

Students are indeed profoundly affected by what they see, hear and feel when they enter the classroom The description will provide a clear picture of the place where the students are studying

Information about Nguyen Tat Thanh branch The students study all the subjects of English in the same room They have no fixed room for English and no opportunities to create an appropriate environment,

so that anyone coming into one of those rooms would know immediately that here English is the focus of attention Each room is comfortable enough for study with a board, 5 electric fans, 5 neon lights, and a desk for teacher, tables and chairs for students in 4 series and 15 rows The seating is arranged orderly in front of the teachers There is not an audio-visual laboratory, which is very necessary in practice listening and speaking Because of the large size of each room (55 seats), teachers have to speak very loudly so that everyone can hear what they want to present However, the use of micro- phones causes the inconveniences because the rooms are not soundproof, so the teacher’s voice through microphones can be disturbing to the next class Not surprisingly, games - the tool for creating motivations - cannot be freely organized since the noise made by the participants is

a big trouble; even cassette players should be turned down in order not to disturb the classes in the building Besides, students who sit in the last row can hardly see the board clearly and the teachers’ gesture If they want to see the board, they sometimes have to stand up and the class becomes disordered

Moreover, the layout of the classrooms makes it difficult to ask students to work in groups, which is the best way for providing students opportunities to use English as the language of communication in a very immediate and real situation With this kind of layout, classes are very passive because students tend to keep silent in front of a large class

This factor has surely had much influence on the tendency of learning motivation

1.2 Description of the English courses

For the first stage of training, there are totally 1020 periods for language skill which is scheduled by 12 periods a week (three nights a week) and lasts during the first four terms with four skill practices

The subject is designed for students who have completed pre-intermediate or intermediate courses, therefore, it is intended to present and develop them through variety of different contexts It will help students understand and know how to use the language learnt communicatively in authentic English and in social interactions through thorough treatment of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills It will also prepare students for their English continuance in the second stage by enhancing their various reading sub-skills such as skimming, scanning, inferring, predicting, dealing with unfamiliar words

1.3 The characteristics of the teaching staff

The teachers are the key personnel who contribute quite significantly to the

success or failure of the students.“The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness if he is indeed wide he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind” (Kahlil Gibran)

The number of the teachers at NTT Linguistics Research Institute is not fit Most of them are regular inviting teachers They are English teachers from universities in HCM city They take part in teaching here as a part time job The youngest is 27 and the oldest is 65 Haft of them have been to English speaking countries Three of them have had Ph.D degrees in literature and linguistics The others have had M.A degrees in TESOL and Comparative Linguistics All of them have been teaching English for at least 5 years

1.4 The characteristics of the students

Information relating to the characteristics of the students is very necessary because understanding clearly will help teachers find out the direction for

enhancing learning motivation

All of the students who have a university degree in another major or B, C certificate in English only take an English test The others have to take the exams

of three subjects: English, Vietnamese Literature, and History

In the In-Service Section, most of the students are adult learners who are from 18 to 50 years old The majority of students gets a job and works in the day time Therefore, the characteristics of adult learners who are working and learning

at the same time should be taken into consideration

The students vary widely among ages, abilities, job experiences, cultural backgrounds and personal goals They are adult learners who are diverse, bringing

a wealth of life experiences to the learning situation Active forms of learning help connect the content to the learners’ own meaning structures The adult’s sense of self has a significant influence on the meaning of the learning situation for them They have differing degrees of self-efficacy and awareness of their own-learning styles They may feel embarrassed about returning to school and feel embarrassed

to join classes with younger students When attending the course, they tend to be practical learners; they study to improve their performance in other social roles However, their schoolwork takes a back seat to other responsibilities, such as jobs and families They expect their class time to be well spent and hope their courses will help them solve problems in their daily lives

It can be seen that if they start to learn a foreign language when they are still very young, they can enjoy many advantages especially in terms of phonetics As

adults, they have difficulties in acquiring a language; they have to make a lot of effort to learn a language

However, when learning a foreign language, adult learners can enjoy some advantage as well Firstly, learners already know a language, know what language

is used for, and that language has a system of words and rules, Secondly, they can

be aware that the target language they are learning is different and be willing to take on the challenge

1.5 Research Questions

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the students at In-Service Section (NTT Linguistics Research Institute branch) are really motivated in learning English, and to examine what their attitudes toward learning English are The study also tries to locate the most important motivational factors that affect the students’ English learning process and outcomes In this study, the following questions are to be answered:

1.5.1 How are students‘attitudes and motivation toward learning in classroom?

1.5.2 What factors influence the development of adult students’ motivation? 1.5.3 What motivational factors affect the students’ learning result?

1.5.4 How to enhance learning motivational factors in teaching English to adult students

1.6 Objectives of the research

The objectives of the research are as follows:

1.6.1 To find an answer to the common assumption about the learning attitude of night - time students, In-Service Section and their actual learning attitude and behaviors in class

1.6.2 To see the role of motivation and attitudes upon foreign language learning, as well as upon general language performance inside and outside class

1.6.3 To prove that the teaching method of the teachers can help to stimulate or diminish the motivation of the learners

1.6.4 To find out a suitable teaching method so as to stimulate the motivation instead of diminishing it

1.6.5 To improve the learning motivation, which can affect the student’s learning result

1.7 Significance of the research

It is obvious that awareness of how students’ attitudes and beliefs about learning develop and what facilitates learning for its own sakes can assist educators in reducing student apathy

Although many studies have been carried out in the role of motivation and attitudes upon second language learning, not many similar researches have been done

in Vietnamese context with Vietnamese university students as research‘s subject It is therefore necessary for this research to be done to fill the existing gap in the field of language learning motivation

1.8 Overview of the study

This thesis is composed of five chapters

Chapter one deals with the background of the study, including the

description of NTT Linguistics Research Institute Backgrounds, the physical conditions; the English courses; the characteristics of the teaching staff; the characteristics of the students This chapter also puts forwards the research questions, objectives of the significance of the research beside this overview of the study, and its limitation

Chapter two reviews the literature relevant to the topic investigated This

chapter introduces the definition of motivation, main kinds of motivation In this chapter the adult learners’ characteristics are also presented

Chapter three describes the methodology of the research, the research

setting, the subjects, and the instruments of the research

Chapter four reports the results of the study and presents discussions of the

findings

Chapter five is the implementations and suggested recommendations for the

improvement of the teaching and learning quality

1.9 Limitation

The researcher met some inexperience in data collection and analysis in spite

of the careful consideration after the pilot study

Besides, interviewing teachers was a challenge for the researcher as interviewing requires a lot of skills and experiences There was sometimes an inequitable relationship between the interviewees and the interviewer because, for most of the cases, the researcher was much younger than the interviewees and has less professional experience As a result, the interviews sometimes became out of the track to methodological and technical discussions although the researcher had a general idea of where the researcher wanted the interview to go, and what came out of it

Additionally, it was impossible to engage more population due to the restrictive duration of time allowed, and especially the reluctance of teachers being observed Furthermore, the low total observation time due to the permission

of participants, to some extent, might influence the result of the study Since the researcher was just allowed to carry out observation in each participant’s class for

a period of 45 minutes, in some cases, the interview turned out that the participant might apply a variety of tasks for other classes

The study has applied many methods so it may overcome the inherent weaknesses and biases of a single method

The final limitation of the research is that apart from collaborative coding work, all steps from observation, questionnaire to analysis are undertaken only by the researcher There must be limited objectivity, and the findings can be influenced by the researcher’s own ideas

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher would like to review some of the literatures on motivation and provide an overview of what motivation consists of and how we can motivate students on second language learning The adult learners’ characteristics are also presented here

2.1 The nature of motivation

Most motivation theorists assume that motivation is involved in the performance of all learned responses; that is, the learners’ behavior will not occur unless it is energized The major question among psychologists, in general, is whether motivation is a primary or secondary influence on behavior

The word "motivation" is often used to describe certain sorts of behavior A student who studies hard and tries for top grades may be described as being

"highly motivated", while her friend may say that he is "finding it hard to get motivated" to study for an exam or to start an assignment Such statements imply that motivation has a major influence on our behavior but they do not really tell us how

Motivation is a desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal Students who are motivated have a desire to undertake their study and complete the requirements of their course

The theory of motivation in L2 acquisition, which was first presented in 1972

by Gardner and Lambert (1972) was basically grounded on a social psychological framework Their main finding was that success in second language learning was dependent on the learner’s affective predisposition toward the target language

community (social dimension) By combining motivation theory with a social psychological approach and the established practice of attitude measurement, the model of L2 motivation Garner and Lambert (1972) developed was more elaborate and advanced than many contemporary mainstream psychological models of motivation (Dorni, 1997)

Good and Brophy (1990:360) defined motivation in term of needs But the needs are quite different from those of Ausubel They are the need for achievement (“I want to do well on the final”), the need for affiliation (“I want to work with my friends”), incentives (reward or punishment), habit (“ I never take a study break until 11 p.m.”), discrepancy (“ How could I, a moral person, have lied

to my friends?), and curiosity (“ That seems to work, but I wonder why”)

Many other studies also report that motivation is a key to learning a second language and it seems to be the biggest single factor affecting language learners’ success (Brown, 1990; Dornyei, 1997)

Up to now, almost all people have admitted that motivation is something they need for fulfillment of whatever they conduct And we, as language teachers, have also come to the conclusion that motivation is essential factor in our students’ learning There is something we must consider

2.2 A Definition of Motivation

Motivation can be defined as a concept used to describe the factors within an individual, which arouse, maintain and channel behavior towards a goal

Another way to say this is that motivation is goal-directed behavior

While it is easy to see the things that a person does, it is much harder to guess

at why they are doing it As an example let us look at our hard-working student It

may be that that student is working hard because she wants to get high marks, but it might also be that she really enjoys learning that subject She may be striving for high marks because she wants to impress her friends or because she wants a good job, so that the marks themselves are really a step toward another goal It is dangerous to assume that you know what is motivating someone because you really can't "read his or her mind"

The following definitions of motivation were gleaned from a variety of psychology textbooks and reflected the general consensus that motivation is an internal state or condition (sometime described as a need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behavior and gives it direction (see Kleinginna and Kleingina, 1981a)

Internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction Desire or want that energizes and directs goal- oriented behavior

Influent of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior Franken (1994) provides an additional component in his definition: The arousal, direction, and persistence of behavior

Different definitions of the concept” Motivation” have been developed from different perspectives of psychology, sociology and linguistics But in this study, the concept of motivation can be best described by the combination of three following definitions:

Motivation: The reason or cause of doing something (Oxford dictionary)

….motivation, which is defined as a hypothetical state resulting from derivations or stimulation and reflected in a relatively transitory effect on performance In this case, we have a number of everyday words that refer to this

state: need, desire, urge, want, intent, crave, etc But a vigorous decline action of the various motivational conditions is difficult

(Frank A Longan & Douglas P Perraro 1978, p11)

• … Motivation in the present context refers to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward learning the language

(R.C.Gardner 1985, p.10)

Most teachers feel that motivation is a key factor in successful language learning, but what is motivation? According to many researchers, there are so many definitions of what motivation is and what isn't It seems somehow incomplete In the field of second language acquisition, the concept of motivation came from social psychology Thus the first purpose of this literature review is to discover the types of motivation and define the motivation in this paper

2.3 Main kinds of motivation

There are many ideas about the kinds of learning motivation Although students may be equally motivated, the source of their motivation may be different and, of course, their success in learning will also be different Many theorists and researchers have stressed that it is very important to recognize the construction of motivation, and in this process, it should be seen not as a single entity but as a multi-factorial one With different expressions and the employments of different aspects of the problem, researchers have had different points of view in recognizing kinds of motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) first made the famous distinction between two types of motivation: instrumental and integrative motivation In later studies, Crookes and Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four

other motivational orientations: firstly, reason for learning; secondly, desire to attain the learning goal; thirdly, positive attitude toward the learning situation; and finally, effortful behavior Oxford and Shearin (1994) have also analyzed a total of twelve motivational theories and models, including those from socio-psychology, cognitive development, and socio-cultural psychology, and identified six factors that impact motivation in language learning But one of the most general and well-

known distinctions in 3 motivation theories is that between intrinsic motivation, which is concern with factors inside the classroom and extrinsic motivation, which

is concern with what takes place outside the classroom (Harmer, 1991:3)

2.3.1 Intrinsic motivation

2.3.1.1 Definition

Intrinsic motivation was defined by Edward Deci (1975:23) as:

“Intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself … Intrinsically motivated behaviors are aimed at bringing about certain internally rewarding consequences, namely, feelings of competence and self- determination”

(quoted in H.D Brown, 2000)

Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal interests in doing something and in helping to set their goals These people take part in activities not because accomplishing the activities bring a reward, but because doing the activities itself is a reward Lepper and Thomas (1999: 520) have noted that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his / her learning

“for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes.”

In educational process intrinsic motivation is potentially a central motivation:

Intrinsic motivation is in evidence whenever students’ learning curiosity and interest energize their learning When the educational environment provides optimal

challenges, rich sources of stimulation, and a context of autonomy, this motivational wellspring in learning is likely to flourish

(Deci & Ryan, 1985: 245)

2.3.1.2 Factors affecting intrinsic motivation

Harmer (1991) noted some other factors affecting intrinsic motivation: physical conditions (e.g facilities/ resources and classroom atmosphere), method, teacher, (in term of teacher qualities) As for teacher qualities, Harmer (1991) made some generalizations about “what makes a good teacher”: teacher’s ability

to create a good rapport with these students through interesting and inspiring classes; teacher’s impartiality; teacher’s catering for students’ hopes and aspirations, and teacher’s knowledge of the field

a Physical conditions

Physical conditions such as the lightness, the temperature, the acoustic, the lines of vision, the layout of the desks, the facilities for displaying pictures or charts, and so on, have a great effect on learning Surely, “classrooms which are badly lit and overcrowded can be excessively de-motivating” (Harmer, 1991:5) Researchers reported that the thermal environment in the classroom would affect the ability of students to grasp instruction Canter (1976) found that human beings work most efficiently at mental tasks when environment is at suitable

temperature

School facilities: Establishing a caring, cooperative learning environment is

essential to fostering intrinsic motivation By being encouraged to take risks, be independent thinkers, and be responsible, a classroom community can be developed

in which students interact successfully for the sake of maintaining a harmonious

classroom In his book, Life in a Crowded Place (1992), Peterson does an excellent

job of describing elements that are essential to creating a caring classroom Some of the areas he discusses include celebrations, rituals, and empowering students In

describing the beginning of the school year, Peterson says, the primary goal at the

beginning of a new year or term is to lead students to come together, form a group, and be there for one another At first students are concerned foremost with their own welfare It is by establishing values of caring and trust in the classroom that social ties and interest in one another’s welfare come into existence (p 16)

Although students’ motivational histories accompany them into each new classroom setting, it is essential for teachers to view themselves as “Active socialization agents capable of stimulating…student motivation to learn” (Brophy ,1987)

Classroom climate is important If students experience the classroom as a caring, supportive place where there is a sense of belonging and everyone is valued and respected, they will tend to participate more fully in the process of learning

Various task dimensions can also foster motivation to learn Ideally, tasks should be challenging but achievable Relevance also promotes motivation, as does “contextualizing” learning,that is, helping students to see how skills can be applied in the real world (Lepper and Thomas; 1990)) Tasks that involve “a moderate amount of discrepancy or incongruity” are beneficial because they stimulate students’ curiosity, an intrinsic motivator (Lepper and Thomas; 1990)

In addition, defining tasks in terms of specific, short-term goals can assist students to associate effort with success Verbally noting the purposes of specific tasks when introducing them to students is also beneficial (Brophy; 1986)

What takes place in the classroom is critical, but “the classroom is not an island” (Martin Maehr and Carol Midgley; 1991) Depending on their degree of

congruence with classroom goals and practices, school wide goals either dilute or enhance classroom efforts To support motivation to learn, school-level policies and practices should stress “learning, task mastery, and effort” (Maehr and Midgley; 1991) rather than relative performance and competition

How to make the classrooms as pleasant as possible is the problem that teacher should pay attention to

b Method

It is clear that good method will attract students in their learning If they find

it boring, they will probably become de-motivated, whereas if they have confidence in the method they will find it motivating

If the students have to sit in a stuffy and unpleasant classroom with a very boring and sleepy lecture, they will not have an interest in learning

Harmer (1991:5) said about this notion as “a really motivated student will probably succeed whatever method is used, but is also true that different students are more or less sympathetic to any particular method depending upon their expectations.”

This illustration emphasizes the influence of physical conditions and the teaching methods on intrinsic motivation

Another factor which also has a significant impact on intrinsic motivation is the teacher

c The teacher

Nowadays many people believe that one of the most important factors in improving student achievement is having a well-qualified teacher in every classroom (Sparks, 2000)

The influence of the teachers on student motivation can be shown clearly in the following statement of Harmer:

“Two teachers using the same method can have vastly different results”

(Harmer, 1991:5)

The style of a teacher can have a powerful effect on a student In the case of teacher control, students' intrinsic motivation is often related to the control orientation of the teacher Valas and Sovik (1993) studied seventh and eighth grade English students and found that students who believed their teachers allowed more student autonomy tended to have higher intrinsic motivation in English than students who believed their teachers were more controlling The students with higher motivation also perceived themselves as more competent in language, in addition to having higher achievement scores More over, the adult students here need to get some advance knowledge from their teachers to qualify their future career Good teaching method is one of the most important criteria, which teachers need to achieve

And, of course, by using different methods, a teacher may also find different results The matter is that everything teacher does in the classroom has a motivational influence on students

Obviously, the qualities of teachers are very important in providing intrinsic motivation But what qualities should teachers have?

In 1970, Denis Ginard conducted a study of a thousand students He found that students were concerned with the relationship between teacher and student, and the way they interact with their students, their abilities to control the students’ learning process and their method used in teaching are of great importance in motivating students” learning They showed their preference to the following qualities of a teacher that they thought were important:

• He shows the same interest in all his students

• He makes all his students participate

• He shows great patience

Besides, in their mind, a good teacher is a teacher who shows sympathy for his students He must be fair to all his students and he must inspire confidence

Girard’s study gave us the views of students at his time Students nowadays, especially, students at USSH want a teacher who is “fun” or one who understands students” And many students also mention the need for teachers to motivate students through enjoyable and interesting classes; and quite a few want their teachers to be “well prepared” and to be teachers they can have confidence in

It is clear that the above qualities can help teachers to be successful in their teaching job because of its great attraction in the intrinsic motivation

perceived likelihood of success and is related to the students’ self-confidence and self-efficacy In learning situation expectancy concerns the task difficulty, the amount of effort required, the amount of available assistance and guidance

When a course syllabus meets those categories, it attracts students’ interest and promotes their learning process, especially, when students have ultitarian learning goals

2.3.1.3 Are there advantages to intrinsic motivation?

Does it really matter whether students are primarily intrinsically or extrinsically oriented toward learning? A growing body of evidence suggests that it does

When intrinsically motivated, students tend to employ strategies that demand more effort and that enable them to process information more deeply (Lepper, 1991)

J Condry and J Chambers (1978) found that when students were confronted with complex intellectual tasks, those with an intrinsic orientation used more logical information-gathering and decision-making strategies than did students who were extrinsically oriented

Students with an intrinsic orientation also tend to prefer tasks that are moderately challenging, whereas extrinsically oriented students gravitate toward tasks that are low in degree of difficulty Extrinsically oriented students are inclined to put forth the minimal amount of effort necessary to get the maximal reward (Lepper,1991)

Although every educational activity cannot, and perhaps should not, be intrinsically motivating, these findings suggest that when teachers can capitalize on existing intrinsic motivation, there are several potential benefits

And developmental changes comprise one more strand of the motivational web For example, although young children tend to maintain high expectations for success even in the face of repeated failure, older students do not And although younger children tend to see effort as uniformly positive, older children view it as

a "double-edged sword" (Ames) To them, failure following high effort appears to carry more negative implications especially for their self-concept of ability than failure that results from minimal or no effort

2.3.2 Extrinsic motivation

2.3.2.1 Definition

Pittman and Boggiano (1992) have defined learning extrinsic motivation, as

“the learner’s desire for achievement for an external reward such as to pass

examinations or to get a job” Thus, extrinsic motivation is likely to be on the other extreme from intrinsic motivation It concerns things from the outside It derives from an anticipation of external rewards such as praise, award, prizes, and evaluation, or avoidance of punishment An extrinsically motivated student engages in doing a certain learning task just in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself

This kind of motivation is concerned with factors outside the classroom

2.3.2.2 Types of extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is of three main types

a Integrative

Gardner (1979, 1985) and Gardner & Lambert (1972) proposed that

motivation is influenced by two orientations to language learning An integrative orientation is typical of someone who identifies with and values the target

language and community, and who approaches language study with the intention of entering that community Such an individual is thought to have an internal, more enduring motivation for language study

For this kind of motivation, students wish to integrate themselves into the culture of the second language group, to identify themselves with and become a part of that society Gardner (1968:143) stressed that successful second language acquisition depends upon a willingness (or desire) to be like valued members of the “other” language community

In language learning context, the learner’s integrative motivation is a crucial factor (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992) as in Finegan’s words (1994: 466): “Integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of resisters and a native – like pronunciation, achievements that usually elude learners with instrumental motivation” The learner’s integrative motivation has deep impact on the language learning as a whole It provides the students with the necessary

motivation to persist in the second language learning (Gardner et al., 1985) Integrative motivation affects actual behavior in the classroom as well Gardner et

al (cit) found that those students whose test responses indicated the presence of integrative motivation volunteered to answer questions more often, made more correct answer in class, and received more positive reinforcement from their teachers They were also perceived by observers to be more “interested” in their lessons

Shumann (1978) noted that learner’s integrative motivation levels vary according to the social distance from the target language community Some teachers wonder whether the teaching of culture should be postponed until the students can study it in the foreign language Culture can be taught in English from the very beginning, and it can be an integral part of all instruction rather than an added frill “Frequently culture is introduced into language classes to stimulate and maintain student interest in foreign languages” (Allen 1977: 339)

b Instrumental motivation

Instrumentally motivated learners, on the other hand, are more likely to see language learning as enabling them to do other useful things, but as having no special significance in itself Such learners will be motivated if they see language learning as having beneficial career prospects or something that will enable them

to use transactional language with speakers of the foreign language

“Instrumental motivation is related to the potential pragmatic gains of L2 proficiency, such as getting a better job or a highly salary” (Dornyei, 1997: 262) Gardner and MacIntype’s empirical investigations (1992) pointed out that some learners in some contexts are more successful in learning a language if they are interactively oriented and others in different contexts benefit from an instrumental orientation It showed that “motivational factors need to be assessed within the larger social context.”

Though instrumental motivation influences second language learning, its influence tends to be maintained only until the learning goal to which it is tied to some extent is achieved If the goal is continuous, instrumental motivation seems possibly to continue to be effective

Based on Mowrer's suggestion that identification and positive affect toward parents are important for first language acquisition, Gardner and Lambert (1972) suggested that individual with an integrative orientation would demonstrate greater motivational effect in learning L2, and, thus, achieve greater L2 competence This integrative and instrumental orientation is very famous in the field of motivation, but Ely (1986) argues that it is not always easy to distinguish between integrative and instrumental motivation The second problem he argues is whether the integrative/instrumental conceptualization captures the full spectrum of student motivation It may be that, for a given population of second language students, there are reasons for language learning that are unrelated to either of the two motivational orientations Th researcher agrees with Ely that it is not always easy

to tell one from the other For example, there are students who don't like to study, but they have to, because they have pressure from their parents, peers, teachers, and so forth This is also a type of motivation, which can't belong to either of the two motivational orientations Some of the reasons were: receiving intellectual stimulation, seeking personal challenge, enjoying the elitism of taking a difficult language, and so on This opinion leads to take a look at confidence in relation to motivation in the next section

c Assimilative motivation

Assimilative motivation is an expansion in the construction of integrative motivation Integrative motivation is the desire on the part of a language learner to learn the second language in order to communicate with, or find out about members the second language culture, and does not necessarily imply direct contact with the

second language group Assimilative motivation is the drive to become an indistinguishable member of a speech community, and it usually requires prolonged contact with the second language culture

2.3.2.3 Factors affecting extrinsic motivation

According to Harmer (1991), factors affecting students’ level of extrinsic motivation come from outside the classroom These can be identified as students’ attitudes to the language, which are influenced by other people’s attitudes such as their parents, teachers’ and peers’ attitudes and their previous experiences as language learners

a Experience: The factor affecting the attitude of students is their previous

experiences as adult language learners If they were successful then they may be pre-disposed to success now Failure then may mean that they expect failure now

b Teachers: the belief teachers themselves have about teaching and

learning and the nature of the expectations they hold for students also exert a powerful influence (Raffini 1994:26) As Deborah Stipek (1988:47) notes, “to a very large degree, students expect to learn if their teachers expect them to learn

”The students’ peers will also be in a powerful position to affect his or her attitude,

as will other members of the students’ community

c Parents: Harmer (1991:4) also emphasized the impact of parents upon the

students’ attitude to the language, which is the most important factor in the extrinsic motivation; if the parents are very much against the culture of the language, this will probably affect the students’ motivation in negative way Conversely, if they are very much in favor of the language, this may have the opposite effect Obviously,” the degree of skill which the students attain in a second language will be dependent upon the attitudinal atmosphere in the home

concerning the other linguistic group.”(Gardner 1968:144)

Harmer stated that although teachers cannot create students’ attitudes for the extrinsic motivation since it comes into the classroom from outside, they can still

do their best to ensure that students view the language in positive light Teachers can do this by creating a positive attitude to the language and its speakers, and teachers can try to be certain that they are supportive and encouraging to their students rather than critical and destructive

2.3.2.4 Are there advantages to extrinsic motivation?

Douglas Brown (1994:38) stated that extrinsically motivated behaviors are carried out in the anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond the self Typical extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades and even certain types of positive feedback

However, Jerome Bruner (1962:38) had an opposite idea with Douglas Brown that one of the most effective ways to help students to think and learn is to free them from the control of rewards and punishments Unnecessary rewards can actually decrease a student’s desire to learn Rather than associating the learning with the positive rewards, as teachers may expect, the students come to believe that he or she on learns in order to get the reward, and loses interesting any future learning that does not come with a reward attached In his article “ Effects of Rewards on Motivation and learning “, Thomas Gilovich (1999) wrote that “ not only is there a negative effect on subsequent extrinsic motivation, but the existence of the rewards can impair task performance, as the student may devise a strategy to reassure receipt of the reward with minimal effort and investment Given a choice of difficulty, the student may choose the less difficult level to assure attainment of the reward.” However, rewards do not always have negative effects They can be used effectively in classrooms, but they should be used cautiously

Besides the rewards, the teacher factors may enhance the extrinsic motivation Teachers can also organize a class library or an English club as extra activities outside lesson times that can make a significant contribution to maintaining a good atmosphere in the classroom By attending these activities, students can have the possibility of extending their knowledge and interests outside the classroom as well as an opportunity for genuine communication Mary (1992) claimed that if the school runs an English club, the students are further advantaged by mixing with and taking to students at other levels and either being able to assist younger students or to learn from older ones Obviously, these activities can help students take a more positive attitude to their studies

Activities should be used properly to contribute to the students’ extrinsic motivation enhancement

2.3.3 Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation

In the same line with Gardner, Deci and Ryan (1985) created the intrinsic/extrinsic motivation theory They claim that learners who are interested in learning tasks and outcomes for their own sake (Intrinsic) rather than for rewards (extrinsic) are likely to become more effective learners More specifically, according to them, intrinsic motivation refers to motivation to engage in an activity because that activity is enjoyable and satisfying to do Extrinsically motivated behaviors are those actions carried out to achieve some instrumental end, such as earning a reward or avoiding a punishment Dickinson (1987) claims that success enhances motivation only in children who focuse on learning goals, that is, who are intrinsically motivated According to Koestner & McClelland (1990), research on intrinsic motivation has led to the conclusion that intrinsic motivation will be greatest under conditions that foster feelings of challenge, competence, and self-determination They also claim that if external events enhance feelings of competence This type of motivation does not necessarily imply a lack of self-

determination, as when someone is told he or she has done a task very well, intrinsic motivation is likely to increase By contrast, events that lead to feelings of incompetence are likely to undermine intrinsic motivation

Clement et al (1994) defined motivation into three levels that are the language level, the learner level, and the learning situation level The three levels meets the three basic constituents of the second language learning process (the target language, the language learner, and the language learning environment), and also reflect the three different aspects of language (the social dimension, the personal dimension, and the educational subject matter dimension)

Dornyei also gives a very good insight She claims that the same learner in the same learning situation might show a strikingly different degree of motivation depending on what the target language is Similarly, when the target language is the same, the same learner's motivation can show vast differences as the function

of the learning situation, that is, the appraisal of the language classroom In other words, each of the three levels of motivation exert their influence independently of the others and have enough power to nullify the effects of the motives associated with the other two levels

Thus one of the key points is to motivate students intrinsically, and this leads

to autonomy However, interesting findings were discovered from Noels, Pelletier, Clement, and Vallerand's study (2000) on students registered in English psychology class at French-English bilingual university The study showed "To foster sustained learning, it may not be sufficient to convince students that language learning is interesting and enjoyable; they may need to be persuaded that

it is also personally important for them." This seems like a common sense, but as a second language learner myself, I strongly agree with this result If you are adult learner, interesting and enjoyable learning is not enough They need to feel the

importance of learning as well, and then they can vision themselves in terms of future prospects or job-related salaries and so forth

Having discussed two different types of motivated theories, namely integrative/instrumental and intrinsic/extrinsic, it seems that if you talk about motivation, you have to set a context where you teach, the environment you are surrounded with, what the target language is, and who the learners are specifically You can't really tell this is what motivation consists of and this is how it is supposed

to be unless you have specific settings Identifying all the necessary items, teacher could see what has to be done and students also could see where they want to go and what they want to do and what they need to

2.4 Relationship between motivation and learning

Student’s motivation naturally has to do with students' desire to participate in the learning process But it also concerns the reasons or goals that underlie their involvement or noninvolvement in academic activities Although students may be equally motivated to perform a task, the sources of their motivation may differ

A student who is intrinsically motivated undertakes an activity "for its own

sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes" (Mark Lepper; 1988) An Extrinsically motivated student performs "in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself," such as grades, stickers, or teacher approval (Lepper; 1988))

The term motivation to learn has a slightly different meaning It is defined by

one author as "the meaningfulness, value, and benefits of academic tasks to the learner regardless of whether or not they are intrinsically interesting"(Hermine Marshall; 1987) Other notes that motivation to learn is characterized by long-term, quality involvement in learning and commitment to the process of learning (Carole Ames; 1990)

2.5 Attitudes toward learning English

Gardner has operationally defined attitude as “an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basic of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent” (Gardner, 1985: 11) The most straightforward definition of attitude may be the following:” An attitude is a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, institution, or event” (quoted in Baker, 1992: 11)

The attitude toward second language learning together with motivation can have a profound effect on the success of language acquisition In acquiring a second language, learners’ effort is mediated by what Krashen (1978) called an

“effective filter” – a psychological tendency that facilitates or inhibits their natural language acquisition capacities

Attitude toward learning a second language under the influence of some factors can be seen as negative or positive learning attitudes The factors that affect learning attitudes are treated in the following part in the term of “motives for learning English”, “anxiety”, “self-esteem, and “tolerance of ambiguity”, “ confidence”, “ autonomy”, “goal setting”, “ values, beliefs, and desires” etc

2.5.1 Confidence, Anxiety

Learner's motivation can vary tremendously according to their confidence and anxiety they have toward the language they are learning and the environment they are in Not only is anxiety related to motivation, but it is also related to proficiency and ore so to communication proficiency, as suggested by Clement, Dornyei, and Noels (1994)

Dornyei (1994) claims that linguistic self-confidence, including language anxiety, which is a central component in the personal dimension of motivation

Learners who are less anxious have more motivated to learn the second language than those who motivation is hindered by a lack of self-confidence Clement and his colleagues have produced sufficient evidence that self-confidence is a powerful motivational process in multiethnic, multilingual settings, and their study showed that self-confidence is also a major motivational subsystem in foreign language learning situations In addition, following Gardner and Lambert (1972), Clement argued that attitudinal factors were an important motivational basis for L2 acquisition and behavior Upon noting the results obtained with groups of students who were in more direct contact with the L2 group, however, he suggested that in such contexts a self-confidence process becomes the most important determinant

of attitude and effort expanded toward L2 learning

Clement, Dornyei and Noels (1994) concluded from their study that on the one hand, good classroom atmosphere promotes student’s involvement and activity while moderating anxiety and promoting self-confidence On the other hand, the students bring into the classroom a level of self-confidence and anxiety related to extracurricular experiences with the language, the quality and quantity of which would then influence classroom behavior, achievement and anxiety Accordingly, being active in class means believing that one is able to use English outside the classroom

Oxford & Shearin (1996) says even the best learners have experienced failures in communication Teachers need to make learners feel comfortable even when communication is not perfect What they said is very important It is a teacher's job to emphasize that everyone makes mistakes including the teacher himself/herself and it is no problem to make mistakes Crucial thing is to teach them to learn from their mistakes

2.5.2 Autonomy

Autonomy linked with more learning is often expressed more strongly In general, autonomous learners become more highly motivated and that autonomy leads to better, more effective work In this section, the researcher would like to present evidence and research that learning autonomy increases motivation and consequently increases learning effectiveness

According to Knowles (1995), "there is convincing evidence that people who take the initiative in learning (proactive learners) learn things and learn better than

do people who sit at the feet of teachers, passively waiting to be taught (reactive learners) They enter into learning more purposefully and with great motivation." Wang and Peverly (1986), for example, review findings of strategy research (in subjects other than language learning) and conclude that independent or autonomous learners are those who have the capacity for being active and independent in the learning process; they can identify goals, formulate their own learning strategies, and to monitor their own learning Dickinson (1987) describes advantages of autonomy in three points

1) Because learner sets the agenda, learning should be more focused and morepurposeful, and thus more effective both immediately and in the longer term

2) Because responsibility for the learning lies with the learner, the barriersbetween learning and living that are often found in traditional teacher-lededucational structures should not arise

3) If there are no barriers between learning and living, learners should havelittle difficulty in transferring their capacity for autonomous behavior to all otherareas of their lives, and this should make them more useful members of society andmore effective participants in the democratic process

Being autonomous learner shows better learning effectiveness Autonomous learner, in other words, self-motivated learner learns without a push

from teacher, parents, peers and so on They get into studying whatever they desire to learn The researcher thinks this is one of the best parts of motivation, and at the same time, it is one of the most difficult things to teach

2.6 Adult learner motivation

2.6.1 Who are adult learners?

Simply put, an adult learner is one over the age of 18; however, there is much more to the adult learner than age Adult learners are diverse; they range from those with significant higher education to those that have never graduated from high school These adults engage in learning experiences in a myriad of settings, which are classified as formal, non formal, and informal In addition, the socio -cultural contexts of adult learning influence the learners and their experiences There are differences of opinion as to the differentiating factors between adult and non-adult education The experiences of the learner, both past and present, are keys in adult learning In addition, practices, such as critical reflection and self-direction, set apart adult from youth learners Andragogy, as first developed by Malcolm Knowles, describes a framework for adult learners containing self-direction, meaningful experiences, and independent learning as necessary to adult learning Youth learners function in a pedagogical, teacher-centered environment and are not, generally, self-directed

According to Draper, Pedagogy and Andragogy are not comparable because the differences between adult and youth learners are the intent of learning, the type or experience, and how the experience is used He also argues that these quantitative and qualitative experiences differentiate adult learners from each other These contrasting views of adult learning need to be further researched Both Knowles and Draper make valid observations; however, these should be researched to assess the implications of various socio-cultural contexts and psychosocial contexts of the learners

Adults may not always prefer self-direction, depending on the subject matter

In many cases, they prefer a combination of teacher-centered and self-directed learning Moreover, “adults do not automatically become self directed upon achieving adulthood Some are not psychologically equipped for it and need a great deal of help to direct their own learning effectively.” The assumption that all adult learners prefer self-directed learning environments cannot be applied in a general sense

In the area of adult education the researcher must use the teacher-centered approach to address the complex and foreign subject matter in surgical procedures The researcher also integrate problem-based learning, safety, needs assessments, sequencing and reinforcement, teamwork, engagement, and accountability, among others, every chance the researcher get to enhance teaching and learning

2.6.2 Adult learning settings and contexts

Malcolm Knowles first introduced adult learning in 1950 Since then, many theories and research projects have been forged The following learning settings are interrelated, most occur with another Victoria Marsick and Karen Watkins have done much research in this area and suggest that learning is unique to the individual Formal learning settings are the easiest to identify

These settings can be independent adult educational organizations, such as: a community-based adult literacy group; an educational institution, such as a community college, private post-secondary institution, or trade school; in-service extension universities and non educational organizations that train company employees as a business

Informal learning settings are organized educational environments outside formal settings Informal learning settings are less structured and are more focused

on social needs and community service Examples of Informal settings are libraries

or museums that educate the public through cultural means, welfare-to-work

programs, training and industry programs, and indigenous learning in cultures and societies

Informal learning “occurs most often in learners’ natural settings and is initiated and carried through primarily by the learners themselves.” Informal learning can occur in conjunction with Informal learning, as well

Informal learning is the most common form of adult learning in today’s society However, this is also the least recognized of learning contexts by the adult learner This learning happens at home or work and is part of the learner’s daily life Informal learning is also considered a form of self-directed learning because it

is initiated and completed by the learner

The socio-cultural context of adult learning is due to the increasing diversity

of our population This means that the potential for barriers to education exists for these populations in the form of dropping out or failure to engage (societal decision making) “Minority adults… are disproportionately represented among the unemployed, the low income stratum, and the less educated These characteristics are correlated with low rates or participation in organized adult education

”Environments conducive to all adult learners must be considered in planning for education of the current and future adult learners in this country

2.6.3 Characteristics of Adults as Learners

The following information was taken from course content written by Dr Gary Kuhne for “ADTED 460 – Introduction to Adult Education”, a course offered through Penn State’s world campus

• Adults Generally Desire to Take More Control Over Their Learning Than Youth

Adults tend to be self-directed in their lives, although responsibilities with jobs, families, and other organizations can remove a degree of their freedom to act Adulthood brings an increasing sense of the need to take responsibility for our

lives and adults strongly resent it when others take away their rights to choose This fact is clearly seen in educational efforts among adults When not given some control over their learning, most adults will resist learning and some will even attempt to sabotage education efforts They do not like being relegated to a

"passive" position

Recognize that adults also expect greater availability of instructors

• Adults Draw Upon Their Experiences as a Resource in Their Learning Efforts More Than Youth

The adult's experience is a key resource in any learning effort Adults have a greater reservoir of life experiences simply because they have lived longer and seen and done more This is a critical distinction between adults and traditional learners Consciously or unconsciously, adults tend to link any new learning to their prior learning, a body of knowledge that is rooted in their life experiences They evaluate the validity of new ideas and concepts in light of how the idea or concept "fits" their experience

• Adult Tend to be More Motivated in Learning Situations Than Youth Higher motivation is linked to the fact that most adult learning is voluntary Adults are making personal choices to attend schooling, even when such schooling

is tied to professional development or job skills Whenever an individual is able to choose to learn, s/he is much more motivated to learn

• Adults Are More Pragmatic in Learning Than Youth

Adults are particularly motivated to learn information that seems immediately applicable to their situation and needs They tend to be frustrated with "theory" that needs to be stored away for future use or learning for the sake of learning Certainly there are exceptions to this principle, but the percentage of exceptions is quite low

In Contrast to Youth, the Learner Role is Secondary for Adults